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BURNT STORE ISLES ASSOCIATION, INC.
Board of Directors Meeting
January 6, 2006
Officers Present Directors Present
President - Chick Petrosino Community Standards – Terry Miller
Vice President – Joe Sabatino Immediate Past President – Bill Hughes
Secretary – Carolyn McDermott Legal Liaison – Jeff Nilsson
Treasurer – Tom Murphy Membership – Bob Fitzsimmons
Neighborhood Security – Jim Townsend
Planning – John Gioia
Social – Claire Phelen
Guests Directors Absent
Dr. Dave Phelen, Councilman Special Projects – Bob Semer
The first meeting of 2006 was called to order by Chick Petrosino, president, at 8:37 a.m. His opening remarks included a welcome to the new as well as seasoned board members; a personal reflection of his strengths and weaknesses; a call for unity and team building; some thoughts on goals and objectives for the coming year; and succession planning. Mr. Petrosino distributed job descriptions for each board position and a listing of what he termed “stick to the wall items” for ongoing review and discussion.
Officer and Director Reports
The December 2, 2005 board meeting minutes and those of the December 7, 2005 general membership meeting were reviewed. IT WAS MOVED/SECONDED (Phelen/Sabatino)
TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS WRITTEN. The motion carried unanimously. Both sets of minutes will be posted on the website later this afternoon.
Mr. Petrosino encouraged board members to enroll in the Robert’s Rules of Order (RRO) class January 19 – February 23. Because the morning class is oversubscribed, an afternoon class will be scheduled from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Mr. Hughes distributed an overview of the class from last year and donated his copy of the RRO handbook to the board’s reference library. Dr. Phelen volunteered to provide a CD of the Rules to anyone who sends him an e-mail request.
Joe Sabatino , Vice President, indicated that he and John Gioia, the new planning director, would be transitioning over the next week or so. Mr. Sabatino summarized his past work in planning as (1) monitoring the city’s planning group meetings to get a heads up on what issues are going forward to the city council; (2) being the association’s primary representative to the South Charlotte County Coalition; and (3) attending city council meetings. For 2006, the association will continue its close alignment with these committees and others (see Page 5) and focus on BSI planning.
Mr. Sabatino also reported that he had completed the tabulation of the community survey and will create a master list of those individuals who indicated they would be willing to volunteer
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for various jobs. Mr. Petrosino requested a synopsis of the survey results for future planning. A summary will also be included in the next edition of the newsletter. Mrs. Phelen recommended that the survey results be shared with the city manager and council persons for information.
Bill Hughes, Past President, was most happy to return the following documents for master filing with the secretary: BSI official stamp; correspondence pertaining to perceived illegal activity by a property owner; form transferring signatory authorization for president and treasurer; legal file pertaining to several issues of interest; legal file relating to variances for driveways and a buffer wall at The Villas; metal roof file; Wal-Mart site plan; code of ordinance compliance (CD given to Terry Miller for copies to all board members); correspondence from property owner at 3426 Tripoli requesting an onsite dumpster; and annual invoice for Chamber of Commerce. Regarding this latter item, IT WAS MOVED/ SECONDED (Miller/Phelen) TO PAY THE INVOICE AMOUNT OF $100 TO THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR 2006. Motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Hughes will continue his association with TEAM Punta Gorda. In 2006 he will serve as chair of the advisory committee. He will include updates on their activities in his IPP reports. Mr. Hughes also offered to share his knowledge of city functions, practices and relationships as needed to help the new board transition in 2006. He suggested the new board review the By-laws for currency and identify what/if any additional changes need to be brought to the membership for approval. An ad hoc committee composed of 3 board members and 2 community residents will be charged with this task. He also said the lockbox needs to be transferred to the new leadership and a newsletter should be published in late January or early February. Mr. Petrosino will oversee the first publication but wants efforts made to find a creative person to take over this task. Mr. Murphy will contact potential resources. Articles for the newsletter are due in e-mail form to Mr. Petrosino by January 13. Mr. Sabatino will include a “volunteers wanted” section in his article and specify where help is needed.
Tom Murphy, Treasurer, distributed financial performance records through December 31, 2005 and a Profit and Loss Budget Overview for 2006. After considerable review, Mr. Murphy was asked to reconcile certain accounting portions of the reports and resubmit for filing.
Bob Fitzsimmons , Membership Director, recommended that board members e-mail their monthly reports to the secretary and each other prior to each meeting to save time and assist with record keeping. Mr. Petrosino will follow up with an e-mail instruction on this. Mr. Fitzsimmons also reported that this is a particularly busy time in membership. Dues renewals are coming in at an average rate. Anyone not renewing by month’s end will receive a follow up phone call. In addition, letters are going out to approximately 90 former members and 550 non members asking them to consider membership. Former members will be allowed to rejoin without paying the initiation fee. Mr. Fitzsimmons announced that he is expecting to expand the 12-member membership committee to provide greater coverage to the cul de sacs, the multi unit developments, and the larger streets, such as Monaco, Tripoli and Madrid. The membership goal for 2006 is 700 members.
John Gioia , Planning Director, reported on his recent visit to the South Charlotte County Coalition meeting with Messrs. Sabatino and Minzer. He was disappointed to learn that a new library is not expected to be budgeted until 2009, that landscaping south of Aqui Esta is
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still 3-4 years away, and that no traffic studies are planned for the expansion of Burnt Store Road/Jones Loop Road. Mr. Petrosino discussed the Jones Loop Road bottleneck at the most recent joint meeting of the city council and county commissioners. He learned that this property is maintained by the railroad and the county is providing funds to them to expand the road from 2 to 4 lanes beginning April 2006. Improvements on Cooper Street will also be forthcoming.
Bob Semer , Special Projects Director, was not in attendance. Mr. Petrosino asked Mrs. Miller to follow up with Mr. Semer on all his transition items. In addition, Mr. Semer will be asked to keep the board updated on the Southwest Lawn Service contract, coordination with Public Works, and the still outstanding lighting/irrigation project at the Madrid sign site. Dr. Phelen announced that the city is expected to let contracts today for the entrance enhancements. Work should begin before the end of the month. This information will be communicated to the membership through the newsletter.
Jeff Nilsson, Legal Liaison, deferred his report to Mr. Petrosino who indicated he would make copies of the revised Policy and Procedure Manual and send to all board members. Messrs. Petrosino and Nilsson are planning on attending the class on Robert’s Rules of Order later this month. In keeping with past practice, their tuition may be covered by the Association. Over the next several weeks, Mr. Nilsson and Mr. Petrosino will be visiting with local attorneys to talk about fee structures, specialties and representation interests. In addition, they will determine procedures for using arbitration as one of the escalating steps for deed restriction violations.
Mr. Petrosino also wants to pursue the question of whether or not the Association can charge a fee for reviewing site plans and color choices. Preliminary information suggests it is possible and may be a new revenue source as well as one way to keep track of who is moving into the community.
Claire Phelen, Social Director, spoke to the need to include a summary of approved motions by year in the Policy and Procedure Manual. Mr. Petrosino will collect the motions for the term 2000 – 2005 and have them included in the copying of the manual for each board member. Mrs. Phelen also cautioned against duplicating the city’s work on site plan reviews. Mr. Petrosino assured the board that, for the moment, this was a “stick to the wall” issue only.
The city’s beautification committee did not meet in December. With regard to the landscaping of Route 41 the funding source is the gas tax fund. That means the allocation comes from the state and not the city. The cost of the work done from Carmalita to Airport Road was in excess of $500,000. Another $300,000-$400,000 is needed from the state to continue the work south to Burnt Store Road. Mrs. Phelen also wants to see special landscaping attention given to the north and south corners of Monaco and Madrid. She had hoped the money would be allocated in 2006; however, the latest estimate is 2007. She will get a new update at the January 17 meeting of the beautification committee (members are encouraged to attend this meeting). Mr. Sabatino suggested that the quid pro quo for our support of the development of 41/Monaco (i.e., Monaco Village) might be enhancements of the entryways. Dr. Phelen recommended letting the city planners know what our expectations are for Monaco so they are armed with this information when they meet with the developer. Mr. Gioia will follow up to determine if the Monaco Village proposal was on the DRC agenda today as expected.
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Mrs. Phelen’s evaluation of the December 7 membership meeting was generally positive; however the sign-in table was overwhelmed. For the next meeting, Mrs. Phelen will provide specific job assignments well in advance of the meeting. As regards upcoming social planning, Mrs. Phelen said there would be three membership meetings, a bar-b-que, the lighted boat parade cruise, epicurean club outings, and a possible dinner at the Palm Theatre in Ft. Myers. Membership meetings will be scheduled in March, June and November. The first two will be informational in nature (i.e., not requiring a quorum) and the third the annual business meeting to elect officers, approve the budget, etc. The preferred location for the business meeting is the PGI Civic Association. Mrs. Phelen and Mr. Petrosino will consult with the TICC about the other two.
Jim Townsend, Community Security Director, reiterated his unwillingness to take responsibility for the FRS program in 2006. Following discussion, it was agreed that Tom Murphy will provide continuing oversight for the program and the conduct of the monthly radio tests. Mr. Townsend reported the outcome of his encounter with the on site police officers at the location of the house break-in on Tripoli. The absent property owners were subsequently contacted by the police and have since indicated that nothing appeared to be missing. In relating other illegal activity, Mr. Townsend spoke to the ongoing presence of fishermen fishing with impunity on posted vacant lots (both city and privately held) in close proximity to the lock on Alligator Creek. He asked that the record reflect a letter from Duke Ducasse, a neighboring property owner, asking the Association for relief. The following steps will be taken to alleviate this matter: (1) Mr. Petrosino will send a letter outlining the problem and requested action to the city manager with copies to the police chief, Dr. Phelen, and the canal maintenance group; (2) Association officers will meet with Chief Rinehart or Major Arnel ASAP; and (3) Mr. Townsend will contact the homeowner on the other side of the vacant lot to determine if he wishes to contact the lot owner to initiate a signed document authorizing the lot to be posted. The owner of the vacant lot would also be asked to grant the homeowner permission to legally control access to the lot.
For the next meeting, Mr. Townsend was asked to investigate the practicality and cost of ingress/egress cameras. Mr. Sabatino said Seminole Lakes has just completed such an investigation and may be able to help with the research. As a final note, Mr. Townsend said he was intending to work with Sgt. Reynolds on a viable neighborhood watch program.
Terry Miller , Community Standards Director, corrected her e-mail address for the record. She reported her sighting of the illegal fence at 3400 Tripoli. At this time, both the city and the Association have put the property owner on notice to remove the fence. Mrs. Miller will monitor progress. She also noted the presence of a non-permitted master bath addition in the rear of a house on Tripoli. As this is a code enforcement matter, it will be referred to Randy Cole. Mr. Sabatino suggested that Mrs. Miller get together with the Architectural Review Committee (now composed of herself, Mr. Petrosino and Mr. Semer) to draft enforcement guidelines.
Dr. Dave Phelen, City Councilman, gave an update on the Event Center and announced a public meeting for this matter on January 10 at the tentatorium from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Downtown parking remains a hot button issue for council members. The striping of Madrid and Monaco traffic lines was interrupted due to a truck breakdown. When the truck is repaired the striping will resume. The Babcock Ranch proposal is opposed by Adam Cummings. Dr. Phelen believes that developer Kitson’s approach is the best available option
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and should be supported. An opportunity to do this will come in March when Mr. Kitson speaks to the South Charlotte County Coalition. Dr. Phelen also talked about the maturing of
the Punta Gorda Boating Alliance which is now interacting with the city manager on what’s good for the city’s marine interests. At Mr. Kunik’s direction, the committee has made recommendations on how the Laishley Park marina should be managed once it is completed. In the short term, the recommendation is for the city to manage the property so that any necessary adjustments in policy can be quickly resolved. Dr. Phelen has spoken with Mr. Kunik about a better berm at the Home Depot site and about pressuring the San Rocco developer to clean up that site. He also announced that the contract has been let for the dredging of the entirety of Alligator Creek. Equipment is currently being staged on site and work should begin soon. Lastly, Dr. Phelen outlined for new board members the two types of e-mail programs he has available for Association use. The first includes an address list covering all the members of BSIA; the second is a smaller list of those individuals who have specifically requested inclusion in community services announcements.
Chick Petrosino, President, made the following committee assignments: John Gioia will attend city council and planning commission meetings; Jeff Nilsson and Ed Minzer will attend SCCC meetings; Terry Miller and Chick Petrosino will attend county commission meetings; and Joe Sabatino and Chick Petrosino will cover the chamber of commerce meetings. The “stick to the wall” items are intended to stimulate thinking outside the box. Board members should review before the next meeting. Mr. Petrosino noted receipt of blue prints for the rebuilding of the house in disrepair at 3042 Monaco. A two story structure will replace the current house. He will consult with Jim Morella on a process for reviewing site plans and color selections for new homes and will look for an interface with the contractors’ alliance to keep them advised. Electronic messaging will continue to be a topic for investigation and discussion. Sharing in the cost and utilization of a power point projector has been suggested by Jack Leming of the Boat Club. After discussion, IT WAS MOVED/ SECONDED (Phelen/Murphy) TO ALLOCATE UP TO $700 FOR A JOINTLY OWNED POWER POINT PROJECTOR WITH THE BOAT CLUB CONTINGENT UPON PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND 50/50 COST SPLIT. The motion carried unanimously. Tom Murphy will be the interface with the Boat Club on this matter.
Mr. Petrosino and Mrs. Miller will follow up with Dennis Murphy on the status of derelict buildings and empty lots with debris in BSI.
Old Business
Dr. Phelen reported on the work he and the Alligator Creek Advisory Committee has been doing to shift the tax base for maintenance of Alligator Creek from an MSTU to MSBU. With this shift, allproperties on the water will be subject to the tax and, as a result, BSI property owners will see a dramatic drop in their tax burden. The matter goes before the county commission on January 26. The board thanked Dr. Phelen for his good work in this regard.
New Business
Mr. Petrosino referenced a letter from Kevin T. Wells, Esquire, re Lack of Amendment Authority. A recommended course of action will be forthcoming after Messrs. Petrosino and Nilsson complete their discussions with area attorneys.
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Mr. Hughes suggested that portions of the Directory of Members are arcane and need revision before the spring publishing. Hopefully, the person tapped for the newsletter can also help in this regard.
The meeting was adjourned at 12.45 p.m. by acclamation.
NEXT MEETING IS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2006 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTIFIED
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn J. McDermott, Secretary
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Burnt Store Isles Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 510956
Punta Gorda, FL 33951-0956
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