The Huntington Homeowners' Association
St. Petersburg, Florida
Board Minutes for 2022
April 3
The Huntington Homeowners Association board of directors met at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, April 3, by the pool.
The meeting was called to order by president David Egbert and a quorum was declared.
Present were board members Egbert, Tim Baker, Phil Foley, Mark Welton, Lola Walker and Pamela Haigh. Absent was JA Booker. Other owners present were Jackie Collom, Quay Peters and Hillary Cone.
Election of officers. The board unanimously elected officers for the 2022 year. The officers will be Mr. Egbert, president; Mr. Baker, secretary-treasurer; and JA Booker, vice president.
President’s report: Mr. Egbert, who has served as president a number of times (most recently since 2015), announced that he will not be a candidate for that office in 2023. He also noted the following:
- The trees in the courtyard were recently trimmed, as is usual in the first quarter of each year.
- Some of the pool furniture was repaired, so it is all now in good working order.
- We have managed to bring down our water bills to some extent by manually turning off the sprinkling system when it is not needed. Mr. Egbert said he has been able to do this two or three times a month. Mr. Baker, the treasurer, noted that each time the system is turned off for a day the savings is more than $100.
- The warranty on the front gate has now expired, so that we will have to pay for any future repairs and maintenance. The warranty had been extended for one year due to problems with the original installation.
- Due to increased costs, our pest-control vendor, Floridian, has changed the service it provided. Instead of spraying both grass and shrubs every month, Floridian will now alternate months between the grass and the shrubs.
Treasurer’s report: Mr. Baker said there was nothing unusual to report in the first quarter and expenses were in line with the budget. He noted, though, that the budget for landscaping was fixed for the year, which could be a problem as we look for a new landscape maintenance company. (See New Business below.)
New Business:
- Our long-time landscape contractor (Willow Tree) resigned from the job as of the middle of April, citing rising expenses and difficulties in hiring. Mr. Egbert appointed Ms. Haigh to set up a committee to seek a replacement and report back to the board.
- Hillary Cone said that the pool filter seems to be running an unusual amount of time lately. Mr. Egbert said he would check with the pool maintenance company to see if there are any problems there.
The meeting was adjourned at about 1:20 p.m.
Timothy J. Baker
secretary/treasurer
July 17
The Huntington Homeowner’s Association board of directors met at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17, 2022, by the pool.
All board members were present: Dave Egbert (president), JA Booker (vice president), Tim Baker (secretary/treasurer), Lola Walker, Phil Foley, and Mark Welton. Also present were owners Joe Maka, Kent Tse, Anne Marantz, Quay Peters and Robin Warren.
Minutes: The minutes of the previous meeting were approved unanimously, after a motion by Mr. Booker and a second by Mr. Foley.
President’s report:
- Unit 14, which has been a rental unit for many years, has been sold to a new owner who intends to move in some time in 2023. The current tenant will remain for one more year.
- A contractor has been hired to paint over the graffiti on the alley wall. The city no longer paints over graffiti on private property, thanks to complaints about not matching existing paint colors.
- A broken dumpster at the west end of the alley has been repaired by the city, thanks to Ms. Warren. Some owners complained about a broken door on one of the dumpsters at the east end of the alley.
- The irrigation system was inspected and numerous minor repairs made in May.
- A new filter has been installed on the swimming pool. Mr. Baker said it would be paid for from reserve funds set aside for that purpose.
- Mr. Egbert said another piece of pool furniture needs to be repaired. We need someone to transport it back and forth to the repair company.
- The pool company has spotted some rust on the bottom of the pool, but has been unable to clean it up. That may have to await resurfacing of the pool a few years out.
Treasurer’s report:
- Mr. Baker reported that he had invested $70,000 from reserves in CDs that pay an averages of about 3 percent interest.
- The association had mostly held to its budget through the first six months of the year. One upcoming problem will be proposed hikes in the cost of water.
- The association apparently paid twice on an invoice from TEM, the company that maintains the front gate. Mr. Baker said he is working with our bank and TEM to resolve this.
New business:
- The current landscaping company has informed us that they are resigning effective the end of July. Mr. Egbert is looking for a new company.
- There was a brief discussion about whether any gutter repairs are needed. Mr. Egbert said they should be inspected in 2023.
The meeting adjourned at about 1:30 p.m.
Timothy J. Baker
Secretary/Treasurer
December 4
The Board of Directors of the Huntington Homeowners’ Association met at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, by the pool. (The meeting had been rescheduled from Nov. 20 when a quorum was not obtained.)
In the absence of president Dave Egbert, secretary/treasurer Tim Baker chaired the meeting.
Board members present were Mr. Baker, Lola Walker, Mark Welton, and Phil Foley.
Also attending were owners Joe Maka, Jackie Collom, Anne Marantz, Hillary Cone, Lisa Palmer and Joe Green.
A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order.
2002 Budget. Mr. Baker presented a proposed a budget for 2023, which included a $10 increase in the monthly maintenance fee, from the current $390 to $400. Mr. Baker noted that two items made up the bulk of the increase: insurance for the association and cleaning of dryer vents.
Insurance: Mr. Baker said he was advised by the association’s insurance agent to expect an increase in the cost of insurance of between 20 and 30 percent. In line with that, the proposed budget included $5,700 for insurance, compared with the actual cost in 2022 of $4,656.55, an increase of about 25 percent.
Dryer vents: The association has generally paid to clean the dryer vents in all the units every other year. That was not done in 2022 and so will be due in 2023. The budget included $2,115 for vent cleaning, compared with $1,050 two years ago.
Budget adopted. Mr. Foley moved and Mr. Welton seconded a motion to adopt the budget as proposed. The motion passed unanimously.
Front Gate: In other business, Mr. Foley advised the board about an engineer’s report on the operation of the front gate, which the board had commissioned earlier in the year, due to repeated problems with gate operation. The engineer pointed out several problems that could cause gate failure, including wiring that is exposed to the elements but should be enclosed in conduit, electrical boxes that should be sealed, and the continuing encroachment of jasmine vines on the gate. The engineer recommended that the association obtain a maintenance agreement with the gate vendor. The board is working on that.
Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.
Submitted by Tim Baker
secretary/treasurer