Meeting Minutes for 6/7/2011:

Board Members Present: Patrick Gallagher, Jerry Murphy, Jay Keyes, Kim Porte, Ross Concklin, Despina Athanason, Ron Delp, Wendy Hutkin, Sam Hutkin and Lillian Johnson.

Board Members Absent: Pat Power, Anne Garris.

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

Guests: Office Williams was asked to speak first. He reported no trends on Comstat. He reported that the Park, Walk, Talk program instated by Chief Anthony Hollaway has been very effective. It makes the criminal element aware of the cop presence in our community. The Marine Unit is out and about. They work with the neighboring communities which also have only one boat each, so in many circumstances they combine efforts. He warned us to be prepared for the 4th of July when lots of traffic is expected. The causeway will be closed somewhere around 8:30-8:45 p.m. for the annual fireworks display. He reminded us that north of Acacia; parking issues will not be addressed without a complaint from a resident. He then asked if we had any questions or comments. David Ramos stated that the light at Eldorado and Gardenia has been out and already large groups of teens have found this to be a great place to gather. Ron Delp asked if Code Enforcement can run out of state license plates. Officer Williams confirmed that yes, all they have to do is call a police officer and it can be quickly done.

Minutes: A motion was made by Lillian Johnson to accept the Minutes as posted on the Website, Ron Delp seconded the motion and the motion passed to approve the Minutes. 

The Treasurer’s Report was presented by Bill Johnson. A motion was made by Jay Keyes and seconded by Ross Concklin to accept the report as written, the motion passed.

Events – No report was offered

Government ... Short Term Rentals – Ron Delp stated that he had three topics to discuss. The first two fell under STR/Code Enforcement. He asked if board members had received his recent email listing the 39 suspected illegal short term rental addresses. Several noted having read the email. He was asked to please follow it with the list of 35 legal short term rentals. Ron Delp made the motion that CBA should turn over the list of 39 suspected illegal short term rental properties to Code Compliance. Jay Keyes seconded the motion. Discussion followed stating the following: If we support this motion, we have to agree to report via telephone (562-4711) or C-Trac any violation that we witness. This can be done anonymously by telephone or online via C-Tracs which can be accessed on the City website at www.myclearwater.com, look on the left and click on C-Tracs. It was also stated that the City is aware that CBA has compiled this list of 39 illegal short term rentals. It was also stated that Al Ruud (562-4711) is the City contact for Short Term Rentals. The discussion closed and a vote was taken and the motion passed to support officially notifying Code Compliance of our list of 39 illegal short term rentals. His second topic concerned condo activity on Hamden Road. He stated that on one particular weekend one building rented out almost every unit and chaos broke out. Nineteen owners have been cited by Code Enforcement to appear before them on June 22, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. This is an interesting case because there is an opinion that condos should be able to make their own rules as the majority vote. There is also the opinion that condos must have 100% approval of owners to make their rules and there is also the opinion that condos must follow the rules of the City’s Code Enforcement.

Ron’s third topic was a message from Pat Power, who was unable to attend the meeting, concerning the Environment and Friends of the Library committees.

ENVIRONMENT  – Ron reported that the Sand Dunes letter had been written, signed by Pat Gallagher as our President and sent. The letter has been acknowledged as received but no comment was made by the City. The City went ahead with its plan to send a general letter to all residents of the west side of Eldorado Ave. It was suggested that we go to the City Council meeting and speak on the topic of the Sand Dunes.

Lillian Johnson stated that we should go and speak on several topics including the sand dunes, parking, toxic poles …and several others. Jerry Murphy supports going and speaking whole heartedly, but he suggested choosing a single topic, arriving prepared to have 2-3 people speak for the allotted three minutes each would be far more effective. Patrick Gallagher suggested we choose illegal parking for one of our topics, coming prepared with photos of illegal parking issues that take place over the upcoming July 4th holiday.

A motion was made by Jay Keyes that we plan to attend the meetings and speak on a designated topic. Lillian Johnson seconded the motion. Discussion followed, stating that the Sand Dunes was currently on the City’s plate and should be brought up first. It was decided that Lillian Johnson would set up a schedule of topics. A vote was taken and it was agreed that we would begin attending the meetings on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month at 6:00 p.m. prepared for 2-3 people to speak on a previously determined topic.

MEMBERSHIP  – Jerry Murphy passed out a list of people who have been members in the past but have not rejoined this year. The list was divided into 4 sections of the neighborhood. He would like board cooperation with this. He stated that this task was doable. He asked that we please read the instructions and volunteer to help phone, email and knock on doors. He reminded us to tell people that messages are send out with blind ccs to the membership so their email addresses would remain relatively private. Jerry reminded us that only the Board’s email addresses are shown on his emails. Ron Delp, Wendy Hutkin, Patrick Gallagher, and Jerry Murphy each chose a section and agreed to work the task. Lillian Johnson said she sent a list of things that CBA does for the community to the Membership committee.

COMMUNICATION -  It was suggested that Anne Garris could write about our meetings in an article for the newspaper. Wendy Hutkin suggested a photo be taken to possibly run with one of Anne’s articles. Wendy also reported that FACEBOOK was doing well. Sam Hutkin stated that he had joined the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce through his work and had spoken to them regarding CBA.

FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY - Ron continued his message from Pat Power with a request for CBA to agree to fund keeping the pool open this year as the Friends do not currently have the money to do it again. He reminded us that last year at a cost of $1000 the Friends were able to keep the pool open 4 additional weekends after the City would have closed it down. The City then agreed to use the moneys earned during that time period to fund it for another 2 weekends keeping the pool open for a total of 6 additional weekends. Ron made a motion that CBA agree to fund the $1000 necessary to keep the pool open for 4 additional weekends in 2011 with the City continuing its agreement to take monies earned during that time period to fund the pool for 2 more weekends. Jay seconded the motion a discussion followed; a vote was taken and did not pass.

A new motion was made by Ron Delp stating that CBA would agree to fund the $1000 necessary to keep the pool open 4 additional weekends which should then also fund 2 additional weekends paid by the City from funds earned during that time after the City would normally close the pool with the caveat that funds raised during any Friends Fall 2011 fundraising efforts be given back to CBA up to $1000. Jay Keyes seconded the motion a vote was taken and the motion passed.

New Business – Jerry Murphy showed us a flyer from the Threshers advertising a June 18th All Star Game with general admission of $16 including all you can eat hot dogs, hamburgers and soft drinks. Please call Bobby Mitchell at 727-712-4408 if you are interested. A show of hands did not confirm interest in organizing an event on June 23rd in an air conditioned suite with food and beer included for a price of $20-25 with a minimum of 20 people necessary to pay for the suite and refreshments.

Fundraising – Patrick Gallagher passed out a mock up of a proposed Coupon Book and laid out the details of this low cost fundraiser. He stated that we lived in a target rich environment and everyone is “into” coupons these days. He proposed that we could sell the books for $10 each. Jay Keyes suggested we enlist the help of the Beach Chamber of Commerce. Patrick further stated that he needed a committee to work up the project with a proposed timeline of 1-2 months to put it together. Things to be considered include, number of books to be sold, number of coupons in the book, what forms need to be produced for businesses to fill out. Sam suggested someone in the Chamber could possibly print the books for us. A committee was formed consisting of Patrick Gallagher, Wendy and Sam Hutkin, Kim Porte and Jay Keyes.

Other Business – Patrick Gallagher proposed we organize and attend as a group one of the Movie Nights at Pier 60 when the weather is cooler in the fall. Jay Keyes updated us on a Tampa Bay Harvest. He passed out a fact sheet and told us that the trailer we helped to purchase is currently in Alabama and will be there as long as it is needed. He encouraged us to look at their new website, www.tampabayharvest.org or look for them on Facebook. He also reminded us that they spend less than 1% on administration costs with only one paid director. The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m. Submitted by Kim Porte.

Submitted by Kim Porte