2022AugustMinutes

BFCA Board of Directors Meeting on Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Tracie Priest, President; Betsy Voorhies, Vice President, Frank Roycraft, Director.

Margaret Stephens, Secretary/Treasurer. Association Members – Midori Okasako, Mario Lopez, Mike McCrea, Giedre Mazelyte, Lynda Davis, Ben Clark, Adam Gillespie, Shaun Philp, Kiki Litchford, Zane Woods (TPAM), Cindy Hoogerhyde (TPAM).

Meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm.

Old Business (Tracie Priest)

The minutes for the June 14, 2022, meeting were unanimously approved June 20, 2022.

The 35-year-old pond pump was replaced. This is not invoiced yet.

The entrance pavement at Brookside was repaired.

The island/gazebo hole is filled with concrete, and the island/gazebo is stabilized. See new business for more information.

New Business

Grounds Report (Kiki Litchford and Tracie Priest)

Kiki called in and introduced herself. She wanted to identify the below plants and stressed that biodiversity matters in regulating erosion, wildlife habitat, water and air. Composting, trimming and leaves in place helps the soil. Planting natives and removing invasives helps restore a native habitat over time. Some plants choke out the native plants. These samples were demonstrated at the meeting:

Wandering Jew: A vine that can grow an inch per day. Easy to pull up – put in the garbage, not yard waste because it spreads easily.
Coral Ardesia: low growing and difficult to kill. Should pull up by the roots but at a minimum remove the red berries. Should put berries in the garbage or will sprout new growth.
Nandina: sometimes used for landscaping. Is toxic to birds and slow growing. It’s easier than Coral Ardesia to pull out.
Japanese Climbing Fern – Tracie said whatever they climb on, they kill.
Popcorn Tree: very invasive. Persica (our lawn mgmt company) cut down several of these around the pond recently. The leaves are toxic in the water and cause algae blooms.

Kiki shared that one natural method to control growth is placing cardboard on top of areas. If visible and unsightly you can cover it up with mulch. The cardboard naturally decomposes over time.

Pond Report (Midori Okasako)

Midori reported that since July was very wet, she turned off the pond pump for 2 weeks straight. Some beaching is happening now so it’s back on to run for 6 hours in the morning. Midori is trying to use the well water as much as possible (vs city water). Midori is grateful for the clearing of the overgrowth around the pond.

Treasurer Report (Margaret Stephens)

Click here for the Treasurer Report

Margaret reported the balances as of today.

Checking Acct: $38,599
Road Savings $32,565
Emergency Fund: $30,069

June Expenses to note:

$721 for Island Hole (concrete fill)

We paid more but adjusted for refund (error) to get an actual total cost of island repair which is $4,733 to date. There will be a last charge in July over $1,000)

$0 for Persica land management contract monthly cost

We did not pay Persica in June or July. They have not been able to come out due to staffing shortages, weather etc.

TPAM has not yet transferred $6,500 from Checking to Road Savings as requested.

The Business Credit Card Application had hiccups again. Margaret’s letter from the underwriter said a signature was missing. TPAM’s letter said there were questions on the income. Margaret shared that she is personally no longer motivated to pursue since the Web/Google auto-renewal has already passed and her credit card was charged. Ben Clark said he didn’t think it was a good idea. His firm has had problems with these credit cards.

Margaret reported that 3 homeowners owe over $1,000 and 14 homeowners have delinquent 2022 dues. Interest has been accumulating. Tracie reported that one result of the closed meeting with the attorney is that reminders are going out and notice of liens for the 3 over $1000.

Midori asked if the HOA would be willing to compensate Sean McGlinn, who has periodically been storing and testing our pond water samples. So far, Midori has paid him out of pocket and the arrangement is very casual. At most, Midori says the interval is bi-monthly. Tracie wants something in writing. Mike McCrea agreed.

Audit Report (Tracie Priest)

Tracie shared that, according to the by-laws, an independent audit is required and is overdue. Ben Clark contributed that per Florida States, out revenue does not come close to requiring an audit. Also, his firm charges $10,000 for one. He thinks we are too small to be getting an audit.

ACC Report (Frank Roycraft for Llona Geiger)

Frank read Llona’s provided ACC Report.

Click here for the ACC Report

Island Gazebo (Tracie Priest)

Tracie reported that the gazebo is now ready to be re-roofed. A new neighbor, Nancy, voluntarily cleaned the ceiling recently and the cobwebs are gone. It was generally noted that shingles are falling off and that we do need a new roof. TPAM will get some quotes with different kinds of shingles. Tracie proposed getting this done next year, after the hurricane season. Mike suggested getting the quotes soon so we can get this on next year’s budget which is due to be approved October.

Closed Board Meeting 8/4/22 (Tracie Priest)

Tracie shared that last week, the Board met with TPAM and attorney in a closed meeting. She said most of the intention was on her and how she needs to let go and not try to do stuff herself. Tracie said her term was ending December and she may run again. Frank agreed that Tracie needs to let TPAM do their work without micro-managing.

Open Floor

Betsy would like to add a speed limit sign of 10mph at 1720 Silverwood. Mike added that the main entrance is kind of blind and dangerous. All the blind curves are dangerous. Someone will research signs. Cindy volunteered to get some ideas and Betsy will look into this more.

Midori brought to the floor that she was approached by Goose Creek Wildlife to rehab 3 goslings here in our pond. 2 have angel wings. Goose Creek Wildlife has helped us in the past with rehabbing injured waterfowl. She added that we have one of the few remaining natural habitats. Frank brought up a conversation with Game and Fish about feeding the geese. He stated that feeding the geese can cause angel wing and pollute the pond. Midori said the main pollution is from fertilizer and pesticides and that angel wing can be by humans feeding them human food, or genetic. Mike also voiced opposition to geese. Betsy is going to research more.

Ben Clark voiced concern about the overgrowth around the power lines at the entrance. It needs more trimming as the lines are not cleared and dangerous when we get storms. He also noted the overgrowth around the fences on the side of the road. Adam Gillespie and Mike agreed. Tracie reminded everyone of Phase I of the lawn management agreement in avoiding the mowing everything to the ground, to help native plants and erosion. Mike pointed out that Tracie should be representing most homeowners, and everyone is saying it looks unkept. Tracie shared that it’s been hard to get Persica out for various reasons and the city did the trimming around the power lines. She tried to get AAA to clean it up, but they do not trim around power lines. There was some discussion about Persica’s contract and whether Persica signed it.

Mike McCrea asked if we were going to teleconference again. To retain the same phone number, Mike has been paying $5 a month. Margaret voiced opposition to teleconferencing as only a few have been using it and it’s hard to hear.

Geirdre Mazelyte asked about a hole in the fence on Orange Ave. She had a bear in her back yard that did some damage to her bird feeders. She thinks it came from the hole in the fence.

Zane Woods (TPAM) introduced himself and will be replacing Cindy HoogerHeyde as our community association manager.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 pm.