Minutes of the September 11, 2008 Meeting
Board of Trustees of the Beacon Meadows Special Dependent Tax District
13550 S. Village Dr., Tampa, Florida

Trustees Present:            Carol Coon (President), Caroleen Tillery (Vice President), Barbara Appel (Treasurer), Penny Phillips (Recording Secretary), Leslie Fordham (Corresponding Secretary), Chris Eddy (Trustee)

Trustees Absent:             Judy Pack (Trustee)

The meeting was called to order by Carol at 7:07 p.m.

Secretary's Report – The minutes of the August 2008 meeting were read in advance by Trustees.  Barbara made a motion, seconded by Carol, that the minutes be approved.  The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0.

Treasurer's Report – Barbara reported that the August 2008 bank statement reflects cash in bank of $15,861 with $9,912 available to spend. 

Old Business

Beacon Meadows Garage Sale – Leslie reported that she had delivered flyers to about half the houses in Beacon Meadows to announce the garage sale on October 4, 2008 (8:00 a.m. to noon).  Trustees agreed to distribute flyers if Leslie needed assistance.  Leslie also reported that the garage sale could be advertised in The Flyer for $17.40 (half the county) or $27.40 (the entire county) with day, date, and time and 20 words and in Carrollwood News for $9.95 for five lines, with $2.00 for each additional line.  Both publications are distributed on Wednesdays.  Carol made a motion, seconded by Penny, that the garage sale be advertised in The Flyer for $17.40 for half the county and in Carrollwood News for $9.95 for five lines, with a maximum cost of $35.00 (budget category 41).  The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0.  Leslie agreed to submit the ads.

Budget Documents – Carol reported that the budget documents for next fiscal year have been submitted to Hillsborough County, including the affidavit from the St. Petersburg Times as verification that the June 2008 public budget hearing had been appropriately advertised.

Financial Audit – Carol reported that the financial records for fiscal year 2007 have been submitted to David King, CPA, for auditing.  Carol and Barbara discovered that the $68.00 discrepancy was caused by two checks written late in fiscal year 2006 that were posted to both the 2006 and 2007 financial ledgers.

Bees in Jackson Rd. Wall – Carol reported that Lee’s Bees was not interested in pursuing removing the bees from the wall.  Therefore, she contacted Insect IQ and Busch Home Services for estimates.  Leslie reported that she contacted McDonald Pest Control, who investigated the situation.  The bees are feral Africanized honey bees and need to be destroyed.  The estimated cost is $350 plus tax for removal and $300 plus tax to repair the wall, if necessary, after the bees are removed. Penny made a motion, seconded by Barbara, that a maximum of $650 plus tax be allocated for bee removal and, if necessary, wall repair for either McDonald Pest Control or Insect IQ, whichever company charges less (budget category 46).  The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0.  It was agreed that the company performing the work should notify the residents whose property is adjacent to the wall that the work is to be done.

Light Fixtures at Beacon Meadows Entrances – Carol reported that she contacted two companies about installation of light fixtures, but neither provided a proposal or estimate.  She agreed to contact the resident in Beacon Meadows who works for Falcon Electric to ask for assistance on this project.  She is seeking proposals and estimates from Small Jobs Electric, Pleasant Lightscapes, and NiteLites.  She pointed out that Busch Home Services also works on outdoor lighting if another proposal/estimate is needed.  Leslie remarked that she had contacted a company that estimated new light fixtures would cost almost $10,000.

Change in Trustee – Carol reported that Judy is willing to resign due to her work commitments if John Haksteen is willing to serve as a Trustee.  Because John did not attend the meeting, this matter was tabled until the October Boarding meeting.

Additional Repairs to Jackson Rd. Wall – Chris reported that D&S Painting Service provided him with a written estimate of $1,200 for additional repairs to the wall.  The work would be performed by a mason who is an associate of D&S.  Carol made a motion, seconded by Leslie, that the $1,200 proposal from D&S for additional repairs to the Jackson Rd. wall be accepted (budget category 46).  The motion was approve by a vote of 6-0.  However, the bees must be removed first before the wall can be repaired. 

New Business

Expiration of Trustee Seats – Carol reported that she and Judy did not submit their election documents to Hillsborough County by the deadline.  Therefore, they need to be reappointed to their Trustee seats.  Penny reported that she had submitted her documents on time.  Penny made a motion, seconded by Caroleen, that Carol be reappointed to Seat #3 at the expiration of her current term.  The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0.  Penny made a motion, seconded by Carol, that Judy be appointed to Seat #1 at the expiration of her term.  The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0.  Carol distributed copies of the Hillsborough County Special District Information Form to Trustees, which contains Trustee information and seat numbers.

Board Meetings for Next Fiscal Year – Trustees agreed that meetings should continue to be conducted on the second Thursday of each month starting at 7:00 p.m.  Carol recommended that the meeting location be changed to the Carrollwood Cultural Center if there was no charge and a room could be reserved.  Penny volunteered to contact a representative at that facility to ask about reserving a room for the second Thursday of each month.  Penny reviewed monthly calendars for October 2008 through September 2009 to determine the actual dates.

County Meeting on Financial Audits -  Barbara reported that, on September 3, 2008, she attended a meeting regarding the cost of annual financial audits for “small” special tax districts (the current measure seems to be those with less than $50,000 annual revenue).  There are a number of proposals that have been made, such as allowing districts that are in “maintenance mode” (e.g., lawn service, utilities) to be exempt from an audit; requiring an audit only for years when a district incurs a large expenditure, like erecting a wall or repairing a wall, as in Beacon Meadows’ case; or randomly selecting six districts each year to have an audit. There was to be another meeting on September 4 in Brandon.  The final decision will be made by the County Commissioners.   If there is to be a change to the annual audit requirement, the County Attorney will have to reword some laws, so this could be a lengthy process. 

There being no further business, Carol made a motion, seconded by Barbara, that the meeting be adjourned.  The motion was approved by a vote of 6-0.  Carol adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m.

Penny Phillips, Recording Secretary