Meeting Minutes as Reported by Unit Owner

Meeting minutes, contributed by Paulette Watson (thank you, Paulette!)

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Townhouses at Jacaranda Condominium Association, Inc.

Board of Directors Annual Meeting 
Minutes of Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Call to Order 7:00 PM 
 Present: John Lovell, Mark Morgenstern, Phyllis Fabara, Carol Hazan,
Paulette Watson, Wendi Hill and Office staff . Also present Beth Linde and
assistant.
 Absent: Willie Perkins
 
State election Monitor, Arthur Miller, announced that there was a quorum and
explained the proceedings for counting ballots for election of Board Members
to four seats.

Announcement of newly elected Directors for 2-year term: 
 Voting Results:
 Cynthia Potts (99), David Saldarriaga (87), Tracy Thomas (85), Harold Scott
(72), Phyllis  Fabara (68), Paulette Watson (67), Sean Wolf (65), Flavius
Lazar (42), John Lovell (34).

Elected: Cynthia Potts, David Saldarriaga, Tracy Thomas, and Harold Scott

No other business brought forth.

Adjournment 11:13 PM
Submitted by Paulette Watson, 2014 Secretary, Board of Directors, March 12,
2015 

Steve, there was no voting in 2010-2014 because only present BOD members ran
so they were elected by default. Willie Perkins ran in 2013 to fill an empty
spot - again no voting. In 2014 there was, I believe, two "intents to run"
but there were problems with either their eligibility or late entry.

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Special Assessment Meeting, Well Done

I happened to stop in and listen to a portion of the Special Assessment (SA) meeting that was held on January 4th.  I was able to see the paperwork that the BOD had prepared for the owners, and to listen to the dialogue that they were having.  

Because I have attended many SA meetings I know how they often transpire.  It seems that unit owners are typically on edge and suspicious (and who can blame them) and that the BOD members are frequently under-prepared and defensive.

Pictured, left to right: John Lovell, Mark Morgenstern, Carol Hazan, and Paulette Watson.

I was very pleased to see that the BOD was very well prepared with paperwork that appeared professionally done (thanks to the management office).  They BOD members, themselves, were relaxed, respectful, and not overly defensive.  As a result, in spite of palpable tension, unit owners were also respectful.  A genuine dialogue took place between the two groups, and difficult decisions were made with both parties appropriately represented.  

My hats off to the BOD and the management staff for their hard work and dedication in this matter.  If this is a sample of how they conduct themselves in all matters, then we have a fine BOD (and management office), indeed.  I also congratulate the unit owners of building 34 for their respectful conduct in such a difficult situation. 

Letter To Building Captains From BOD Member, Paulette Wilson

We need a Captains meeting. Scheduled for Thursday, June 11 - 7:30pm - at the clubhouse. I'll get an agenda to you before Thursday. Hope you all make it. See you then,

Paulette Watson
Bldg 14 Unit 3

A Letter From Paulette Watson, BOD Member

Hi all,
Tree trimming is underway for the next 7-8 days. Palms and some of the other trees will be cut. We tried to get started today, but with the rental company's delivery problem of flat tires, faulty working machine, unit owners cars in the way, and the rain, we couldn't get much of a start. We have hired temp help, 2 men, who will be working with Rob and Chris in getting this done and they will be working from tomorrow to next Tuesday or Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday included,depending on when the company picks up the rented equipment. Along with the cherry picker to reach the trees, we have rented a mulcher. This will help us dispose of the tree branches and has the added benefit of giving us needed mulch around our community's surrounding bushes and other places.

They started today on the west side (the cherry picker is difficult to move from one side of the community to the other, so they will work all of that one side to start. They will move to the east side to finish up what wasn't done there last month by next week, weather permitting.
Please note the importance of moving your cars out of the way if you recieve a flier indicating that they will be trimming on your buildings the following day or the day after that depending on the weather. We will not cut a tree if there is a car parked beside it to avoid any possible damage to cars.

Thanks a million for your help ( or maybe I should say thanks a thousand for the thousands we are saving with our staff doing this much needed trimming work),

Paulette Watson 14/03

Update From BOD Member Paulette Watson

The BOD settled on a candidate, Charles and interviewed him. Because of a conflict of interests, we could not further entertain hiring him at this time. We did not have another candidate that seemed to fit our community at this time.

In the meantime, our office is in good hands and is running as smoothly as possible with all of TaJ's daily and any on-going problems, many inherited from the past. Beth is, of course, still working in our office.

[Editor's note: I have heard many share their opinion that Beth G. is a dedicated worker who works tirelessly for the good of the community.]

Tree trimming will start again in about a week. We look forward to having the rest of the palms and other trees touching buildings trimmed before hurricane season takes hold. A cherry-picker will be rented as well as a mulcher to be used to get rid of the cuttings, helping us with clean up and giving us some needed mulch in the bargain. Our trimming of the trees, instead of hiring an outside company, is saving our Association thousands of dollars.

I would like to applaud the unit owners who picked up their brooms and rakes and helped out the last time by sweeping their driveways and even giving our staff some clean-up help. It certainly made our clean-up go faster. This is community togetherness at it's best.

Building Captains are passing out voting ballots for the staggered term for board members. It would be nice if we could have the unit owners fill them out and drop them off to the office or their building captain.

On this note, we have building captains for more than half of the buildings. And they are a great group of helpful people looking to make our community better. At a meeting held about two weeks ago, the building captains came up with many positive ideas - packaging any fliers, passing them out to their building as well as taking buildings with no captains to help our staff use their time for other necessary work, getting votes for whatever is needed, dispelling rumors and passing along information of use to other unit owners, wanting to be our "events committee" for things like organizing garage sales events, Easter and Halloween events for our community's children, maybe even a get together for adults with music provided free from Dave Muri's band ( a building captain for bldg 11), I've never been at a more positive and energizing meeting of a group as I was with this one of the building captains. They deserve our many thanks and cooperation.

We still have buildings with no captains and hope that others will join the committee. Co-captains for the buildings we have covered would help out as well. Unit owners who are interested in joining this group can sign up in the office or email pauletttewatson@bellsouthl.net or call 954.472.2283.

Paulette Watson

[Editor's note: I wish to express a special thanks to Paulette for providing the above information. All BOD members and unit owners are invited to share their information, thoughts, questions, and even complaints. Even though all are invited, only a few ever take the time to share. Thanks, Paulette!]

2009-2010 Board of Director Members

[Wendi Hill, picture removed upon request]

W2ndy H1ll and John Lovell

Carol Hazen and Paulette Watson


Phyllis Fabara and Ben Odebralski


Mark Morgenstern

BOD Election Results

124... Phyllis Fabara
124... Paulette Watson
093... Ben Odebralski
080... John Lovell
054... Esther Leacock
050... Elliot Schertzer

• 147 votes were cast,
  
• 10 ballots were disqualified,
  
• the ballots were inspected by several unit owners and all appeared to have been individually filled out -- there were no photocopied votes

Participating in the vote count:

• Beth Lindie (the TAJ general purpose attorney)
• Beth G (office manager)
• Sue Cozia (building 44)
• Jill Mann (building 43)

The meeting was adjourned at 11:09pm.

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