SUMMERPLACE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION, INC
Minutes of Annual Meeting November 13, 2021
The annual meeting of the Summerplace Improvement Association, Inc. took place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 13, 2021, at the home of Steve and Holly Melchiori, 1995 W. Barefoot Place.
1. Call to Order: The 2021 SIA annual meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m. by SIA Inc. President John Lehnhardt who welcomed those SIA members present. John thanked Steve and Holly Melchiori for providing the venue for the meeting; and Patty Garrard and Kathy Lehnhardt for the refreshments.
Next, John recognized the Board members Mary Beasman, Walter Garrard and Steve Melchiori joining him at the meeting and Board member Bart Heikes who was not present.
New SIA Members 2021: John advised it was a busy year for home sales within SIA , with eight properties changing hands, plus two homes and two lots currently up for sale. New SIA residents include:
Dave and Anne Mitchell – 1841 E. Shell Lane, from Chapel Hill, N.C. – they have recently relocated to Alabama and the house is on the market
Martin Harry – 1861 E. Shell Lane lot, from Austin, Texas – will be building a new house and become a full-time resident once he retires in a couple years.
Denise and Galvarino Pinto – 1905 W. Shell lot – from Easton, P.A. – will build a retirement home on the lot sometime in the future.
Robert and Carol Burchett – 1970 W. Shell Lane – purchased as a guest house for friends and family. They have a primary home on Spring Place just north of Summerplace and another home in upstate NY.
Alex Collazo – 1981 W. Shell Lane – from Orlando – will build a retirement home in the next two years with plans of becoming a full-time resident in 2023.
Krista and Doug Stanford – 1820 E. Barefoot Pl. – from the Orlando area and are full-time SIA residents
Emilie Peters – 1971 W. Barefoot Pl. – from Ft. Lauderdale – eventual full-time resident.
Dr. Janice Downey – 1860 E. Pebble Path – relocated from Kansas this year and has been renting in Oceanaire Heights- now full-time SIA resident
Additionally, John noted this year we said goodbye to SIA residents Ronnie and Sharon Lawn and Haidee and Porter Williams. Porter Williams passed away earlier this year.
John indicated the following properties are currently for sale within SIA:
Homes:
1840 E. Shell Lane – Barbra Hickey passed away in 2020 and the estate was finally settled recently.
1841 E. Shell Lane – the Mitchells moved to Alabama
Lots:
1 1/2 lots at 1931-41 W. Barfoot Pl.
1991 W. Shell Lane
2. Calling of the Roll: Secretary Mary Beasman called the roll and announced a quorum to be present, either in person or by proxy, advising all proxies were certified for voting.
3. Proof of notice of meeting: The notarized Proof of Notice of the Meeting was presented to President John Lehnhardt by Secretary Mary Beasman.
4. Report of Officers:
a. 2020 financial report: Income and Expense Statements: John Lehnhardt
Treasurer – SIA 2020-21 Financial Statements: John reviewed the following:
Additional expenses since September 30, 2021, and the close of the SIA fiscal year on October 31, 2021, included the regular trimming twice a month along sidewalk along A1A and the SIA streets, plus a second trimmings of our common areas. John explained that due to the amount of landscape growth this year, it was necessary to do a second annual trimming in October as the usual annual trimming was not sufficient. He advised a third trimming may be necessary in November following the rainy season and the end of hurricane season.
Maintenance:
In-house Maintenance: John advised most SIA maintenance work is done in-house and expenditures for this are minimal. The exceptions are the major projects requiring heavy equipment and/or specialized expertise such as the beach stair repairs, annual road maintenance, monthly landscaping/mowing and the annual trimming, which was just completed – more about these in the proposes 2021-22 budget.
Repairs to E. Shell Beach Stairs: During the previous fiscal year, repairs were done on the E. Shell stairs to replace the posts on the stair runners. A newer gate, donated by Bob Acevedo of 1800 E. Shell, was installed the first of October with SIA volunteer labor. Thanks to Andy Dlogosz for his assistance in this project and his cleaning of the gate to make it look like new. The current status of the E. Shell stairs will be discussed in new business.
E. Shell Lane Grading: significant drainage issues on the E. Shell Lane cul-de-sac were addressed by regrading projects and the runoff problem onto certain properties was improved. New larger gravel spread on erosion areas of the E. Shell cul de sac appears to be working. John expressed thanks to the Cyrs for putting down 3 yards of shell in front of their house at 1881 E. Shell. It also appears to be helping the runoff situation.
Parking Signs: 15 new permanent, metal parking regulatory signs were placed at all SIA street entries and cul de sacs
SIA liability insurance: John indicated the cost of SIA Insurance coverage has remained consistent during the course of the current lawsuit against SIA by a property owner in SIA.
SIA Limited Voluntary Deferred Account: John cited the approval of this account in 2015, and the importance of this in covering capital expenses such as repairing the beach stairs and dealing with unanticipated expenses, etc. without levying an assessment on SIA members. Thank you to the membership for their approval and support of this fund. More on the importance of this fund under New Business
SIA 2021-2022 Proposed Budget
The SIA 2021-2022 proposed budget is based on the expenses incurred during 2021
Additionally, this proposed budget includes the following:
– Estimated expense for road grading not done in FY2021 and additional efforts to control erosion on E. Shell.
– Costs for repair to E. Shell stairs, but with the high tide and NE wind damage to these beach stairs in the past week, the cost of repairing them or possibly replacing them has increased – to be discuss this under New Business
– Legal Expenses: upcoming non-legal expenses. The lawsuit will be discussed under Old Business
– The DEP requires maintenance of the seawall every 5 years. The SIA portion of seawall from E Pebble south to E. Shell is the responsibility of the SIA members who own property on along the seawall, plus SIA is responsible for the 6 feet of SIA common property behind each of our three beach stairs along the seawall, totaling 18 feet.
Following a short discussion, a motion was made and seconded to approval the proposed 2021-2022 SIA budget. The budget was approved in a unanimous vote
SIA 2022 Annual Dues
John advised the 2022 annual dues remain at $300 per property – the same as the previous five years. The annual dues payable by January 1, 2022. Late fees apply to dues received after this date
An invoice for the SIA 2022 annual dues is in Section II of the annual mailing sent to all SIA members in mid-October.
John thanked the approximately one-third of SIA members who have already paid their 2022 dues.
b. Presidents’ Report
SIA Website (Summerplaceflorida.com)
John reminded SIA members when there is a new posting on the SIA website, an email notification of the posting is sent to each individual SIA member who has registered on the SIA website. All documents, rules, meeting minutes, mailings and new postings are on the SIA website. The SIA website is the most efficient means of providing information SIA members.
To receive notice of any new information posted on the SIA website, SIA members can simply go to the website @www. Summerplaceflorid.com and register their email. All email addresses registered on the website are protected and are not shared.
Currently 30 SIA members are signed up to receive notice of new postings on the SIA website. John provided a signup list for any additional SIA members at the meeting who wished receive alerts of new posting on the SIA website. Those SIA members not at the meeting may contact John to be added to the posting notification
New postings on the SIA website are available as well on the SIA community bulletin board, centrally located at the A1A end of E. Barefoot, on the south side of the street, safely set back from the street.
Update on the lawsuit against SIA
John advised the lawsuit filed against SIA, the Board and several individual SIA members in November 2014 by an SIA member remains in litigation. In January 2015, following the filing of this lawsuit against SIA. our insurance has provided SIA with legal representation through our liability coverage. Our insurance company continues to cover the costs of our legal representation in this lawsuit without raising the annual cost of our insurance coverage.The courts were moving very slowly on this matter prior to COVID-19. COVID closed Florida courts for 6 months, causing a significant backlog of pending cases. Once the courts reopened, the lawsuit against SIA has moved forward in preparing to go to court.
This preparation has included numerous depositions of current and former SIA board members, as well as our attorneys taking depositions from the other side and culling and organizing 9 years of information (and counting) in preparation to go to court.
The SIA lawsuit was most recently scheduled to go to court in September (2021), but this has been moved to March 2022 by order of the Chief Judge for our region who mandated all court cases scheduled for 5 days or less in court had to take precedent and be heard by March 2022 to clear out the backlog of these court cases. This case is scheduled for 8 days, now sometime in March 2022.
Mary Beasman is our legal liaison with our insurance company and our attorneys representing SIA in this lawsuit.
On the advice of our legal counsel, the individual defendants in the lawsuit are advised to refrain from discussing the details of the lawsuit. Our defense attorneys continue to strongly caution these individuals as well as all SIA members to avoid any contact and/or communication with the plaintiff or any workers at his residence, other than a return of hello, if appropriate. There are two important reasons for this: one is to prevent you from being threatened with or becoming engaged in a lawsuit with the plaintiff, and secondly to protect the integrity of our legal case already in process.
IMPORTANT: Please be aware any individual actions by SIA members against the plaintiff that are not approved by the SIA Board will NOT be covered by our SIA liability insurance.
5. Committee Reports
a. Architectural Review Committee
John discussed the following projects the ARC reviewed and recommended to the Board for approval:
– A house addition at 1881 E. Shell
– The installation of solar panels at 1991 W. Barefoot
– The addition of a new fence at 1800 E. Shell
– A new shed was erected at 1961W. Shell
New proposed ARC guidelines will be presented under New Business.
b. Nominating Committee
Ed Seeman, chair of the Nominating Committee thanked the members of the committee for their service
Ed recognized the current Board members for their service and their willingness to be on the ballot as candidates for the 2022 Board
6. Old Business
a. Fence for the E. Pebble Path beach access
John advised the Board has approved the installation of a fence for the E. Pebble beach access to address the issue of trespassing by non-SIA renters on W. Pebble Path. This project has been held up by the difficulty in securing a survey that is necessary for the County to approve a permit for the fence, as surveyors are currently backed up with jobs for the next several months. Once a survey is completed, the Board will move forward with hiring a contractor to install the fence
b. There was no further old business
7. New Business
a. Proposed Additional ARC guidelines
John presented the following proposed additional ARC guidelines based on recent issues considered by the ARC and the Board.
Hot Tubs: Exterior hot tub installations require ARC review and SIA Board approval.
Alternative Energy Sources: All permanent alternative energy additions to any structure must be reviewed by the ARC and approved by the SIA Board. These include solar panels, wind electrical generators or propane/gas generators intended to power any part of the home as a permanent installation. Temporary portable generators used during power outages do not require ARC or SOIA Board review or approval
Exterior Appearance: To maintain the original intent of a cottage appearance, all houses must have an exterior finish of wood or wood-like texture on approximately 50% of the surface area of the primary street facing side.
Following discussion, each proposed additional ARC guideline was voted on by the SIA members present and approved unanimously.
b. Installation of pavers at 1910. W. Shell
John reviewed the plans for proposed pavers at 1910 W. Shell. These plans were unanimously approved by a vote of the Board.
c. Nominations to the ARC
John recommended the following nominees to serve on the ARC: Lil Fox, Steve Melchiori and Andy Dlugosz. A motion was made and seconded to approve these nominations to the ARC. The SIA members presented vote unanimously to approve these appointments. Following the vote, John encourage anyone interested in being on the ARC, or another SIA committee, to contact him.
d. Replacing E. Shell beach stairs:
John provided an overview of the repairs to the E. Shell beach due to damage from sustained high tides and strong winds from various storms over the previous two years. The major repair consisted of new pilings in 2019 to support the stairs. With the new pilings the E. Shell beach stairs were usable until the most recent Nor’easterner. As a result of this storm. the pilings are now either gone or undermined, the steps are unusable and the railings were lost in this storm. Discussion followed regarding the current design of the E. Shell stairs and whether a design similar to that of the E. Barefoot beach stairs would be a better option. However, a new design for the E. Shell stairs would take a significant amount of time and involve an engineer, a surveyor and a contactor to provide the design details and drawing with the additional information necessary for a permit from the County.
John summarized two possible options to address the on-going issues with the E. Shell beach stairs:
A short-term option would add new pilings and railings and repair the E. Shell steps. This work would not require a new permit. Pending the hiring of a contractor and securing materials this project would likely take 3 to 4 months to complete.
A new design for the E. Shell beach stairs would require 3-4 months along to complete. if we can even find an engineer, surveyor and contractor who have the time to take on this job. A guess is it could take up to a year to re-design and construct new beach stairs for E. Shell. John advised the cost of new E. Shell beach stairs would be covered by the SIA Limited Voluntary Deferred Account.
After additional discussion, a motion was made and seconded to repair the current E. Shell beach stairs, while at the same time move forward with securing proposals for a new design to eventually replace the current E. Shell stairs. The motion was approved unanimously in a vote by those present. John will begin securing bids to repair the stairs and then, move forward with planning to replace the current E. Shell beach stairs.
e. Easement at 1800 E. Shell
John explained Bob Acevedo, property owner of 1800 E. Shell Lane, had contacted him regarding proposed landscaping plans for the property, including the addition of a privacy fence along a portion of the property line between 1800 E. Shell and the SIA E. Shell beach access. Bob had provided a survey of the area for the proposed fence that indicated the SIA E. Shell beach access boardwalk intrudes approximately 18 inches onto the 1800 E. Shell property. John reviewed this survey and a 2006 survey of this area which confirmed the finding of the current survey. Bob indicated he did not have an issue with the SIA boardwalk intrusion and would be willing to deed this area to SIA through an easement.
John described the process for SIA to secure this easement, including hiring an attorney to handle the legal aspects. especially recording the easement with the County to ensure it is recoded for perpetuity. There was consensus among the SIA members present as to securing this easement. On behalf of SIA, John expressed thanks to Bob and Theresa for their willingness to deed this area to SIA.
f. Counting of the ballots for the 2020 SIA Board of Directors
Mary Beasman recruited three SIA members present to open the ballot envelopes and count the ballots. John invited all those attending the meeting to enjoy refreshments available during the counting of ballots.
The result of the voting for the 2020 SIA Board of Directors was announced with John Lehnhardt, Mary Beasman, Walter Garrard, Bart Heikes and Steve Melichori returning to the Board for the upcoming year. John advised the newly elected Board would adjourn for an administrative executive meeting following the annual meeting.
8. Adjournment
With no further business, a motion was made and seconded and approved to adjourn the 2021 SIA annual meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Beasman, Secretary SIA, Inc