PRESIDENT’S REPORT

BOARD MEETING OCT. 12, 2009

Although many residents may not have been aware of it, we had an unpleasant situation that developed a month ago. An owner whose house is going thru the foreclosure process let a person use his vacant unfurnished house. That alone was not a concern until two additional persons moved in.

Two of them were using the pool and were told that because assessments were not being paid, they can not use the pool. Then two of them were spotted pushing a grocery cart filled with groceries from Sweet bay through our streets. This appeared very strange and was noticed by some of our residents. They had no vehicle and this caused some concerns.

A few items were stolen from the Tiki Hut and we asked the police to investigate. They visited the persons living in the home but did not find any of the stolen items. That visit did show that one man had an active warrant for his arrest from another state. The investigation also disclosed that the other man had a record of thefts. Shortly after the police visited, the person with the warrant left the house and never returned.

There was a suspicion that the water bills were overdue. We had the city public works dept. check it out. They discovered that the bills were not being paid so they shut the water off. The persons in the house then illegally put the water back on. The city then locked out the water. It became obvious that the persons either had to pay the past due water bills or move. The city would not let them keep living there without water.

The man and woman then packed all their belongings in a Wal-Mart cart, including a cat in a carrier. They planned to ride and walk their 2 bicycles and cart to Cape Coral. They would have never made it. Two of our residents that lived close by paid a handyman worker with a pickup truck to move them to a different location somewhere in North Ft. Meyers.

The point to all of this is that although we cannot stop who an absentee owner allows to live in his house, we can investigate those circumstances that create concerns. Certainly, stealing water from the city, walking thru the streets with a shopping cart, and persons having criminal records allow the board to do some investigations. Most of the investigation was done behind the scene and there were many contacts with the police and city.

I have another subject that you will be interested in.

Seminole Lakes is a member of the South Charlotte County Coalition, a group of eleven Homeowners Associations.
Commissioner Bob Starr from the County made a presentation at the September coalition meeting.

One of the subjects that came up was that the County has received a grant to purchase some hybrid buses and start some bus routes. One of those routes would start at Murdock Center Plaza and run to Monaco Drive in Punta Gorda. Through our efforts along with representatives from Burnt Store Meadows Homeowners Association, it was agreed by the coalition that any bus route should come to the Seminole Lakes Plaza. This would be a plus for Seminole Lakes residents as there would be a number of convenient location stops in the County and City. Although this is not a definite, we will continue to give input before any decision is made by the County and City.

This is just another example why Seminole Lakes continues to be an active member of the coalition.

Thank You

Bob Toth