Quail Valley Lot Owners Association, Inc.
Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, August 13, 2007
Minneola City Hall, Minneola, FL
Minutes |
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The meeting was called to order by President Ivelaw Gibson at 7:27 p.m.
It was noted that three (3) board members were present to have Quorum. The following board members were present: Ivelaw Gibson, Fred Wood and Pattie Guerriero.
Ivelaw introduced Rak Sharma our property manager and Rak introduced Karen Shingle who will be assisting him with Quail Valley. Karen is working on getting her LCAM license and when she does she will eventually be taking in the responsibilities of Quail Valley.
The notification of this meeting had been posted on the website as well as a sign posted in the entry way.
Fred Wood made a motion to approve the minutes from July 9, 2007. Ivelaw Gibson seconded. Unanimous Vote.
Ivelaw Gibson introduced Lt. Greg Link from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy explained that Crime Watch is just neighbors being good neighbors and that it is just watching out for one another.
Lt. Link explained that if we go to the website we can email officers directly or that we can either call the sheriff’s office or call 911 if there is a problem.
Natalie Yancey stated that she lives in front of the park and that on either side of the street there are no parking in Right of Way signs. However, people are still parking there. Natalie asked Lt. Link to please clarify what exactly the signs were for. Lt. Link said that he would go over there, check out the signs and get back to the residents. He was pretty certain that no parking in right of way meant no parking between the signs.
Lt. Link also stated that although many residents have situations that they would like to have dealt with they do not call the Sheriff’s department because they do not want to be a bother. However the situation will not get resolved if the police do not know about it. He stated that some people will call the Mayor or City Council but not the Sheriff’s Dept. Most of the things that the officers hear come from the Mayor.
A resident asked about putting speed tables in the subdivision.
Brian Sbrissa suggested that persistence does pay off. He and his wife had a situation and they were persistent with the Sheriff’s Department and it seems that today the situation may finally be resolved.
A resident asked about putting in speed tables and Lt. Link told us that he was not sure how that works. Shelly Simon who was also present with Lt. Link stated that she works for the city and that she could address that question. Ms. Simon stated that she will find out about getting speed tables and will email the information to us. If we need to for anything to we can email her at ssimon@minneola.us. Lt. Link stated that the number to the Sheriff’s office is 352-343-2101 if we would like to speak to him we can contact him at 325-394-3598 x 225.
Pattie asked who is responsible for maintaining the property where Walgreen’s was supposed to be. Shelly stated that part of the property was just taken care of however the property that backs up to us has not. The owner of that parcel has just been cited and the land is to be bush hogged and maintained monthly so there should be no more problems.
Pattie also asked when does code enforcement tend to drive thru the community. Shelly stated that if there is a habitual situation homeowners may call or send an email to Shelly Simon or the Sherriff’s Department and they will take care of it.
Natalie Yancey asked what the fines were for different code violations. Parking on the grass is fifteen dollars ($15.00) up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) per day per violation. Parking on the sidewalk is fifteen dollars ($15.00) up to two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) per day per violation.
There is a discussion with many of the homeowners and Ms. Simon as well as Lt. Link. Inaudible.
Ivelaw stated that next on the agenda is the Waste Water Treatment Plant Update, however he will push that back and it will be addressed when David returned from the City Council meeting which was being held simultaneously to residents of Oak Valley and Quail Valley.
Ivelaw stated that our accounts have been moved from Assured Accounting to EPM Services.
Manager’s Report
Ivelaw presented our first financial report from EPM Services.
Rak told the homeowners that everything is pretty accurate but was a bit of a mess so it took awhile to get it. The two most important things he would advise the board on is the Accounts Receivable. Rak believes that it is a bit worrisome. Homeowners pay our dues annually and as of right now twenty percent (20%) of Quail Valley residents have not paid their dues for 2007. EPM will be assisting the Board in recovering the money on behalf of the association.
In addition the Board has decided on a new attorney Clayton & McCulloh. Once the new attorney officially comes on board their work is top notch and everything should be moving smoothly soon.
Ivelaw and Rak did a second drive thru on Monday, August 6, 2007, and as far as compliance goes we had a 70% – 75% compliance rate. Some more letters did go out. Each drive thru takes about 6 hours to do so they are thorough and consistent. They also take into consideration the rain issues and so on that would affect how the neighborhood looks.
Ivelaw asked the residents if they had any questions before Rak left the meeting.
A resident asked what the percentage is of violation letters that are actually residents living in the neighborhood versus rental homes. Rak stated that he is unsure.
Brian Sbrissa asked a question about the landscaping at top of hill. Not fully audible.
Ivelaw answered that the bidding for a new landscaping company has been closed and that the new landscaper will be taking over on Wednesday, August 15, 2007.
Pattie Guerriero asked about the garbage that is littered thru the entryway. Is the new landscaper going to be taking care of ALL garbage, including park. Rak stated that this was something that was put into the contract with the new landscaper.
Jennifer Bode asked how much are we in the hole as far as dues are concerned. Rak stated that the unpaid dues are a total of about $20,000.00.
Jennifer suggested that Walgreen’s should be maintaining the property that they own not us. Pattie stated that she agreed that Walgreen’s should be taking care of the landscaping however it is our entrance and we need to take care of what brings people into our community. There are a lot of houses for sale in our community and if we want anyone of them to sell or have people look in our neighborhood, we need to maintain the appearance.
Ivelaw stated that the Walgreen’s situation is a work in process and they may be deeding the land to us and that is something that we will have to deal with them.
Jennifer asked if there will be an audit of the books at anytime. Rak told her that as discussed previously, audits can be very pricey and based on what Guy has seen there really is no reason for an audit, but if that is something that the Board wants then that will be something they will look into for us.
As of right now we really need to worry about getting money in.
Starting point to homeowners is a reminder letter, then a certified letter. Then once the Board decides what to do, EPM follows through.
Jennifer Bode asked if Rak thought that an audit was a good idea. Rak stated that a forensic audit for another was $8500.00 dollars. Stated that he is not saying that it should be done, but that the Board is not in a position because we just received our financial report and that it will probably take a couple of months to get to the bottom of everything.
If the Board feels after everything is settled that something is not right then EPM Services will advise us on that and how to go about it.
Kevin Ocefemia asked how many violation letters are going out.
Pattie asked Rak if he would compile a list of the most common violations that we can post on the website or mail out to everyone so that the residents are aware of what they are looking for during the drive through.
John Dole asked if the $40,000.00 dollars are money we owe out or if it is money owed from dues.
A resident asked about when the retention ponds will be taken care of. Ivelaw stated that we will be addressing it and that the new landscaper will be taking care of them and they will be starting on Wednesday August 15, 2007.
Jennifer Bode asked what the fee is for the new landscaper. Ivelaw stated that the new landscaper is about half of what we were being charged by Al Torrello.
Fred Wood stated that when the Board was looking at bids, Mr. Torrello broke bid down specific to hedges, grass, retention ponds. The other bids were all inclusive, which is what we asked for and their bids were close to what Al Torrello was charging just for the grass to be cut.
Kathy Kelly asked if the new landscaper will be removing any garbage in the retention ponds, not just mowing over it. Ivelaw stated yes, garbage will be removed.
Pattie asked if the landscaper will be maintaining trash at the park as well, and Ivelaw stated yes, they will be. Ivelaw asked if Pattie had the trash bags. Pattie told him yes and that I would give them back to Ivelaw to keep for the association.
Ivelaw asked the homeowners if they had any questions for Mr. Sharma before they left.
Vinny asked who goes around and does the neighborhood inspections. He stated that he got a letter stating that his lawn needed to be mowed and edged, for six (6) days of growth.
Pattie stated that she believes that his letter was from the first batch of violation letters that went out. At the last meeting we discussed that anyone whose lawn needed to be trimmed got a letter and that those residents who do maintain their lawns do it on the weekends and that a Friday drive-thru is not a good indication of what the neighborhood looks like.
Ivelaw stated that we are all on the same page as far as the drive-thrus now. The Board understands that the last drive-thru was harsh. But now we all seem to be on the same page and the neighborhood is already looking better.
A resident spoke about how her landscaper, who was present at the meeting, mows her lawn every Monday and she has received three (3) letters for lawn violations.
Ivelaw stated that it was weird that she received three (3) letters since there were only two (2) drive-thru inspections. In addition he apologized to her.
Rak and Karen left the meeting.
David Yeager joined the meeting.
Waste Water Treatment Plant Update
Ivelaw reviewed that the turnover of the Waste Water treatment Plant will be effective on August 15, 2007. He asked David if there was anything he wanted to add.
John Dole asked a question about the City’s plant being up and functional to take over the Waste Water. There had been an article in the paper.
David stated that the contractor had gone to the designed plant and there were 15 feet that the Ladd’s property they had the option. There was a gentlemen’s agreement at a Council meeting. No Problem. The City’s attorney drew up a letter. No Problem. The Ladds never signed it, because Council got them upset. The Ladds want to be annexed to the city. Council didn’t see it that way and they held the letter as a trump card and never returned it. The letter was never returned and by that time it was too late the pipes were in the ground. The Ladd’s property was 2.3 million dollars. City made an agreement with them they would buy property or look at it for 90 days or they will condem the land where that pipers are. City had that option; an agreement was signed with the City’s attorney.
On Tuesday, August 7, 2007, the agreement came back to the City Council. The Council did a 4 to 1 vote to sign the agreement to visit the property for 90 days or 2.3 million dollars.
There is no way anyone can get any kind of grants in 90 days, so City money cannot pay for the property. They do have an agreement that if property not bought in 90 days that the City will condemn the property.
DEP (Department of Transportation) would not let City run sewage thru the pipe unless they had an agreement. They have an agreement, this is not a problem.
The City did have a backup plan, which is what was in the paper. Plan was to have tractor trailers bring sewage from the schools to the plant. The School had a backup plan. Their plan was to run their own sewage plant and City would run it from there to City’s plant. There are/were many backup plans.
City has 90 days to get appraisals, sand scrapes for conservation.
Twenty percent (20%) of the property is already sold to Hills of Minneola should the city get the property.
City has been transporting sewage from CVS since they opened.
The lift stations will become the City’s responsibility. They are going to be dismantled. The old motors are coming out and new upgraded motors will be replacing them to make sure that the lift stations can handle the load.
Everything inside the fences at the lift stations is the City’s responsibility. The hedges outside of the fences are the home owner’s responsibility. The reason for that is that they want to homeowners to be happy with covering the lift stations the way they want.
Banyan owns the property under the packaging station. Banyan does not want to ever do anything in Minneola again.
Once the station was removed nineteen (19) more homes were supposed to be built and then the exit/entrance was to be built off Grassy Lake.
Pattie asked who is responsible for dismantling the package plant. David answered by telling us that the homeowners are responsible for that cost.
Pattie asked if David had an estimate of how much that would cost. David said to decommission the station would be under $8K. Probably another $30-$40K. The Board should advertise to see if someone will come and decommission and take what they want and be done with it.
Pattie stated that the community is looking at $50-$60K to take care of this situation. David stated that he sees the high number being more like $50K.
Pattie asked if this is in addition to the $40K that we are already in the hole.
Ivelaw asked if there is any way we can sell it. David stated that new package plants are like $300-$400K when they are new and there only a few people that would be willing to buy it. One is a camping ground or a mobile home park. He stated that the plant is probably only worth about $25K now. The Board can advertise it and see if there is anyone interested in buying it.
David stated that if we could find someone to give up 15K dollars to take it away, that would be great.
Pattie asked how long we have to get it dismantled and cleared out. David stated that it is up to DEP and the company working now will decon it. All the sludge has to be removed and cleaned out. The City is paying for that. David stated that he will get us the DEP regulations on how long; once the station is cleaned we have to get rid of it.
The City will have it deconed by the end of the month. The day that the station is deconed is the day that the plant will be taken over by the city.
David seemed to think that there was a ninety (90) day window, probably ninety to one hundred twenty (90-120) days to get it taken care of.
Ivelaw stated that we needed to move on. And the next thing on the agenda is the Walgreen’s update.
John Dole asked what the city is going to do as far as billing us. When will there be an increase? David stated that as far as the waste water, the increase will effective in September and as far as any dues that have been paid, that decision is up the Board to decide.
John asked how often there will be increases in our bills. David stated that we are lucky because the schools and other facilities that are going to be tied in have to pay an impact fee of $65K dollars and QV does not.
Fred wood stated that we had paid something. David clarified that QV had money in escrow to dismantle the station.
Pattie Guerriero asked where the money is. John Dole stated that in the Covenants the City had ten (10) years to build their station and take it over or they had to give the money back.
Ivelaw made Point of Order. We needed to move on.
John Dole stated that we were discussing things and they needed to be discussed.
We have to pay $50K to dismantle and we are already $40K in hole. This is $90K that we are going to have to come up with in about three (3) months.
Pattie stated that in addition to all of this many homeowners want a rebate off their dues for money paid toward WWTP.
Pattie stated that this discussion was more important than discussing Walgreens.
Ivelaw stated that we have new attorneys on board and we will have them look at everything.
Ivelaw stated that the next item on the agenda was the Walgreen’s update and we will have to get attorneys involved.
John Dole suggested that we really need to get an audit as Jennifer Bode has been saying for the beginning. If we are already $90K in the hole what is another $8K?
Jennifer Bode stated that Walgreen’s is a billion dollar company and we do not have any letter of intention from them.
Pattie stated that she agreed with the homeowners and that our financial situation needs to be addressed.
Fred Wood wanted to discuss the $40K dollars. That is the amount of money that has not come to us for dues.
Pattie stated that according to the financial report that we received from EPM TODAY, for the month of July we are negative $28K for January thru July $46,240. We are talking about getting an audit. We still don’t know if these numbers are correct. Guy is still going thru everything to double, triple and quadruple check the numbers to make sure it is right. So it get a $10K audit right now does not make sense without knowing whether or not we really need it.
She stated that if everything does not check out that yes, we do need to get an audit. But for right now we are talking about $50K in hole, another $50K in hole and another $10K for an audit. We need to figure out what is our priority right now and where is the $100K going to come from.
Tina Murillo stated that we are not $40K in hole it is $40K dollar that is owed to us.
Ivelaw stated that Pattie is not addressing reports properly.
Pattie stated that she was looking at the financial report that says net income. The form talks about landscaping, administration, contractors, that we are negative $46K.
Fred Wood stated that sheet was not what Rak was talking about.
Pattie stated that she was not talking about what Rak was talking about. We are talking about negative $46,000 and on a high end another $50K to dismantle the sewage plant and another $10K for an audit. She was not talking about the $40K that homeowners have not paid. The point is that it is a lot of money that we all have to come up with at some point and that she is sorry but Walgreen’s is going to have to take the back burner.
Ivelaw asked Pattie is she was finished. She stated that she was.
Ivelaw stated that Pattie was not speaking correctly and that he knows that we have $30K in CD’s. Ivelaw then stated that he did not know what she was talking about.
Fred wood suggested that we look at the balance sheet which lists our total assets, liabilities and equities. Our liabilities are less than our assets, which means that we are not in the hole. Fred then stated that he does not know where we are because he is not an accountant.
Our total equity is $35K dollars and that he is concerned that $35K is not going to get us thru the rest of the year.
Brian Smith stated that our major source of income is homeowner’s dues. Our income is less $40K we are not in the hole. We do not have bill collectors at our door.
Pattie stated that she understands that and that we do need to come up with $40K we also need to come up with another $40K dollars.
Ivelaw asked David Yeager if we could address the Walgreen’s situation because we needed to move on.
Pattie stated that she was sorry and left the meeting.
Fred asked if the Nominating Committee was present.
Kathy Kelly stated that the bush administration does a better job.
Ivelaw stated that the people that are present that want to be on the board really want to be on the board because it is not an easy job.
Natalie Yancey stated that no one will be happy so she wouldn’t want to be on the Board.
Ivelaw stated that no one is happy. It is a thankless job. And that we are doing the best we can and if the residents feel that they can do a better job, then they should put their names down.
Walgreen’s Update
John Dole asked when Walgreen's builds what will happen to our trees.
Ivelaw stated that we just got the drawing just a couple of weeks ago.
A resident asked what is going on with Walgreen’s.
David Yeager stated that Walgreen’s is still going to build. They just dropped off the plans a couple of days ago and they sent us a couple of different options. Walgreens will have a sign out front and they gave us the different options for us to see what we like and want.
Walgreen’s wants a front sign because CVS has a front sign.
A resident asked about the side of the entrance with the Billboard. David stated that that is owned by someone else and we have never and never will maintain that sign.
The new drawings are the same drawings from the last meeting, just with the Walgreen’s face sign. David asked them to make the new drawings much bigger so that the residents could see them better.
A resident asked which one we will be getting. Ivelaw stated that it was up to the homeowners to decide.
Fred Wood mentioned that maybe we should look at the taller one, for the mere fact that it is taller and it might be easier to see.
David said that we cannot do anything with the trees right now because they will die. They are our trees. He would like to make a deal with them thru the board to have someone come in buy the trees from us, take them out of there and let them do the landscaping we have to do. Let Walgreen’s deed the property to us so we never have to deal with this again.
Resident asked a question about landscaping by new sign. Question is inaudible. David Yeager responded stating that the new landscaping has to be up to City guidelines. Guidelines will be up to city, the one thing that the City will not allow is trees in between sidewalk and street. They will not be allowed there because that is where at the sewer lines are.
Jennifer Bode asked a question; inaudible.
David stated that now is not the time to be moving trees.
Jean asked how far back is Walgreen’s going to move the well. David stated that the well in now sitting behind the main gate and that we would like to have the well moved so we can continue to use it, instead of paying the city for water. Then all we have to pay for is electricity for the irrigation system.
David stated that there will NOT be an entrance to Walgreen’s near our entrance. DOT will not allow it. The entrance has to be so far away from the light. At CVS either one of their entrances is not near the light. There is a specification that is has to be so far from a light. There will be a frontage road. One will have to go past our development make a right onto the frontage road then to come in.
A resident asked what will be behind the Walgreens. David stated that the area will be another lot.
Fred Wood stated that this had come up at the last Planning & Zoning meeting. There was talk of another lot possibly being extension of the retention.
The entrance that is already there will be used to get into and out of the development. Coming South on U.S. Highway 27 one can make a left into Quail Valley and then another left into development.
David stated that this is a two (2) year deal and it seems that Walgreen’s wants to do the right thing.
David asked the residents to let the Board know what we want so the Board can let the City know, as far as which drawing for the new sign we like.
John Dole asked if there will be sidewalks going all the way up to the highway. David answered, yes on both sides of the entrance each developer has to put in a sidewalk that go up to the highway. Since the sidewalks have to go up, the oak trees will be coming out from our development up to U.S. Highway 27.
John Dole asked how far is Walgreen’s or the developer going to be filling the land up. David said yes they will be bringing it up but that no one is really sure. The new sign will probably be half of the size that it is now. That was the whole issue, is that even with the elevation coming up, our sign is so big that no one would be able to see their building. The new sign will be at best half of what we have now. Residents need to make a decision and let the Board know and he will take care of it. Walgreen’s is not the bad guys here, it is Rock Properties. They were playing hard ball, but we have a lot of passionate people here in Quail Valley.
Brian Smith asked if the Walgreen’s will be a twenty four (24) hour Walgreen’s. David responded by saying that if he has anything to do with it will not be. Walgreen’s did ask if they could put in a twenty four (24) hour store. City’s feeling is that there is a twenty four (24) hour store by the hospital so if you are coming from the hospital you can go right there. Why would we want to bring in that crime? It will be coming again before that City again and we as residents need to go to the meeting and speak up.
Brian Smith asked if there is any kind of ordinance that can be put into effect before Walgreen’s decides to be a twenty four (24) hour store. David said that he thinks that would be a good discussion, but he does not know if City can get an ordinance that quick.
Board just needs to direct the City in which way we want to go with this.
President’s count . . . majority rules.
There is a guideline on what kind of plants Walgreen’s can use, buy they do not want their store to look ugly. That is why we need to take control of the entrance so we can put flowers there if we want. But the residents do need to keep in mind how much money we have spent in the past on flowers that need to be replaced regularly.
Ivelaw asked the homeowners if there were any more questions about Walgreen’s. There were none.
Pattie came back in at 9:00 o’clock and asked to address the board and the homeowners.
Pattie apologized for walking out and stated that she was wrong for walking out and throwing a temper tantrum. She needed to collect her thoughts and apologizes profusely. She said that she was sorry and that it would not happen again.
Ivelaw said thank you and stated that he just wanted to move on.
Ivelaw stated that he is concerned about our finances.
Financial Report
Two of the three bonds for a total of $20K mature this month and the other $10K will be mature in November.
Ivelaw suggested taking the $20K and putting them into an operating account to make sure that we do not get any checks bouncing. He would like the Boards approval to do that.
Ivelaw made a motion to transfer the money into the operating account to pay bills. Fred Wood seconded. Pattie had a question.
Pattie asked if by cashing in the CD’s what kind of penalty are we looking at. Ivelaw stated that there will be no penalty because they are mature and that we will be holding off on the third CD until it is mature as well.
A resident asked if we will be putting all of the money into our operating account. Ivelaw states that yes that is what we will be doing, so that we do not have any checks bouncing. We are doing this to get thru to the end of the year and see where we are at again then.
A resident asked a question, inaudible.
Pattie asked if we have an intention of replacing those CD’s and when. Once these CD’s are cashed in that is all of our emergency money. We will be left with nothing.
Ivelaw stated that once we cash in the CD’s we will have about $60-$70K in the bank.
Pattie asked what we will be doing as far as emergency money. Within the next three (3) months we are going to have to pay to have the package plant dismantled; that will be about $50K, assuming that we cannot sell it, which leaves us with roughly $20K or less in the bank.
Ivelaw Gibson stated that we should just hope that we can sell it.
Pattie stated that we cannot live on a hope and a prayer.
Fred Wood asked David Yeager to get back to us with a timeframe in which we have to dismantle it. David stated that he will get some answered tomorrow and get us a time line. If we can get the plant decommissioned and cleaned out the equipment is not on our property so that may buy us some time.
Fred Wood stated that at his job when they talk about finances they are shown where they are now and a possible projection. At this point in time there is no real way to show a projection because of the fact that up until now we have been so up and down. We have been cutting costs, with the landscaper and what not.
Tape ran out. Meeting did not end much later than that.
Meeting was adjourned by Ivelaw Gibson around 9:30pm
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Respectfully submitted,
Pattie Guerriero, Secretary |
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