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Meeting Minutes for 2/3/2009: Present – Jay Keyes, Candy Zimmerman, Kim Porte, David Ramos, Ann Marie Krzesinski, Pat Power, Patrick Gallager, Rosemarie Swisshelm Bonnington, Lisa Cowley, Allan Avery, Ross Concklin, Sue Johnson, Ray Massieu, Ron Delp Absent – Mara Basic Guests – Lt. Wayne Andrews, Lt. Joe Young, Karen Bolin Residents – Councilman John Doran, Mr. Bonnington Quorum was determined and the meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Minutes as posted on the Website were presented. A motion to accept them was made by Candy Zimmerman and seconded by Ray Massieu. The minutes were accepted The Treasurer’s Report was presented by David Ramos. A motion to accept them was made by Allen Avery and was seconded by Ray Massieu. The Treasurer’s Report was accepted. Lt. Wayne Andrews was welcomed back with lots of smiles and warm exchanges. He told us he was returning to introduce our newest District Commander, Lt. Joe Young. Lt. Young replaces Lt. Stephens who retired in January. Lt. Young told us of his experience and history with working on the beach. His experience on the beach dates back 20 years. He later returned for more duty 12 years ago and is sincerely glad to be back. He updated us briefly on 2009 Spring Break which is officially March 7 through April 12. He stated our biggest impact will be felt from March 28 through April 12 when Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Polk Counties are out of school. The fastest most efficient way to reach Lt. Young is by email. joseph.young@myclearwater.com GUEST SPEAKER - Karen Bolin Outreach & Education Coordinator, Representing CFO Alex Sink of the Florida Department of Financial Services spoke to us about Property Insurance. She reminded us to keep a homeowner’s inventory including photos or video. She told us of the importance of opening the closet doors to photograph business suits, shoes and purses. Open drawers and cabinets to show china and silver. Inventory and photograph sports equipment , bicycles, firearms and jewelry. In the garage photograph tools and holiday decorations. She also stated after an event or disaster, if you are allowed back in, photograph the damage in case an adjuster does not arrive before another storm or event occurs. Another important recommendation was to NOT exclude the law/ordinance provision from your policy. This provision allows you to rebuild or repair to current standards. For example, if you do not have this coverage, and you have a one step porch with new laws requiring several steps, they are only required to pay for one of the steps that you might be required to build under current laws. She said you can relate this to other aspects of your home’s current construction and what will be required by law for you to replace or repair it. A brief question and answer period followed. Some questions concerned companies that are intended to take some of the burden from Citizens. She stated that they are new companies. Their ratings are not that high because they are new and untested. She stated that falling water is different than rising water. She also stated that flood insurance is separate from homeowners insurance. It was noted that many homes on the beach are uninsured as they are paid off and insurance is no longer a must. In this instance it was asked, can Homeowners Insurance be purchased alone at a reasonable cost? She said it is really not possible. Business Tour of Homes – Pat Powers informed us that the date had been switched to November 14th to allow more thorough planning. She still needs Committee Heads for Finance and Publication. There was some discussion as to how the funds raised would be spent. Participating homeowners and commercial sponsors are expressing a need to spend the money close to home. There was a discussion as to which account the money should be deposited into, the CBA account or the Foundation Account. Funds going into the Foundation Account must be spent in accordance with the Articles and Charter of the Foundation. A motion was made by Ron Delp that any funds raised be put in the Foundation Account. To be spent in the manner that Foundation funds have been spent in the past. 1) Easter Egg Hunt, 2) Beautification of Triangle Park and Acacia Circle, 3) Sailing Center – Special Needs Kids Program. The motion was seconded by Candy Zimmerman. A discussion and vote followed with the motion passing. It was mentioned that insurance would be needed for CBA and Friends of the Library as well as for the homeowners opening their homes. This would be look into by a committee. STR – Short Term Rentals – David Ramos met with Dan Bates and gave him names of people advertising short term rentals. Ron Delp turned in a list of 71 suspect homes, 9 of which were advertising short term rentals on the internet. They will be concentrating on these nine homes, photographing license plates and submitting them to the city. Six of these homes are repeat violators and are still advertising on the internet. Pat Power wants to enlist the neighbors in these efforts. Their next meeting will be late in February to follow up on this subject. The 32 legal short term rentals are still being monitored. To maintain this legal status these homes must show that they have rented consistently without a 6 month vacancy. They are also being monitored for proper tourist tax certificates and payment and for non-homestead status. Neighboring Community Meetings – Jay Keys and Ann Marie Krzesinski will attend the Sand Key meetings and invite them to send a representative to ours. Jay Keys and Allan Avery will attend the Island Estate Meetings and will also invite them to send a representative to our meetings. Beach Chamber of Commerce – Rosemarie reported that membership was down as business closures increased. The Beach Chamber would like to see entertainment on Beach Walk similar to what is seen at Pier 60. (See suggestions made below under Events Committee) Grants – David Ramos reported that Dave Morgan has agreed to assist us with this task. Pat Power stated that her source was no longer working with grants. We will need a specific cause to spend the money on. It was noted that there are very few grants available to neighborhood associations. COMMITTEE REPORTES Membership – Absent City Government – Ron Delp gave a detailed report of the previous evenings Coalition Meeting. The Coalition is considering holding a conference on Gangs and Gang Activities to educate citizens. They are also working on improving the green Code Book. The Coalition is working with the City to update and revise the book line by line. They would also like to educate the homeowners. They would like to send one officer to one meeting of each of the various Community Associations. Residential – Ray Massieu reported that the beach accesses were being mowed and maintained nicely by the City. It was stated that the homeowners on the bayside tend to encroach on those accesses using them to enter their driveways and some are putting basketball hoops on them. Questions were raised regarding allowable fence heights at these areas. Some fences are high and some are low. Ray will look into this. Special Events – Festivals along Baywalk could be arranged in conjunction with the Beach Chamber of Commerce. Patrick Gallager will do a prospectus on this. Neighborhood Week Picnic – March 14, 2009 Lisa will be looking for lots of volunteers at our next meeting. Christmas/Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2009. It will be a lighter fare consisting of drinks and appetizers, keeping costs down. CAN Awards – Candy will be sending us all a form to outline our volunteer efforts. She encourages us to share it with neighbors. Our volunteer efforts were highly regarded with the officials last year! Beautification - Absent Communication – Absent Newsletter – Jay Keyes and Allan Avery will be working on this committee. An older CBA newsletter was given to them for inspiration! Environment - Candy Zimmerman will be working on this committee after Tax Season! ADDITIONAL BUSINESS The Recreation Center has contacted us, requesting that we help with the Annual Easter Egg Hunt. A motion was made by Pat Power and seconded by Rosemarie Swisshelm that we again purchase 4 cases of filled Easter Eggs at a cost of $136 per case. The motion passed. The hunt will be held on Good Friday, April 10. 2009. The next Commission Meeting will be held on February 5th. John Duran updated us on various issues. Marina rates are up and they now have 40 vacancies. Ten people have put in $500 for a chance to be in the lottery for spots at the new marina. It may now come to “first come first serve” as there is not enough interest to make a lottery necessary. Beach parking is still being discussed and some arrangement may be made with a property owner to help ease Spring Break congestion. It was asked when the Circle construction would be complete, as that was when parking along the causeway would end? Due to the economy, Pennies for Pinellas will realistically only be collecting about 118 million dollars. The Council will be looking at what proposed projects can be cut. He also stated that the Council will be facing even worse budget cuts this year. He also had a very good suggestion to enlist Clearsky Restaurant’s help in a possible membership drive. Utilizing their sign and possibly holding an event there. Meeting Adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Respectfully,
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