Board Meeting Minutes Now Online !

In an effort to promote transparency the monthly Board meeting minutes are now available on the website. To read the minutes, simply go to the Wildewood Springs website and on the left side of the screen click on "Downloadable Documents" and you will see association documents. The page with the documents has been up for some time, at least since last year with our current Bylaws, Rules and Regulations, etc. Now you will also find the Board meeting minutes listed by the month and year starting with March and April 2010.


Why is this important? Making the minutes easily available to everyone is important because prior to this the minutes were given to the directors but owners had to ask for a copy from the office. The minutes are the legal record of the Board meeting and it is difficult to remember what happened yesterday let alone a month or two ago.


It is important to remember that anyone interested in purchasing a condo in Florida is entitled to request a copy of the Bylaws, financial statement, board minutes, etc.

Executive Committee

The Executive committee has been set up for the months of May, June, July and August ,the Board voted with 6 opposed to suspend regular Board meetings for these months.
The committee will consist of all available Board members:



Submitted by Bob McDevitt

WWS 2010 Preliminary Budget Distribution

The WWS 2010 Preliminary Budget is being prepared for distribution to the owners. Next week the cluster advisers will be delivering the preliminary budgets to each cluster. Out of town owners will receive their packets in the mail.

The 2010 Preliminary Budget shows a reduction over last year's figures. Annual maintenance fees will be approximately $360 ($90 per quarter ) lower than last year if the BOD approves the budget as proposed. The major portion of this reduction comes as a result of a proposed revision in reserve accounting. The Budget Committee has recommended the adoption of a method known as 'pooling' that will combine our multiple reserve line item accounts into one fund.

Once the 2010 Preliminary Budget is accepted with the pooling of reserves, the owners must approve the transfer of existing reserve funds to the new pooled reserve fund. This must happen at a Special Meeting of the Owners. We have scheduled the Special Meeting to convene immediately after the November 23, 2009 BOD meeting.

Look for a voting proxy and return envelope in your budget packet. Each owner must vote to approve the transfer of reserve funds from our current line item accounts into the new pooled fund. Please complete and return your proxy to the office ASAP. This will insure that your vote is counted in the event you cannot attend the Special Meeting on November 23.

The BOD recommends you vote 'YES' on this item.


Director Terms. Déjà vu
I've had some discussion with a few owners about the following statement in my last post:

We have ten remaining Directors who were elected prior to the effective date of this law. Since the law is not retroactive, those ten Directors are allowed to complete their terms.

Some people have read that statement to mean that those 10 Directors are not up for election in March 2010. I included the statement to explain why only 5 Directors were elected in March of 2009 and not all 15. Those 10 Directors were allowed to complete their terms.

As another year passes, 5 of those 10 seats will be up for election in March 2010. Remember that our BOD had staggered 3 year terms until the law changed. So as each year passes, 5 more Director terms come to an end until all 3 year terms are gone.

Consider the following information:

We have 15 Directors on our BOD with the following status:

5 Directors on 3 year terms expiring March 2010
Elected 2007 - prior to the new law

5 Directors on 3 year terms expiring March 2011
Elected 2008 - prior to the new law

5 Directors on 1 year terms expiring March 2010
Elected 2009 - after the new law

A total of 10 Director seats are up for election in March 2010.

So the original statement as it was presented is correct. We have ten remaining Directors who were elected prior to the effective date of this law. Since the law is not retroactive, those ten Directors are allowed to complete their terms. 5 of those director seats will come to their natural term end in March of 2010 and will be open for election.

If nothing else, this highlights how confusing the whole issue can be.

WWS 2010 Budget - Controlling Costs

The major portion of the budget is devoted to operating expenses. These are the day to day costs of running Wildewood Springs and include items such as insurance, cable tv, utilities, administration, grounds and landscaping maintenance, pool maintenance and water/sewer.

Many owners have expressed concern about the rise in maintenance fees since 2000. David White, the budget committee chairman has provided an informative analysis to explain the reason for the rise in fees over the past 8 1/2 years using historical expense information supplied by Dennis Bucher, our Property Manager. In a nutshell, uncontrolled costs have risen from being 40% of our operating budget to 55% of our operating budget. Remember, uncontrolled costs are the big ticket items of insurance, utilities and services (water, gas, sewer, trash, electric), and cable tv. These are items where the rates and terms are dictated by a municipality or a single service provider (i.e. insurance) and we have little control over the charges.

Insurance cost alone has risen 818% (yes, you read that correctly!) since 2000, from a low of $65,384 to the current cost of $535,037 and comprises 24% of our operating budget. In other words, roughly one quarter of each dollar paid in maintenance fees goes toward paying our insurance bill. Remember, the bulk of our insurance is provided by Citizen's Insurance, the Florida State Insurance Provider. Citizen's Insurance is our only insurance option because no other insurance carrier will insure a community as large as WWS.

On the other hand, our controlled expenses tell a better story. Controlled expenses are the items Dennis Bucher, our Property Manager, and the BOD manage directly. Examples of controlled expenses are: administration and office expense, grounds and landscaping, building maintenance, pool maintenance. These items have been well managed with an increase of approximately 2.8% annually since 2000. That's less than the rate of inflation for the period.

The presentation is available at the link below and also on the President's blog on the right column.

2010 Budget Presentation 9/15/2009

The next budget committee meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 26th at 10AM. Location to be announced.

WWS 2010 Budget - Reserves

The first phase of the budget process involves planning for reserves. Reserve funds are monies set aside for high dollar expenditure items and long range projects that are done infrequently. Reserve projects most often involve the following types of expenditures: Roof, Road/Pavements, Painting, Swimming Pools, Tennis Courts, Machinery and Public Utility.

Some reserve items: Roof, Swimming Pools, Road/Pavements


A portion of each maintenance fee paid is put into reserve funds. For 2009, that amounted to approximately 15% of each maintenance fee payment or 15 cents of every dollar.

The balance in reserve funds is reported monthly in the financial report.
We have been building reserves steadily since the end of the roof project in 2007. The balance in reserve funds on July 31, 2009 was $708,792

The Budget Committee has recommended we consider using a pooled technique for handling our reserves starting in 2010. This technique considers cash flow requirements on a pooled reserve fund instead of treating each reserve item as a separate account. The owners must accept this type of reserve accounting by a majority vote in order for WWS to transition to this method.

The Budget Committee presentation is available here:

2010 Budget Reserve Presentation
It is also posted on the right column of the President's Blog page on the website.

The next Budget Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday September, 15 at 9AM in the Wildewood Springs office.

Looking Up

There's been much activity recently at Wildewood Springs. But unless you're accustomed to looking up, you may have missed it.

Tim our roof specialist has been working on the most recent round of roof cleaning. As you may recall, Tim was hired to provide a constant monitor on the new roof coating that was completed in 2007. Under his watchful eye, potential problem areas are identified and given appropriate remedial attention on a proactive basis. The result; we've had no billable roof maintenance since Tim has taken over this task. Plus the incidence of plugged gutters and has fallen virtually to zero.

The palm tree trimming has recently been completed. This is done each year in the mid summer. Removal of the dead fronds, flowers and seed pods eliminates debris that fall on the sidewalks, stairs and roof and may become projectiles during any high wind. The tree contractor also removed a number of dead trees and trimmed a a few problem trees on the grounds. The grounds look beautiful.




Special Meeting Information

We've finally been able to establish a date for the Special Meeting for the Documents Revision Mini Project. The Special Meeting is set for November 10, 2009 at 2PM. The location is not yet established.

We've also set aside two dates for workshops on the two amendments we'll be voting on.

• October 12, 2009 9AM Workshop Bylaws 4.3 Director Terms
• October 19, 2009 9AM Workshop Article X Insurance.

These workshops are established to help owners understand each amendment and ask related questions. More information will be published regarding these meetings as the dates approach.

WWS Update

I hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing summer. For those of you in the north...Yes, it is hot & steamy here. For those of you still here... You know what I'm talking about. As you know, the BOD doesn't conduct regular meetings during the summer. Despite that, a few projects continue to move forward. I want to give you a quick update on some items we've been working on.

Documents Revision:
We're working on firming up the date for the Documents Mini Project Special Meeting. At this point it looks as if the meeting will be in August. Once the date is established, the voting materials will be distributed to the owners.

Remember, the reason for the meeting is that we've identified two items that require special consideration apart from the remainder of the Documents revision. The first item deals with Director terms and we will be voting on it now so that, assuming owner approval, it can be effective for the 2010 elections. The second item deals with insurance. We will be voting on it now because it will require a lengthy mortgage holder approval process after the owners approval.

Newsletter: We've regrouped the Newsletter team. Kay Levy (Oakview) has agreed to take on the role as editor. Kay Wilder (Springdale) will be assisting. The first issue is planned for October 2009. Deadline for submission is September 1, 2009.

Kay is looking for regular contributors as well as one time articles of interest. She is planning to include a quarterly calendar of upcoming events so if you are active in an organization and would like to include your event listing, please contact one of the Kays with your information.

The BOD has approved to include advertising in our newsletter to help defray costs. Advertising is $5 per newsletter for business card size ad.

From Kay Levy: 'We welcome all suggestions. Even if you don't want to write it, let us know if there is an area of interest you think should be included or especially liked in the old newsletter and want to have continued.'

Contact information to submit articles or ask questions:

Kay Levy - wwseditor@aol.com
732-271-1796 (until October)
941-758-6960

Kay Wilder - kmwriver22@verizon.net
941-755-7806

Documents Revision Mini Project

By now, I'm sure you're heard that we are in the midst of a Documents Revision Project. Here's a quick review. Last year Florida Statute 718 was significantly changed by the Legislature. As a result, the changes required in our Documents were extensive. Our attorney, Chad McClenathen, recommended we do a complete update of our Documents to incorporate all 35 previous amendments as well as the new law changes into a new revised document. You can imagine the work this entails.

An Ad Hoc Document Committee led by Mr. Bob DeBruin was charged with the huge task of reviewing of the proposed document package and presenting a working revision to the BOD for consideration. During the past few months, Mr. DeBruin and the Committee have completed their task. The next step would be for the BOD to begin the review process. This step is also expected to take a number of months and won't begin until the BOD convenes again in the fall for regular monthly meetings. But some strategic issues have come to light at this juncture of the process.

The Document Committee has identified two sections of the proposed Documents which will require special consideration in advance of the remainder of the project. The first section, By-Laws Article 4.3 deals with the election of Directors. Director terms will continue to default to one year until this section is approved. This section must be approved by the BOD and 60% of the owner voting interest before mid December 2009 for it to be effective for the 2010 election.

The second Document section to be considered is Article X and pertains to insurance. This section is being handled separately because it must also be approved by the mortgage holders. This means that after the BOD and 60% of the owner voting interest have approved this section, it must be sent to all mortgage holders of record for a final acceptance. We anticipate this to be a lengthy process.

The BOD has considered and voted on these two named sections in a meeting on May 28th in the WWS office. Later this summer, a Special Meeting will be convened for owner consideration of these items. Owners can expect to receive information regarding these two amendments and the announcement of a Special Meeting sometime in the next month or two. You will receive updates via email as the dates of the mailings and meetings are announced.

BOD Meeting & Update

Here's a quick summery of some high points from the 4/27 BOD meeting and what you might expect during the summer months. A number of projects will be in progress during the summer break.





Pools
The BOD gave bid approval for work to address the Federal Portion of Virginia Graham Baker Act (VGB). Work may begin as early as the week of 05/04/2009. The pool upgrades will be done by divers while the spas will be drained for the grate installation. Pool down time will be minimal. Watch for the notices.

Documents
The Document revision will be separated into 3 parts:
1-Election of Directors
2-Insurance - requires mortgage holder approval
3-Remainder of changes

The BOD will be reviewing the document sections relating to election of directors and insurance. The plan is to have these sections approved by the BOD and distributed to unit owners for review and vote during the summer. Our goal is to have the section relating to elections approved in time for the 2010 BOD elections. The portion relating to insurance will require an additional approval step from all mortgage holders. The remainder of the documents will be addressed when regular meetings resume in the fall.

Summer Meetings
Regular monthly meetings are suspended for the months of May, June, July and August
There will be BOD workshops and meetings during summer for the Document Revision project and other business which may arise. The dates will be announced.
A Special meeting will follow later in the summer for the owner vote on the first two document revisions

Cluster Advisor Door to Door Distribution
The Cluster Advisors will distribute the Red Cross Vial of Life Materials during the month of May.


Have a great summer!

Last Week at Wildewood

Last week was certainly busy here at Wildewood Springs. We started off with a Poolside Chat at Pool 5 on Monday evening. It was a fun time and there were about 20 owners in attendance. We socialized and enjoyed snacks and drinks. Plus it was a good place to find excess Easter candy.

From Poolside 2009-04-13

I've included a few photos from the event. You can view the online album if you click on the link below the photo.


On Tuesday morning we had our official 2010 Budget Kickoff Meeting, the 'Snowbird Special'. After introducing the committee members, David White, committe chairperson, explained the budgeting process he plans to use and presented a tentative schedule of events. He also answered a number of questions from the owners in attendance. The next budget meeting will not occur until after Labor Day in September. Then we will begin the process with vigor.

I'm listing the tentative meeting dates in this note, but please watch for the official confirmation of the dates as the fall approaches. The locations will be announced when the dates are confirmed.

• Tuesday 9/9/2009 9AM
• Tuesday 9/15/2009 7PM
• Saturday 9/26/2009 10AM
• Tuesday 10/6/2009 9AM with Cluster Advisors
• Board of Directors October Meeting 10/26/2009 2PM Budget Review
  
• Board of Directors November Meeting 11/23/2009 2PM Final Budget Vote

The presentation documents are available at the following links:

Meeting Minutes Part 1
Meeting Minutes Part 2
Meeting Minutes Part 3
Meeting Minutes Part 4

These links are also available on the Notes from the President page on the WWS Website.

Board of Directors April Workshop

The Board of Directors schedules a monthly workshop meeting as a method to discuss topics that are pertinent to our community in a more informal setting than the monthly Board Meeting. No official business is conducted at a workshop. Instead, the meeting is used as an information gathering and exchange forum for the Directors. Owners are welcome and may also participate in discussions.

I'm working up the agenda for our April BOD Workshop. One important topic that we will be discussing in this workshop is the renovations we must make to our spas to conform to the Virginia Graeme Baker Act.

The Virginia Graeme Baker Act was enacted by Congress and became effective in December of 2008. This law requires specific updates to commercial spa drain covers and installation of anti-entrapment systems to prevent possible entrapment of children and small adults.

The April BOD Workshop is planned for 4/7/2009 in the WWS office at 9 AM. Watch for notices on CH 95 and the mail kiosks.