BOARD APPROVED AS CORRECTED MARCH 15, 2010

TRAILER ESTATES PARK & RECREATION DISTRICT

BOARD OF TRUSTEES WORKSHOP/MEETING

MARCH 8, 2010

9:30 a.m.

SMALL HALL

1903 69TH AVENUE WEST

BRADENTON, FL  34281

 

 

The workshop was called to order at 9:32 a.m. by Chairman Martha Brauer.

 

Announcements

 

1.  Beautification did a great job landscaping the Large Hall.  The money for this project came from the sale of 288 bricks at $100 each.  The bill for the latest Beautification project is approximately $3,000.  The Beautification Committee was applauded for their efforts.

 

2.  If a waiver is signed, family members of the person who signed it may not have signed off and, thus, the park can still be liable.

 

3.  In regards to the 2010 Trailer Estates election, the office of the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections has moved and is now located at 600-301 Boulevard, Suite 108.  If you are interested in running, you may want to pick up your paperwork from the elections office and get it in before leaving Florida for the summer.

 

4.  The Auditor Selection Committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 18 in the Small Hall.

 

5.  Club requests:  Shuffle Club has given suggestions and the Let’s Talk Club would like a Board member to introduce candidates interested in filling Ron Getman’s Manatee County seat who will be present at the club’s Candidates Forum in the Small Hall.  Bill Mumford stated that the event will be videotaped and placed on Channel 95.

 

6.  Legal outcomes of the motions for partial summary judgments in the lawsuit:  20 motions were presented in court.  Of those 20, the judge granted 12 to the District meaning they will not be heard in court as they are not violations.  Our attorneys filed a 57105 giving the attorneys for the plaintiffs a 30-day opportunity to withdraw the charges on these motions before they were presented in court.  Since that didn’t happen, our attorney fees for the dropped charges can possibly be collected.

 

7.  All cell phone numbers are now available to the public.  If you object to this, place a call from your cell phone to (888) 382-1222 and ask that your number be removed from the list.  Wait 31 days and report any calls you receive that you object to.

 

Agenda Items

 

1.  Dockmaster Duties/Marina Lease.  Ken went over all the new additions to PP21. 

 

            Joe:  How will the Dockmaster know a marina lease is terminated?

           

            Martha:  Information is available to him at all times.  TJ keeps close tabs with Bruce.

 

            Gail:  A resident spoke with her and said that tags change color on the owner’s birth date so there may be a problem determining facts.

 

            Martha:  Date of registration doesn’t change.  The Dockmaster or Office Manager should not be the checker of the marina so we must take out #4 of #7 on PP21.

 

            Pam:  We should check the marina at different times throughout the year.

 

            Martha:  What about #3?  She thinks Mark should do #3 and #4 so both should be taken out of PP21.

 

            Gail:  Is “no turning in residents’ driveways” a problem or are we being too tough?

 

            Martha:  Yes, it is a problem.  Maybe we should say in #10, “the Dockmaster and advise”.....

 

            Pam:  Is anyone cleaning the barnacles?

 

            Ken:  Yes.

 

            Pam:  Should we add “nails” to #13?  Could we change #14 to say “No Fishing on the Docks”?

 

            Joe:  Maybe we could say, “Fish in designated areas only.”

 

Martha will write a PP about this.

 

            Harry:  What will we do about 14?

 

            Martha:  I will fix #14 but we also need a policy.

 

            Pam:  People from outside the park bring their dogs in the back of their truck and they jump onto the boats.

 

            Ken:  Cross out “board” in #16.

 

            Joe:  Has the Dockmaster had input into this? 

 

            Ken:  No.  This is an open meeting.

 

            Pam:  Thinks there should be a checklist for the Dockmaster.  We should ask the person to sign the checklist.

 

            Ken:  Some of them are already in the lease.

 

            Martha:  TJ can make a checklist.

 

            Jim:  How does the Dockmaster know how long the cord has been plugged in?

 

            Ken:  The Dockmaster checks often.

 

            Joe:  I think some of these are tough for the Dockmaster.

 

            Martha:  Are there any additions to the lease?

 

            Ken:  #19, 21, 22, 23

 

            Martha:  #4 and 20 should be changed from one year to six months.  They can pay quarterly or every six months.

 

            Pam:  Both residents and non-residents should pay every six months.

 

            Martha:  Will write in that we can ask for a 5 percent fee increase.

 

            Pam:  Residents will be unhappy to pay for six months.  They want to pay monthly or quarterly.

 

            Martha:  No refunds will be given to non-residents.

 

            Pam:  Can I pay for a whole year? 

 

            Martha:  Yes.

 

            Jim:  If you don’t refund and someone leaves the marina slip before the six months, it cannot be rented to anyone else.

 

            Pam:  We could include an early leave penalty.

 

            Martha:  There will be a notice on Channel 95 about opening up the Dockmaster job.

 

            Harry:  Will Bruce think we want him to vacate the position?

            Pam:  We should talk to Bruce before we put it on Channel 95.

 

            Gail:  A resident asked me if there will be a 5 percent increase and can we set aside the money they contribute to the marina when they rent a slip?

 

            Martha:  There will be no increase.  We have no restricted accounts at the present time.  We haven’t done enough research to know if their money meets the needs of the marina.  No time study has been done.  We have a volunteer Board without time to do all of this.

 

            Gail:  Setting money aside for the marina could open Pandora’s Box and others could ask for restricted accounts, too.

 

            Pam:  We have no way of dividing the assessments.

 

Residents Comments

 

Harry Splett, 2104 Ohio—1)  Is there any provision for having a bilge pump in every boat and an adequate power supply to operate it?  (The answer:  No.)  If you pull a cord, you might sink a boat.  2)  Boaters need six lines—two stern, two bow, and two spring.  3)  Does it say anywhere that people must abide by park rules?  How do you convey it?

 

            Martha:  Good points.  We should make a packet.

 

Lenora Neal, 6619 CA—Why do you have to unplug the cord?

 

            Ken:  Lines can’t be seen when people walk on the docks so it’s a safety hazard.

 

2.  Satellite Antenna Dish to 30”

 

            Ken:  Dishes are getting larger so we need to keep up with it.

 

            Martha:  Should we consider a 32”?  Ken, put it on the agenda to vote on this Monday, March 15.

 

3.  Change PP27 to include golf carts.  Fred asked if we have to change PP16, too.  Martha will review PP16.  Fred will complete a PP34 for this.

 

4.  Kitchen

 

            Martha stated that we received a notice from the Florida Department of Hotel and Restaurant that we have 60 days to respond to regarding their research into a complaint by a resident.  Martha feels we should turn this over to our attorney to handle.

 

            Joe:  We should simply send a short letter saying we don’t fit into their category.

 

            Martha:  I won’t write that letter on behalf of the Board.  If we don’t do something, they can come in and close our kitchen.

 

            Gail:  Let them close the kitchen.  That might be the best thing that happened.  Residents would get involved.  There is a lady in the audience who is running for Ron Getman’s seat.  It is Gail’s understanding that Manatee County has the most trailer parks in the U.S.  Someone who is running for office should help Trailer Estates and, thus, all the other trailer parks in Manatee County in this.  The state senator and representatives for our area should be contacted.  We should try to handle this without paying an attorney

 

            Harry:  I agree with Gail.  Let them close the kitchen.

           

            Martha:  I will contact the attorney.

 

Residents Comments

 

Peg Durham, 6908 Tarpon Lane—The kitchen has been inspected.  Tallahassee said they had nothing to do with it because we are a mobile home park.  Peg was going to take a course to be certified but Tallahassee said it wasn’t necessary.  Somebody is stirring the pot.  Somebody wants the kitchen to be shut down.

 

Lenora Neal, 6619 CA—We went through the state and they said we were fine.  People in the park are trying to hurt the park.  Do what you have to do.

 

Lonnie Stanley, 6620 NJ—Just because someone comes in and says something doesn’t mean they are right.  We should fight our own battles.  It doesn’t merit money to the attorney to fight this.

 

            Martha:  This is like a ticket.  We have been given 60 days to answer.

 

Nan Bradshaw, 1611 WI—She had a restaurant and was under the Board of Health.  We had an inspection in the past.  One person in this park is out to close the kitchen.  I have catered in every mobile home park in Bradenton and Sarasota.  The lawyer should pursue this and put it to rest.

 

            Jim:  He thanked the lady running for office who offered to call Tallahassee.

 

            Ms. DeSabatino—You have spent enough on attorneys.  I have placed a call to the office of Senator Bennett and to the Manatee County Commissioner.  This will be taken care of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOARD MEETING (CONTINUED)

March 8, 2010

 

 

The meeting was called to order at 12 p.m. by Chairman Martha Brauer.

 

ROLL CALL:  All trustees present.

 

Martha recessed the meeting for lunch at 12:01 p.m.  The meeting resumed at 1:05 p.m.

 

Fred Hoch was absent after lunch.  Pam Cole left the meeting at 1:27 p.m.

 

OLD BUSINESS

 

The Public Hearing on the budget continued.  Martha went over the 3/3/10 budget that had been posted.

 

Harry Splett, 2104 OH—Renegotiate the contracts for trash, TV, etc.

 

Martha said we will continue the public hearing to March 15 due to new budget information.  The hearing will be held at 10:30 a.m. in the Small Hall.

 

Board comments on posted budget:

 

            Joe:  Under seasonal recreation, do I have to include the New Year’s Eve party?  If so, income should be $4,200 more in the budget.  In regards to Harry’s comment, Joe stated that we had just renegotiated the contracts.  He went on to say that he read in the paper that Jet Mobile Home Park pays $115 a month and they don’t get TV.

 

Martha passed out a loan accrual sheet that she discussed with the auditor and a new budget draft that includes accruals.  Dividing the loan/interest payments by three allows us to keep the assessment down.  Martha asked when we should go over the budget—one, two or three weeks.

 

            Harry:  We should wait a while—two or three weeks.

 

            Gail:  How many times can you go over the budget?  We have so many things to do that we should vote on the budget and move forward.

 

            Joe:  What more can we do?

 

            Gail:  Why don’t we post all the budgets, let those who want to look at them do so, and discuss and vote on a budget at the next meeting.

 

            Martha:  I am concerned about posting them because so many of them are just guesses.

            Gail:  All budgets are just guesses.  (Joe and Margo agree).

 

We will post all budgets for the public to see, discuss them at the next meeting and vote on them.

 

2.  Reservation Forms

 

            Gail suggested the following be removed from the form:  Time of function, setup time, time people will eat, finishing time plus “If cards are being played.....”  We should add “or pay to have this done” after “tables and chairs.”  We should also add whether or not the kitchen will be used and will there be a caterer.  Should we add charges for vendors on the form?

 

            Martha asked Gail to add everything that might be changed, fill out a PP34 and we will discuss this at the March 22 meeting.

 

Jim announced that at 3 a.m. Saturday morning someone pulled the alarm at the Post Office again.  Jim wanted everyone to know that this is a federal offense.

 

The meeting was recessed at 2:32 p.m. and will resume March 15.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Gail Opper, Secretary