Minutes of the September 14, 2006 Meeting
Board of Trustees of the Beacon Meadows Special Dependent Tax District
13550 S. Village Dr., Tampa, Florida
Trustees Present: Mike Simpson (Vice President), Al Adler (Corresponding Secretary), Penny Phillips (Recording Secretary), Caroleen Tillery (Trustee)
Trustees Absent: Le Bailey (President), Carol Coon (Treasurer)
The meeting was called to order by Mike at 7:10 p.m.
Secretary's Report – The minutes of the August 2006 meeting could not be approved due to lack of a quorum.
Treasurer's Report – Due to Carol’s absence, the August 2006 report was not available.
Old Business
Carrollwood Area Assoc. of Neighborhoods (CAAN) – Date and topics of the next CAAN meeting were unknown.
Need for New Trustees – A replacement for Art Sagendorf, who resigned in May, has not yet been found. Then Le announced recently that she will be resigning in October. This was very disturbing news for the Board, since Le has taken on a great deal of Tax District responsibility while she has served as President. Now two Trustees are needed. Current Trustees have been unsuccessful in finding new Board members but will continue to recruit volunteers. It was recommended that the Board perform only the essential tasks required to keep the Tax District running until two Trustees can be found. If homeowners want other tasks to be performed by the Board (e.g., sponsor garage sales, maintain a website, distribute a newsletter, apply for mini-grants), then they need to show more interest in becoming Board members and actively participating. It was recommended that consideration be given to allocating funds to hire a business manager for the Tax District who would be responsible for performing administrative tasks, many of which are currently performed by Le. Penny indicated that it was her understanding that this is a legitimate use of Tax District funds. It was also recommended that Trustees be offered a monetary incentive to serve on the Board. Although Penny believes that this is not a legitimate use of funds, she offered to ask the County.
Webmaster – It was recommended that the Beacon Meadows website be disabled if a volunteer does not come forward soon to serve as webmaster.
Beacon Meadows Newsletter – There will be no newsletters, since the publisher cannot find enough advertisers.
2007 Beacon Meadows Budget – Mary Mahoney of County Management & Budget sent the 2007 budget to the County Commissioners for approval.
Defacing of Jackson Rd. Wall – The perimeter wall on Jackson Rd. was defaced by vandals in June. Dave Tillery has painted the wall. His invoice for $60.00 was submitted at the meeting.
Lawn Service Contract – Landscape Escape has sold Beacon Meadows’ contract to another lawn service. Le met the owner of the new company. He seems qualified and has been doing a good job of mowing. He wants to submit a bid for the 2007 contract. Le found another company, and the owner wants to present a bid to the Board for consideration.
Unsightly Wall – Le has done nothing more about the Amscot wall but will turn over all correspondence pertaining to this matter to the new Board President in October. It was recommended that this topic be tabled indefinitely.
Beacon Meadows Garage Sale – Le submitted an advertisement to Carrollwood News regarding the garage sale on September 30. Penny will use the Board meeting signs to post garage sale signs at both entrances to Beacon Meadows. She will put them out on September 28. It was recommended that Trustees use the event as an opportunity to get the word out to homeowners that the Board needs two Trustees.
New Business
Storage Unit – Le recently informed the Board that she needs to move all documents and property of the Tax District out of her house in the near future. She recommended that a storage unit be rented for this purpose if none of the Trustees have room to store these items. Such units cost about $22.00 per month. Discussion ensued about how to rent a unit before the October meeting since allocation of funds for this purpose could not be voted on at this meeting without a quorum. Caroleen asked if a Trustee could rent the unit and then be reimbursed by the Tax District after a vote was taken at the October meeting. Other Trustees agreed that this was feasible. Caroleen volunteered to check on the cost of storage units at the two mini-warehouses on Gunn Hwy. that are in close proximity to Beacon Meadows.
Location of Board Meetings – Due to lack of a quorum, voting on the time and place of the meetings for 2007 will be tabled until the October meeting. It was agreed that approval for continuing to conduct the meetings at the current location should be requested. Also, holding meetings the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. is still acceptable to Trustees. The new meeting schedule will need to be advertised in the newspaper and reported to the County. It was recommended that Trustees not respond to homeowners’ questions over the phone but, instead, advise them that questions will be addressed at Board meetings.
Election of Officers - Officers will need to be elected at the October meeting. Carol had expressed an interest in becoming President. Mike and Penny agreed to continue in their current offices. Al had initially considered becoming Treasurer, but then declined. Caroleen indicated that she may be interested in becoming Treasurer but needed to give the matter more thought. Penny offered to ask the County if a Trustee could serve in more than one office (e.g., President and Treasurer) and also ask if the Board could function without a President if no one was interested in this office. Even with a President, it was agreed that all Trustees needed to pitch in to run the Tax District.
Board of Trustees Notice – This notice must be submitted to the County after the October meeting.
Surety Bond - The bond will have to be changed after officers are elected, and the County must be notified. The bond needs to be paid by November 20 to stay in effect.
Board Meeting Signs – Mike and Al volunteered to put up the meeting signs each month to advertise meetings. Le gave the Tax District two additional sign stands. Penny remarked that the meeting signs are not required to be posted but should continue to be put up in hopes of drawing more homeowners to meetings and ultimately finding new Trustees.
Miscellaneous
The following correspondence was received by the Tax District:
- Notice of Holiday Tree Lighting Festival at Joe Chillura Courthouse Square, November 30, 5:00 –9:00 p.m.
- Senior Sentinel newsletter from the Dept. of Aging Services
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned by Mike at 8:08 p.m.
Penny Phillips, Recording Secretary
Mike Simpson, Vice President