The Huntington Homeowners' Association
St. Petersburg, Florida
Board Minutes for 2021
February 7, 2021
The Board of Directors of the Huntington Homeowners’ Association met on February 7, 2021, immediately following the association’s annual meeting, at which the board was elected. All the board members were present: Dave Egbert, Tim Baker, Lola Walker, JA Booker, Mark Welton, Phil Foley and Pam Haigh.
The only action item on the agenda was to elect board officers for the year. Elected unanimously were Mr. Egbert, president; Mr. Baker, treasurer, Mr. Booker, vice president; and Ms. Walker, secretary.
The meeting adjourned following the election.
Submitted by Timothy J. Baker
acting secretary
May 16, 2021 at 12:30 p.m.
Board Members Present: David Egbert, #4; JA Booker, #23; Pam Haight, #27; Mark Welton, #12; Tim Baker, #16; Phil Foley, #15; Lola Walker, #21
Others Present: Hillary Cone, #24; Robin Warren, #25;
1. Call to order: quorum was established.
2. Approval of Minutes of first quarter
Motion to accept by JA Booker, seconded by Phil Foley. Motion passed.
3. President’s Report
a. Gate: TFN extended the warranty another year to March, 2022. Gate still periodically fails. We will look into hiring a consultant to examine the operating system. Phil will look into fee structure of a contractor.
b. Outside lights at street entrances were needed to replace old lights. Thanks to Tim Baker for choosing attractive lighting and getting an electrician to install them.
c. Tree trimming at the neck out on the corner of 4th and 2nd St and islands along 2nd Street. Lola contacted the City and work has been completed. The City replanted the neck out with hawthorn and cut back the trees along 2nd Street. The Association spent approximately $5,000 to have trees along 4th Avenue trimmed between the street and the gates. (The City will trim trees that hang over the street keeping them 14 ft from the street).
d. Irrigation. The system hasn’t been functioning properly. Thanks to Dave, the sprinkler company fixed the system at a cost of $1700. All sprinkler heads were repaired. It was suggested by the repair company that they come semi-annually.
e. Three Pool Chairs needed repair. Casual Furniture picked them up, repaired and returned them .
4. Treasurer’s Report
a. Courtyard lights: five years ago they were repaired but now ballasts need repair The Association Long-Term Plan has $10,000 for this item.
b. Landscaping: The budget has $0 for Landscaping and $0 for Contingencies (such as rotted wood trim). Last year, we had $30,000 surplus in the fund that is unassigned. Tim suggested that we allocate surplus funds in a Master Plan. It was suggested that we not change funds in accounts until a Master Plan is made. Note: the By-Laws state that the HOA cannot spend more than $2000 without Board Approval.
5. New Business
Upgrade courtyard light bulbs to LED. Phil Foley moved that the HOA spend up to $5000 to replace the ballasts with LED’s. JA Booker seconded the motion. Motion passed.
6. Old Business
a. Landscaping- Replacing the jasmine and other needs was briefly discussed. It was agreed that a Master Plan needs to be put into place before decisions are made. Pam Haight will work on this with others. No timeline was set.
b. Bricks – Work is needed on uneven and hazardous brick pavers by Mark Welton’s, Hilary Cone’s and Dave Egbert’s homes. This will be done by end of June.
c. Dryer Vent Cleaning (DeLintz) – Lola agreed to research costs, set up and monitor the process including set dates, notify owners and make sure someone is available at each property.
d. Patio chair cleaning – Dave will call Wessel to clean the furniture. Robin will ask a friend to clean the grill.
e. Unfinished back wall. Hilary asked when this will be repaired. Discussion followed.
JA Booker will get advice and costs.
f. Trash collection: Spotty pickup was discussed. HOA has scheduled and pays City to pick up Tuesdays and Fridays. Robin said If one calls the City, they promptly pick up (Dave has the
Account #)
7. Meeting Adjourned at 1:26 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lola H Walker, Unit 21
Secretary
September 26, 12:30 p.m.
Board Members Present: David Egbert, #4; J.A. Booker, #23; Pam Haigh, #27; Tim Baker,
#16; Phil Foley, #15; Lola Walker, #21
Others Present: Anne Marantz, #8; Quay Peters, #19; Kent Tse, #5.
1. Call to order: quorum was established.
2. Approval of Minutes of first quarter
Motion to accept by Phil Foley, seconded by Lola Walker. Motion passed.
3. President's Report
Status of Various Items:
i. Brickwork on Hilary Cone's walk was redone.
ii. JA Booker had pool deck cleaned.
iii. Herb took care of getting pool chair(s) repaired.
iv. Trash is now being picked up on schedule.
v. Dryer vent cleaning was completed through Lola.
vi. Courtyard lights were replaced with Tim's assistance.
vii. Tim also purchased a new fan over the table at the pool.
viii.Irrigation. The system hasn't been functioning properly. Dave had the sprinkler
company fix the system at a cost of $695. All sprinkler heads were repaired. A new control box was installed. Repair company suggested an annual checkup.
4. Treasurer's Report
a. Budget for water: $32,000 was budgeted for water, sewage, trash for 2021. July cost was
$3,200, August was $3,800 and Usage was 6,000 gal/day. Previous year (2020) usage was
3,200/gal/day. August to November are usually the lowest bills. Meter is read every
month.
We may have to increase the budget for 2022. Was there a leak? The water softener in Unit 6
was leaking for a month and that may have been the cause of the increased billing.
Action: Tim will check the meter daily and will have results by the November Board
meeting. Any budget adjustment can be made then, if necessary.
b. Well: A well could save thousands of dollars on water per year, but so far there has
been no one to shepherd this issue through. Cost is $10-$12,000 to get the well and pump
plus another $2,500+ to get electricity to the pump if it is placed inside the garbage area
that is currently not being used. A plumber would have to connect it to the water lines.
Alternatively, it could go through Hilary's wall at a cost of approx. $1,500 plus the costs of
the well, pump and electricity. Putting the well inside the wall would be cheaper. It was
suggested that possibly the pump could be put inside the southwest corner of the pool
area. JA Booker volunteered to gather information needed, including more phone calls so
a decision can be made.
c. Budget for 2022: Tim will put a budget for 2022 together with alternatives to the current
budget to adjust for water usage and other items. He will present it at the December Board
Meeting.
5. New Business
Rat Situation: Units 4, 6 & 7 are being treated. Units 15-18 have been done.
Units 1-3 not done; unit 8-11 done. (Note: units 19-23 done by another company). Lola
reported the City of St Pete Rodent Control brought a trap that's provided free of charge
and JA put it inside the easternmost dumpster area. City will check and replace if needed.
Homeowners will be given an application and can apply for City Traps if they wish. A copy is
attached.
6. Old Business
a. Landscaping
Pam and Dave have proposed to address the need for a Master Plan discussed at the last
meeting so we can have a Budget Item for it. The following is a Plan to be approved by the
Board:
• Phase I —the plants outside the courtyard and near the pool area, completed next year.
• Phase II — will set requirements for individual homeowners and get rough average
cost/unit to budget.
JA moved to approve the Plan. Lola seconded the motion. Motion approved.
b. Update on Wall cracks/settling
JA asked bout using putty or fiberglass tape? If settling has stopped, how do we know
that as there is no footer under the wall? JA agreed to get some numbers on this issue.
Meeting adjourned at 1:35 pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Lola Walker, Secretary
December 5, 2021
Board Members Present: David Egbert, #4; Kent Tse, #5; Mark Welton, #12; Phil Foley, #15; Tim Baker, ##16; Lola Walker, #21; JA Booker, #23, sent a proxy
Others Present: Robin Warren, #25; Hillary Cone, #24; Joe Maka, #18
1. Call to order: quorum was established; 6 of 7 Board members and a Proxy from JA Booker.
2. Approval of Minutes of second quarter. Minutes were not available and will be sent to Board Members soon.
3. President’s Report:
Third Quarter has been calm.
Work has been done on the Budget for 2022.
A Landscape Plan has been developed.
4. Treasurer’s Report
2021 Budget ( Budget was emailed to all Board Members- 2021 Actual Expenses are Approximately $6,000 more than Budgeted
Lower costs for tree trimming bring the 2022 Budget down. Gutter cleaning will be necessary, increasing the costs to $950 in 2022. Delinting the dryers will not be done in 2022, reducing that cost to $0. Most variables are included in the Long-Term Plan and Reserves including servicing the gate. The budget for minor repairs is unpredictable and doesn’t necessarily increase year by year. Water cost has significantly increased from 2021. Will have the sprinklers checked several times a year. Sewer fees (as part of City water/sewer charges) have also increased. We have a stormwater system to manage overflow. Many vendor costs are known. Cable TV is unknown. We pay an annual subterranean termite fee to Terminix that will cover any repairs where damage by subterranean termites is found.
HOA Fees for the 2022 Budget:
Because of anticipated increased expenses, a motion was made regarding HOA monthly fees for 2022.
a. Motion to keep fees at $385 made by Dave, seconded by Lola, was rejected.
b. A second Motion to increase annual HOA fees to $390 was made by Phil Foley, seconded by Tim, was Approved by a vote of 6 of the 7 Board members.
5. Old Business: Landscape Plan
Landscape Plan developed by Dave and Pam, inside and outside the Huntington, included assessment by Willow Tree Landscaping who tell us that we have five problems:
a. 4th Ave trees cast shade affecting both street side and courtyards.
b. 2nd Street, outside plantings are bad and inside are good.
c. Area near the pool needs work
d. May want to add, replace and/or remove plantings
e. Jasmine – very costly to rip out
Recommendations:
1. Outside the courtyard, plant podocarpus & don’t trim them.
2. Test a number of courtyards with various plantings.
Bottom Line:
There is currently no budget line item for landscaping. Recommendation: As there is $23,000 unspent in the budget for bricks, we could take $10,000 for a landscaping budget.
A motion was made by Dave, seconded by Lola, and passed unanimously to move $10,000 from the brick pavers budget to a Landscaping Budget.
6. New Business: Subterranean Termite Contract
The Terminex annual contract is for $2400 per year. We don’t seem to have any bait stations and checking with Nature’s Safeway who services many of our townhomes, they would charge $6700 to add bait stations plus $2300/year to check them. However, John of Nature’s Safeway doesn’t think we need that treatment. Questions we need answers for: What is Terminex currently doing? Why are there no bait stations? What are they doing for the fee we are paying? Lola agreed to contact Terminex and find out what they are doing.
Discussion ensued as to if we should simply pay the January Terminex bill and consider
the payment as insurance should any owner discover subterranean termites.
Meeting adjourned at 1:35 pm
Respectfully Submitted,
Lola Walker, Secretary