BOARD APPROVED MAY 3,
2010
TRAILER ESTATES PARK
& RECREATON DISTRICT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
WORKSHOP
APRIL 26, 2010
SMALL HALL
1903 69TH AVENUE WEST
BRADENTON, FL 34281
The Workshop was
called to order
at 9:32 a.m. by 1st
Vice Chair Gail Opper.
Attorney Mark Barnebey
sat at the Board table to assist in
the writing of a PP on behavior at Board
meetings and workshops. Since he was present,
Gail asked the Board if anyone
objected to moving agenda items 1 and 2 to the end of the Workshop and moving items 3 and 4 to the
beginning. With no objections, that was
done.
Gail stated that she did not ask Mr.
Barnebey to come to the
meeting. Martha
did. Gail apologized to the residents for
calling Mr. Barnebey
during the week in preparation
for today’s meeting, but she didn’t
know he would be there and she
wanted to be sure she understood the Board’s
legal rights.
Gail then discussed the incident that had occurred at
the Board meeting the week before:
Gail stated that she was disappointed the Sheriff deputy left empty-handed, as others were;
but in defense of Martha, Gail
stated that Martha wasn’t 100 percent sure
of the Board’s legal rights. After researching, Gail believes Martha
could have followed through but
hindsight is 20/20.
In Gail’s discussion with Mr.
Barnebey during
the week, she learned that there is a new ruling
in the Florida
courts that states public comment is
not required
at Workshop or
Board meetings. She also learned
that residents can be removed from
meetings for disruptive behavior
to the Board or
in regards
to residents trying
to listen at Board meetings.
Mr. Barnebey stated that we would have to amend our by-laws to eliminate public comment, except in
public hearings where public comment is required.
Harry: We once talked about a security guard. Would that help?
Joe: Should we allow public comment? I think we should. All trustees
present agreed
with Joe that it should be allowed.
Gail passed out to the trustees
and read out loud to the audience
the information she had obtained from the city of North Port
in regards
to their rules
about behavior at meetings.
Joe: It doesn’t say what is done if people don’t
obey the rules.
Mr. Barnebey: You should talk to the Sheriff.
Gail: It doesn’t cover
everything I think happens in our audience.
Harry: It allows people to speak on agenda items
only. What if they have several items to discuss?
Mr. Barnebey: They get three
minutes. People can get information to the Board
other ways than speaking at the microphone.
Harry: Perhaps
we could have a specific time for
people to speak at Workshops and Board meetings and have the Sheriff
come only at that time.
Margo: Do we rescind Workshop
comments to a specific time?
Joe: The problem
we have is disruption not comments.
Fred: Lots of
things go on that Martha doesn’t
catch. I am not for
the police being here.
Mr. Barnebey: You should make the chair aware
that your thought processes are
being disrupted.
Gail: Ken and I have both spoken about that to Martha but she is so busy with what is going on, that
she doesn’t see what is happening in the audience.
Joe: We had no policy last week and Martha didn’t know what to do.
Margo: We need
one cell phone allowed at the Board
table during the meeting. The Sheriff
should be called from that phone so
everyone can hear the conversation.
1. PP58A Behavior Policy regarding resident
behavior at the microphone and in the audience at meetings and workshops.
Using the North
Port
example as a model, the Board wrote a policy for
Trailer
Estates. Gail will type it.
Residents Comments
Mary Huston, 1714
MN—She doesn’t feel the behavior
last week was necessary to be corrected. Letters
written by residents
should be read.
Bev Lew, 2008 IL—Put a copy of the First
Amendment before the policy. Don’t turn
off the microphone. She obtained a copy of the police report
and claims it is wrong. She sent a complaint about the incident to
the First Amendment Commission.
Flo Mallory, 6919
West Bayou—Simple housekeeping rules
will handle the problem. The new policy is a burden.
Joe Langton, 2107 OH—He doesn’t feel the chairman lost control
at last week’s meeting. She used restraint. The speaker
refused to stop and wouldn’t leave.
Lonny Stanley, 6620 NJ—Most people by vote and comments
support the Board. People
speak time after time with negative
comments. We shouldn’t make rules for
some that hurt all of us.
Connie Zack, 6819 MA—I was recording secretary last summer. I couldn’t hear
what was being said because of problems
in the audience. I would like to thank
all the Board members for
their restraint. Lies are being told in the park.
Trustee
Comments
Harry: We must
spend money to defend ourselves.
Gail: In regards
to a resident’s First Amendment comments, Gail asked Mr. Barnebey
to comment on something she has heard,
“Your First
Amendment rights end where mine begin.”
Mr. Barnebey: I
haven’t heard it said quite like
that. Comments in the audience are disruptive. Personal
attacks against the Board are not ok.
Mr. Barnebey left the meeting at this point and took a
copy of the new Board policy with
him to make sure it meets the letter of the law.
We will vote on the policy at the next meeting.
2. Policy for protection
in the District in general. Do we
need one?
Joe: We are
not going to change someone’s personality.
The Board agreed that writing
a policy for this is not necessary.
3. Laundry survey
and options for the laundry.
Joe did a two-week survey
in an attempt to save energy. He learned
that most activity in the laundry
occurs between 7 a.m. and 12
p.m. plus the biggest cost and use is May through
October. He recommended
we close the laundry all day Sunday
and close at noon Monday through Saturday.
Harry: If you closed the laundry
at 2 p.m., more people would be covered.
Joe: Good point.
We should have a sign that tells people to turn
off the lights when not needed. His new recommendation is to close the laundry at 2
p.m.
Joe gave us some options to think about: 1) We
can wait three years until the contract
runs out and decide what we want to
do; 2) We can renegotiate
the contract with less washers and dryers; 3) We can
discontinue the laundry altogether –in 2009, we lost $7,642 plus $3,120 in cleaning
costs and $500 in maintenance; 4) We can discontinue the laundry and run
it ourselves. Tri-Par owns its own laundry.
Residents Comments
Bev Lew, 2008 IL—Governments
do not own businesses that are
R16. Leave the laundry open one night a week for
the residents who work.
Jim Angerame,
1614 MN—Less than one or two people
are at the laundry. Open with
very restricted hours
or not at all. People from
outside the park use the laundry.
Joe will check with the vendor
and Gail will check to see if we have to vote on the closing of the laundry for certain hours
of the day.
4. Large Hall and Small Hall amenities.
The Board went
over the list Gail prepared
and added items to it. There were
no residents’ comments on this
issue.
5. Energy conservation
in the Large and Small halls.
Gail read the report
she had prepared
about moving activities to conserve
energy.
Joe: We should ask the Woodshop to devise its own
plan to save energy. They are
trying to do a good job and have
made some positive changes.
Harry: They said they’re
doing all they can to conserve.
Fred: They turn off lights and use no air
conditioning, just a fan. Let’s let them
decide.
Residents Comments
Bev Lew, 2008 IL—Hand and Foot plays. Can this continue in the summer? What will
be the procedure
to get a function registered this summer? Last summer
people waited five weeks to get a reservation approved.
Gail: Hand and Foot will play as it has played all
year. Though nothing is written
in stone, it is possible that reservations will be faxed to me, I’ll approve them, and fax them back. Lots of people did not wait five weeks for a reservation approval
last summer. That may have happened once.
A motion was made by Joe, seconded by Ken, to adjourn the Workshop. The Workshop
was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Gail Opper, Secretary