The
Board of Directors for Hawthorn Park
held the regular Monthly
Meeting on August
24, 2006.
Here are the
topics
and
highlights of the meeting.
Please
note: These
are not the official
meeting minutes.
The official minutes are recorded by Patti Wasil, Property Manager,
and are archived at the offices of Sentry Management. Claudia
Quehl, Director - Assistant Secretary, also maintains a file of the
official minutes.
Planned Attendees
Board of Directors:
Jeanine Balsis
Art Stadlin
Ray Dalto
Mike Theoret
Tom Falcone
Pat Whitesel
Claudia Quehl
Sentry Management
Patti Wasil
Other interested residents of Hawthorn Park
AGENDA
1. Pledge of Allegiance
2. Call for a quorum of directors -- All in attendance.
3. Reading of minutes of July 27, 2006 meeting [P.
Wasil]
4. Review of Financial Statements [M. Theoret]
5. Property Manager's Report [P. Wasil]
6. Committee Reports
" Activities
Fund [M. Theoret] -- Current
balance is $1,439.
" Activities
Planning [T. Falcone] -- 1) Baseball game was
canceled due to rain. 2) Ladies Tea will be hosted at Pat
Whitesel's
home, with help from Peg Mazza. 3) A volunteer is requested to lead
the planning for the Holiday Party. Please contact Tom Falcone if
interested. 4) Tom is investigating a joint wine tasting
mixer with
Azalea Park.
" ARC [T. Falcone] -- Tom reported no activity this month.
" Common
Grounds [C.Quehl] -- Claudia
reported lots of activity. Peggy DeSaint discussed long-range
planning with the Common Grounds Committee. She recommends the
removal of all non-native trees, which include Autralian Pines and
Ficus trees. Claudia also reported that someone had trouble
negotiating the curves at the front entrance and took out some plants,
which shall be replaced. Claudia asked that any residents who are
in a weed picking mood, feel free at any time to pull weeds at the
front entrance!
" Maintenance -- Jeanine reported that Len Lesjak
replaced one of the lights that illuminates the front sign.
Jeanine authorized Len to keep a spare on hand.
7. Ongoing Business
" Irrigation
System - Reclaimed Water
o Neal Contract -- Board agreed to switch to reclaimed
water and to inform Pat Neal.
" 2006 NEG
Grant -- Jeanine, Claudia, and
Art met with Branch Brothers Tree Service to review plans and estimate
for the removal of 18 Australian Pines on the north border of Phase
II. The Board would like to address these trees but obstacles
continue. In late 2005 the Board put the removal of these trees
on hold pending dues payments in January, 2006. Then the Board
needed to put this project on hold while it was engaged in the
Mediation process regarding these same trees and the north ditch.
Now unfortunately the Board must again put this project on hold due to
a new SWFWMD action related to the same ditch. (See below for
more.)
" Action Items:
o 2005-02-15-A
Fence Encroachment - Patti Wasil --
The County has determined that the chain link fence on the north border
of Phase II (current Bellino property) is indeed proper and not on
Hawthorn Park property. Patti will request County to document
explicitly that the fence is not encroaching.
o 2005-08-25-A
Front Entry Landscaping - Claudia
Quehl -- CLOSED. We have
received the full matching grant money for last year's grant.
This paid for half the cost of the work.
o 2006-02-23-A
Sidewalk Repairs - Patti Wasil,
Tom Falcone -- 1) Board agreed to
notify County of a sidewalk hazard on 13th Ave. Circle and let them
handle it. 2) Tom got an estimate for the sidewalk work on 9th
Ave. but the Board decided to table this for at least one month, given
the uncertainty around the SWFWMD issue.
o 2006-05-22-A
Front Pond Irrigation System -
Mike Theoret -- Mike reported
that the pump and system are currently working properly. Fred
Baumgratz reported that one of the front sprinklers does not rotate and
is stuck in a manner that fills his swimming pool with reclaimed water,
which he finds objectionable. Mike will work with McGiver lawn
service and Fred and resolve the matter next week.
o 2006-06-22-A
Sentry Letters - Patti Wasil -- CLOSED. Claudia is caught up
with receipt of old Harmony/Sentry letters for her file.
8. New Business
" Zoller/SWFWMD
-- The Southwest Florida Water
Management District (SWFWMD) requested that Hawthorn Park contract with
Zoller Engineering at a cost of $500 to recertify the north ditch
(Phase II). This was completed and Zoller informed the
Association that the ditch was recertified as-is, with no work
required. Due to a complaint by a resident bordering the ditch,
SWFWMD refused to accept Zoller's recommendation. Pat Neal was
gracious in supplying original plans for the ditch. From this it
is apparant that the homeowners (past or present) have altered the
profile of the water run-off features. Specifically, the swale to
the south of the ditch has been completely filled in and no longer
exists. SWFWMD originally required this swale to cause run-off to
be channeled into the north pond, rather than the north ditch.
Compounding matters, thousands of dollars were consumed by the 2003
Board to alter the north swale/ditch area. A SWFWMD-required
concrete spillway between the old swale (which is gone now) and the
north pond was removed during that 2003 construction. (A search
party for the missing spillway has been commissioned.) The
current Board (primarily Jeanine and Pat) has made numerous phone calls
to government officials, SWFWMD, Zoller, and Pat Neal looking for a
path to resolve this matter with minimal time and expense. It
appears that SWFWMD will not require the re-building of the original
drainage profile (the swale), given the time that has elapsed.
However, now that the swale is gone, they require the ditch to connect
to the pond, which it currently does not. First, the Board will
try to get verification from SWFWMD that this change is all that is
required. Second, the Association will need to pay for Zoller's
engineering services to design a fix acceptable to SWFWMD. (This
could cost as much as $3,000.) Third, once we have plans that
SWFWMD accepts, we will need to hire a contractor to build it.
(Cost unknown.) Given the unknown costs involved, the Board has
tabled the removal of the Australian Pines on the north border.
9. Comments from residents
-- Mailboxes are deteriorating. The rusted ones need
replacement. An announcement will be made in the New Flash e-mail.
10. Adjourn
