As the Board enters their fifth month of operation, I believe it is time to issue a summary of what the Board has accomplished and how changing priorities will make the next seven months a challenging time.

The budget and reserve accounts were reviewed. As a result of that review, assessments were lowered. This was accomplished at the first full meeting of the Board. The recalculation of the reserve values was done with input from contractors and engineering companies.

The Board, with help from the committees, were able to improve the landscaping at the front and rear entrances. Numerous dead trees were removed and others trimmed from common property.

Additional littoral plants were planted on the common shoreline along Lake D to assist in preventing erosion. We now have three residents who live on Lake D assisting to control the weeds between the plants. This is important because our lake contractor has at times oversprayed and killed some plants. The contract calls for monthly control of weeds, but we have discovered that control has to be done weekly in the summer months.

Repairs to the roads were done by the Lakes & Roads and Maintenance Committees.

To avoid the collapse of the headwalls from Lake A, we hired a contractor to reinforce them. The project was completed within budget.

A program has been started where the maintenance committee places red tags on post lights when the lamp is not working. This assists residents in knowing they have a problem and saves the necessity of writing a letter.

The Board joined the Community Association Institute, a national organization fostering vibrant, competent, harmonious associations.

We changed the Board meeting to a more suitable location for a community of our size. The Burnt Store Presbyterian Church has the necessary equipment necessary for proper communications.

We changed the meeting format allowing all residents to speak on agenda items. Also, at the end of the meetings, this format allows residents to comment on subjects for future consideration following certain procedures.

We negotiated with the developer a six-month rental of the pool, exercise room, and Tiki Bar starting August 1, 2006. The six-month agreement is to allow time to evaluate not only the developer’s performance but also how the facilities will be used. A pool committee has been formed to monitor these items, and they will also issue rules for the use of the facilities.

We developed a mission statement for the Board and rules of conduct for directors and residents. These rules certainly have made our meetings more enjoyable and productive.

We added two additional committees, Finance and Insurance, which are providing valuable guidance to the Board. All the other committees have been hard at work coming up with new programs that will provide benefits to the residents.

We changed attorneys and returned to Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., realizing with the changing priorities we required more expertise and erudition in land law along with POA and Florida Statutes.

The Board, along with the Covenants and Landscaping Committees, has implemented aggressive procedures to control the number of deed restriction violations. Unfortunately, to correct some of these violations, our attorney has had to send letters before those residents made corrections. Some residents who are seriously behind in their assessments have been sent foreclosure notices.

A new policy will be started assessing residents for attorney fees, when necessary, to get deed restriction violations corrected. Normally, when a foreclosure happens, we are reimbursed for attorney fees, but there are circumstances when this does not happen, such as bankruptcy when there is not enough equity to cover a mortgage.

The Board has improved communications to the residents and now uses the website (www.slccfl.com), email system, and Grapevine. The website contains the minutes, covenants, committees, past meeting minutes and important announcements. Although the email system is used, it is not controlled by the board.

Al DiSessa and Bob Toth continue to represent the POA on the South Charlotte County Coalition Group. The SCCC has been made aware of the sound barrier wall resolution and the concerns with the expansion of Seminole Lakes Plaza. They will support these concerns.

The Board met with city officials to express our concerns about the negative impact the expansion of Seminole Lakes Plaza may have on Seminole Lakes. These concerns include additional contaminated water draining into our lakes, an easement into our entrance road, and noise and light pollution. The minutes of that meeting became part of our Board meeting minutes and were distributed via the webpage and Grapevine. Our contacts with city officials and other contacts with the state, county, police and fire departments are beneficial to the directors in performing their responsibilities.

The Board started a monthly resident recognition program which honors residents performing outstanding volunteer services for the POA. Jack Carpenter, Fred Eyrich and Connie Swett were the first three winners.

The Board signed a special services agreement with Greenscapes authorizing them to remove storm caused debris to keep our roads open without additional authorization from the Board.

Two resident surveys were completed; one for access control and one for priority and interest input. The survey results assisted the Board to consider and respond to these priorities.

In April we were notified by our property insurance company that our policy would not be renewed in July 2006. The Board, with expert help from our newly formed insurance committee, developed a comprehensive pictorial specifications report which was instrumental in soliciting the insurance marketplace and securing property renewals before policy expirations at reasonable cost.

Our financial performance for the year 2005 was audited by our independent auditors and certified into an official annual report now available from Star Management.

The Board became aggressive in the collection of delinquent assessments resulting in the initiation of foreclosure lawsuits and recording additional claim of liens. While this action is unfortunate, it is required that the Board exercises its fiduciary responsibility in protecting the covenant authorized interests of the association as a whole.

Our priorities in the next few months will be shifting to the concerns about Seminole Lakes Plaza expansion. The Board is not against commercial expansion, but the drainage and easement issues are major concerns that could have negative impacts on Seminole Lakes. We will keep you posted of all developments. The emphasis on these concerns does not mean that other functions of the Board will not be continued. It just means additional time will have to be spent on the plaza concerns.

All the news during our first five months was not good. Bob Foiles resigned from the Board in July stating his objections to the Board approving the swimming pool rental. The vacant seat will be filled at the August Board meeting.

The ARC (Architectural Review Committee) resigned en masse, and then the replaced chair resigned from his appointment after three weeks. No reasons were given for the resignations. The Board appreciates the ARC’s past hard work but changing laws force us to only deny applications if specifically stated or reasonably referred to in the Covenants. Therefore, all duties of the ARC (actually ARB per the Covenants) will be incorporated into the Board’s responsibilities. Our rules will be expanded to clarify specific alternations that are prohibited or allowed.

The Board is the only one that receives changing laws from our attorney and the CAI (Community Association Institute) and therefore should be the one responsible for all decisions. They are the only one who can define what specific words in our covenants actually mean with input from our attorney. This concept is in effect in many other POAs, including the Burnt Store Isles Association where three directors provide that function.

Although this report is somewhat long, it covers almost five months of activities. As always, input from residents is critical, whether the comments be positive or negative. Open, forthright communications are imperative.

Bob Toth

POA President