Board Minutes
DAYTONA BEACH OCEAN TOWERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
JANUARY 10, 2012
Edna Weeks, President, called the meeting to order at 8 P.M. Officers present were Mrs. Weeks; Tom Moore, 1st Vice-President; Sally Smith, 2nd Vice-President; Carol Ward, Secretary; Stan Clark, Asst. Secretary; Roger Verstay, Treasurer, and Sherri McConnell, Asst. Treasurer. There were approximately 25 owners present.
MOTION was made by Stan Clark, seconded by Sally Smith, and approved unanimously to accept the minutes of the December 06, 2011 meeting as published.
Edna made mention of the passing of Annie Ward, a long time owner in the Towers, who was very active on the Board of Directors. She served several years as president and as secretary. She will be missed.
Edna also mentioned that the Saturday morning coffee hour is being reinstated. Also, there is bingo on Wednesday night and happy hour on Thursday. A potluck dinner is planned for Valentine’s Day.
When the new garage door is installed, we plan to reverse the entrance and exit. The exit will become the entrance. It was felt that less sand will be tracked into the garage.
Edna thanked Bill Hall for once again being the Tally Leader and being our Compliance Officer to keep the Towers in compliance with Florida Condominium Law.
MOTION was made by Stan Clark, seconded by Sally Smith, and approved unanimously to close the meeting at 8:10 P.M. to count the votes.
Bill Hall reconvened the meeting at 8:55 P.M. He thanked those owners who assisted in the vote count. He reported that we received 111 votes and only 2 had to be rejected. The vote was as follows:
Poonam Bhatla 36 Sally Smith 92
Stan Clark 86 Roger Verstay 95
Sherri McConnell 89 Carol Ward 98
Tom Moore 94 Edna Weeks 92
MOTION was made by Stan Clark, seconded by Roger Verstay, and approved unanimously to adjourn at 9:02 P.M.
DAYTONA BEACH OCEAN TOWERS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
FEBRUARY 10, 2012
Tom Moore called the Board of Directors Meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. Members present were Mr. Moore, President; Edna Weeks, 1st Vice President; Sally Smith, 2nd Vice President, Carol Ward, Secretary; Roger Verstay, Treasurer; and Sherri McConnell, Asst. Treasurer. Stan Clark was ill, but advised he could be reached by phone. There were approximately 29 owners present.
Tom Moore introduced himself and thanked Edna Weeks for her two years as board president and for all she had done to get the building and finances in good shape. The rest of the board introduced themselves.
MOTION was made by Sally Smith, seconded by Edna Weeks, and approved unanimously to accept the minutes of the January 10, 2012 meeting as published.
Roger Verstay gave the treasurer’s report which included the information that we have over $99,000 in checking, reserves, and our insurance account.
MOTION was made by Edna Weeks, seconded by Tom Moore, and approved unanimously to approve $2280 from the reserve account paid to Lou’s Plumbing for fixing an emergency pipe leak.
Tom Roam gave the Building and Grounds Committee report. The committee met on January 24th with approximately 30 owners present. There was discussion on the smoking issue and installing a BBQ grill which was recommended to be handled by the board. There was also discussion concerning the kiddie pool with the committee recommending to the board that the pool be demolished and the area paved over.
Our manager, Dianna Gordon, gave the manager’s report thanking the owners for the Christmas Fund. She also reported that our maintenance crew is working on A/C duct boxes that Jim designed (approved by Quang Do, air quality engineer), John Myer is building, and Troy and Jim are cutting the holes for to do the installation in the hallways to improve air quality. This should save us in electric costs and also several thousand dollars by doing the work “in house”. She further stated that our maintenance staff is the best.
Tom Moore had some comments to offer. He said that the only owners who signed up for the financial committee are board members so it was felt that, rather than having a separate committee meeting concerning finances, we would conduct any financial business in the board meetings in a committee atmosphere. Also, he advised that he, Edna Weeks, Dianna Gordon, and the personnel committee had interviewed a bookkeeper who looked very promising, and, if everything checked out, we would be hiring him soon. He has over 25 years of bookkeeping experience.
Tom also gave an update on some legal matters. We are scheduled to go to mediation in March with Pioneer, the company who recently did our painting and waterproofing, concerning what we feel was less than satisfactory work. We have held back monies Pioneer said were due until proper repairs were made. These were not done, and we have many pictures to back up our claims. Also, in our lawsuit against some owners who have failed to give the association keys for access to their units, we have asked Judge Parsons to render a summary judgement against those owners. That hearing will be in April.
OLD BUSINESS:
The removal of the kiddie pool became an issue when we were not able to get permits from the county to bring it up to code because it had been condemned several years ago when another board approved an illegal separation of the pools. We contacted our attorney who advised that, since it had been condemned, it should be removed.
MOTION was made by Sally Smith, seconded by Sherri McConnell, and approved unanimously to accept the bid of Blue Water Pool Supplies and Service of $3,322 to demolish beam and gutters of the kiddie pool, fill and level area of height pavers, cap all existing plumbing of pool, and pave over the area of the pool with a paver mosaic. This work will include all permits by and notification to Department of Health, provide safety during construction, and all removal of debris.
Air quality issues have been studied by Quang Do of Winter Park who is an experienced engineer in the field and per his suggestions we make the following motions.
MOTION was made by Sherri McConnell, seconded by Sally Smith, and passed unanimously to accept the bid by Wayne’s Roofing and Sheet Metal of $4,500 for raising and installing all 12 bathroom fans on the roof in the dimensions of 24" x 24". This is to be constructed on fan curbs, and the roof is to be sealed after assembly.
MOTION was made by Edna Weeks, seconded by Carol Ward, and approved unanimously to reconstruct hallway air conditioner duct work and reposition thermostats in hallways for better air quality in the building. This work is recommended by our air quality engineer and will be done by Towers’ maintenance personnel at a cost of $3,840.
MOTION was made by Edna Weeks, seconded by Roger Verstay, and approved unanimously to take the funds of $3,322 for the kiddie pool, $4,500 for bathroom fan raising and installing, and up to $4,000 for hallway air conditioner duct work from the reserve funds.
Tom Moore advised that smoking laws are still developing and are, of course, a hot topic. Since our condominium was established so many years ago, there is nothing in our documents addressing the issue. In order to amend the documents to establish our building as a no smoking building, we would need the approval of 75% of the owners and 100% of the mortgage holders which we are unable to do. It was felt that we should have designated areas for smoking in the common areas. There was a lot of discussion on the board and from the owners present with no real consensus as to a solution.
MOTION was made by Sally Smith and seconded by Roger Verstay to restrict smoking on Towers’ property to designated smoking areas. These areas will be (1) one area approximately 15' on the far southeast area of the pool deck, (2) one area on the south parking lot at least 25' from the building entrance, and (3) one area no further than 10' from the exhaust fan in the northwest corner of the garage. Tom Moore, Carol Ward, Sally Smith, and Roger Verstay approved the motion, Sherri McConnell voted no, and Edna Weeks abstained. The motion was passed 4 to 1.
MOTION was made by Edna Weeks, seconded by Sally Smith, and approved unanimously to move that all leases offered to prospective tenants by owners or relators be required to include a “No Smoking” clause in the unit or on the balcony. Also, that we request relators voluntarily add the clause to leases of less than 90 days.
Over the years there have been several requests to have a BBQ grill installed on the property. The board is divided on the issue with several good points from both sides. Those for felt that we could at least try to have one with very stringent rules for the use, clean up, and carrying food from the units to the grill. Those against it felt that after working so hard to improve air quality we would be polluting the air with smoke, food, and gas smells. Also, the summer visitors are an entirely different group than the winter “snow birds” and already have problems following rules about food in the pool area. Some felt that taking food through the lobby, even in secure containers, would be a problem with the smells and possibility of spills. The owners present also expressed concerns about the hazards of the gas being left on, smells, smoke, and noncompliance with the rules.
MOTION was made by Sherri McConnell and seconded by Roger Verstay to purchase a grill for use near the tennis courts with appropriate guidelines. Edna Weeks, Sherri McConnell, and Roger Verstay voted to approve. Tom Moore, Sally Smith, and Carol Ward voted not to approve. The vote was tied 3 to 3. Since Stan Clark had said he was available by phone, Tom Moore called to get his vote. He voted yes. Therefore, the motion passed 4 to 3.
There being no new business, Tom Moore asked for any comments from the floor. Tom Roam suggested that when the bathroom fans on the roof are done that they be soundproofed. He also commented that he was told baffles were removed, and he recommended that they be reinstalled. Dianna said she would look into it.
One of the owners asked about the decision to change the entrance and exit doors to the garage. Tom Moore advised that we were having a real issue with sand being brought in from our car tires when the tide was extremely high and so making the door closest to the ocean the exit has solved a lot of our sand problems.
MOTION was made by Roger Verstay, seconded by Sally Smith, and approved unanimously to adjourn at 7:42 P.M.
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2/20/12
MEMO TO ALL TOWERS OWNERS
FROM: TOM MOORE, PRESIDENT, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
SUBJECT: BBQ GRILL
As noted in the minutes of the 2/10/12 Board meeting, Board member Stan Clark was absent from the meeting. When the vote for the BBQ grill became tied, he was telephonically contacted and voted for the grill.
Subsequent to the meeting, Bill Hall, Compliance Officer, contacted me and stated that after reviewing Florida Statutes, he believes Mr. Clark’s vote was improper in that Mr. Clark was absent and not in telephonic conference during the meeting.
I then contacted the association attorney and was advised that the Board needed to hold a special meeting to validate the BBQ issue by vote. A tentative date for a meeting was then scheduled.
However, subsequent to these developments, the Towers insurance agency advised that any grill installed must be ten feet away from any insured building and permanently installed. The intended BBQ grill did not meet the above-stated criteria; therefore, this issue will no longer be addressed.
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