Wednesday, June 24, 2009

JUNE COFFEE with the DIRECTORS

Pledge of Allegiance

Suggestion Box

Lot 756 wanted an update on the safety handicap bars progress for the outdoor pool. It was said they are working on getting info.


Lot 689 asked if maintenance would start cleaning the gutters and trim the Palms on Sea Shell Dr.
This was given to Armando who said he take care of it.

Lot 288 asked talked about the Hurricane Preparedness Committee and why there were no longer any of the previous owners whose last year’s hard work has been discarded and not asked to continue. It was asked when and where the new committees meet? Where is the contact for information?
P. Burke response to the first question was that after the elections it was clear to her that what the people wanted was a fresh start. So that’s what we had. Open meetings, I announced them and then she rambled saying something about Securitas, then Armando, Mr. Hall, Mary at the pool, and then said etc. She said when we meet with them (Securitas?) we discuss specific issues and at the coffee meeting I ask for input on what needs are to be discussed. She said we have had several hurricane meetings. We had a meeting with the county and the city. We are in the process of re-opting our hurricane evacuation plan, and that is an ongoing process. We had some good luck meeting with the county. They have inspected our helicopter pad to use for emergency landings if necessary. We have cooperation with Port Isabel and the hurricane sticker problem has been rectified. She repeated that after the election the people wanted a new start.
An owner asked P. Burke how these committees are formed. She added, I haven’t heard anyone ask for volunteers? P.Burke said they are on record. The owner asked if she had asked anyone if they would like to volunteer. She said no, I appoint them. She then said I had asked for some volunteers and they said no. Dir. White said she did not recall P.Burke asking anyone about volunteering at any meeting. P. Burke said Mr. Hall. She then went on to say no matter, the committees are formed. The original owner who brought up the subject asked were the committees formed by the Board or just selected by you. Dir. White and P. Burke traded a few comments with P.Burke ending it with I’m not going to do a complete discussion about this.

Lot 759 asked if the committees take recommendations from the membership. P. Burke said the security issues are brought up at the coffee meetings so we can take them back to discuss. That why we have a coffee. Every committee discusses what they are doing said P. Burke. The owner asked since we can’t attend many of the meetings, is there anywhere where we can find out the current status of committees? The answer was yes, in the minutes.

Lot 288 had a concern that when visiting the LIV website, she was informed by her spyware and virus protection, that there was possible malicious content within the site. It was said it could be from the drag and drop software use to create the site that was removed. Dir. Steffensen said it will be looked into further but emphasized it is clean and safe.


Around to each Director

Dir. White mentioned the ice cream social is today, from 2-4pm, and the upcoming fourth of July cook-off.

Dir. Guerra discussed once again the ongoing parking problems around the boat ramp and the key issue problem.

Dir. Pelletier had nothing.

VP Halbach said we are still working the Restaurant restoration.

P. Burke said our insurance company who decided not cover our bridge in a lawsuit lost in court that decision and is now having to cover it.

Dir. Gagan had nothing.

Dir. Steffensen said we have a yellow box in the pool area so people are able to contact security when needed.

From The Audience

Lot 288 wanted an update from Armando when the owners of lot 267 are going to do repairs caused by the hurricane. Armando said it should start as soon as next week.

Lot 759 asked about the volley ball court. Armando said they are getting the border timber and a load of special sand to complete it. She asked permission from the board on many issues pertaining to the Fourth of July cook-off that her and her husband have volunteered to be in charge of. Some of the requests need a motion and approval at the regular board meeting.
Note.This event sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun.

Lot 744 requested that our Park should provide a cover to protect the generator that was loaned to our Park from the elements when not in use. He thought it was the right thing to do. The Board is to look into it.

SC 57 mentioned seeing a big boat having problems swinging in to the dock and was blocking traffic for a while. She also wanted to thank Leo for the good job he’s doing at the pool.

Lot 632 said she was told security didn’t check some people who came in the exit (the wrong way). It was said they did stop them.
P.Burke said there’s to be a meeting with Securitas Monday at 9am.

Lot 831 asked the board to do more about the boat trailers on Mr. Freeland’s property. P. Burke maintained its not our property.

Lot 284 asked if maintenance can power wash the trash areas.

There was a long discussion about the key for the boat ramp gate and then recessed

WORKSHOP (agenda’s for the upcoming board meeting)

Dir. White wants to have the info at the meeting to discuss the additional hand rails to help people get in and out of the outdoor pool.

Dir. Pelletier wants to start a program of a one thru five checklist for our road conditions and eventual patchwork.

VP Halbach will give an update about the Grille.

D. Steffensen will provide further LIV website updates and also will discuss charity donations.

P.Burke said the Board will have at 10:45am meeting with the owners of lot 58 about their deck.

P. Burke said there was a company that can install 24 security cameras for LIV under $17,000. She said it was a $53,000 savings.

P. Burke again mentioned that there is a possibility that in the distant future the county will take over our Swing Bridge. This was not associated with the intercoastal re-routing issue for the barges has to happen first. This is by itself.


The lawsuit appeal was turned down and stayed in LIV’s favor of having no liability towards the accident. Their next step of appeal is to the Supreme Court if they so choose.

Dir. Pelletier complained that the welcome center parking lot being full overnight and thought most of the vehicles should not have parked there. Wants to discuss actions to resolve this problem.



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Sunday, June 07, 2009

Since this was such an important matter I thought it odd that there was nothing purposely mentioned about the general manager’s recent retirement at our last Coffee with the Directors. Afterwards I reckoned they were just saving this for the Regular Board Meeting so certain Directors could have an opportunity to point out some of our GM’s fine points, accomplishments, and say how such an asset he was to our community. Wrong, there was nary a word.
Why was that?


Was the GM’s retirement not mentioned because it might stir the pot a little with questions from the audience? Possibly a question like why was the highest paid and most important appointed overseer to Village operations be allow to drop everything, pack it up, and leave our Park high and dry in giving everybody just a two day notice?


Could another stirring questions be why our Board is apparently so content about it? Shouldn’t they be troubled with having our Village be put in such a potentially compromising position?

By per chance the most stirrable question the Board might have had to hear in bringing up this retirement subject was somebody asking if this tale about he either had to retire or be fired was true. The GM has since given every indication the retirement was his idea and anything other than that is false. So now we all know that story was false and couldn’t be the real reason for this short notice.

Virtually every legitimate business seems to have a standard notice requirement of two to four weeks. That’s for even the most menial laborers, but everyone knows we aren't talking about a Whataburger worker here; this is the head guy in charge of maintaining and running a multi-million dollar corporation, your Long Island Village.


To my knowledge the GM has never disclosed to the owners any pertinent reasons as to why his retirement couldn’t have started after thirty to sixty days. Why didn't our Board ask him to stay or have Aramark tell him to stay until he was replaced instead of both allowing what seems to be a worthless two day notice. A timely notice is something that most people do consider to be a common courtesy and a good business practice? Why was this left to be allowed?


Isn't there something written in Aramark’s rules spelling out just how an employee should give them a notice? Isn’t there something in Aramark’s contract with our Park that indicates Aramark will provide a notice with a reasonable amount of time for any managerial changes?


It also seems that since his retirement, our Park has afforded him every courtesy, from advertising for his retirement party on channel 18 to displaying it on the marquee for over a week. He was also given all the ample space needed to write his sparkling green farewell speech in new LIV newsletter?


One might think it would have been appropriate to at least make it an official mention into the Village minutes, as they did with our previous general manager (Dave Fletcher) when his managerial services with LIV was being terminated. That’s right, Dave was canned by the Board and Aramark found it prudent to provide candidates for the Board in time to have a replacement waiting in the wings to take over.
So one must ask, what’s wrong with this picture?


Should not our Board be all over Aramark like a wet suit about this instead of thanking them for taking only four weeks to bring them a whole one person to interview? Aramark’s incredulous decision in allowing this notice go uncensored and then showing this somewhat cavalier attitude afterwards with replacement makes one really need to ask if they are doing all they can in looking after Long Island Village’s best interests.

Our new Board will hopefully do what we all wish Directors to do, and that’s to make our park a better place by their thought-out actions and error free decisions. It would be extremely beneficial to our Village if every candidate that’s being considered would be required to hold a C.M.C.A. qualification. The feeling is that it would be a mistake in hiring someone without this certification because it encompasses a pro active twenty first century managerial education in running every operational aspect efficiently within a condominium association type structured community. In other words, he/she is more qualified and familiar in how to do this job.


One should believe that it would be so irresponsible for our Board to let this end up being a one and done interview affair. Most owners though feel this Board will support the owner’s best interests and methodically interview a group of candidates before making their decision.


I can’t wait to see who fills this most important void in our Park and hear the reasons of why he/she was selected over all the other candidates. I would hope that this replacement will be held accountable for their actions.

Any comments?






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Friday, June 05, 2009

JUNE SUGGESTIONS

We would love your suggestion that will improve our Village. Suggestions may be viewed by those visiting. We will renew the display each month. Anonymous are welcomed. So throw one in the box.




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Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Update on LIV website

To login for the first time click “Owners login”
(All small caps)
User name put in your address exactly with the same spacing.
Temporary password is villager.
Once in, click on the top right corner where you see your address. That will go to the page where you can change your password and update owner info.
They are still having some problem with the Sea Cottage addresses and should be totally done by Friday. Read more on this article...

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

MAY 27, 2009 BOARD MEETING

Pledge of Allegiance / Roll Call

Owners speaking on issues pertaining to items on the agenda.
There were none.

President’s Remarks
Announced Dir. White’s resignation as Asst. Sect. and that Dir. Gagan will take that position.

Manager Report
Armando explained the violations, late condo fees, golf course pump, sprinklers installation on hole 17 and 18 of the golf course. He said they put in lights at the tennis court and restored the volley ball court.
They replaced the tennis net, still working on Bath house one, and are repairing the blacktop damaged while removing the old sidewalk concrete. Replacement of the skid steer’s engine is on hold until John Deer sends the repair shop money. Eight Building permits, 74 work orders and all completed.

P. Burke ran down the list of last week’s Coffee w/ Directors comments and indicating what has been accomplished to date.

The April 29, 2009 Regular and Executive Minutes were approved after some minor changes.

Treasurer Report and Profit/Loss-Dir. Steffensen read off her report. Items of note in the P&L up to March were that net income was $61,000 less than the previous year. This year the Village Grill has lost $21,748 in the first three months and an $8400 bigger loss than during the same time the previous year. The first three months this year the rental office has lost $6349. It was in the black at +$995 the previous year. The newsletter made $130 the first three months. The previous year reported a $246 loss.

Committee Reports
D&E- Dir White said there will be an ice cream social on June 20th and a Fourth of July cook off.

Golf Committee – Dir. Pelletier gave a brief summary about cart path completion.

Pool Committee-Dir. Steffensen said they are starting with 6000 new swim wristbands and explained some concerns. One being security was not making adequate rounds. Another having a direct line to call security. A third was about signage corrections and additions. There was a discussion in buying custom made float rope that would say keep off.

Unfinished Business
Litigation - P. Burke said on May 28th she is to give a deposition for the Arroyo case as a representative of LIV. The Cowan and Smith case are still in discovery mode. She mentioned she has met with the attorney several times and has recently received her e-mails in regard with discovery request. She stated if any Director wishes to read these attorney’s emails, they must set up a time to come to her residence. They will not be forwarded to the eight directors due to in her words losing Attorney-client privilege if the info got out and was made public.

Management Contract – P. Burke basically said the reviewed of Aramark’s new contract containing the new changes will be reviewed by her committee, board, and then the owners.

Owner’s responsibility for repairs – Dir. Gagan discussed items about owners repairing and maintaining their property.

Village Grill-VP. Halbach said this was a short week and they were doing some physical stuff to the Restaurant and wished to table this.

New Business
Hurricane Preparedness –P. Burke said they met with the Cameron County emergency manager who spent time looking at our swing bridge. It was mentioned this bridge has an impact not only on our Village but also on Brownsville’s commerce since close to 50% of all fuel passes through the bridge on barges. It is also used by the coast guard and because of all this P.Burke says they are trying to come up with some funds out of Homeland Security based on the bridges impact to the municipalities. Our helicopter pad may be of use to Port Isabel and the county during a hurricane as a drop off point. She talked about the hurricane stickers and the misinformation that occurred during Dolly that will be straightened out.
She then appointed Larry DeMalade to serve on the hurricane recovery team because of his previous service. This team will consist of P.Burke, DeMalade, and unnamed members of the Board. After answering some questions as to who exacting is on the team that was not really answered, she asked Larry Demalade if he had a problem with serving on the recovery team. He said no problem.

Security, ie; Courtesy Passes-Dir. Gagan said the system with courtesy passes need to be changed because there is no control. P. Burke suggested that the Board make a motion to stop courtesy passes until next meeting and that our Hospitality Manager, Dir. Gagan, and others come up with a solution. It was decided that $20, copy of the driver’s license, proof of insurance, and license plate number on the pass would do.

Boat Ramp Keys-Dir. Guerra had a problem with people keeping the boat ramp keys for long periods at a time. He said after the ten keys to the gate are given out, what’s next? This was tabled for further review.

Comments & Suggestions-Dir. Halbach said he thinks comments from the suggestion box that seems to not address Village issues and attacks another owner has no business being read. P. Burke made another motion suggestion to the board that such comments be review and voted on by the board. This ended with an approved motion that any comment that attacks a non-board members will not be read.

Summer Meetings-Dir.Pelletier wanted to change the June Board meeting from Saturday back to Wednesday. Motion was made and declined.

Bath houses-Dir. Pelletier wants our bath houses more energy efficient and their A/C thermostats kept under control. Armando is on it.

Technology (computers, copy/scanner)-Dir. Steffensen made the motion that was approved to purchase a workstation for $2018. She said the Village website will start on Monday. She mentioned a LIV old advertizing we sponsor in an international magazine that needs updated.

Reallocation of MIF- Dir. Steffensen-motion approved to pay for the $25322 (expenditures approved by the Board last month) from the $50,000 Major Improvement Fund.

Other
Dir. White requested an additional Top hand rail piece to help assist somewhat handicapped people get out of the outdoor pool. Armando said he would see what’s available.
Lot 48 is in need of some critter traps
P. Burke asked people without transportation to register for the 211 evacuation help program.

Meeting Adjourned
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