Meeting Minutes for 11/7/2007:

Board Members present: Jerry Murphy, Jay Keyes, Ron Delp, Ray Massieu, Kim Porte, Lisa Cowley, Lois Davis, Anne Garris, Candy Zimmerman, Ellie Holmes, Mara Basic Ross Concklin, and Pat Power

Board Members absent: David Ramos, Bette Failor

Guests: Councilman John Doran (Vice-Mayor), Linda Hamrell (Librarian-Clearwater Beach Branch) Eric Wilson (Clearwater Neighborhood Services) and Doug Heuberger.

MINUTES of the October meeting were accepted and the TREASURERS REPORT was presented and accepted after a brief discussion. Questions were raised regarding the award money from the Clearwater CAN program. It was asked if we had to deposit the money into the Foundation Account. Ron explained that we are committed to spending the money to beautify Triangle Park and to purchase pet litter bags for placement at the beach accesses. It was then agreed that because of this commitment the funds must be deposited in the Foundation Account. The report was then accepted

Membership – Pat Power announced that next year she will not be able to head the Membership Committee due to her other commitments. It was noted that she and her committee had done a fabulous job, nearly doubling membership from the previous year. Pat sent out her “thank you” to Sandy Britton for all her efforts.

Publicity – Lois Davis told us that a post card will be sent to all members as is required in our by-laws announcing the December Annual Meeting/Elections. She also noted that a newspaper add would not run this year as it is too expensive and is not necessary as the post cards will announce both the election of officers and the Winter Holiday Party.

Civic Affairs - Anne Garris proposed that we invite all qualified candidates for Mayor of Clearwater and City Council for a Q & A Evening. A motion to ask Sand Key Civic Assoc., Carlouel Homeowners Assoc., and Island Estates Homeowners Assoc. to join the Clearwater Beach Association for this event was made, seconded and accepted. Suggested sites were the Clearwater Beach Recreation Center, The Sand Key Sailing Club or St. Brendan Catholic Church on Island Estates. Jerry stated we should keep in mind possible conflicts regarding dates for this event between these group’s other meetings. A motion was made, seconded and accepted that funds should be spent to publicize this event and a date and meeting place should be researched.  Mention was also made by Jerry of an upcoming event being planned by these groups for a Town Meeting highlighting Tax Legislation.

Coalition - Ray Massieu announced the Living Green Expo which will be held on May 3-4, 2008. He also mentioned that the Farmers Market wants to move to the park near the downtown Post Office on Cleveland Street. They feel they will get more exposure there. The City has not yet agreed to this. It was also announced that Brite House will be moving Channel 15 to Channel 615. A motion to pay $40 for the annual Coalition dues was made, seconded and accepted.

Ray and John Doran, who also attends the Coalition meetings, briefed us on the discussion of “Hometown Democracy” which took place at the recent meeting. It was mentioned that this plan would slow down big projects and eliminate small projects all together, because if this plan passed any change to the Comprehensive Plan would require a referendum. Anne Garris also reminded us through example that if the City Council decided to rezone the Old Florida District to high rise condominiums, under this plan, they could not do it without a referendum.

Events – Lisa Cowley confirmed the date for the Annual Meeting/Holiday Party as December 1st, to be held at the Recreation Center. Post cards will be sent out by the first of next week. Lisa needs help for set up/clean up/serving and a sign-up sheet was passed with reminders that anyone can volunteer so ask your friends and neighbors! Set up and decorating will be in the morning with her crew returning in the late afternoon for final arrangements.

Caroling - Wednesday, December 19 at Pier 60- Lisa requested not more than $100 be spent on this event and that amount was seconded and accepted. She also requested help with setting up and clean up for this event. Anne Garris will contact the Lindblom family with hopes that they will lead this event for us once more.

Lisa announced that she will need to cut back on the number of events that she oversees next year. Specifically the Neighborhood Day Picnic that takes place in April, as she will be out of town.

Nominating Committee We were reminded that Jay Keyes, Ray Massieu, and Lois Davis will all be completing their second full term. Several people were approached to run and three agreed. Their names are Rosemarie Bonnington, Polly Sullivan, and Patrick Gallager. If elected, their term will begin in 2008.

We were also told that Ellie Holmes intended to resign at the end of 2007, one year before the end of her term and a replacement had been found. Ellie asked to make a statement. Ellie wanted us to know that she did not intend to resign. She was quite upset by the announcement via email to the Board that she had. After five years of service she felt The Board would recognize that had she intended to resign, she would have done so in writing to them, with her own explanation as to her decision. Ellie stated that she was too upset to stay for the remainder of that evening’s meeting.

Discussion followed, with the sentiment that Ellie had not intended to resign. It was decided that Ron Delp would call her to discuss this situation. Several Board members agreed that Ellie did not want to resign and should be encouraged to stay on.

Roundtable Discussion – The first subject was Mrs. Clearwater Beach. Sandy Britton was recently crowned Mrs. Clearwater Beach for her many contributions to our community. The contest was sponsored by local businessman and dentist, Dr Jonathan Bromboz, D.D.S. Inline with her duties to promote Clearwater Beach and Dr. Bromboz, she has agreed to make appearances at local events when invited. She recently attended our 2nd Annual Golf Tournament. She will be attending our Christmas Caroling Event at Pier 60 and will possibly be interviewed on a local radio show.

A motion was made to sponsor her in the upcoming Clearwater Holiday Parade. The motion to spend not more than $200 was made, seconded and accepted. Three convertible automobiles, owned and driven by CBA members will carry Sandy with her tiara and sash!

Neighborhood Watch and its resurrection were brought to the floor by Ray. He has found a volunteer in Mr. Doug Heuberger. Doug was present to introduce himself and share some of his plans. He will be joining CBA and was welcomed enthusiastically! Jerry also proposed that Crime Watch, Membership and a new Welcoming Committee all join forces and work small sections of the neighborhood at a time as a unit.

Ross Concklin announced that the City Council had recently amended city code. Fractional ownerships are not permitted in residential areas of Clearwater. Specifically, no multiple ownership for certain time periods for the same property will be allowed. You can read about this further in the November 8-14, 2007 issue of the Clearwater Gazette.

Ron Delp addressed us regarding our recent CAN Award for $2000. CBA was awarded first Place in the City Managers Category. He reiterated that we won this year’s award for our more than 11,000 total hours of volunteerism per year supporting over 20 organizations throughout our community.

Next year he would like to see us win the Mayors award for $5000. To achieve this we will need to increase attention to our young people and direct our attention to helping and involving our older citizens and increasing awareness and involvement with our new membership. A suggestion was raised to support our military families. An ad hock committee was formed for developing this idea. Sandy Britton, Candy Zimmerman, Jerry Murphy and Ray Massieu will get this ball rolling.

Jay Keyes announced that our share of the 2nd Annual Golf Tournament proceeds will be somewhere between $6,500 and $7,000 when final accounting is complete. He thanked all who helped. It ran quite smoothly and he was pleased with the final outcome considering the state of the economy. A special thanks for all the volunteers who helped to pull this off and to Ron Delp for his tremendous efforts and for keeping us so informed. Jay told us that our funds will be helping to purchase a refrigerated truck by the end of 2007. With last years commitment added to this years earnings we will be contributing in the neighborhood of $14,000 to $15,000. to this project.

Jerry Murphy updated us on the Short Term Rental appeal. Oral argument will take place in Lakeland, Florida on the 28th of November. If this is an open event Jerry and others may attend if Leslie Dougall Sides agrees it is appropriate.

Jerry also spoke again regarding the proposed condo/dock construction to be located at the north side of Somerset. The only new information exchanged was the date of the next Community Development Board meeting to be held on November 20, 2007. The public has an opportunity to talk at any CDB meeting. Minutes from previous meetings are available at myclearwater.com and notes can be sent to Scott Kurleman at the Planning Department or he can be called at 562-4567 ext. 2504.

The Annual Meeting was mentioned again, with a motion being made for funds not to exceed $1,400 to be committed for expenses. The motion was seconded and accepted.

Interim meeting place during construction at the recreation center was obtained. The Chapel by the Sea has made us welcome to use their facilities. Jerry suggested we make a donation by way of thank you. Candy stated that the Chapel was offering the space as a neighborly gesture and no donation was expected.

Pat Power updated us on the Library/Recreation Center plans. A “Thank You” was sent out to Mayor Hibbard for listening to us! We have been notified that the storage shed/eyesore that was to be located on the east side, visible from the library windows, all waterfront traffic and Island Estate homeowners will be located elsewhere. She also stated that the Library is a priority in the construction plan and hopefully will be functioning by May. The gym will also be updated with a few new machines.

Volunteers are still needed especially on Fridays. The city is requiring that the Librarian not be alone in the building. This requires continual community support throughout the week with volunteer staffing from 1-5pm consistently. The city will close the library in the afternoons if this cannot be achieved.

Recreation Center activities were suggested to make better use of our new facilities. Some of the many ideas were: Elder care support group meetings, with luncheons or movie nights, art classes, Bingo (the old Memorial Civic Center Assoc. had a license and

we may be able to get it reinstated), game nights with such events as Trivial Pursuit competitions, Mah-jongg , Bridge, and Hearts were suggested. A Taste of Clearwater Beach was also a popular idea.

Lois Davis addressed us with a request for CBA support of our troops. Many soldiers do not receive packages from home or family. A motion was made, seconded and accepted to spend up to $500 sending ready made cakes (Chocolate and Yellow) and Angel Mints to the troops. We will be sending them to the unit where Candy Zimmerman’s son-in-law is based. He will see to it that they are distributed to soldiers not receiving regular shipments from family and neighbors on our behalf.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully,
Kim Porte