Month: April 2023

The informational Bylaws and Declaration explanations, among other topics, spilled out to the participating Residents at the Meeting on Thursday; however, Residents’ questions created a bumpy road for the Board’s spun explanations. As a result, the pointed questions eventually uncovered the truth of these proposed amendments.  The most telling, as was not surprising, were that amendments 1 and 2 were changes that would increase the tenure of the Board Directors.  The third amendment, which would affect a large portion of privately owned Aquarina property, was found to be in error in its legal description and in the amount of referenced property in the amendment.

It appears that the haste in assembling this vote resulted in a package of amendments that were not only self-serving, but lacked proper research, especially with the privately owned Aquarina property.  It is so apparent with the daily email harassments to vote, that this Board has an agenda for itself with these amendments. Are the Residents and this private property owner being served in a fair and responsible manner?

We have a rushed vote with vague and self-indulgent explanations on matters that effect our founding documents, and a Aquarina landowner who finds himself in a defensive position because of a lack of the Board’s due diligence.  The Board’s response is that the voting should continue, and we’ll fix things later. What? How about that the voting is suspended until the proper communication channels are set in place to determine what this vote is all about, and how it will affect the Residents, as a next step.

Remember this, we have been provided these amendments, which have been “promoted” and not sufficiently explained, not at the beginning of the voting process, but during the voting process with the daily email harassments to vote on them now. This amounts to dumping ballots before the date to vote. At the date to vote, and as it should be, the voting takes place, all the ballots are submitted, and a determination is made if the amendments have 1) a quorum for a vote and 2) whether they are voted to pass or fail.

It is so obvious that this whole scenario was devised to fool the Residents with an apparent official manner of voting, which in actuality was a scheme to cement the Board’s hold on the its position to continue its selfish and reckless agenda of squandering the Residents’ funds, and maybe play property chess with an individual’s hold on Aquarina land. None of this is good.

I vote NO on all the amendments with a turned in paper Ballot, and I won’t use or support computer based voting, which was implemented to facilitate this ruse.

More to come soon.

The Board is obviously panicking that it won’t achieve a majority of Residents to vote on its new amendments to our Declaration and Bylaws. We were all sent these new amendments with no clear explanation for the reason they’re being foisted upon us.  We have been pressured by the pounding of daily emails this past week on how important it is to vote, and that we need to vote now.  Curiously, an attorney explanation of these amendments is to be explained at a Meeting this Thursday, April 27. Why the pressure to vote before the attorney explanation, and before May 1, the day where a vote can occur and be tabulated?

Based on the Board’s poor and reckless decisions with our funds, e.g., one being the Brassie Grille expansion, can we really trust it to be doing something to assist or enhance our welfare within the community, when it apparently is forcing an earlier vote from the Residents with these daily emails before an explanation of the amendments is offered?

Oh yes, now we know why a computer voting system was purchased by the Board. A virtual mail-in and earlier voting opportunity situation has been put in place via this computer voting. This alleged convenient manner of voting certainly will provided instant relief to the daily and repetitive browbeating to vote on these so called important amendments.

An urgency to vote, easy computer based voting (which can be subject to hacking), vague Amendments with no reasons explained, all smell suspicious to me. The reasonable approach is to make a preamble case for this surprise and  rushed amendments’ move on the Residents, which has caused a concern of uncertainty in the community.  Long standing rules and governance are changed with forethought and care; they are not changed with surprise and with no discussion.

The Board’s attorney(s) will make an explanation for these amendments in the middle of the offered voting period at a meeting; that’s strange. This late explanation for the amendments should have been made before the voting period for folks to digest the reasoning and make an informed decision.  Remember too, that the attorney(s) work for the Board, and there is history where they have defended the Board to keep the detailed AGI financials from the Residents, where one Resident requested the financials and was rebuked.

What scenario do we have now? Instead of an expected and laid out process for the Residents to be properly informed before a decision to change our long standing and established Declaration and Bylaws is made, we have been hurried with harassing reminders to make us feel obligated to do the Board’s wishes – vote for the amendments.  Hmm.  

Your departing Board president signed off on a $700,000 Plus contract to expand the money losing Brassie Grille.  As with construction remodel contracts, any unforeseen work (which typically occurs on remodels) that arises is an added expense, which means an open expense. In addition, there is a list of finalized finishing items that will be added as further costs.  The $700,000 sign off will certainly balloon into a higher total amount.  You can count on that.

Let’s look at some other matters to question.

• Thousands are being spent by our Board on a computer voting system.  With about a total of 400 plus property votes, do we need a computer voting system?  Globally, there is much controversy on the security of this type of voting.  France has paper ballot voting and hand counting, where the voting and tabulating is less subject to manipulation, which has been proven over and over again with computer based voting. This is an extravagant expense, with a system that can be vulnerable to manipulation.

• Having a Green Turtle buffet dinner is nice, and if it is successful, it would be a more cost-effective way to offer this type of eating affair rather than placing the cost of it all on the Residents, i.e. by way of a Brassie Grille expansion to host and prepare for such an affair, in addition to a having a paid staff to service the affair. The Club House provides a suitable venue with kitchen facilities, space, and rest rooms. There is no financial risk since it’s prepaid and catered by an outside professional.  The setup and cleanup can be manned by a limited staff that serves the current Brassie Grille, which would remain in its current format, a comfort food sports type bar.

• The golf course may be better served with a management style that encourages more public play, e.g. a golf management company.  It’s so obvious there is a need for more public play like exists with the Spessard Holland Golf Course just up the road, which always has a full parking lot compared to a consistent only scattering of parked vehicles in the Aquarina Golf Course lot.  The Residents are subsidizing a virtual private course that offers itself to the public, but does it really? Based on its play, the Aquarina Golf membership should be at a higher price to cover all its costs.

• Having a sub-Board, i.e. AGI, to handle the Brassie Grille and the golf course has resulted in a trail of poor management and a pile of debt for the Residents.  We have a group of folks who have placed themselves in management positions of areas where they have no experience, i.e. restaurant and golf, and the Residents have had to bail these folks out of their mishaps time and time again.  In addition, the specific financials for the AGI have been hidden from the Residents, with the excuse that these financials are privileged to the Board.  Hmm. Per Florida Statute, the Residents should see how every penny is spent. Let’s see those journal entries.  Let’s see the financial books.  At a recent Board Meeting, even the Board Treasurer questioned the Food and Beverage financial presentation where costs could not be reasonably explained. What!

An excuse of inflation, with the rise of costs for food and beverage supplies, was used for explaining the losses.  An expected business response to this situation is to raise the prices of goods sold to cover the any product price increase. And further to this scenario is, guess who pays for the shortfall and resulting loss?  Yes, the Residents with their maintenance fees, which diminishes our Reserve growth to repair and replace Aquarina’s infrastructure. But of course, the Board needs to stroke its supporters, and prevent any inflationary costs for its Brassie Grille patrons to bear.

• Huge insurance costs are coming. Some of the insurance policies are conditioned on roof repairs, e.g. Beach Club House, bathroom buildings on the golf course, and the pool Bath House for Blue Heron, Egret Trace, and Spoonbill Villas. Have we seen or heard of any ongoing repair work for these facilities?  How about the Beach Club House service elevator that actually should be a pedestrian elevator?  It’s been “Temporarily out of service” for years.  Yet, in our country’s present economic state of affairs, e.g. rapid inflation being fed by irresponsible government spending, our Board feels the priority is to expand the Brassie Grille. Unbelievable.

• It appears that more time is spent on entertainment matters than infrastructure and community presentation matters where the priorities should be.  Look around as you drive our community.  We are approaching 40 years in age, and it shows.  There are communities of less cost that have presentations and upkeep much better than ours.  Is there a base of new leadership within Aquarina that can recast the current focus of entertainment to a focus, which is an immediate need, of responsibility and action to repair and replace our tired infrastructure?

More to come . . .