Meeting Minutes for 11/8/2009:

Present – Jay Keyes, David Ramos, Pat Power, Patrick Gallager, Kim Porte, Lisa Cowley, Ross Concklin, Sue Johnson, Ron Delp, Ann Marie Krzesinski, Bobby Rowe, Allan Avery

Board Members Absent: Basic, Rosemarie Swisshelm Bonnington

Guests – Erik Wilson of the City of Clearwater, Bill Poast, Sandy Britton, Anne Garris, Jerry Murphy, Marie and Ray Doubie, Ellen Hardgrave, and John Doran of the City Council and CBA member.

Quorum was determined and the meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m.

Minutes as posted on the Website were accepted.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented by David Ramos. David explained that the annual landscape maintenance bill for Acacia Circle and Triangle Park was currently due. He informed us that the Foundation checking account, from which we normally pay this bill, had only $429.89 currently available. Discussion followed and it was decided by majority vote to cash in a Foundation account Certificate of Deposit (CD) and pay the penalty for early withdrawal; rather than use funds from the CBA checking account for this bill.

Family Fun Fest - Jay reported that the 1st Annual Family Fun Fest did not break even, it lost money. Tampa Bay Harvest has agreed to take the losses on their end for the time being. We will pay them back out of proceeds made at next year’s festival. At this year’s festival the City did not co-sponsor us. We in fact had to pay them roughly $10,000 for Police and other City services. Jay stated hopefully next year the City will decide to Co-Sponsor the event and save us those expenses. Even so it was a fun event, 93 vendors participated and 26 musical acts performed. After the event $125,000 was raised indirectly due to the news coverage.

Marina Property Update – Anne Garris updated us on this issue. She stated that there are possibly 3-4 bills currently out there. The one supported by CBA has specific language stating that no leases for purposes other than what is already there be allowed. For example there is a large restaurant currently on the site. That type of business would then be grandfathered in. It would not have to be specifically Crabby Bill’s Restaurant; but any similar type restaurant could lease the property. Anne informed us of the time line for getting a bill to Tallahassee. On November 3, 2009 a general description of the Bill had to be filed and a Public Hearing will be held on Nov.10, 2009. On December 10, 2009 there will be a Vote. Then the Bill is off to Tallahassee.

Anne Garris and Ron Delp went to a Neighborhood Coalition meeting recently to represent CBA and to present our ideas on how the Bill should be worded and the City also presented their version of the Bill. Anne and Ron informed the Coalition that CBA, Sand Key and Island Estates all stand together in supporting the language that would prohibit the City from being able to lease the land for the development of a hotel or lodging purposes. Anne stated that John Doran was present at this meeting and that he stated that he did not support our proposal. Anne stated that this worked against us and that the Coalition then stated that they did not have enough information to support us.

IN SUMMATION

• A Final Draft of the Bill has not been presented to anyone at this time

• 12 Representative of Pinellas County make up the Delegation

•  CBA must continue to encourage Representative Frishe to support the language that we have suggested

• Representative Frishe brought this issue before the public at a town hall meeting on October 26 at City Hall. Approximately 75 attended and about 14 people spoke – all in favor of retaining the reverter clause

• Our own Clearwater City Councilmen seem want to keep it out of the public’s attention

• She encouraged any and all to attend the Nov. 5th Public Hearing at 6 p.m. Jay Keyes will be speaking at this meeting and others are also welcome to sign up to speak.

• Remember - Rep. Frishe currently has 3 versions of the Bill in front of him, so please specify the Bill that is supported by CBA, Island Estates and Sand Key.

• A motion was made by Jay Keyes and seconded by Sue Johnson that Anne Garris should write a letter to Rep. Frishe restating our feelings on this matter. The motion passed and Anne agreed to write the letter.

Government – Jay reminded us of the upcoming meeting that will be held at the Clearwater Beach Recreation Center on November 4th from 4 to 7 p.m. The subject is One Way Streets on South Beach at Hamden and Coronado. It will be an informational presentation and citizens will have the opportunity to write down comments as they leave. Jay stated that he is not in favor of the one way streets because he feels he will not be able to exit his own driveway on most days.

Events – Lisa Crowley presented the idea of doing a very simple Fall Picnic this year. CBA could provide a tent and grill and members could bring their own meat to cook and side dishes to share. She stated that it had been a very busy fall and Thanksgiving was already almost here. A motion was made, seconded and passed to skip the Fall Picnic and put our efforts and money into the annual December meeting and social gathering at the Recreation Center on December 5, 2009. She stated that she would like to have volunteers for set-up from 4-4:30 p.m. From 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. will be time for social gathering with drinks provided by CBA and the membership bringing in appetizers. There will be a 50/50 raffle and donations for the food bank will also be collected. Jay Keyes will start the business meeting at 5:30 p.m. The event will end by 6:30 allowing people to go out to dinner or attend other events that they may have on their calendars. A motion was made, seconded and passed for expenses including the rental of the recreation center, drinks and miscellaneous purchases not to exceed $600 for this event. Christmas Caroling at the Mandalay Park was set for December 22, 2009.

Charter Review - Jay asked that a committee be formed to review our Charter. Jay Keyes, Sue Johnson, Ron Delp and Jerry Murphy volunteered and Jay stated that he would arrange a date and time to meet.

Committee for Future Objectives - This committee was proposed and it was decided to postpone forming a committee until next year’s Board is in place.

Block Captains – Not Crime Watch, it was stated that there is a need for communication purposes to geographically map out the area and divide it into approximately 10 districts with a Block Captain for each district. Ross Concklin then proposed that we also reignite the Neighborhood Watch Program for security purposes. He will spearhead this action.

Nominations For 2010 Board – We need to have a full slate 30 days before the meeting in December. The membership must be notified 14 days in advance. Jerry Murphy and Pat Power will head this effort. See our website www.clearwaterflbeachassociation.net for names of outgoing Board Members due to term limitations. Alan Avery also announced that he would be unable to continue serving on the Board due to personal reasons.

Friends of the Library Update – Pat Power updated us with the following information. The Library still needs volunteers. She also updated us on recreation news – the computer teacher has taken a full time job and so those classes have been put on hold until a new teacher can be found. She also announced two new classes at the Rec Center – Hooping 101 a hula hoop exercise class on Thursdays at 11 am and starting on November 16th Butts and Guts another fun way to exercise on Mondays at 11 am. See the Rec Center schedule for several other ongoing classes.

Island Estates Update – Anne Garris attended their recent meeting and stated that the bulk of the meeting related to the Marina issues and that they had no other new issues that they needed our support with.

Sand Key Update – Ann Marie Krzesinski attended this meeting and stated that they discussed beach replenishment and off shore drilling. A brief discussion followed on off shore drilling pros and cons; it was decided that our views were varied and that CBA on a whole would not take a stand on this issue. This lead to the discussion that we did not have an Environmental Committee and that one needed to be established. Pat Power volunteered to head this up.

Additional Information from the Coalition Meeting – Ron reported that Clearwater Chief of Police, Syd Klein was retiring after 29 years of service. City Manager, Bill Horne was present at the Coalition meeting to discuss the hiring process for his replacement. He informed them that the search had been narrowed down to 11 candidates and that a final decision would be made by January 2010. The candidates all have impressive work experience and come from diverse backgrounds.

They also discussed the Gang Conference that was held on October 10 at St. Petersburg College. They explained that there are 15 recognized gangs in Clearwater. They said that a crime of some level must be committed to be allowed admittance to the gang. They were told that the attitude of the gang is live for now because you will most likely be dead by age 24. Schools are reluctant to report gang activity because it impacts the amount of money they can receive from the government. Ron encouraged us to speak to our Representatives and let them know that this law is counterproductive and they need to change it.

Mike Delk is newly in charge of Code Enforcement. Ron stated that he has been very receptive to our ideas. Mr. Delk had a scheduling conflict with tonight’s meeting, but he will be at our January meeting.

Eric Wilson of the City of Clearwater spoke before the meeting closed. He said that dunes destruction had been reported at 843 Eldorado. The owners of that property have received a warning letter from the EPA. Also a complaint has been placed for the residence at 744 Eldorado. He stated that a permit is required for landscaping or construction on property under Coastal Construction Control. Pat and her committee will monitor situations such as this. It was stated that the property at 721 was cleaned up immediately after being reported. Erik Wilson has been very helpful. Eric also warned us to lock car doors, keep valuables out of site. When giving a description to the police use your own height as a reference. Describe them from top to bottom.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:36 p.m.

Submitted by Kim Porte