What: Open SIA Board Meeting
When: Saturday September 5, 2026 at 9:00am
Where: 1881 E. Barefoot Pl. in the Driveway
Agenda
Review of Architectural Guidelines Revision Committee Draft Recommendations
All SIA members are welcome to attend. Bring your own chair!
What: Open Board Meeting
When: Saturday August 22, 2026 1:30pm
Where: 1991 W. Barefoot Pl. in the Driveway
Agenda
Review of fencing proposal for 1861 E. Barefoot Pl. and Board vote on the recommendation from the ARC.
Minutes
Attending:
Board members: Flax, Finn, Lehnhardt, Melchiori and Garrard.
SIA Members: Jim Chalkley, Ron and Tammy Lowe, Dave and Diane Wolfram, Denise and David Kneiss, Ann and Ed Seemann, Doug Stanford
Meeting was called to order at 1:32pm
Discussion:
The Kneisses of 1861 E. Barefoot Pl. submitted a fence plan to the ARC for a five foot high wooden privacy fence around their back yard pool and extending to within 5 feet of the road at the west side of the house on the property line. An original partial fence installation was done on this property without ARC or Board approval and was removed at the Board request. The ARC approved the fence plan with modification that the extension toward the road not extend beyond the front edge of the house structure.
There was much discussion around the denial of the fence extending to within five feet of the road on the East side.
State Law 720 – 26, the law governing HOAs, states that:
720.3035 Architectural control covenants; parcel owner improvements; rights and privileges.—
(1)(a) The authority of an association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of an association to review and approve plans and specifications for the location, size, type, or appearance of any structure or other improvement on a parcel, or to enforce standards for the external appearance of any structure or improvement located on a parcel, shall be permitted only to the extent that the authority is specifically stated or reasonably inferred as to such location, size, type, or appearance in the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.
(4)a If the association or any architectural, construction improvement, or other such similar committee of the association denies a parcel owner’s request or application for the construction of a structure or other improvement on a parcel, the association or committee must provide written notice to the parcel owner stating with specificity the rule or covenant on which the association or committee relied when denying the request or application and the specific aspect or part of the proposed improvement that does not conform to such rule or covenant.
In other words, you have to specify the reason for refusal of a structural addition and that reason has to be stated or inferred in the Governing documents.
It was stated by several folks that there was a mention somewhere in the original governing documents that no fence should extend beyond the front of a house. We were unable to verify this at the time of the meeting or in reviewing the governing documents afterwards.
720.3035 also states:
“An association or any architectural, construction improvement, or similar committee of an association must reasonably and equitably apply and enforce on all parcel owners the architectural and construction improvement standards authorized by the declaration of covenants or other published guidelines and standards authorized by the declaration of covenants.”
It was also pointed out that there are many fences within the association that extend beyond the front of the house and even some that go all the way across the front of the property.
In our AMENDMENT TO DECLARATION OF RESTRICTIONS, LIMITATIONS, CONDITIONS AND AGREEMENTS from 1982 it states:
“The Architectural Review Committee shall have the right to refuse to approve any such plans and/or specifications which are not suitable or desirable, in its opinions, for aesthetic or other reasons, and in so passing upon such plans, the Committee shall have the right to take into consideration the suitability of the proposed structure or improvement, and of the material of which it is to be built, to the site, the harmony thereof with the surroundings and the effect of the proposed structure of other improvement on the outlook from the adjacent or neighboring property.”
The aspect of aesthetic suitability was mentioned in the discussion but was not posed as a reason for denial by the ARC. The fence will not be highly visible from the road and can be screened by plantings from the neighbors side.
It was stated by the Kneisses that they were informed that the fence could only be 5’ high. They prefer a 6’ fence for privacy. A review of the Governing documents and Guidelines did not come up with a 5’ limitation. Some fences, including the SIA exterior fence are 6 ft high and that its one of the standard sizes readily available in building materials.
It was eventually moved and seconded that the original fence proposal submitted by the Kneisses, including the extension of the fence within 5’ of the road, and allowing for the fence to be 6’ high be approved. The board voted 4 to 1 in favor of the motion, with Vice President Finn casting the opposing vote.
A further topic of discussion was centered on how decisions are made for the Association and how much input members have in decisions.
Our SIA-HOA system is technically modeled after the US Governmental structure as a Democratic Republic. Members elect their representatives, the SIA Board, to make the decisions for the Association, just like US Citizens elect their local, State and Federal representatives. Members can lobby with the Board to influence decisions, but The Board of Directors has decision making power for the Association in all matters per our Governing Documents, except in specific areas. Members must vote and approve all amendments to our Governing Documents and our Architectural Guidelines by majority vote at our annual meetings or by ballot by mail. The Board cannot make changes in those Governing Documents without member approval.
The SIA Board is elected every year by vote of the members.
The Board has appointed a committee to draft a revised proposal for amending the current ARC Guidelines. The committee will present the draft proposal to the Board for review and the Board will decide what then goes to the Members for vote at the annual meeting. This approved ARC Guidelines proposal will be sent out to the Members at the end of September with the Board election ballot.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 pm.
Open Board Meeting – Saturday August 22, 2026 1:30pm at 1991 W. Barefoot Pl. in the Driveway
Agenda
Review of fencing proposal for 1861 E. Barefoot Pl. and Board vote on the recommendation from the ARC.
The deadline for nominations for the SIA Board of Directors closes August 15. If you nominate yourself or someone else nominates you, you must confirm that nomination with the Nominating committee by the 15th of this month and fill out the Candidate Information Form, which can be found on this website under Mailings/June 2026/ Candidate Information Form.
Nominating Committee Chair Ed Seemann’s letter that was sent out in June is copied below for eligibility requirements and contact information.
Summerplace Improvement Association
P.O. Box 700160
Wabasso FL 32970-0160
To: SIA Members
From: Ed Seemann, Nominating Committee Chair
Date: June 2026
Re: 2026-7 Nominating Process for SIA Board of Directors &
Call for Nominations
Each November, the SIA membership elects a Board of Directors to represent them on matters concerning the Summerplace community. This year’s meeting and election of members of the SIA Board of Directors will be Saturday, November 14, 2026.
I have been asked to chair the Nominating Committee for the SIA Board of Directors for 2026-7. I will serve alongside committee members, Carol Glade, Jean Cyr , Renee Hall and Roseann Dlugozs.
All members of the association are eligible to serve on the board of directors, and a member may nominate himself or herself as a candidate for the board with the following exceptions:
I encourage SIA members to contact me, or any member of the Nominating Committee, if they would like to serve on the Board or nominate a neighbor. Additionally, each nominee for the SIA Board should complete the Candidate Information Form printed on the back of this letter and submit this to the Nominating Committee for consideration of their candidacy.
Nominations and completed Candidate Information Forms should be sent to the committee no later than August 15, 2026.
On September 15, 2026, the Nominating Committee will submit a slate of eligible names for this year’s voting ballot. We encourage your participation and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thank you and we hope to hear from you with nominations.
**** Best Way to Reach Nominating Committee Members ****
Ed Seemann phone: 404-276-7897, or edseemann@bellsouth.net
Carol Glade phone: 772-589-5983, or PRGlade@att.net
Jean Cyr phone: 860-455-8262, or jecandcfe@gmail.com
Roseanne Dlugosz phone: 973-727-8379, or rmdlugosz@gmail.com
Renee Hall phone: 804-399-5452, or aremach585@gmail.com
(OVER)
Candidate Information Form for Summerplace Improvement Association,
Inc. (SIA) Board of Directors
Please fill out this form for submission to the SIA Nominating Committee for consideration as a candidate for
the SIA Board of Directors. If you meet the qualifications for nomination to the Board of Directors, the information on this form will be included in the ballot distributed to the membership.
Name:
Summerplace Address:
Residence status in Summerplace: Full time: Part time:
Non-Summerplace Address (if applicable):
E-mail:
Telephone Numbers: Home:
Cell or second home:
Years of membership in SIA (how long have you owned a home in Summerplace):
How many SIA Annual Meetings have you attended in the last 5 years?
Have you been involved in any SIA Board directed activities? (examples: a previous board
member, a committee member or volunteered for an SIA work project):
Do you have any previous experience with other (not SIA) Home Owner Association Boards,
committees or work projects? If yes please describe your experience briefly.
Why do you want to become an SIA Board member? Please include goals you would like to
accomplish in a Board of Director’s role:
Please list any other qualifications you would like to include:
Optional Brief Biography (200 words or less): Please include work or personal information you
would like to share with the membership.
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 not 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