Aquarina Townhall Blog

We are very fortunate to be located where we are, basically in the middle of a coastal barrier island preserve area, a rather remote place overall for Florida’s coastline region. I can tell you, after being here since 1979, not much has changed from the Town of Melbourne Beach to the 510 Causeway in Vero Beach. The beachside and riverside preserve areas have remained intact, all owned by USA Fish and Wildlife, the State of Florida, and Brevard County. Actually, the future density growth for this region has all been condensed to one place between the ocean and the river.  Guess where that would be?  Yes, Aquarina.

The current bubble we live in here, is manageable, park-like, and mostly secure.  It’s not a bad place to be in quarantine, and we are fortunate. Look at New York City, where the extreme density of its population has become deadly because of precautions that came too late. The Residents here, it appears, are practicing a good protocol of behavior, keeping their distances from others, and staying inside, except for exercise and acquiring necessities.

Unfortunately, a Resident is awaiting the results of the test to determine if he or she is positive for the Virus.  We all wish this Resident the best for a healthy recovery if there is an affliction, and are thankful if the Resident is clear from the Virus. This situation brings up some complicated matters with disclosure if there is an affliction. There is certainly the privacy matter, and there certainly is the public matter. The maybe better road to go down here, if there is an affliction, would be for that person to privately disclose having the virus to those with whom that person had recent contact. We all await how this will be played out.  What will the Board’s suggestion be here? We all have been email inundated with Coronavirus data by the Board, which is nice, but a more important action by the Board, with this possible Virus situation in Aquarina, is how any possible Virus disclosure will be addressed by the Board or not, which could impact the whole community.

Our governor has just announced for all to stay inside other than participating in non-group outdoor exercise or traveling for life essentials until near the end of this month. However, all is fluid, and changes to any order can be expected to occur. It’s best for all to stay informed as we move forward. BTW – something to keep in mind is that two locations in our area can be considered an epicenter for any possible presence of the Virus, i.e. Publix, at Driftwood Plaza, and the supermarket on Ocean Avenue in the Town of Melbourne Beach. Both places are the main source for grocery shopping, and therefore, the two places where most folks will gather.  Use caution, if and when you go to these locations, e.g. wear gloves, masks, etc., and sanitize the packaging before bringing these packages into your home.

Stay safe fellow Residents. There’s hope on the horizon.

The Board majority (and I say Board majority because there are one or a few that do not necessarily agree to the Board majority’s mindset) has failed in its maintenance of our esteemed Beach Club and its surroundings. This failure is an absolute neglect of the Board majority’s responsibility to keep up maintenance and safe conditions at this much frequented facility by our community.

This Blog has listed many Beach Club matters that can be addressed and are ignored by the Board majority.  The golf course and continual party events are instead the main focus.  These golf and party events, through the auspices of AGI, are subsidized by the Aquarina Residents, to the tune of $100’s of thousands of our dollars. Our funds are taken for selfish purposes and not spent on whole community needs as is the fiduciary duty of a community’s Board of Directors.

Looking at the Beach Club facilities, the following requires constant attention because of its location at the ocean and its continued use by the community. These are:

• The south beach access stair crossover needs an alternative and required weatherproof handrail that provides better and safer use for beach users.  The north access has this additional rail. That rail’s elevation offers easier handling for ascending and descending the stairway. The existing and elevated wooden rail is too high for most folks to grasp and in many areas is splintered causing injury.
• The stairs should have daily maintenance to keep the stairs clean of accumulated sand, especially at the bottom stairs, where the sand piles up and creates unstable footing.
• With the current Virus, some type of hand sanitizer and disposal should be available at the deck hose that is constantly used all day long.
• The stairs and decking are becoming splintered and the wood has been left untreated, which is causing hand and foot cuts.
• The Beach Club House deck area and furniture should be regularly hosed down and disinfected. The Beach Club House windows should be regularly cleaned because of constant sea spray accumulation.
• A monument shower should be erected at the bottom of each stairway at the parking area.
• Lastly, the sea grapes have grown into the beach and ocean view window that was once had from the Beach Club House deck. Now you look into vegetation. The sea grapes should be cut down to an allowable elevation to return the beautiful view we once had, and to restore one of the reasons folks frequent the deck.

The bottom line is that our Beach Club House and the beach accesses are probably the most used of all our amenities by most of Aquarina’s Residents. Certainly, with this continued use, regular maintenance is required.  There should be hired help that keeps this amenity in a sanitized and safe condition on a daily basis. It can and should be much more than what it is now for the community. It is being neglected because it is not a priority item for the Board majority as are the golf and golf social events for a set few.

The Beach Club suggestions set out in this Post can be implemented at nowhere near the costs that have been incurred on golf and its social gatherings, which the Residents are subsidizing. Again, what we have is Board majority failure to apply measured attention and funds to ALL our amenities for ALL our Residents.

Be safe fellow Residents, and please abide by the directives we have been requested to follow for the welfare of all, and have hope for a soon resolution to our worldwide dilemma.

Article 7 (Financial Affairs) lays out how the finances of Aquarina should be handled by its Board of Directors.  First, a little history on who was in charge when these Bylaws and the other now existing Documents were formulated.  In the 80’s, when Aquarina emerged as a new and upscale community with its German investors, i.e. the Warsteiner Beer Company, our economy was sluggish at best and development was slow. Warsteiner later sold the Aquarina development to private investors, which is another story for another time.

Developer, Warsteiner, had our Bylaws and the other documents crafted, keeping in mind that a Board of Directors would be controlled by the developer as long as it had a majority of the developable lots, which can be typical in property development. These Bylaws and documents are still with us today.  Article 7 Section 4(b) addresses how our reserves are to be used and spent, at the Board’s discretion.  The use and spending of our reserves is limited to Maintenance, Replacement, and Betterments.  The word “Betterments” is the loaded gun.  With the then developer controlling the Board, it spent the Residents’ funds at its discretion, i.e. for Betterments, e.g. new amenities, upgraded amenities, etc. The Residents were exposed to spending without a voice or a vote for approval or not. It could be argued that a developer needs this latitude and control when it’s building a community, but when the community is sold out or passed to the Residents (where we are now), then do we want to place the sole discretion of spending our funds with an elected Board of Directors without a say?

Well, that’s what we have now.

Our elected Board, which by the way is not a developer, has a fiduciary responsibility to be prudent with the Residents’ funds by prioritizing its spending on Maintenance and Replacement, but the Board majority rather has selfishly spent our funds on lavish and indulgent new amenities (i.e. Betterments) that have caused an enormous financial burden, which will ultimately result in further items to be maintained, and at more cost.  As a fiduciary body, the Board is obligated to use our reserves for practical repairs and to accumulate funds for future replacement of worn equipment, infrastructure, and existing amenities.  Our Documents (Off. Rec. 2434 Pages 1162-1163) specify a process where the whole community becomes involved when equipment, infrastructure, or existing amenities are in need of repair or replacement.  It is a step by step methodology that is spelled out.  Our majority Board by-passed this frugal process for our funds, and instead, decided on the extravagant approach of “Betterment”, e.g. Golf Maintenance Yard and equipment, irrigation well and pump system, new sand bunkers, moving the gym, subsidized parties, etc.

As this Blog has concluded and communicated to the Residents since its inception, Aquarina has been hijacked by a well-organized group, i.e. cabal, whose purposes are to serve its selfish needs, i.e. golf and entertainment, at the expense of the rest of the Residents. The silence to this takeover by the majority of the Residents could be seen as a deafening statement of complacency and denial.  Hopefully, a surge of resistance will emerge from Residents that want their community back to normalcy, where the whole community receives measured treatment.

BTW – it’s interesting to note that a Blog, such as this one, which offers the opportunity to engage in a dialogue of ideas and debate through Comments, has never been challenged other than a few naysayers in its beginning, who were promptly answered and countered, but were never to be heard from again.  The truth can be a formidable foe to those who deny, ignore, and abuse it.

Hello Aquarina Neighbors,

With a new Board election coming up, the Aquarina Residents have a chance, if they want, to lift Aquarina out of the seminal swamp that was created by the current Board majority to control our community.  As this Blog has continued to disclose, a cabal was unhatched from this swamp, which unleashed arguable embezzlement, and certain neglect and negligence upon Aquarina.  Will a new Board majority take hold, with a vision for the whole of Aquarina, where spending of the Residents’ funds are even and proportionate to the areas of need and not applied to a selfish agenda for a few?

Be assured, this cabal will nurture and groom new Board candidates to run for the four vacant positions to continue their majority hold on a new Board.  Let’s review what has been wrought over the past two years with the wanton and cavalier spending of the Residents’ funds without a vote or a debate.

• The dismantlement and replacement of the once popular and frequented gym to the Admin Building, which has made it a lesser facility, i.e. tomb like, has been a bust.  There is chatter that it may be moved back to its original and well placed location; yet another wasted expense. Remember, that the community had no say on this boondoggle move, which cost well into the six figures to complete.
• The renovation of the golf maintenance yard, which could have been repaired to an acceptable condition, went in the direction of extravagant new equipment and a renovation. In addition, sand bunkers were replaced with bright white sand for appearance purposes, at another six figure plus cost. Sand bunkers are certainly a low placed item of the items to be overseen on a golf course.   Has the golf revenue increased because of these expenses?  It’s a business, do we make it look pretty and have the very best equipment, or do we spend to make it profitable, e.g. with marketing? Remember that we subsidize AGI (golf, etc.) because it is not profitable to support itself.
• Continuing with golf (i.e. the golf cabal), more expense was foisted upon the Residents with the irrigation matter for the course, by drilling a well and providing a pump system. Hundreds of thousands were spent on this huge added and ongoing maintenance item to serve the golf course. Further, not only did it cost the Residents a huge purchase expense, but will require Aquarina to be burdened by an additional maintenance expense. The cost knife was driven even deeper into the Residents, since it has caused Aquarina Utilities, Inc. (AUI) to request, from the Florida Utilities Commission, a raise to our water rates because of the loss of revenue from the irrigation water supplied to the golf course. This Blog previously disclosed that expected request from AUI.  The Board never disclosed this predicted AUI action; it was never brought up for discussion.

The proposed cost increase requested for the potable water supplied to all Residents will be over fifty percent, i.e. your monthly water cost invoice will go up 50% more than it is now. The well and the pump system should have been a debated decision and brought to the community for a vote.  The dictatorial Board majority ignored the democratic approach and selfishly provided the golf cabal an extravagant embellishment to a money losing golf course. The potable higher water cost will be ongoing, as the cost will be ongoing too for the well and pump system.

The reasonable approach would have been to first meet with AUI to discuss a possible negotiated rate for both the irrigation and potable water. Strategies are certainly out there to maintain a golf course in a tropical area with a minimum water supply. This method was obviously ignored.  Remember, the Board has a legal fiduciary duty to oversee and be prudent with the Residents’ funds.  Have they?

• The entrance to Aquarina appears old, tired, and neglected.  I can tell you that among all the neighborhoods along Hwy A1A, Aquarina appears the worst in its presentation, and could be considered a financially bankrupt community.  Does that characteristic bode well for our home prices here? Probably for most, your home is your most valuable asset.  In real estate, curb appeal is very important, especially for a community like Aquarina, where curb appeal should be the best on Hwy A1A; however, it could easily be considered the worst. At the last Board Meeting, the re-coating of our roads and the cleaning of our road gutters was cancelled from the agenda.  The rogue Board majority must have other plans for the Residents’ funds rather than addressing a crying out need for the whole community.

The entrance to Aquarina is 35 years old with no noticed maintenance to the roadway, pavers, and curbing.  Not only does the entrance roadway appear neglected, it also feels neglected as you drive over it, like speed bump after speed bump.  The pavers need to be professionally evaluated for either cleaning and resetting, or being replaced.

The entrance monument to Aquarina and the entrance monument to the golf club, need cleaning, the lettering repainted and properly aligned, and the tired landscaping redone. This is the first impression of our resort community. How about a water feature at the entrance that all can see upon entering, including the public passing by on Hwy A1A?

• Our beach access stairs and decking also cry out for maintenance.  These stairs are significant in length and height and need to be regularly serviced.  Sand piling up at the bottom of the stairs causes unsure footing.  The sand should swept off as needed. Because the crossover is constantly used and is constructed of wood, the wood is subject to deterioration, e.g. splintering and cracking. These conditions should monitored and addressed, especially the splintering, which causes injury. BTW – where is the additional and installed regulatory hand rail on the south access? One was finally installed on the north access. Another beach amenity, commensurate for our community, would be a shower tower at the bottom of each set stairs at the parking lot.  Properly maintained beach accesses, and any amenities for these accesses, would certainly be more enjoyed by the whole community rather than bright white sand bunkers for a few.

Aquarina has become a very social and partying place, and that is understood to be appropriate for a semi-retirement to retirement resort community. However, the offered fun activities have veiled the misappropriation and non-measured use of the Residents’ funds for one group of folks.  Aquarina, as a whole, is being shortchanged, and it has become visible and palpable.

Will a new Board rise above the current culture to which the Residents have been subject, where ideas and spending can be applied in a measured fashion to the community as a whole?

Stay tuned.  The next Blog comment will explain how the present Board majority manipulated our By-Laws to serve their agenda.  And yes,  there is the AGI debacle and the importance of funding our reserves.  Much to say.   

May 2020 be a year of new beginning for our beloved community.

Congratulations to all for their efforts to bring to an end what can be considered a boondoggle over these past years of contention with this sale. It may have been considered bungled from its outset. However, there is an upside for the Aquarina Community. Coupled with the sale agreement was a commitment from the Board at that time of the sale that the funding arising from the sale would be used to build a community pool. The probable location would be on the vacant land by the parking lot for the Club House and the tennis courts.

A Community Pool commensurate in size to accommodate all of Aquarina would provide a tremendous boost to the value of our community. The huge caveat though is the past and current behavior of a Board that has a history of recklessly spending the Residents’ funds on its own agenda of wants and desires without a consensus of the community. The Board’s agenda of projects should contribute to the WHOLE community and not a segment of the community, e.g. golf.

May the $350,000 payment to the Residents for a pool be subject to Board meddling for its own purposes? May this $350,000 be spoken for by the current Board before a new Board will be voted in a few months from now? Hmm.

A lawsuit has been filed against the ACSA, by a long time Aquarina Resident, because of the Board President’s and his majority of Board Members’ refusal to provide specific financial records from the AGI.  Per Florida Statute, Chapter 720, ALL financial records from an HOA, when Residents’ funds are spent, must be available for disclosure to the Residents.  The Board President has refused to comply with this very apparent legal request. Mediation, rather than a lawsuit, was offered, and this too was apparently refused.  Wow!

What do we have here? The elected Board was given the fiduciary responsibility, the stewardship, and the entrustment of the Residents’ funds.  The Board President, rather following the letter of the law (Florida Statute, Chapter 720), says he has an attorney opinion that he can by-pass the statute to hide AGI specific spending.  Why would an HOA President or his majority Board want to hide expenses of the Residents’ funds?  Of course, having something to hide is the first reaction.

The irony of it all is that by the Board creating a lawsuit situation, for its own end, a huge attorney expense for the Residents will now follow to fund the President’s and his majority Board’s defense.  The Residents are literally being poked twice, i.e. once by non-disclosure spending, and again by paying for attorneys to defend this spending. Will Aquarina’s Silent Majority still remain silent?

Actually, there is a third poke, which this proactive Resident has caused with the lawsuit.  The third poke is not the taking of Residents’ funds, but a wake up poke to the Residents.

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More news coming on the beach property ongoing sale to Kahama VII LLC and the ongoing promised community pool.