WCA Treasurer Michiel Oostenbrink reported at the September meeting that he had received final revisions to the reserve study, allowing him and Association Manager Debbie Sainz to update the current draft of next year’s budget. There were overages of approximately $163,000 in this year’s budget as a result of pool deck repairs, pool resurfacing, bathroom renovations, and a change order with regard to the pool, continued Oostenbrink.
He said the storage room at Countryway is in disrepair, with the bottom of the floor eroding and structural beams rusting. He added that he wanted to know the total potential cost of those repairs, but was unsure whether staff would receive bids in time to include the project in the new budget. Oostenbrink suggested that the board try to find a way to do the minimum repairs necessary at the lowest cost possible to allow them time to do their due diligence.
He planned to share the updated reserve study information with the newly elected board in the coming weeks to open a discussion on which items they want to tackle in the coming fiscal year, he said. Oostenbrink added that he still wanted to hold a budget workshop for the Voting Members and reminded his fellow board members that they would meet on October 10 to approve the budget.
Government Affairs Committee Chair Rick Goldstein opened his report by sharing that he had recently met with Hillsborough County officials and concerned neighbors to discuss the newly implemented restricted parking in West Park Village. The county installed new signs and painted relevant curbs, but Goldstein shared that it was unclear whether federal and/or state statutes required that both measures be taken.
The signs that the county installed are large and stand 7’ tall; officials agreed to replace them with smaller signs that will stand just 5’ tall, he reported. He added that he wants the WCA’s legal counsel to review the appropriate statutes to determine whether the signage and curb painting are redundant.
Swim & Tennis Committee Chair Dan Haigy told the board that Future Energy Solutions (FES) came to Westchase two weeks before to conduct a thorough analysis of the association’s lighting. Their proposed contract was on the agenda, but the committee hadn’t yet received it, he added. Haigy requested that they table the discussion until receipt of the contract, and the board agreed.
Director Jack Maurer, head of the Renovations Committee, took the floor to provide an update about bids that he’d received from three architects, one of which would potentially be hired to help oversee general updates to the community. He said he asked Sainz to locate the community’s original building blueprints to minimize the work that the chosen architect would have to complete. Sainz replied that she was only able to find electrical blueprints. Maurer suggested tabling the matter until he had the opportunity to more thoroughly review the bids and could provide Oostenbrink with the estimated cost involved.
Facilities Manager Dwight Kilgore shared that he had received multiple bids to repair the hardware on the activity room entry door. One vendor recommended replacing the door, and declined to provide a bid for repair, he explained. Maurer moved to accept the proposal from Atlas Door Repair, and his motion passed unanimously.
Three vendors bid on replacing the cabana water fountain said Kilgore, and Sainz confirmed that the WCA had used all three of them in the past. Director Terry Boyd moved to hire Calello Plumbing, and the board voted 6-0 in favor of the motion. Board President Shawn Yesner abstained.
Kilgore asked the board whether they had any questions about his proposal for annual merit-based staff wage increases that would be based upon such factors as punctuality and quality and quantity of work completed. Oostenbrink said that he was theoretically supportive of such a plan, but expressed concern that the association was $13,000 over budget on Swim & Tennis Center payroll as of the end of July. He told Kilgore that he wanted to further analyze the overage and the impact that wage increases would have within the context of the overall budget before the board voted on the matter.
During the excavation of the pool deck at the West Park Village pool, workers hit a PVC pipe that has since been repaired, shared Sainz as part of her manager’s report. Contractors were working on the pool resurfacing, but daily rains have slowed the process, she added. Sainz said she is awaiting a report from Biller Reinhard Engineering Group regarding the structural integrity of the storage room at the Countryway pool before seeking bids from construction companies to make the necessary repairs.
The newly passed HB 59 requires homeowners’ associations to provide copies of certain records to all members of the HOA, explained Sainz. She told the board that she and her staff prepared a postcard to be mailed out informing homeowners where to find these documents to fulfill this new legal requirement.
Sainz reported that the pool contractor was installing new tile, and Maurer asked whether they had completely removed the marcite from the pool before the tile installation. She said that they had not done so.
“I didn’t want to see that done,” said a visibly frustrated Maurer. “We have eyes on this and those eyes are allowing this to happen. Any resurfacer will tell you it’s bad protocol.”
Vice President Michele DelSordo asked Maurer how he thought the board should address the oversight. Maurer recommended putting an immediate stop to the tile installation and having a conversation with the contractor about the proper order of repairs. Yesner said that he didn’t think any board action was necessary to have Sainz and Maurer meet with the contractor to ensure they were fulfilling their end of the contract. Boyd offered to do so the next day, and the board agreed.
Yesner shared that the next item on the agenda was the approval of the WCA’s management contract. He stated that Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick (SLK), the association’s legal counsel, had been working on it and that Greenacre Properties, Inc., found the current version to be acceptable. Yesnery added that Kathleen Reres from SLK had a few questions for the board before approval.
“I strongly object to approving this tonight,” Treasurer Michiel Oostenbrink replied. “I’ve not had time to read through this. This makes me very uncomfortable and it’s not even close to being ready for immediate approval… I would like at least a week to digest this.”
He said he was concerned that the technical requirements laid out in the RFP had not been included in the contract. Director Jack Maurer said he agreed with Oostenbrink and expressed frustration that the draft of the contract hadn’t been sent to all board members until the evening prior to the meeting. “It’s the contract for the next three years. As a community advocate, I don’t see what the rush is,” said Maurer. “I’m not comfortable doing this right now. I am happy to give this to the new board.”
Director Jim Brinker responded that he disagreed with both men, arguing that they were insistent that this board finish the RFP process and he didn’t understand why they were changing their minds. Yesner told the board that Reres had, indeed, combined the RFP with the contract.
Radcliffe VM Eric Holt asked whether all the RFP’s technical requirements had been incorporated, and Yesner replied that many, but not all, had been included. Oostenbrink noted that the deliverables table wasn’t part of the contract. Holt questioned why any part of the technical requirements would be excluded. Yesner responded and referenced a note in the document that said that level of detail is not typically included in a management contract. Both Holt and Bridges VM Dawn Gingrich asked why the no-cause 60-day termination clause, which was in the last contract with GPI, had been removed.
“I don’t want the new board to fire Greenacre at the first meeting and hire Inframark,” answered Yesner.
Vice President Michele DelSordo quickly pointed out a note that said management companies typically don’t approve a no-cause 60-day termination clause in the first term. She added that there is a clause that states either party can terminate without cause upon providing 60 days’ notice at any time after expiration of the initial term. She went on to say they had added a clause that said either party may terminate the contract with cause at any time upon providing 30 days’ notice and the opportunity to address the issue. Holt pointed out that GPI has always been comfortable with the 60-day no cause termination clause.
Brinker moved to sign the contract before the end of the meeting, and Director Rick Goldstein seconded his motion. Yesner suggested going through Reres’ questions, one by one, and asking her to update the contract immediately for approval. Holt asked again about the removal of the 60-day termination clause. Jamie Bryan, GPI’s chief operating officer, was present at the meeting and told him it had been removed to protect her company’s employees.
Gingrich suggested the board compromise by delaying the vote to Monday night. That would give Maurer and Oostenbrink time to review the contract and enable the current board to sign prior to the new board being voted in. Boyd said it was a worthy compromise, and Brinker asked to amend his motion to allow a vote on Monday. Goldstein, however, refused to amend his second of Brinker’s motion, which meant that the original motion stood.
Yesner reiterated his desire to address all 19 of Reres’ questions, and Oostenbrink asked whether they could append the entire RFP to the contract. Maurer went on record saying that he had no intention of getting rid of Greenacre, adding that it didn’t make sense to spend two years researching a decision only to rush through a vote on the final contract in 24 hours.
Yesner then called Reres and asked whether she could add the technical requirements as an appendix to the contract. Reres said the association could draft the contract in whatever way they wanted, but that some of those requirements would be excluded based upon what had already been negotiated with Greenacre.
Terry Lanzar, a member of the RFP committee, told the board that including the chart of technical requirements without the accompanying explanatory language from the remainder of the RFP would defeat the purpose of the document.
Yesner told Reres he wanted to wrap up the remainder of the agenda items and would call her back. When the board resumed the call with Reres, she stated she had highlighted the areas in the technical requirements that could be problematic. The board then went through the items one by one with Reres and made any necessary changes.
Brinker then made a motion that with all of the addenda that had been made, Shawn Yesner could sign the contract. Goldstein seconded the motion.
Maurer questioned whether the addenda covered all the questions from SLK. “I think they’ve all been resolved,” Reres replied.
The motion to have Yesner sign the contract passed 6-1 with Maurer dissenting.
.
