SUMMERPLACE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION, INC.
ANNUAL MEETING
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2024, 10:00AM
1995 W. BAREFOOT PL.
Minutes
The SIA Annual meeting was called to order at 10:11am. There were no new members present at the meeting. Board members present: John Lehnhardt – President /Treasurer, Steve Melchiori – Vice President, Michael Flax – Secretary, Walter Garrard. Matt Quickel resigned from the Board August 28.
Secretary Michael Flax called the roll. There were 25 members present in person along with 12 members present by Proxy with members who were present. This meets the quorum standard for the state requirement of 30%, which would be 21 members, or 50%, which would be 35 of the 69 members, as stated in our bylaws. Proof of notification and the proxies are filed and will be saved.
Report of Officers:
Finances and Maintenance
2024 financial report and 2024-25 budget and dues – President John Lehnhardt reported that the current year budget came in under budget by just over $10,000. Our Reserve fund is now at $86,000. This does not include funding for next years budget from 2025 dues, which we project at an additional $22,200 at $300 per lot. We had budgeted $20K from the reserve fund to do stair repair but ended up doing the work in house for $2600 in materials and free volunteer labor. Thanks to Chuck Pickard Jr and Dean Etzel for their assistance.
We did not redo the roads this year due to lack of materials that we like and people we trust to do it. We hope to do this in the new year and want to dedicate $20,000 to this effort from the Reserve fund.
The stairs at Barefoot and Shell were damaged by hurricane Milton backlash. Since the county declined the emergency permits, we must submit new engineering drawings for both stairs and submit for the permit through a licensed commercial contractor. The FDEP restricted any work on the beach until Nov. 1 at the end of turtle nesting season. Hence we want to add $20,000 in potential funds from the Reserve to hire folks to do the stair work. Several members said they had potential contractors and would forward the information to the board.
A motion was made and seconded to accept the new budget proposal with the two $20K Reserve fund designations for roads and stairs and the dues of $300. The motion passed without dissent.
Architectural Review Committee
The ARC had the Dean house and pool at 1941 W. Barefoot to review this year and required significant revisions to allow for water retention and tree preservation. The house is currently under construction.
A request to build a prefabricated metal garage was rejected by the ARC due to both aesthetic and material use concerns. The proposed materials did not match the house or the other construction in the neighborhood. This generated the request from the ARC for a revision of the guidelines to add “Metal cladding or siding are prohibited. Metal and steel structures and garages are prohibited.”
This generated significant discussion regarding definitions of cladding, metal roofs, and concerns over whether sheds were included in this. Sheds do require approval by the ARC and are permitted by the County once they reach a certain size. It was commented that future design developments in metal structures and external appearances might eliminate this concern. If an entire new structure were consistent in appearance, rather than look like an add-on that does not match, it might be acceptable. Currently, metal structures look more like commercial buildings than residential structures. In this current instance, the amount of information provided was insufficient to meet our current guidelines. Questions were also raised regarding metal pool enclosures and whether they would be excluded.
It was decided that the wording of the proposed addition to the ARC Guidelines needed more work than could be done in the annual meeting. Since the ARC Guidelines are up for review as a whole this year, this clause will be discussed within the review process and brought to the membership next year for a consideration. No vote was taken and this was referred to committee.
Lil Fox, Andy Dlugosz and Steve Melchiori were nominated by the President to continue as ARC members. A motion was made and seconded to approve these nominations. The motion passed without dissent.
Nominating Committee
Committee chair Ed Seemann thanked his committee for their work finding new people to run for the Board. As a result of their efforts two new Board members have joined in the last two years. There are now board members from four of the five streets.
New Business
There were concerns raised about the current trimming and mowing contract and whether weeds along the edges of the roads and around the cul de sac planters were being cut or sprayed. There was also concern over trimming of over-hanging vegetation along the pathways to the beach. One member raised concerns that the neighbors plants were growing over the path to his property. Some people expressed they like that and others want it trimmed. There is no standard by which we maintain the beach path overhangs and they are not managed on a regular basis by our mowing contractor. This is the same with the interior of the cul de sac plantings. They are trimmed or cleaned up when we do the twice annual road trimming and will be addressed in the next trimming. Any plants that grow onto your yard from any neighbor can be trimmed by you up to your property line.
One of the conflicts we face as a neighborhood its that people want different looks for the common areas, even folks who are neighbors. The Board has final say on the common areas and their appearance, i.e. the roads, walkways to the beach and the stairs. If neighbors can get together and reach an agreement on what they want to see in these areas then the Board would be glad to consider these suggestions.
The Board will review the current contract with our mower and determine if we want to extend that to regular trimming and cleanup of the cul de sac plantings and the beach walkways. A motion was made and seconded to renegotiate the mowing contract with the current provider. The motion passed without dissent.
The post office asked Michael Flax to have the residents cut back their vegetation around their mailboxes to make delivery easier. We will ask our mower contractor to trim when he does the semi annual trimming along the roads.
Michael Flax asked that we develop a sign system to place in cars coming up to the beach crossovers that indicate the people are associated with Summerplace, especially E. Shell which gets a lot of overflow from Wabasso Beach. It was discussed that the towing signs should be a deterrent and they can be but towing requires a board member to call it in and be present when the tow truck arrives. It has been effective but doesn’t solve this particular concern. It was decided to just print up something like a colored piece of paper for folks to put on their dashboards.
Patty Garrard remembered Chuck Pickard, who passed away last week at 99 years of age. His Obituary appeared on our website. He lived in the community for over fifty years. and was a community stalwart, serving over 25 years on the board and doing maintenance in SIA well into his nineties. Many stories were shared regarding things Chuck did for the community and individuals. He was a remarkable man and will be missed. It was suggested that a memorial be developed in SIA in honor of his years of service to the community, maybe something with his initials carved in wood. The Board will look into this and discuss it with his wife Loraine and son Chuck Jr.
A concern was raised about the Commercial buildings lack of compliance with county ordinance on the area behind his property facing W. Shell in terms of vegetative screening. The county requires a 4ft high wall or vegetative screen. The board will contact him and see if he can come into compliance.
A concern was raised over clearing and maintaining the vacant lots in SIA. Five of the seven vacant lots have been cleared recently and all have been contacted by letter to do clearing. Two owners have not responded. It was suggested that guidelines for regular lot maintenance be incorporated into the governing documents in some way. The Board will look into this and possible have it added to the ARC Guidelines review we plan to do this year.
Counting of the ballots for the 2025 SIA Board of Directors and announcement of election results.
John Finn, Michael Flax, Walter Garrard, John Lehnhardt and Steve Melchiori were all elected by secret ballot to the Board for the next year, beginning immediately.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:28pm.
Many thanks to the refreshment committee of Kathy Lehnhardt, Ann Seemann, Billie Thompson, Patty Garrard and Roseanne Dlugosz for providing a great light lunch and snacks.
Thanks to the Steve and Holly Melchiori once again for letting us hold our meeting in their driveway.
SIA Executive Meeting – 12pm 11-9-24
The new Board held an organizational Executive Board Meeting immediately following the annual meeting. The following officers and responsibilities were established for the next year.
President – Michael Flax – Michael will be the first call for concerns from SIA members and will chair the Architectural Review Committee
Contact information: – email: mflaxendo@aol.com, phone 561-843-3456
Vice President – John Finn – John will take over Maintenance and will be point person for the repair of the damaged stairs.
Contact information – email: birdmanbjj@gmail.com, phone 718-490-3868
Secretary/Treasurer – John Lehnhardt – John will be the contact for address changes, records requests, and dues payments or questions. He will manage the accounts, produce meeting minutes, coordinate mailings and manage the SIA website.
Contact information – email: johnlehnhardt1@gmail.com, phone 407-376-2017