News & Announcements 

Minutes – Open SIA Board Meeting

Sunday July 12, 2026 at 2:30pm in the driveway at 1991 W. Barefoot Pl.

Attending: Board members: President Flax, Vice President Finn, Sec./Treas. Lehnhardt, members Melchiori and Garrard. SIA members Tammy Lowe, Andy Dlugosz

The meeting was called to order at 2:30pm

Financial review

We have spent $12,833.37 to date of our $22,200 annual budget. We have hard commitments for the rest of the year for Insurance, mowing and trimming and the annual meeting adding up to about $5680. The current accounts balance is $64,357.53.

Review of proposed new vendor and bid for road refurbishing

The previous road vendor has indicated he will not be able to complete the road work as promised.

A new vendor, Bill Pinheiro, who did the full refurbishing of our roads in 2011-12 and 2017-18 has re-entered the picture after several years absence and provided a quote of $1000 per truck load installed to cover all roads with new shell. Samples of two shell types were provided, one with larger shell. The larger shell was preferred as it is expected to generate less dust. He estimated the five roads would need about 30 to 32 loads total, but that this number might be lower as the process moves forward. He is asking for no money up front and to be paid when and only when the job is done to the board’s approval. He stated that the materials offered would not be available when the mine it comes from closes in three weeks. Thus there is both a rush on the decision and a set time frame to complete the job.

It was moved, seconded and approved unanimously to move forward immediately with the road work by Bill Pinheiro. The road work will start as soon as possible this coming week and payment will not be made until the entire Board signs off that the job meets their expectations. We will defer other spending like fence repair until the next dues cycle and budget year to hold funds for stair repair if we have any hurricane damage from this season.

Board members Finn and Melchiori will oversee the road project with John Finn being the primary daily contact for the contractor.

Tammy Lowe of 1941 W. Barefoot Pl. raised concern for the excessive flooding of her property when it rains since the construction of the new house across the street. The new house lot used to be quite low and flood during rains as it is part of an old wet weather drainage creek on an old survey. Tammy feels that the water retention plan approved by the County is not working sufficiently even though it is quite extensive. Potential solutions might be to go to the County and ask them to review the engineering of the runoff from the new property and see if has both been implemented properly, has been performing as expected and was properly engineered. There was not a lot of faith that the County would be of much use as the Lowes have gone to them already with little success.

It was decided to work initially with the road refurbishment contractor to see if re-crowning the road in front of the Lowe property might mitigate this issue. Hopefully that will help. We will re-assess the situation after the road refurbishment is completed.

Previous road contractor refund

President Flax is working with the previous road contractor to obtain a refund of the money paid to him as he is in  breach of contract. If we do receive repayment voluntarily from the contractor we will follow legal avenues to reach a settlement.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:45pm.

What:          OPEN SIA Board Meeting

When:          Sunday July 12, 2026 at 2:30pm

Where:         The driveway at 1991 W. Barefoot Pl.

Agenda Items:

1. Financial review of spending to date and funds availability for the remainder of the year.

2. Review of proposed new vendor and bid for road refurbishing.

ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND

Minutes – Open SIA Board Meeting

Saturday June 13, 2026 at 10:am

1991 W. Barefoot Pl., outside in the driveway

Attending: SIA Board members – President Flax, Vice President Finn, Secretary/Treasurer Lehnhardt, Melchiori and Garrard, SIA Members – Andy Dlugosz, Beth Darragh, Dave and Diane Wolfram and Angelo Zaffuto.

The meeting was called to order at 10:00am by President Flax.

1. Review of Fence proposal for 1801 E. Pebble Path tabled at the last meeting.     

A lively and lengthy discussion occurred around the propriety of the property owner modifying a property temporarily for the benefit of a renter. A neighbor to the property expressed concern for the possible look of the wooden 5’ privacy fence that was oddly shaped, did not follow the property lines, and extended beyond the front of the house. It would be in place temporarily for over a year and he did not feel he should, as an owner, have to look at this for a year because of a renter.

The neighbor also raised concern that the property had a lot of changeover in people staying there and he didn’t know who they were. If they were renters, they should have been registered with the Board. Those registrations are then put on the website so neighbors know someone is renting the house. A review of the records indicated that in the last 8 years only 3 rentals have been registered with the SIA Board for 1801 E. Pebble Path. There was speculation that more unregistered rentals may have occurred.

Concern was raised regarding the late renter registration form, which was not submitted until May 1, the day the rental was due to start, and after the April 29 submission of the initial application for the fencing. The SIA rental policy requires a 2 week notice prior to the start of the rental. It also states that failure to follow this procedure may result in the removal of any renter within SIA who has not been registered with the SIA Board by the SIA property owner. The SIA property owner may also face disciplinary action by the SIA Board.

The next concern was that construction of the fence was begun with delivery of materials and installation of fence posts prior to approval by the SIA Board. There were several submissions to the ARC for the fencing that were rejected, mostly because there was no confirmation from the owners that this was ok with them. The initial submission on April 29 for the approval was actually from the renter not the owner and made no mention of this being a temporary fence. The contract for the fence installation is actually with the renter and it lists the renter as the owner of the property, not the actual owner. No submission stated it was a temporary fence. The only mention of a temporary nature of the fence came in a text from a real estate agent representing the owner on March 23, 2026. In response to that request the agent was asked what was meant by a temporary fence and there was no response to that request. Eventually, on May 18, the owner submitted to the SIA ARC a signed copy of the application for a County Fencing Permit. The ARC reluctantly recommended approval to the SIA Board. At the Board meeting May 30, 2026 this approval was not given and the decision was tabled until more information could be received from the owner as to whether this was a temporary fence and what it’s purpose was. There was speculation that the renter had dogs they wanted fenced. This was confirmed by President Flax in a phone call with the owner after the meeting adjourned. In that phone call President Flax confirmed with the owner that the fence would be removed at the end of the rental period, which is May 31, 2027.

In conclusion, considering all the issues above, and the need for enforcement for compliance with SIA policies, the following motion was moved, seconded and unanimously approved.

” The application for a 5′ wooden fence installation at 1801 E. Pebble Path is denied and all materials in place for the fence installation must be removed from the property including the already installed fence posts.”

2.   Vote on request to return $1000 road deposit for 1990 W. Barefoot Pl. now that the house is finished.

It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to refund the $1000 road deposit to Loren Smith for 1990 W. Barefoot Pl.

Additional topics

June mailing – going out next week. (note: it was mailed to all members June 15). Envelopes, paper and stamps were purchased for $106.85 – this will be enough paper and envelopes for the Oct. Mailing though additional postage will be needed. We budgeted $500 for the year for these mailings and we will be under budget, even though Ist class stamps go up to $.82 in July.

The Delinquent Dues member received and signed for certified letter of dues past due. 30 days will be up on June 29, at which time the next steps toward a lien will be taken if the dues are not paid.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45am.

The annual Call for Nominations for the SIA Board and announcement of the date for the annual meeting, Saturday November 14, 2026 at 10am, has been mailed. It has also been posted on this website under the  Mailings heading.

The emailing includes letters from SIAS President Michael Flax and Nominating Committee Chair Ed Seemann, plus a reminder of the SIA property rental policy requirements.

Please review the information either here on the website or in hardcopy when you receive it in the mail.

Thank you

The SIA Board of Directors

What:        Open SIA Board Meeting

When:       Saturday June 13, 2026 at 10:am

Where:     1991 W. Barefoot Pl., outside in the driveway

Agenda

1. Review of Fence proposal for 1801 E. Pebble  Path tabled at the last meeting.     

      2. Vote on request to return $1000 road deposit for 1990 W. Barefoot Pl. now that the house is finished.

Minutes – SIA open Board meeting Saturday, May 30, 2026 at 10am in the driveway at 1991 W. Barefoot Pl.

Attending: President Flax by phone Facetime on speaker, VP Finn, Sec. /Treas. Lehnhardt, Board members Melchiori and Garrard. Members Beth Darragh, Renee Hall, Andy Dlugosz, Dave Wolfram and Diane and Ed Seemann.

The meeting was called to order at 10am.

SIA Board meeting Agenda items

1. Finance update – with 2/3rds of the year gone we have spent about 1/2 of the annual budget and have a balance of $66,134.86 in our reserve and operating account. We have spent only $4000 of the $10,000 budgeted from the reserve account for E. Shell Stair repairs and none of the $10,000 budgeted for the SIA perimeter fence repairs.

2. Fence proposal from 1801 E. Pebble Path – the discussion raised concerns about the reason for the fence and the oddity that the request was generated by the renter. There was much discussion on whether these questions regarding the purpose of the fenced mattered if the submission. The submission, after several tries, eventually was the document to be submitted to the County for permitting with the owners signature. It met the current SIA ARC guidelines and was recommended to the Board for approval. Approval was tabled until further clarification could be attained from the owner on whether the fence was to be permanent and who would oversee installation.

NOTE – the owner was contacted by the President right after the meeting and he said the fence was for the renters dogs and would be removed after the end of the rental.

Opinions were also expressed that the ARC current guidelines, revised in 2011 with a few amendments since, based on the original founding documents from 1960, were not specific enough and did not sufficiently reflect esthetic concerns for preserving the jungle like environment the neighborhood is famous for or the cottage-like construction.  There was expressed concern that the ARC and Board were not pushing back enough on submissions. It was pointed out that virtually every project built within the SIA in the last several years has had significant pushback from the ARC and Board, with requirements that projects be modified significantly or denying them from being built.

The concern for conservation of the neighborhood look and feel was acknowledged, but it was pointed out that many of the houses in the SIA are older bungalows. Many were damaged in the 2004 hurricanes and replaced with new houses. At some point in the near future, many of the older homes will be purchased and torn down. The new housed built on these lots will not be the old bungalows from the 1960’s. Change is inevitable.

It was agreed that a review of the ARC Guidelines was probably appropriate at this time. They were last fully amended in 2011 with a few additions since then. Several attendees committed to being on a committee to review and propose revisions to the ARC GuIdelines. This has been proposed in recent years but never accomplished. Renee Hall offered to chair the committee. John Finn offered to be the Board representative for the group.  Beth Darragh offered to serve and it was suggested that the three ARC committee members, Andy Dlugosz, Steve Melchiori and Lil Fox also participate as they know the issues well. Walter Garrard had been part of the last review in 2011 and he suggested that the committee be 7 people including the Board representative, so that there was a tie-breaker for votes of dispute. We will look for an additional member.

The task will be to deliver to the SIA Board, by August 15, 2026, for its review, a revised ARC Guideline document. The Board will review the document and vote on approving it for distribution to the members for a vote at the annal meeting Nov. 14, 2026. The letter with the revised Guidelines and board election info must go out by September 30, 2026, which is 45 days prior to the annual meeting on Nov. 14.

3. Extended renter stay request from 1801 E. Pebble path – the owners have rented the house out for two months already this year from 1-8-26 to 3-8-26. They have a renter from the area who’s started renting 5-1-26 and wants to rent continually through to June 2027 as their house is being renovated.  The renter indicated that they have a home in the Carolinas they can go to if the rental extension is not approved.

The original SIA Declarations limits rentals to six months of the year per property. There have been a couple exceptions made in recent years for significant external circumstances. In one, the renters had stayed 6 months while waiting for their new home to be completed and a hurricane delayed completion by two months. A two month extension was granted. In the other, a renter had their houses in both North Carolina and Vero damaged in the same year by consecutive hurricanes and an extension of two months was allowed until the person could find another alternative.

It was moved and seconded not to approve the extension for the rental at 1801 E. Pebble Path beyond six months for this year. The rental will need to end Sept. 1 2026 for this year, when the six month limit is reached, but can start again Jan. 1, 2027 through May 31, 2027. The motion was passed unanimously.

4. Road repairs update  – a sample of the proposed crushed, washed coral stone was provided by the road contractor as the surface coat for all five roads as stated in the original contract signed in August 2025. The contractor has agreed to provide 2 inches of the material on each road, wet down and rolled for no additional cost to the association. Steve Melchiori vouches for the material as he consulted with another contractor he has worked with in the past who strongly supports this material.

Great concern was expressed by attendees that this contractor has delayed work for almost 9 months, appears to have limited ability or desire to complete the job, and was paid for completion of the job before it was in fact completed. It was proposed that this contractor not be allowed to finish the job. However, it was argued that the contractor will do this work at no additional cost. He is still under contract and SIA has nothing to lose in allowing this to move forward. If the contractor comes through, great. If not, we are no worse off than we are now and we can look at other options.

After much debate, it was moved and seconded that the material and installation be approved but that SIA would estimate the amount of material needed, confirm with the contractor that this amount of material and method of installation would be done (Steve Melchiori agreed to get the estimates), and that the contractor be present for the installation and an SIA Board member would oversee the entire project. The motion was passed unanimously.

5. Request for coral stone around E. Shell cul de sac costs + removing posts – there is no cost to this job as it will be included in the road work by the contractor.

However, this sparked a discussion of how the cul de sac planted areas are managed.  In general, historically, the cul de sac plantings and wood containment were put in by residents of the cul de sacs and managed by the residents of the cul de sacs and were not actually managed by the association, except for annual trimming and maybe periodic mowing. A desire was expressed to revisit this and add some design features to increase beautification of the plantings. The E. Barefoot Pl cul de sac is under court order for a different management and would not be included in this discussion.The planted areas are on common SIA ground and maybe SIA should be more active in their management. It was decided to include a discussion of this topic at the annual meeting to determine member interest in this.

6. Delinquent dues for one member – one member is currently delinquent in the 2026 dues. There are extenuating circumstances around this as the owner of record in not currently in residence and future ownership is in dispute in divorce court. It was decided to take the next appropriate legal step which is formal notification of the owner of record by letter from stating payment is due within 30 days or the association will move to take a lien on the house.

7. SIA Fence repairs and trimming – update on bids – have two bids only and are awaiting a third bid before moving forward. Action was tabled until the next meeting

8. June Mailing to all members – need nominating chair and committee appointed. The task of the Nominating committee is to come up with a slate of names for the ballot for the annual Board election, vetting each nominee to determine that they meet the bylaws definition of eligibility. Ed Seemann, who has dutifully chaired the committee for 8 years, asked if someone else could take over. It is a difficult job because there is very little interest in being a board member. Ed said he has had only one person from outside the board come to him with interest and only one other person was recruited by his committee in those 8 years. Given that, one of the hard parts of the job was then convincing current board members to run again.

Since all current board members were present at the meeting, we were able to get commitments from each that they would stand for re-election for next year. With that commitment we were able to convince Ed to be our Nominating Committee Chair for another year. Renee Hall volunteered to become a member of the committee representing E. Barefoot Pl., replacing Jean Etzel, who passed away last year. We will approach each of the other members of the committee from the last few years to see if they will represent their streets on the committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:45am

submitted by John Lehnhardt, Sec./Treas.