Happy New Year 2015
Town Hall Meeting
HBTSNEWS
In response to the requests of members for the costs vs. benefits of self-management compared to retaining FirstService there will be a meeting at 10 a.m. Jan. 10 in the rec center
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January 2015
Board Meeting
January 13 at 6 p.m. www.hbtsnews.com
This is a publication written and produced by Sandpaper Publishing, Inc./Navarre Press for the owners of HBTS and is not an official publication of Holley by the Sea Homeowners’ Association, Inc.
Contact Holley by the Sea President Alex Crawford Internal Vice President Ryan Miller External Vice President Bill Crouch Treasurer Jan Frink Secretary Rebecca Ward Email the board: BoardofDirectors@ holleybythesea.org
Residents petition against board decision to fire management company What has FirstService done for us lately? $141,834 in savings after a manpower study conducted by FirstService
$14,000 increase in investment income.
By Sandi Kemp HBTSnews.com Residents dismayed by the board’s decision to sever its contract with FirstService Residential (FSR) are circulating a petition to reconsider the vote at the Jan. 13 meeting. According to Florida State Statute 720.303(2)(d), if 20 percent of the total voting interest petition the board
to address an item of business, the board“shall, at its next regular board meeting or at a special meeting of the board, but not later than 60 days after the receipt of the petition, take the petition item up on the agenda.” The issue stems from a last-minute agenda item at the Dec. 2 meeting calling for a discussion regarding FSR’s contract. See Petition Page 3
“I’ll be the first to admit I made a mistake,” Neal said. “I apologize to anybody that I provided information to that influenced their decision and their vote and their support because it was a mistake on my part.” – Billy Neal
Canada geese spotted in HBTS Photo by Sandi Kemp
General Manager: Alex Fambri Email: generalmanager@ holleybythesea.org
Canada geese (not Canadian) have landed in Navarre and have been spotted off and on for three weeks at the ponds located at the entrance to Holley by the Sea. Canada Geese are found in every contiguous U.S. state and Canadian province at one time of the year or another.
Holley by the Sea Homeowners’ Association 6845 Navarre Parkway Navarre, FL 32566 850-939-1693
Former board member files complaint with State Attorney’s office pany, FirstService Residential (FSR). Longdin’s complaint names Holley Former Holby the Sea Board ley by the Sea President Alex CrawBoard member ford, board members John Longdin Ryan Miller and Bill filed two comCrouch, and former plaints against HBTS Board Presithe HBTS dent Endell Stevens. board on Dec. Longdin The second com18 with the plaint dealt with posState Attorney. The complaints outline sible Sunshine Law violairregularities and actions tions. outside of association policies – and possibly state Specifically: ■ The president, Alex laws – including usurping the contractual powers of Crawford, has usurped the HBTS management com- contractual powers of FSR.
CURRENT HBTS RESIDENT
PRST STD ECRWSS MAILED FROM ZIP CODE 32566 PERMIT NO. 61-509
By Sandi Kemp HBTSnews.com
■ The president, Alex Crawford, has appointed committees that report only to her and regularly withholds information from other board members. ■ The president, Alex Crawford, has refused to allow the general manager, Alex Fambri, to do the due diligence necessary to vet potential vendors bidding on projects that have a major financial effect of Holley by the Sea Homeowners Association. Longdin also states that because of Crawford’s actions, a $53,000 contract was awarded to a target-
ed vendor (Brown’s Hauling) who was positioned by Stevens as the only possible choice. FSR Contract: FSR’s (also known as TCG – the parent company of FSR) contract with Holley by the Sea states that“Subject to the direction of the Association and the Association budget, TCG shall solicit, analyze and negotiate contracts on behalf of the Association, as needed or annually, for services reasonably necessary with respect to the
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See Complaint Page 2
To contact Holley by the Sea go to http://fsrsouth.fsrconnect.com/holleybythesea
Valid through January 31, 2015
2 HBTSNEWS COMPLAINT CONTINUED SUNSHINE LAW COMPLAINT January 2015 The final invoice from Brown’s Hauling was brought into HBTS on Veterans Day, From page 1 Nov. 11, by Crawford and Oct. 14: Brown’s Hauling is approved as a vendor by the board for erosion Stevens. operation, maintenance, The board treasurer, Jan control work. upkeep, repair, replacement Frink, expressed concern and preservation of the ComOct. 15: Contract is signed by Alex Crawford, board president regarding the payment of mon Areas.” Oct. 15: Crawford requests a blank check from management to pay Brown. Brown’s Hauling. On Nov. 16 The signed contract also Frink sent an email to the states that the“Association Oct. 22: Brown obtains workers’ compensation insurance. stating,“As treasurer, I shall not interfere nor perOct. 30: A change order for an additional $7,000 is signed by board member board believe I owe it to the associmit, allow or cause any of its Bill Crouch and Crawford ation to provide oversight on officers, directors or memall matters financial.This being bers to interfere with TCG in Nov. 6: Board meeting to add two more projects for Brown’s said, I am notifying the board the performance of its duties Nov. 7: DEP visits the site and recommends work cease on the shoreline. that no check shall be proor the exercise of its powers Nov. 10: Work is complete on the shoreline. vided to Browns until conhereunder.” Nov. 10: Representatives from Santa Rosa County visit and say that work has cerns regarding the project completion can be resolved. Background: See the not been properly permitted. I have given direction to the December HBTS News Nov. 11: (Veterans Day) Final invoice from Brown walked in by erosion accounting staff with regard Synopsis: The erosion com- Erosion committee said to the same.”Frink went on mittee, chaired by Stevens, permits not required committee member and board member. that she felt very strongly that did not notice meetings or Chairman Stevens told the Nov. 16: Treasurer refuses to pay Brown due to discrepancies. she could not release a check keep minutes. The commit- board and the membership until HBTS met the compliNov. 17: Crawford calls FirstService 30 times and the association attorney to tee solicited bids that came at the Oct. 14 board meeting requirements. directly to the committee and that the work that needed to find a way to get the check cut for Brown. Brown is paid that day and ance “Brown completed his work not to FSR or Holley by the be done was cleared by the hand delivered by Crouch who also gets a lien release. per his contract,”Crawford Sea. Several of the bids were county and DEP and that perreplied within hours of receivnot signed or dated, and one mits were not required. Nov. 18: Brown cancels workers’ compensation insurance. ing the email.“The work was of the three bidders was “Those people control all Nov. 21: Santa Rosa County gives HBTS 90 days for engineering drawings. overseen by the Erosion Comadministratively dissolved of the permitting and we Dec. 2: Crawford praises work done by erosion committee. mittee and signed off by all by the State of Floriwalked this properthree members. It is unproda before the bids ty – all three of us did Jan. 6: DEP compliance and enforcement meeting. fessional and indeed immoral were presented to – with these two Jan. 21: Engineering drawings due to county. to withhold payment and is the board. The origfolks and we prenot the way HBTS should treat inal bids were not sented them with a Santa Rosa County gave an update will be made avail- those who have performed given to FSR for work scope that we fathered in – it is a unique sitHBTS 90 days, starting Nov. able once the department set- work for us. Regardless of any HBTS’permanent file. had developed and uation to be in.” 21, to submit certified engi- tles on “a final course of other issues Brown must and The project was information that we will be paid. Alex F (sic) - the awarded to Brown’s picked up from con- Chris Phillips, Santa Rosa County neered drawings of the site. action.” Crouch Crawford, continued to check needs to be run on MonHauling of Milton tractors that had sug- Engineer’s Response: praise the work and efforts day. I will sign the check with “Based on our site visit on Department of whose bid was neargested things and of the erosion committee another Board member.” ly 50 percent less than we reverted back to Monday, Nov. 10, we found Environmental Protection: The next day, Nov. 17, CrawWhen DEP representatives including in the Dec. 2 board its competitors. Less the almost identical there are retention ponds ford called Dan Buckner, the than 15 days after the way that this erosion onsite that are not permitted visited the site on Nov. 7, Ero- meeting. vice president of FSR at least proposal was signed, problem was solved through Santa Rosa County. sion Committee Chairman 30 times within a four-hour Crouch and Crawback some years ago. These ponds were not shown Stevens, was told that the Payment of Brown’s period to get him to cut a check ford approved two And the environ- on improvements presented work being done near the Hauling Invoices The contract with Brown’s for Brown’s Hauling - accordchange orders totalmental folks walked to SRC by Tom Hammond in water was quite possibly ing $7,000. by the beaches with October of 2013 and are clear- encroaching on wetlands. Hauling included a $15,000 ing to Buckner. Crawford also Crawford The current projus and by the water ly not maintenance of exist- Stevens stated that there were down payment.The day after called Buckner’s bosses in south ect is under the scrutiny of and they didn’t find anything ing ponds. The current con- not wetlands on the proper- Brown’s Hauling was approved Florida. According to Frink, Santa Rosa County Engineers – where the washouts figurations are not shown on ty to which the DEP repre- for the erosion project, Oct. 15, Crawford called the associaand the Department of Envi- occurred or where the ground any plans the County has sentative replied,“It isn’t my Crawford signed the contract tion attorney and asked if three ronmental Protection. was disturbed that was any- received. As mentioned in area of specialty – but I’m and insisted on the down pay- board members agreed, could they override the treathing environmentally haz- conversations with you (Fam- looking at wetlands.”Stevens ment immediately. surer’s decision as “Crawford made Insurance Needed: ardous to the economy (sic) bri via email) and the HOA said he would have them stop treasurer to not pay In an effort to protect the They were elated,”Stevens President, we would allow right away. However, within the request that we go Brown's and the maintenance of existing two days after the DEP visit, directly to accounting board, even though the man- said. attorney agreed.The agement company was kept Erosion committee mem- ponds, but not over excavat- the work was completed. The to request a blank check was cut that out of the bidding process, ber Tom Downing stated at ing and reshaping to provide Erosion Committee inde- check rather than day (Nov. 17) and Fambri, FSR’s manager for the Oct. 14 meeting that,“All additional volume. In fact, we pendently hired Wetland’s waiting for the propreportedly handHBTS, asked the association’s the contractors agreed to stay can find no record of any Science in November to des- er accounting pracdelivered to the veninsurance company, Willis, to on the property until we were ponds being permitted on ignate the wetlands in the tices. The request was dor by board memmake sure the board and all satisfied – the board and the south end of the rec cen- beach area after the meeting denied. Our business Frink ber Crouch to obtain HBTS would be covered if the the committee – they would ter property in any form or with DEP. DEP has sched- practices do not allow unforeseeable occurred. Willis stay on the property until the fashion. We were told that uled a compliance and for that. Payment could not the signature on the release of advised the general manag- work is done and complet- only a repair to a berm that enforcement meeting for Jan. be released without the prop- lien. The next day, Brown canceled er that Brown’s Hauling ed to our satisfaction. Also – blew out in the spring floods 6 with HBTS in its Pensaco- er documentation and process,” should not be considered due they said they would work was to be completed, but have la offices. Leona Lewis, a Fambri noted. Payment was its workers’comp insurance. Miller,Crawford and Crouch didto a previously falsiwith DEP if some- found out later that clearly stormwater engineer with processed for the down payn’t not return emails for comment. fied insurance docuthing came up and there is more work being the DEP, said in an email that ment that day. ment from Brown’s was unforeseen. done. Site observations also when the company Which is pretty show that, in our professional A Sunshine Law complaint was also delivered to the Attorney General’s bid on a HBTS projmuch a wonderful opinion, the improvements ect in 2013. Also, thing since DEP has being constructed will not Office by former board member John Longdin, and it reads as follows: Brown’s Hauling did already come and survive a significant rainfall not have workers’ said there was event due mainly to the sand compensation insurabsolutely nothing being used to repair the Fambri ance. The board was that wasn’t grand- berms.” Alex Crawford, President of the Hol- discuss the performance of FirstService ley By The Sea Homeowners Associa- (HBTS’s management company). ■ The discussion consisted mainly of tion (HBTS), abetted by Vice Presidents Bill Crouch and Ryan Miller, has under- a dissertation by Ms. Crawford of a list taken a campaign of secrecy and collu- of grievances and suppositions which sion designed to further her personal could neither be proved nor disproved agenda and limit any potential opposi- without further investigation. ■ This was immediately followed by tion. a motion to add a new item to the meetExample #1: ing agenda. This item was to terminate ■ The professional management com- the management contract with FirstVolume 4 • Issue 2 pany under contract to handle opera- Service. Two members of the Board were HBTS News is published monthly by Sandpaper Publishing Inc., HBTS News and its entire contents and style are fully tions and maintenance for HBTS was completely blindsided by this action. protected by copyright and registered according to copyright laws. HBTS News cannot be reproduced in any form excluded from participating in a major ■ Mr. Ryan Miller, who was not at the for any purpose without the expressed written permission of Sandpaper Publishing Inc. and Navarre Press. erosion control project which should have meeting and had not been involved in been their responsibility. any previous business, was called via a Advertising/ Publisher ■ The General Manager of the facili- conference phone to participate in the Sandi Kemp Marketing Manager ty was ordered not to participate in meet- vote. info@hbtsnews.com Gail Acosta ings with county and DEP officials con■ Mr. Bill Crouch, who was at the meetinfo@hbtsnews.com cerning problems with the erosion proj- ing, already had signed copies of the terEditor ect. mination letter in his possession before Ashley Varese Production Manager ■ The erosion committee assigned to the item was even put on the agenda. info@hbtsnews.com Dickie Williams this project held no open meetings nor ■ The vote was 3-2 in favor. Ms. Crawwas any minutes of their meetings record- ford, Mr. Miller and Mr. Crouch all votinfo@hbtsnews.com Reporters ed. ed aye. The other two Board members Romi White ■ A contract for $48,500 was award- voted no. To Contact Us: info@hbtsnews.com ed to a vendor picked by the erosion com■ The actions of Mr. Miller and Mr. HBTS News mittee despite the fact that several Board Crouch clearly indicated that they had 7502 Harvest Village Court members never saw any competing bids prior knowledge of what was going to Navarre, FL 32566 or the contract itself. transpire at the meeting and colluded Phone: (850) 939-8040 with Ms. Crawford to ambush the nonFax: (850) 939-4575 Example #2: compliant Board members and stifle Web: www.HBTSNEWS.com ■ At the December 2, 2014 HBTS Board any opposition from them or any othE-mail: info@HBTSNEWS.com Meeting an item on the Agenda was to er homeowners.
Complaint
advised and Alex Crawford and Bill Crouch attended a teleconference in Fambri’s office with the insurance company expressly to find a way to still work with Brown’s. “Ultimately Brown’s got coverage that satisfied the insurance company,”Fambri said. Brown’s workers’comp insurance was written Oct. 22 – a week after the contract was signed. The workers’ compensation policy was canceled on Nov. 18 – one day after the check was hand delivered to Brown even though the policy submitted stated it was good until Jan. 1, 2015.
Timeline:
Sunshine Law Complaint
HBTSNEWS
HBTSNEWS 3
HBTS PRESIDENT LIMITS BOARD COMMUNICATIONS PETITION CONTINUED LETTERS, NOTES AND COMMENTS January 2015
Petition
An official board meeting scheduled for Dec. 17 was canceled within two hours of From page 1 its start time. But that didn’t The“discussion”abruptly stop residents from attendbecame a motion to give FSR ing and airing their frustraa 60-day“no fault”notice. tions regarding the board. Dan Buckner, Crawford, Crouch senior vice president and Miller were not of FSR, attended the in attendance. meeting at the Former board request of board member John President Alex Longdin spoke to Crawford and Exterwhat he coined,“the nal Vice President botched erosion proBill Crouch. Buckngram” and said “we Miller er was told an execseem to be headed utive session foldown a path that is lowing the meeting would not good for the association.” focus on contract negotiaBilly Neal, an active memtions with FSR. Instead, ber of the association and resdirectly after the meeting, ident for 25 years apologized Crouch walked up to Buck- for endorsing the board memner and handed him three bers Ryan Miller, Bill Crouch copies of an undated, and Alex Crawford – the board unsigned, non-letterhead members who are promoting letter giving FSR a 60-day an agenda to eliminate FSR. notice. Neal was on the nominating
committee when the board was looking for new members after three board members quit within a week in July 2014. “I’ll be the first to admit I made a mistake,”Neal said.“I apologize to anybody that I provided information to that influenced their decision and their vote and their support because it was a mistake on my part.” Neal also noted a divide in the community thanks to a lack of civil discourse. “We don’t all have to agree on everything,”he said.“Just because you disagree – doesn’t mean you can’t get along. That needs to stop – because it tears our community apart.” It is Neal’s impression that Crawford has no interest in a unified community. “She says she has no agenda but she is sure taking us in the way that she wants to go,”he said.“She is bringing
people on board that marches to her drum and I don’t believe that is the decision that the majority of the people want to hear.” Neal said the board was unprofessional in its firing of FSR, and that if there were problems with the FSR, the board should have met with the company and discussed the problems. As for the petition, it was made available to residents at the front desk. However, Crawford said she didn’t want the petition at HBTS unless it is“sanctioned” by the board, and Crouch wanted it to be reviewed for accuracy. “It is my understanding there is a petition at the Front Desk to retain FSR,” she said in an email.“Who put this petition there? Unless it is officially sanctioned by a majority of the
board it should be removed.” As of press time, the petition was still at the front desk for signatures, but members have to ask for it by name. Other members are going door to door. The petition states: We the undersigned, in accordance with Florida Statute 720.303(2) (d), are requesting the following item be added to the agenda of the regular monthly HBTS Board Meeting scheduled for January 13, 2015. Discussion and reconsideration of the HBTS Board’s vote to terminate the Management Contract between First Service Residential Florida, Inc. and Holley By the Sea Improvement Association, Inc. Miller, Crawford and Crouch didn’t not return emails for comment.
Letters, notes and comments BODI have dissected your 200k plus savings by terminating FS. Your pipe dream shows no GM salary and no payroll taxes which means no employees on the payroll at all. Are you telling me you are assuming 20 plus employees replaced by volunteers? That is what I would call that the stupidest assumption I have ever heard. We as paying members are still waiting for your plan B. Three sealed envelopes already brought to a meeting firing FS. Obviously a vote was conducted among three of you prior. It does not take CSI Navarre to figure that one out. At some point, you got a bunch of splainin to do to the members. Having a stable foundation is crucial. Our board rehired FS. We opted to work with them to fix issues. They gave us 6 free months. Pretty damn accommodating . They really stepped up their game and exceeded all established timelines and metrics .Bill, your cancer comments are purely ignorant. It must be nice to hold employment and stability over people's heads . Management and leadership 101.....F. A stable working environment lends to sustained superior performance. I am absolutely floored that a single Board could have so many issues in less than 6 months. –Mike Hart Suspect most of you have read and/or heard that three members of the HBTS BOD voted at the December 2, 2014 meeting to provide 60 days notice to terminate the management contract with First Services Residential. It appears the issue was added to the meeting agenda for discussion by the BOD President at the last minute with an effort to avoid appropriate notice of the issue to the membership and to allow for discussion, comments, feedback or to find out what the majority position is of the HOA Members. I was not at the meeting however, based on information received from members present, the BOD President made numerous false claims and statements to discredit FSR and DID NOT provide any factual information to justify this action and choose to avoid addressing the issue with the membership. A statement was made that“a majority of members support this decision.” However, in my attempt to get a feel for the pulse of the community, I reached out to several hundred members and NONE indicate they were even ask the question concerning termination. I realize that there are some that never wanted a management company and may support the decision but also suspect this was another BAD decision made by this BOD that will cost each of us money. I’ve heard a lot of talk but NO facts provided to indicated this is a SMART DECISION. I see this as a VERY BAD DECISION. If the majority of our community members are not happy with their performance, we should tell them why and what we expect and provide a time line to deliver. Our history clearly shows we need the services of“professionals.” If we return to the old days of OJT and inexperienced management, expect to pay more in the future. v/r –Billy Neal
Billy, after the meeting I requested out to Alex and asked her would she would be willing to sit down and meet with the members and resolve the problem in an effort to keep first service, she said why would I want to keep them, no I am not meeting with them. – Earl Dean
Earl, Surely this doesn’t surprise you…..she doesn’t care what the members want. She has her own agenda and will do anything to achieve it. She DOES NOT want member involvement and I’m truly surprised thatYOU have become one of her supporters after the way she treated you as an elected BOD Member. – Billy Neal
To: Members of the Holley by the Sea Board of Directors RE: Proposed Termination of Contract with FirstService Residential Hello, My name is Carrie Clancy, and as many in the Holley by the Sea community already know, I served briefly on the HBTS Board of Directors before my family was relocated by the Air Force in June. My husband and I still own our home in HBTS and have plans to return at some point; thus my continued interest in the activities of the HBTS Improvement Association. I am writing this letter in strong opposition to the proposed termination of the management contract with FirstService Residential. In my short experience with HBTS, FirstService and its employees have been the only consistent voices of reason within the HBTS improvement Association structure. They have been objective and rational in situations where community members and Board members have not, and they have managed to maintain a high standard of living for the HBTS community despite the many obstacles thrown into their path. As stated more articulately by Pete Peterzen, "continuity is a huge problem, and with the BOD makeup changing annually – or more often – my wish for the good of the community is for management (and GM/CAM) to remain consistent for extended periods to create stability and incrementally improve operations. Changing management every year is a recipe for disaster. It’s no wonder nothing improves." Furthermore, changing management at the whim of every disgruntled Board president who can't get his/her way serves no one in the greater community. This continuous argument wastes time and distracts from real issues that truly affect the members of the community. By even entertaining the idea of dismissing FirstService, the current Board is pandering to the narrow and narrowminded interests of a small minority of HBTS members who are quick to monopolize everyone's time at Board meetings but conspicuously slow to take any kind of measurable action on practical matters concerning anyone other than themselves. I strongly urge members of the HBTS Board of Directors to vote against terminating the management contract with FirstService Residential. Realizing that my request will likely fall on deaf ears, I strongly encourage fellow members of the HBTS community at large to voice their opposition to the contract termination as well. Sincerely, –Carrie Clancy “I do NOT support the position of three members of the current Board to change our management. AGAIN…continuity is a huge problem, and with the BOD makeup changing annually – or more often –my wish for the good of the community is for management (and GM/CAM) to remain consistent for extended periods to create stability and incrementally improve operations. Changing management every year is a recipe for disaster. In my 12 years at HBTS, we have had seven GM/CAMs and a couple of short periods with no manager at all. It’s no wonder nothing improves. Furthermore, I find FirstService Residential to be the best management. – Pete Peterzen, Former Board President Notes from Former Board member, John Longdin; 1. At the December Monthly HBTS Board meeting a surprise vote was taken to terminate the management contract between HBTS and FirstService. 2. This vote was not properly noticed as an agenda item. 3. Two board members were deliberately NOT told that a vote would be taken. 4. It was added during the new business portion of the meeting by a 3-2 vote. 5. One of the 3 yes votes was made by a board member not physically in attendance at the meeting. 6. The absent board member was specifically called to vote on this issue. 7. Three board members working in collusion with each other went against State Law and Roberts’s Rules of Order to make a decision that will have a dramatic impact on the Association and its members. 8. An overly aggressive board president should not be allowed to strong arm the entire community to satisfy her own personal agenda
HBTS president limits board communications Shortly after she was elected president of the board of directors on July 19, Alex Crawford sent the following email to General Manager Alex Fambri: “I am requesting that you address any and all further communiCrawford cation to the Board through me as President of the Board. I draw your attention to Article 4 Section 2 of the Covenants: ‘President. The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Association. He shall have all the powers and duties usually vested in the office of president of an association, including but not limited to the power to appoint committees from among the members from time to time, as he, in his discretion, may determine appropriate to assist in the conduct of the affairs of the Association.’ I would respectfully remind you that the Board governs the Management Company not the other way around.” “Am I to understand that you do not wish for the entire board to receive email communication as a group? So the emails for example that are generated by members through the website are to be forwarded only to you and then you will pass them to the remaining board members?”Fambri asked in her reply. Crawford confirmed that the emails were to go to her and she would forward the necessary emails to the other board members. Former board member Beth Walters, wanting to confirm that the emails were just going to Crawford, sent an agenda for her Long Range Planning committee to the email listed on the website to all the board members. She received an email back from Crawford stating she was having an email issues and would she mind forwarding them to the individual board members. Walters asked Crawford in the Holley by the Sea office if all of the emails were going just to her even though the website claims the emails were going to all of the board members. “Crawford told us that it was that way when she took office. I knew that wasn’t true because that isn’t the way it was when I was on the board,”Walters said. The emails sent to boardofdirectors@holleybythesea.org and from the website are now going to all of the board members as of mid-December.
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President’s Corner:
HBTS SOCIAL COMMITTEE
WELCOME 2015 As we say goodbye to 2014 I would like to THANK the Holley by the Sea staff for their great Alex Fambri accomplishments this year. There have been many challenges from an ice storm to flooding that had to be dealt with. There were even a few incidents that required emergency response from the team and first responders that were well executed. In case you aren’t aware, many members of our team are community residents as well as staff members. Their vested interest is demonstrated in their outstanding commitment and performance. As we implemented new systems and procedures this year the team demonstrated their adaptability and desire to make things better. I could easily take up the entire newsletter bragging on the individual accomplishments of the team. It is with sincerity and pride that I express gratitude for the staff. Please take an opportunity to Thank them for all they do. Community Management is meant to be a partnership between those elected by the membership to handle Governance and those hired to Manage the day-to-day operations. The Board makes the policy; while Management carries it out. Management has the duty to provide guidance for the Association’s operation within the Florida statutes. These functions include: Risk Management, Communications, Financial Oversight, Human Resources, Project and Facilities Management. Looking back over 2014 we completed over 50 projects. Some were minor pricing-reviewresearch projects; for example reducing the cost of our postage meter and leased copier equipment. Other projects were more involved like the complete review of staffing levels in a manpower study. We were able to reduce staffing costs by $150,000.00 annually. FirstService has restructured programs that weren’t self-sustaining for example the Aquatics, Youth and Tennis Programs. We reviewed all contracts to achieve the best pricing for services needed as well as value engineering other areas of the operation. For example the Insurance audit performed by Willis of FL uncovered a multitude of gaps in coverage. With their professional guidance we were able to save over $10,000 annually and achieve better coverage and protection for the Association. On the larger scheme of things the Roof project was successfully completed with the joint oversight of the Engineer Roof Consultant and Management. While the Management company contract allows for additional fees to be billed for projects such as this, there have been no fees charged on any projects. Outside the standard management operating procedures, the Erosion Committee was tasked by the BOD to completely control the Erosion Project without Management participation. They are working with Santa Rosa County and Department of Environmental Protection to bring the project into compliance. After that is accomplished the other pending projects can be undertaken. So we welcome 2015.
APPRECIATION:
Happy New Year Thank you to all everyone that participated in the HBTS Social Committee December events!!! On Saturday, December 13, 2014, the HBTS Social Committee kicked off the Christmas holidays with the Santa’s Breakfast & Photo event at the HBTS Recreation Center. Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Santa’s Elf arrived on the fire truck with lights and sirens that excited all the children! Over 130 people enjoyed a hot breakfast and all the fixings while listening to holiday music provided by Captain Bill! Once all were fed, photographer Andra Jones took family pictures for everyone with Santa, Mrs.
Claus, and Santa’s Elf in front of a beautiful Christmas tree and decorations. Each child was given a candy cane after sitting on Santa’s lap and telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas. With a twinkle of Santa’s nose, the Christmas spirit brightened even more when Ms. Elisa’s Ballet By The Sea performed two dances to “Frozen”. The featured singer magically created the sounds of beauty as she sang amongst the ballet dancers dressed in full costume creating the scene of white snowy mountains with snowflakes. Thank you to the Social Committee volunteers and HBTS volunteers who made this event happen – Stephanie Ball, Chris Bartnick, Bill Crouch, Mary Dean, Andra Jones, Evette Jones, Dick Justice, Martha Justice,
Glenn Kildare, Michael Marcum, Sara Marcum, Shirley Mosher,Vinny Mosher, Denise Myers, Frank Myers, Marilyn Pratscher, Dave Timmerwilke. We give a BIG THANK YOU to the HBTS residents, the HBTS Board of Directors, Alex Fambri & the HBTS Staff for your continual support. We extend our invitation to all HBTS residents to enjoy our activities. We also invite anyone interested in being a committee member! Please contact Denise Myers at committee.dmyers@gmail.co m for information.
ACTIVITIES: Mark your calendars and join us in celebrating Valentine’s Day on February 14, 2015! (Details to come!)
Youth Dept. sion/child. Be sure to call ahead the day of to reserve your spot. Space is limited.
Greetings! Christmas has come and gone and now it’s time to bring in the NewYear! The Youth Department had a wonderful holiday season and we hope you all did as well! 2014 was a great year for theYouth Department and we are striving to make 2015 even better! 2015 Parent’s Night Out dates are set! Mark your calendars now, space is limited. ■ January 16th ■ February 20th ■ March 13th ■ April 10th The NewYear brings New Year’s Resolutions. If your NewYear’s Resolution is to get in shape and utilize the
Mornings Monday-Friday (ages 6 months- 5 years) Session 1- 8:30am-9:30am Session 2- 9:30am-10:30am **Evenings Monday-Friday (ages 6 months-10years) Session 1- 6:00pm-7:00pm Session 2- 7:00pm-8:00pm gym more but you don’t have anyone to watch your child, look no further. Fun Factory is the perfect solution. Drop your child off for an hour or two while you work out, swim, participate in one of the awesome classes offered, etc. It’s only $3 per hour ses-
** Evening Fun Factory participation is needed to run. We hope you all had an awesome 2014 and hope for an even better 2015. Miss Chelsea & Miss Katie
Architecture News Dear Members, We’d like to wish you all much health, peace, and happiness in this NewYear of 2015. The following are some helpful phone numbers to keep handy on your refridgerator or phone book: ■ Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department Emergencies Dial 9-1-1 Non-emergencies - Dispatch (850) 983-1100 ■ Gulf Power Customer Service 1-800-225-6797 http://www.gulfpower.com/ ■ Waste Management 1866-770-4176 ■ For Water and/or Sewer related matters in Holley by the Sea please contact the appropriate provider below. Note: Septic is Homeowner specific – not handled by these providers.
Navarre, FL: Holley-Navarre Water System, Inc. (850) 9392427 (Water & Sewer) www.hnws-fl.com Gulf Breeze, FL: Midway Water (850) 932-5188 http://midwaywater.com/ (Sewer) City of Gulf Breeze (850) 934-5110 http://cityofgulfbreeze.com/ ■ Santa Rosa County Public Works (850) 626-0191 including Roads and Bridges, Storm Water, Drainage and Swales, and Traffic For links to all Santa Rosa County Departments www.santarosa.fl.gov ■ Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement (850) 981-7000 To file a complaint on abandoned pool possible cause of Mosquito problem or other matters: http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/ developmentservices/ComplianceForm.cfm
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Click on“Abatement”, Fill in the form and submit ■ Santa Rosa County Property Appraiser Main: http://www.srcpa.org/index.ht ml To look up Parcel/Tax/ or Other Property Information: http://www.srcpa.org/search1.html ■ Animal Control (850) 983-4680 ■ Burning Materials Outdoor – Refer to SRC and Florida Division of Forestry (850) 957-6145 www.fl-dof.com/field_operations/blackwater.html ■ Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission FWC Regional Office (850) 265-3676 We hope this information proves helpful! With kindest regards as always, Denise Puentes and Shelby Filek, Architectural Department
To all the HBTS Families I wish everything you wish for yourselves for a happy and successful 2015. Alex Crawford My personal wish would be that differences be put aside and everyone work for the betterment of the Community rather than to see how they can tear it apart. It is unfortunate that the agendas of some have been less than positive during 2014 but now as we go into a New Year hopefully that may change. I am ever the optimist! The December 13th Breakfast with Santa was an amazing event. To see so many families coming together, the hard work done so cheerfully by the Social Committee, the food, the music and the extraordinary exhibition of dancing and singing put on by the children shows just what our Community can be when we join together to create something wonderful. Thank you everyone involved. Soon the form to apply for usage/variance should be available. From some emails from renters, I can see there needs to be a way to communicate with them and going forward our plan is to develop a more User friendly website and a method of emailing to a wider section of the Community when there is important information that we want to disseminate. Rob Williamson the District 4 County Commissioner plans to develop a panel to assist Communities such as ours in applying for available grants. The Board will keep a close eye on that and any potential for HBTS to obtain Federal and/or State money for essential projects like sewers. I was appalled by the flooding of septic tanks during the April rain event that was endured by some residents, also the Storm Water runoff and damage we sustained. In 2015 the Board sees this as a priority should we be unfortunate enough to have a similar catastrophic rain event. January kicks off a big year as far as projects. We are engaging an engineer to produce a survey as requested by the County. We were told this would be the first certified survey since the developer turned over HBTS to the Community. As soon as our survey is certified by the County we will be able to proceed with the beach, jogging trail and R.V. park road. Of course the priority is the parking lot and with the 2015 Assessments coming in we will proceed with work scope and bids as quickly as we can. The Long Range Planning Committee, I’m sure, will and are reaching out to Residents to produce a Wish List of where we plan to go as a Community – what you the members wish to see in the future. Things are changing in HBTS. Let each of us embrace the change and see what we can do for our Community in a positive way. I am always available to discuss any concerns a member may have. Let us make 2015 a positive year and think how we can contribute – constructive criticism rather than constant criticism. To paraphrase John Kennedy - ‘Ask not what your Community can do for you but rather what you can do for your Community’. Alex Crawford President
6 HBTSNEWS
OPINION COLUMN
December 2014
Personal agendas, egos and power trips An opinion column by Sandi Kemp
T
hree of our five board members summarily fired our management company on Dec. 2 by giving FirstService 60 days’ notice, which they had pre-prepared in writing before the meeting. The agenda item for that night was to discuss FirstService’s contract, but within a few minutes of a diatribe by board President Alex Crawford that misstated facts and figures to support her case, a motion was made to terminate the contract for “no fault.” Crawford stated it would save the association $250,000(for two months), and board member Bill Crouch came out on social media three weeks later to say he found $352,771 in savings with the expulsion of FirstService. However, Crouch would not produce a spreadsheet – even at the request of fellow board members. “I am in the process of getting control of holleybythesea.org,” he
said.“That is where you will see it when I have control.” The same three board members who are hell bent on firing the management company are the same three board members who thought it was OK to have an Erosion Control Committee to come up with a problem, find a solution to the problem, find the vendor to fix the problem, have bids submitted to them personally without the management company’s involvement, personally deliver invoices from the vendor, ask for blank checks for the vendor, hand deliver checks back to the same vendor, and personally help the same vendor get insurance so he that could work on the job site. These are the same three board members who bypassed the treasurer to pay the vendor even though the committee promised that the vendor would stay on site if any discrepancies were discovered with the county or
the DEP. We still do not know what fines may be levied against the association. That meeting is Jan. 6. Our board president, Alex Crawford, was voted in as president with only 377 votes out of a possible 4,718 votes. And, three of the five board members who were voted in with her quit within a week for reasons that directly pointed back to actions by Alex Crawford or her “disciples.” Now, she has two of the other four board members doing her “bidding” and advancing her agenda. A Sunshine Law violation complaint has been submitted by member John Longdin, as well as a complaint to the State’s Attorney regarding the board working outside of state statutes and known laws at her direction. First Service Residential will be the first to admit that they aren’t perfect. However, this board (Crawford, Crouch, Miller) has not
even tried to work with them. In fact, they are trying to work around them. Board member Ryan Miller will not answer emails or phone calls and when a member stopped by his house to give Miller a note or to talk to Miller if he was there – Miller’s wife publicly berated the member on an HBTS Facebook page saying, “To all HBTS members that don't have a life and want to fight with the board members of what decisions they make, please take your problems to the meetings, Rec Center or the Manager. My house is not the house to come drop off your complaint. If my husband is part of the board members that is none of my business so DO NOT come to my house and ring the doorbell …” Crouch recently posted – “When I have access to holleybythesea.org. I will post all information including the transition plan. I am the webmaster for
several sites and I spent my last years in the computer industry as a web designer and web marketer. I feel I have good handle on what is needed because of my vast knowledge of the internet.” While making the case to fire the management company Crawford kept saying, “Do we really know how much they are costing us?” and stating, “That is a lot of money.” Do we really want people who do not know the value of a dollar to be running our association? It is as if they are coveting the money that our association is paying our management company.
Bottom line – Our homeowners association is being handled irresponsibly by three board members that are egomaniacs with personal agendas. If you, the member, don’t step up and do something we are going to be held to their low standards and our community will eventually only appeal to the lowest common denominator. So, if you value your property values – do something now by finding a petition and signing it. Hopefully, there is still one at the front desk at HBTS. There may be an online version…if we can find someone with a “vast knowledge of the Internet.”
Clarification at the request of Alex Crawford In the December issue of HBTSNews, in the article “Management company put on notice”we wrote that Crawford stated that the general manager makes $97,000 a year. Though it was not a direct quote, the quote would be,“In total for the general manager with labor burden and health care at the new rate – we are talking $97,000.”
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