Annual SIA Meeting Minutes Nov. 8, 2025
The meeting was called to order at about 10:06am by President Flax. There were no new members present but Eddie and Jonelle Dean, who joined last year but just moved into their new house on W. Barefoot Pl., introduced themselves. They are attending their first meeting.
Calling of the Roll – Secretary Lehnhardt called the roll and member Phil Glade tracked the attendance. 22 members were present in person. We also had 19 signed proxies on hand for members, with 16 proxies held by Secretary Lehnhardt, one by president Flax, one by member Dave Wolfram and one by member Nancy Beeh. Thus a total of 41 members were represented in person or by signed proxy and a quorum requirement of 21 (30% of members represented) was far exceeded.
Submission of proof of notice of meeting and quorum – Proof of meeting notification and quorum was submitted for inclusion in the SIA records.
Report of Officers:
2025 Financial Report – Treas. Lehnhardt
The annual budget was underspent by over $8,815.86 as most items came in under budget and the budgeted contingency was not used.
The $20,000 approved from the Reserve Fund at the 2024 annual meeting for stair repairs came in at $18,698.85 for the repairs of E. Barefoot and E. Shell stairs.
The bid for road repairs came at $24,000, over the approved reserve fund allocation of $20,000. The Board met in an open meeting in June and approved the additional funding for the contract.
The end of year balance in the operating and reserve fund totaled $58,984.86.
2025-26 Budget and Dues – Treas. Lehnhardt
The proposed budget for 2026 was presented with dues staying the same at $300 per single lot. An additional item was added to the budget for repair of the SIA perimeter fence at 1990 W. Barefoot Pl. The budget remains the same as the proposed income for next year from dues at $22,200. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to accept the proposed budget.
2025 Updates – President Flax
Yard Waste Pickup – President Flax had several discussions with Waste Management and County officials regarding the new yard waste removal program limiting yard waste bins to one per household unless you rent an additional bin for $100 initial fee and $10 a month. They will supposedly only pick up yard waste in the designated orange top bin, however some days they pick up more, others they don’t. All waste pickup is now paid for in your real estate taxes, which started October 1 this year. Our neighborhood has significantly more weekly yard waste compared to other neighborhoods and the new system seems unfair. SIA hired our landscaper contractor to pick up extra yard waste for the month of October on a weekly basis for $630 for the month, until we could discuss this issue at the annual meeting. This added cost is not in the 2026 budget if it were to be continued for the new fiscal year beyond Nov. 1. The question is whether the members feel SIA should continue this kind of support. The response was mixed. People who currently have their own landscapers removing waste felt they should not have their dues pay additionally for others. Others said they would be willing to pay a little more in dues for additional yard waste pickup. Others suggested a less frequent pickup, like once a month. There was no clear consensus. The Board decided to take this information under advisement, see how the yard waste removal goes with the current system and no additional hired pickup, check into some pricing options for other approaches and re-address this issue at the next board meeting. For now people will be responsible for their own yard waste removal if they have items above the single bin provided by Waste Management.
For clarification, all yard, home and recycling waste will be picked up on the same day, Friday.
Discussion with DOT on crosswalks for SIA – President Flax spoke with DOT officials on the phone and in person regarding the need for some sort of safety measures for our members crossing A1A. Several other developments have either marked crossing paths or traffic lights. Some places have flag systems for crossing. DOT seemed receptive to the possibility of crossing lanes with crosswalk signs but probably not crossing lights. DOT will review the issue.
Discussion with DOT on flooding on W. Shell – Since the repaving of A1A in front of W. Shell, runoff from heavy rains runs into the yard at 1900 W. Shell. DOT indicated they would come up with a plan for remediation of the issue.
The flooding of the W. Shell cul de sac was also discussed with SIA proposing a drain from the cul de sac to the swale on the north side of SR 510. The DOT representative indicated that the swale elevation was the same as the cul de sac and connecting the two might actually bring more water runoff from SR 510 into the cul de sac, making things worse. The problem remains without a solution.
Committee Reports:
Architectural Review Committee – review of projects for the year – Steve Melchiori
1920 W. Shell – approved plans to move playhouse from 1921 W. Barefoot to the back 1920.
1802 E. Barefoot – requested owner provide an approval note from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for the play structure already built east of the Coastal Construction Control Line – FDEP note received and project approved after the fact.
1930 W. Shell – rejected landscape plan that had already started but overlapped into two neighboring properties. Required the owner to have a survey done showing their property boundaries. Project stopped.
1990 W. Barefoot – initially rejected new house layout plans as it encroached on the 25 minimum setback line and called for the removal of a couple oaks at the front of the property that bordered the SIA owned cul de sac. House layout was adjusted to meet the ARC requests and the building was approved.
1981 W. Shell – solar panels were approved for the rear roofing of the house
1860 E. Barefoot – rejected plans for a motorcycle shelter. The house already has a carport and a simple standard motorcycle tarp covering would be sufficient
1860 E. Pebble Path – approved basic plan for enclosing the lower level to create a garage and office space. Awaiting comments from the County permit office to see if they have any concerns.
Maintenance Committee
Update on the E. Shell steps repair – Steve Melchiori – The E. Shell stairs were damaged by high surf in October. Dockside Builders, who repaired the steps last year, will come out to do repairs now that turtle season ended Oct. 31. Work will commence once the tides are low enough to get in the pilings and a full work day to make the repairs. We do not have a bid yet. It was moved, seconded and approved that $10,000 be allocated from the Reserve Fund to cover the stair repair.
Update on road refurbishing – Ingmar Herrmann/road contractor for the road repairs, attended and answered questions on the project. He indicated the project was not complete, and that additional materials would be added where needed. A comment was made that the old road cover was crushed coquina, but that is difficult to come by today.
Nominating Committee – Ed Seemann thanked the current Board members for agreeing to serve another year term as no others came forward with interest. It would be great to have more folks interested in Board positions in the future.
Proposed Revision to the Architectural Guidelines: The proposed wording was read.
“Any signs, banners or flags displayed on SIA properties must be approved by the ARC and SIA Board if they do not meet the State HOA requirements for size, what they represent and the number displayed and if they exceed SIA Deed restrictions.”
It was explained that state law governing HOAs is amended every year by the State legislature. A few years ago the state added complex flag display rules. The Board felt that in order to make sure SIA was in compliance with the law’s changes it needed a mechanism to deal with these kinds of issues. It seemed to make sense to put this rule into the ARC guidelines.
The rule would apply only moving forward with new displays from the date of ratification by the membership. The Board intent is to bring our ARC Guidelines up to date with State Law and provide a process (ARC Review) for the future.
A motion to approve the ARC Guideline addition as written was made, seconded and unanimously approved by all the attending members.
New business:
It was recommended that the road deposit for construction of 1941 W. Barefoot Pl. be refunded in full as construction is done, heavy truck work over and the owner had regraded the road at Board request. A motion to return of road deposit for 1941 W. Barefoot was moved, seconded and approved unanimously.
The SIA perimeter fence, which not many folks know about, was installed maybe 35 years ago to stop trespassing of folks from surrounding areas. There had been some robbery and vandalism at the time. Generally it was agreed that the fence still has value. The fence needs some repairs and we are awaiting a bid for the work. A motion to allocate an additional $10,000 from the reserve fund for these repairs was moved, seconded and approved unanimously.
Nominations to the Architectural Review Committee – Lil Fox, Andy Dlugosz and Steve Melchiori have been nominated by the Board to serve on the ARC for another year. It was moved, seconded and approved unanimously to accept these nominations.
The Board members nominated to serve for the next year by the Nominating Committee do not need to be re-elected by state law. There were only enough candidates as there were positions available. The nominated members assume their positions for the next year at this meeting.
The Board officers for next year will remain the same: Michael Flax – President, John Finn – Vice President, John Lehnhardt – Sec./Treas., Walter Garrard – Board Member, Steve Melchiori – Board Member
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:42am.