Harmony Life Magazine - May 2024

Photo: Courtesy Zachary Caballero

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

Welcome to the May 2024 edition of Harmony Life Magazine. To view many of the past issues in a digital format, visit www.Issuu. com and search for Harmony Life.

Please support our advertisers, they help us bring this monthly publication to the community The magazine is costly to bring and mail to every residential home, please join me in thanking our advertisers and content contributors.

My wife, Jeanine Corcoran, and I started Harmony Life Magazine in August 2014. This is the 10-year anniversary of the Harmony Life Magazine!

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS AND BUY LOCAL

I don’t often give a plug to our own real estate business, Corcoran Connect, but in addition to bringing the magazine to the residents, here are a few bits of information that you may not know:

• Jeanine Corcoran, Broker and owner, has been a resident of Harmony since 2005. Over the years she has personally sold over 250 homes in Harmony (we met in 2012 and were married in 2015).

• Several of our agents and staff live in Harmony and the majority of our video and photograph production is done by Harmony’s own, StudioNine13.

• We are experts at selling and promoting wonderful Harmony amenities. Additionally, we understand the complexity of the CDD and various HOAs that govern the community. Navigating through those entities can be very tough for outsiders and new residents.

• When you choose to do business with Corcoran Connect you are truly helping to support the community.

• We would be honored to be considered for any of your real estate needs and look forward to hopefully having that opportunity when those needs arise.

Did you know that Jeanine Corcoran also puts out a weekly video and email for all the Harmony events? Send me your email address and I will add you to the list. You can always opt out at any time: Bill@QMCWorld.com

Harmony Life Magazine is produced by residents for residents. Please feel free to message me directly with content and pictures: Bill@QMCWorld.com

Remember to join the Facebook Harmony Residents Forum AND THE NEW, ADDITIONAL, HARMONY RESIDENTS FORUM, NO DRAMA.

See you in June!

Bill Bokunic Publisher Bill@QMCWorld.com

CONTACT INFO FOR RESIDENTS

CDD HarmonyCDD.org, 407-566-1935 Dan, Jo, Lucas, Kerul, or Mark @HarmonyCDD.org

SHERIFF, NON-EMERGENCY 407-348-2222

HROA Association Solutions, 811 Mabette St., Kissimmee 407-847-2280, www.MyHOASolution.com

CONDOS HOA Sentr y Management, 407-846-6323

TOWNHOMES HOA Association Solutions, 811 Mabette St., Kissimmee 407-847-2280, www.MyHOASolution.com

MAY 2024

A publication of Quantum Marketing Communications, LLC www.QMCWorld.com

PUBLISHER & CEO

Bill Bokunic

321.331.6398

Bill@QMCWorld.com

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Renée Blair

Blair Creative Group, Inc.

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

Zachary Caballero

CONTRIBUTORS

Jeanine Corcoran

Corcoran Connect

Kerul Kassel PHD

Hamony CDD Board Member

Kim Kirsch

Insurance Broker / District Manager, Healthcare Solutions Team

The opinions expressed in the Harmony Life Magazine articles are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions of Quantum Marketing Communications, Harmony Life Magazine or the Publisher.

Harmony Life Magazine, Quantum Marketing Communications, LLC and the Publisher can, in no way whatsoever, be held responsible for the content of such views, nor can it be held liable for any direct or indirect damage that may arise from such views.

All rights reserved. No part of any Quantum Marketing Communications, LLC published work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

3501 Pug Mill Rd. Kissimmee, FL 34741 OsceolaFL@advanceddisposal.com

OSCEOLA COUNTY Osceola.org “Citizen Action Center” COUNTY COMMISSIONER ricky.booth@osceola.org

RICKY BOOTH

Harmony Life Magazine

Harmony Residents Forum, NO DRAMA

Renovation Loans SAVE DEALS!

New Roof? No Problem!

It’s more than just a myth — renovation loans really do save deals! I recently had a deal where a renovation loan really was make or break for my buyers.

At CMG Home Loans, we have a huge suite of reno loans, including:

» 203(k) Standard

» 203(k) Limited

» CMG Energy Plus

» Fannie Mae HomeStyle® Standard

» Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation®

» HELOCS & more!

Don’t let a deal fall through without exploring all your buyer’s options! Reach out to see how our reno options can serve you.

Why Renovation?

Offers more options than the high prices & limited availability of move-in ready homes

Energy-efficient updates can offer significant savings and even tax breaks*

Creates a financing option if a home doesn’t pass inspection

Increases the value of a home

Can turn the house your buyers like into the home they love

Source: CareerSource Central Florida, JobsEQ, Lightcast, FRED

April HROA Meeting Summary

All six board members were in attendance, as well as Mark and Laura from Association Solutions and fourteen residents. Our first order of business was to fill our board member vacancy. The HROA is allowed to have up to seven board members and if we have a vacancy, we can fill it at a board meeting if we get volunteers. We had two residents volunteer for the position and both would have been great for the position so it was a very hard decision. Welcome Justin Shah to the HROA board!

We then continued our talk about resident flower beds and not having bare beds. Basically, when they do inspections, they are looking for beds with no weeds and roughly 50% coverage of plants. The idea is to have no empty beds of just rock or mulch. We encourage you to be creative in the beds areas but please weed and replace dead plants as needed. And remember to get ARB approve for any major changes of landscaping.

The board worked on the details of the new “House of the Month” contest. We will be awarding one house each month with a $100 gift card and a sign will be placed in your yard for the month. Residents will fill out a form nominating a house they feel deserves the award. Details will be emailed to you soon.

There was a discussion of the wording of the violation letters and if we felt the wording is too harsh. We decided to table this in order to do some research on violation letters. The subject of trash can violations was brought up as a few board members do not feel like letters should be issued for these. But in the end, we decided it only take two minutes to put the trash cans away and it makes the neighborhood much nicer looking with trash cans not in view. There also is a county ordinance on trash cans being left out so we will continue to send letters for those cans left out on Wednesdays.

Storage was discussed. Please try and keep your property neat and store items inside your house or garage and not alongside your house, or on your driveway or on your porch. This includes bikes, strollers, toys, ladders and equipment.

Several months ago, the CDD was asked if “no commercial vehicles” signs could be placed at the entrances as to keep out these vehicles and to make it easier for the county to ticket any of these vehicles parked overnight. The district manager had said she would order them but nothing happened. It was on the CDD’s agenda for the following night so we said we will wait and see what happens there. Remember there is no commercial or recreational vehicle parking in Harmony unless it fits in your garage.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Street Party

Friday, May 31 • 7:30–10pm

Food Truck Frenzy

Wednesday, June 12 • 5–8pm

HROA Board Meeting

Wednesday, June 26th, 6pm First Nature Ranch

Summer Pool Party

Friday, June 28 • 11am–1pm

4th of July Golf Cart Parade Wednesday, July 3 • 7pm

The Nature and Animal Committee has been very busy planning a Trail Walk along Billy’s trail, a Garden Tour, a Photo Contest and will be working on the Tangerine trail. Dates to come soon.

All proposed exterior alterations to the house and yard must be submitted for ARB approval before work has started. Please get ARB approval before spending money on supplies, contractor charges, or county permits.

Contact Information for the HROA: https://myhoasolution.com 407-847-2280 • info@myhoasolution.com https://portal.topssoft.com/login

NOTES FROM THE CHAIR

By Mark LeMenager Chairman, Harmony Community Development District

Solutions for Harmony's Operating Infrastructure

While the founding developer and their replacement did some good things for Harmony, the one thing they did not do was to provide for any operating infrastructure. We now find ourselves in the position where the major commercial land owners here are not really all that interested in cooperating with us to find any solution to that problem.

A surprise solution has presented itself. The golf course has decided to consolidate their operations closer to town center and has offered to sell their current maintenance facility to the CDD. If we can pull this off, it solves many challenges and sets us up very well for the future. The cost will be substantial, but it can be offset by a number of revenue-generating activities.

The main building is 40 by 216. There are air-conditioned offices, restrooms, and a small break-

room in part of the building. This area could be renovated and used by the community for small events. Some walls could be easily removed to create a larger space. The space would be used for CDD meetings in the future saving whatever the CDD would have to pay to rent meeting space. The building could be subdivided, and the interior space could be leased. Around 5,500 sq ft of rentable space at $14 per sf per year is $77,000 per year. This works for either storage space of commercial usage. The CDD would save at least $200,000 that locating the Field Services in Lakeshore Park is going to cost as they could easily set up here. The savings would be even more if the Board decides to move back the original idea to spend $350,000 to set up Field Services on land we own next to this site.

The small building would be rented to our landscaper and they have already indicated they are interested.

Open space converted to parking spots for boats, RV’s, etc. and rented to residents. This could be accomplished with a minimal investment. This would restore a community facility

There is also land around the building that could be used for future development. Plus, the land could be easily connected to existing CDD property currently used for the garden and formerly the location of the vehicle storage lot. This would create a very large area for future development.

The CDD would control the utilization of the property. If the building is sold and the site was zoned for commercial development any number of businesses could relocate there. It would make an ideal auto or motorcycle shop.

We are still in early stages, but hope to have a more comprehensive plan in place soon.

By Harmony's Own, Anthony James Catanese

We know that Harmony is a very special place. This book tells how it was done. It started with a vision supported by science on how important regular interaction with nature and animals is to human health. This led to creating a new community whereby these interactions were incorporated at the very beginning of the development. It is intended for people who want to learn and take action. We can achieve greatness and conservation through proper development of our land. This is how to do it.

DID YOU KNOW?

By Cherry Heck

HARMONY PHOTO CONTEST

It’s time for the Nature and Animal Committee’s annual Harmony Photo Contest again. This will start on Wednesday, May 15th (and close on Sunday, May 26th), and we invite all amateur photographers resident in Harmony to show us their talents!

There will be two groups, children 12 and under and everybody else. There will be prizes of Amazon gift cards for both groups. The photos must be taken in Harmony and also taken during the time of the contest unless otherwise stated.

This is a great opportunity for families and keen photographers to get out in Harmony and find something interesting to photograph. It’s fine to use cameras and/or phones to take the photos and no particular photography skills are needed. We’re looking for photos that show us living in harmony with nature and animals in our community in your own special way.

You will need to submit your photos to the Harmony Photo Contest group on Facebook so if you are not already a member the link to the group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/157259474913078

When you submit photos, remember to state the name of the photographer if you are submitting photos on behalf of someone else and their age if under 12 years. There will be several categories to choose from and you may enter 3 photos, one for each category. You don’t have to submit 3 but obviously, if you do you have a better chance of winning a prize. There is one category however that I want everyone to enter a photo for and you’ll see details below.

Over 12’s your categories are:

1) Sunrises and sunsets.

2) My arty Harmony photo.

3) Harmony wildlife

4) A favorite photo taken in Harmony in the last 6 months

5) Flowers or trees

Under 12’s

1) Birds

2) Insects

3) Lizards

4) Butterflies

5) Baby animals

You may choose 2 different categories and enter one photo for each and finally, everybody is also asked to enter a photo to show ‘My favorite thing about Harmony’.

You don’t need to enter all three photographs together but if you post them separately, please ensure that it’s clear what category you are entering and if possible, add them to your earlier post.

Nature and Animal committee members are looking forward to seeing all your photos and I will feature highlights on the Harmony Resident’s Forum regularly during the contest.

Good luck everybody. Have fun! n

Photo Courtesy Cherry Heck