Minutes of the Board of Directors Meeting Thursday, June 7, 2018 1:00 PM, Association Office, T1 Plaza Deck Draft Meeting called to order at 1:02 pm by Roll Call: Present Absent (phone) (phone) Reading or Minutes from Previous Meeting read the minutes from the March 29 meeting. A motion was made by and seconded by to accept minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of Thursday, March 29, 2018 Report of Officers President s Report reported that two Board members have resigned recently: Rhonda Cowsill in May when she sold her unit at Ocean Sands and Cliff Newman this week. Jeff thanked both for their work on the Board, and in particular, thanked Cliff for all he has done in 18 years of service on the Board. Jeff also reported that over the last few months the Board has been reviewing the operating systems at Ocean Sands and have recently come to the conclusion that it would be best for us to hire professionals to manage the property. This decision was driven by a number of key issues. We are facing numerous complex maintenance issues which require more than part time volunteers to manage. In addition to the ongoing elevator projects, we will have major roofing and building painting projects coming in the next few years. Additionally, our office systems and practices are in need of modernization.
Secretary s Report reported that Ocean Sands has a new web site this year: www.ouroceansands.com. A new site was necessary because of new Florida regulations which will require condo associations to have a number of association documents posted on areas of a web site which are accessible to owners only. Our old web site did not have this capability. These regulations become effective January 1, 2019 and the owner section is still under construction. All owners will be sent login information when it is completed. Lee also reported that the Association has been using the new text messaging alert system successfully to alert owners of emergency issues such as water shut-offs and elevator malfunctions. Participation is voluntary and all owners who have not signed up yet were encouraged to do so. Vice President s Report reported that she has been working closely with the Maintenance Committee. An extensive list of maintenance issues has been compiled and progress has been steadily made on resolving them. Treasurer s Report After the resignation of our Treasurer this week, 1 st Vice President has volunteered to take on the duties of this role for now. A motion was made by and seconded by to appoint to the role of Association Treasurer reported that she has been working on site at Ocean Sands this week to ensure continuity in operations after the resignation of our Treasurer and that everything has continued to run smoothly. Linda also pointed out that since we are now down to three Board members the Board is encouraging owners to volunteer to be considered for vacant positions.
New Business: Review of Services Offered by Property Management Companies Following on from the previous comments from, reported that the Board has recently begun to reach out to Property Management companies to explore the services they offer. It appears that all companies offer similar services, the primary ones being: Expertise in accounting and financial reporting Management of employee payroll Collection of fees and assessments Project management Communications with owners Planning and budgeting for long term maintenance Additionally there are potential cost savings resulting from greater negotiating power with vendors and increasing efficiency of our operations but these are difficult to quantify until we actually have experience. To date, the Board has contacted three management companies: Greenacre Properties, Ameri-Tech and Resource Property Management. All three manage local condominium properties and have positive reviews. Greenacre had submitted a proposal to the Ocean Sands Board two years ago and has told us that they will still offer the terms of that proposal. Ameri-Tech and Resource have just sent us new proposals. The proposal from Greenacre is significantly more expensive than those from the other two companies therefore the Board does not intend to pursue discussions with them. The annual cost of management by either of the other two companies would be approximately $32-33,000 per year, or about $200 per year per unit. Any additional savings such as those described above would lower this cost. All companies would also offer additional benefits such as free direct debiting of HOA fees, for which two local banks have quoted costs of about $19,000 per year. A motion was made by and seconded by to pursue hiring a management company in the next two months
Elevator Update Schindler has completed work on replacing the doors in one elevator in each building. Testing is scheduled to be done next week. reported that $292,000 had been budgeted for elevator repairs but it is highly likely that we will need to spend more. Schindler has already recommended additional repairs that would cost $147,000. We have contracted with a highly regarded engineering consultant, Bill Snyder, to perform an assessment of our elevator maintenance needs and expect a report from him in the first week of July. Rental Registration Fees proposed that the rental registration fee be increased from the current $50 to $60. There has been no change in this fee since 2005 and maintenance costs have increased since then. All agreed that renters tend to put a higher burden on maintenance. A motion was made by and seconded by to increase the rental registration fee to $60.00 beginning November 1, 2018 14 Day Minimum Rental Policy There has been an increasing number of complaints from owners about other owners renting their units for less than 14 days in violation of the Ocean Sands policy. Discussion with a large rental management company revealed that a significant number of contracts have been signed for less than 14 days. Additionally, a survey of online advertising sites such as VRBO turned up advertising of minimum rentals of less than 14 days. The Board has decided not to punish vacationers who have already signed contracts for 2018 and are expecting to be at Ocean Sands for less than 14 days. Owners of those units, however, will be fined $100 for each rental of less than 14 days and must notify the Association by June 22 of any such contracts which have already been signed in order to have those guests register. If owners continue to violate this policy in the future, Ocean Sands may require proof of a 14 or more day contract at or before registration.
Report From Maintenance Committee gave a brief report on behalf of the Maintenance Committee. She reported that for the first time in quite a while, there are no leaks at Ocean Sands! Also a number of pumps and valves in our fire suppression system have been cleaned up, painted and/or replaced and all look great. The concrete work in the Tower 2 garage ceilings is also completed. Owner Comments The following comments were made by owners who were present: In addition to advertisements for rentals of less than 14 days, some units also advertise that pets are allowed. It was suggested that we ensure that bylaws are specific about rental requirements An owner reported that she checked the parking pass on a car which she knew to be renting for less than 14 days and observed there were no arrival and departure dates On owner pointed out that Ocean Sands has not required soundproofing to be included during installation of tile floors and that neighbors above could be quite noisy. He suggested that we put up signs reminding everyone that your floor is someone else s ceiling. It was questioned why the trash cans in the garage were moved all the way out to the beach gates. This makes it difficult to reach them and he has observed trash being left on window ledges apparently because of someone who did not want to walk over to the far side of the garage. Our office manager Elaine explained that they were moved because of smells resulting from people putting materials such as dog droppings and garbage in the cans. A motion was made by and seconded by to adjourn the meeting at 2:33 pm. Respectfully Submitted,, Secretary