2/19/09 - Below are two pictures showing our irrigation zones. The areas in yellow are not working and repairs are scheduled to fix broken valves.
Quatraine III
Plantation Florida
Homeowners Newsletter
By the People, For the People
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Disclaimer: This web site is run by a homeowner living in the Quatraine III community. The views and statements made on this page do not reflect those of the current board of directors. In other words, it's my site, and me talking, not anyone else.
This is the archive page for the 2009 calendar year.
02/15/10 - Palm trees were trimmed by McKenna tree trimming company.
02/03/10 - A master association meeting was held at the Parc Court Clubhouse. The bridge that links Parc Court to Jacaranda Lakes was being repaired by the city. The board discussed installing a new fountain for the Parc Court Lake next to QIV. Electrical must be run first. The street signs at each corner of Central Park Place East were damaged and need to be replaced. Jim mentioned we should look at the signs in Fountain Springs which are all steel.
01/22/10 - I was home on this Friday, met with
Becky, Ruben, and A1 West Plumbing at the pool.
The pool shower drain has been fixed. (A1 Plumbing)
A urinal in the mens bathroom has been fixed (A1 Plumbing).
The water fountain has been
fixed (A1 Plumbing).
The timer light switch for
the mens bathroom has been fixed.
Ruben was instructed to clean the fences in front of the pool, and he cleaned
one section, He will cycle clean going forward..
The
north light at the main entrance has been replaced and is working
(Becky).
The pool pavers are done. (Braz Pavers)
All County Maintenance and Ruben will pressure clean the curbs in front of the pool. Gray paint will be applied to see if it looks good.
Two irrigation zone are being fixed by Top Shelf Irrigation.
The board has a "To Do" list they are working
from to make sure all jobs are completed.
2/19/09 - Below are two pictures showing our irrigation zones.
The areas in yellow are not working and repairs are scheduled to fix broken
valves.
12/09/09 - A meeting was held at Volunteer Park. The budget was passed, it will be mailed to all homeowners. The regular assessment of $125 a month will stay the same for 2010, then rise in 2011. A bid was passed to hire Pro Pest at 9k, reducing the previous amount, which was $13,800 each year for fertilization, weed, and pest control. A motion passed to move 12k of reserves into a CD at Bank Atlantic for 15 months making approximately 1.5%. Not that great but better than what it was getting in the reserve account. The idea is to move 12k every 2 months into a CD, but only when the board asks. Repairs continue at the pool regarding a light timer, and the shower drain.
11/03/09 - New pump water inlet screens were installed by Top Shelf. The sprinkler system is working again and the grass is turning green. The board members cleaned out the storage room at the pool, throwing away items no longer needed. Pool light timers will be repaired, that's why the lights at the pool were not working. The shower drain will be fixed so water will drain into a separate well. The drain pipe had been clogged. Rueben will be doing various maintenance jobs, such as painting mail box pads green, cleaning pool chairs, nailing fence boards to the rails, and replacing lights when they burn out. The bulk pick up schedule for 2010 can be found here.
http://www.plantation.org/docs/public-works/Plantation_Bulk_Pick_Up_2010.pdf
10/28/09 - A meeting was held at Volunteer Park. Becky Chucci was introduced as our new property manager. Discussion ensued about toilet, light, and paver repairs at the pool. New bids will be obtained for pest control, and accountant services. Top shelf did a wet test and irrigation repairs are scheduled to fix two broken zones from each pump. Discussion ensued about painting the mail box pads.
10/12/09 - Top Shelf Irrigation will be doing a wet check on 10/14/09 and 10/15/09. Please leave your gate unlocked when they are here so they can check the sprinklers in the back yards.
10/07/09 - A master association meeting was held. Contracts were discussed. The board reviewed plats and drawings showing exact property lines.
09/13/09 - Now for a good news story. The fountain between QIII and QIV was broken. This is taken care of by the master. I called Top Shelf Irrigation asking if they knew of any electricians because the problem was in the electrical box. The next afternoon Terry from Top Shelf called me saying they had fixed our fountain, that it was a capacitor and a service call for $200 total. They had 3 trucks parked out front with a full crew trouble shooting the electrical system for the fountain. The box that was broken normally sells for $500 by itself. So this is an amazing story of a contractor being honest. Top Shelf will be our new irrigation company on October 1st and we look forward to their great work at honest prices.
09/07/09 - Please welcome Ambassador Community Management as our new property manager effect October 1st. The board decided to make the switch based on a few factors. 1. Ambassador comes highly recommended from out neighbors Parc Court. 2. Our community will have an onsite property manager (Becky) who will walk the property two times a week. 3. ACH payments to pay regular assessments (with a small fee). 4. A more aggressive approach for collections. We wish Brock well in her future endeavors and October will mark a fresh start for our community.
http://www.ambassadormanagement.com/
08/26/09 - A meeting was held at Volunteer park. A bid was approved to plant sod around the trees along the common area of the road ways. Native Sun will install 3 pallets of sod at a price of $795. A bid was also approved to pressure clean the sidewalks. Hydra-Tech will do the job for a price of $2,750 using a hot water treatment. A few tiles at the pool are broken or loose. Braz Pavers will be contacted to fix them. The board is aware of the problem with the pool lights and is taking action to fix them. A Broward County inspector came out checking the pool pump area, and it was noted a new door needs to be installed because the current door is hard to open. In the open forum, a homeowner asked if anything can be done about people who leave messes on their front porch and back yard areas. The violation committee will send these people letters.
08/23/09 - I've been on the board for over 3
years, and I've learned a lot. This web site was made to
figure out why running an HOA is so complicated. I am sharing
my findings in the Did you Know section of this web site found here.
What I've Learned
You may not agree with everything I say, but the findings come
from real life experiences. Basically a board is a small
government. Do you know any governments that run perfectly?
08/08/09 - New landscaping was installed at the front entrance by Eric Robinson. The cost of this project was $1200. The board would like to thank the homeowners at 807 NW 98th Ave (west corner of entrance) for use of their water after the plants were installed. Watering the plants immediately goes a long way to their survival in this hot weather. Eric Robinson has worked with a few homeowners in the neighborhood on back yard projects, and they all recommend him. This was a successful project where the bid came in, the board discussed it, minor changes were made, and the project was done within budget with no surprises. Vivian Karr worked with Eric each step of the way.
07/09/09 - A master association meeting was held at the Parc Court Clubhouse. The budget was discussed. The bottom line figures will not change, but some of the line items may be different for next year. A discussion ensued about the landscaping that was installed in front of QIV. Some of the plants are dying (Vibirnum) and it is believed it is because they were a bad choice. Others think it was from the drought.
06/30/09 - Fence slats are coming loose from their railings. This is caused by warping or rotting slats. They can be fixed with nails and a hammer. The correct nails are 2 inch Grip Rite Hot Galvanized common sold at Home Depot in a 1lb box. Each rail needs 2 nails equally spaced near the center of the slat. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to re-attach fence slats to the rails.
06/24/09 - A meeting was held at Volunteer park. The violation process was explained for clarification. When Jane gets the violation letters from the board, it's approximately 7-10 days before they go out to the violators. For late payments, after 3 months of being behind, the homeowner is turned over to the attorney who sends a demand letter saying they have 45 days to pay or a lien will be filed. On day 46 a letter goes out saying there is a lien that has been filed. They have 30 days to pay the lien or it goes into foreclosure. At the time of this meeting there are approximately 15 homes in foreclosure. Sometimes a few people e-mail me asking if I can give them a list of homes in foreclosure, no I can't do that.
A proposal from Eric Robinson to re-landscape the front entrance (98th Ave) of the community was discussed. The proposal came in at approximately $1,600 but the board had reservations about the number of plants listed, and the fact that a tree was to be removed. I spoke up saying I'm not in favor of tiny plants that die in the hot sun. A motion passed to approve a budget of $1,200 and have a new plan submitted with a drawing. A homeowner express concert about plants hanging over the fence line along the sidewalks. The landscapers will be told to trim along the sidewalk once a month.
New homeowners reading this need to be made aware that no structures are allowed above the fence line. This topic will be added to the next news letter.
05/09/09 - The light for the fountain was finally repaired, it's working again. Asplundh came through and trimmed trees along the power lines.
05/02/09 - Here's the follow up to the vehicle break ins. The pictures were turned over to the police. The problem is the police can not obtain surveillance footage from high schools unless they have a search warrant. The police believe these kids are actually coming up from the Pembroke Pines area, even though they were on bicycles. Always remember to lock your car and bring valuables inside at night.
04/29/09 - This is a reminder to lock your car doors. On Monday 04/27/09 at 04:05am (a school morning), 3 kids on bicycles came through the neighborhood checking for unlocked cars. They found one and took a DVD player. I checked the footage from my camera and have pictures of them. Lucky for me, our car doors were locked. In the 1st picture, you can see the kid checking the driver side door of our Scion TC. The kid has a shirt wrapped on his hand to avoid leaving prints. In the 2nd picture the kid checks the passenger door of the truck. In the 3rd picture, his friend is checking the driver side door. In the 4th picture, all 3 kids are riding away. All of this took place in 3 minutes, the kids went on to check all the cars in the area. The footage was given to the unlucky homeowner to turn over to the police. The board was notified, and these pictures were also sent to the representatives of the master board to warn our neighbor communities.
Roof Cleaning 101 - Here's how professional companies clean your roof. They pressure clean it, then apply a roof cleaner which they call "Milguard." They charge $350 on the first visit, and then $175 each year after that. Once the roof has been pressure cleaned, they only need to apply chemicals each year. You can do this yourself just like I did. In the 1st picture is the product I bought from Home Depot. This is environmental friendly, and doesn't kill the grass. In the 2nd picture you can see what it looks like from on top of my roof. It's very easy to spot the roofs that are black. In the 3rd picture you can see me starting to spray. The chemical cleans the roof and protects it for a year.
04/22/09 - A board meeting was held at Volunteer park, 4 homeowners showed up. The board talked about collections and how much money is recovered from homes in foreclosure. The answer is not much. The best case scenario is when the bank buys the home and pays back the assessment fees. Otherwise it has to be written off as bad debt. Approximately 13 homes are in foreclosure at this time. Asplundh will be out in 3 weeks to trim trees along Cleary Blvd near the power lines. The brown grass at the back park near the lake happens because the sprinklers are rooter heads that don't deliver enough water to the entire area. That zone will now stay on for 1.5 hours. The board will see if Reuben can paint the curbs white again, it's just a matter of buying him the paint. In the past he did this job but stopped as the board cut back on projects. The idea is to have him paint the curbs a little on each visit (cycle). Rueben will also clean the pool furniture as it is dirty heading into the summer season. A motion passed to obtain a bid for a professional to paint the brown fence slats along Cleary Blvd and the entrance area of the common grounds. At first the board was not going to take care of this since the entire community was painted and the board told homeowners to have their fence ready or else they would have to take care of it themselves. But our documents state that the common area fence must be maintained by the board, so that will eventually happen once a bid is approved.
04/07/09 - A master association meeting was held at Parc Court Clubhouse. This was the annual meeting. The signs at the corner of Central Park Place and Cleary Blvd (Jacaranda at Central Park) need repair. One has a missing small letter "E" and another has a letter "C" hanging. This is because the bolts rust and fall off the rock face. A bid was presented but the board wants more options for the repair. The fountain light timer box will be repaired, the box was broken and rusted. A bid for tree trimming was approved, which will take place in July. The money to do this comes from the Broward Beautiful money which was $7,500. The tree trimming job will cost approximately $6,200. Parc Court is working on a plan to replace the landscaping along the lake edge where the shrubs were removed.
04/03/09 - The entire board is reviewing all the checks that go out. Usually only the treasurer and president do this, but it helps if everyone looks over the checks and bank statements. Most bills remain the same from month to month, such as lawn care. But some bills can vary, such as attorney fees and irrigation repairs. These are the checks the board is reviewing and asking questions about. For the previous month, 16 checks totaled up to approximately 20k. That's how much money comes in from deposits. There are 170 homeowners in the community, and if each pays $125, that's $21,250. But not everyone pays, so we actually get less than that amount. The people who don't pay end up at the attorney in collections.
03/15/09 - The fountain between QIII and QIV will now cycle off between noon and 4pm. After 20 years the correct time setting was finally set into place by me. I had to personally do it myself. This proves that HOAs need a "hands on" approach from the members or else they will fail. The timer for the fountain light is broken, it was staying on 24/7, even though you could not see it during the day. How did I know this? Because the light was on at 6am. After flipping the switch during the day and viewing the fountain with binoculars, I realized the light was on all the time. The switch for the light has been shut off. Two bids are in the works, and one will be decided on at the April 2nd meeting. So for now, the light at the fountain will not shine when it's dark. The fountain time will now cycle from 9am to noon, shut off until 4pm, then run until 9pm.
03/07/09 - Newsletters were distributed. A homeowner talked with me and complained about cars parking around the cul-de-sac circles instead of guest spots. This topic has been covered before in the newsletter, but it looks like it needs to be mentioned again. Cars parked along the curb block other cars, the garbage truck, and fire trucks. The homeowner mentioned she's almost backed into the car parked along the curb.
02/28/09 - A few kids decided it would be fun to spray paint smiley faces at the play ground next to the pool. Lucky for the community, a board member and AMF committee member were enjoying the pool, saw what happened, and called the police. A report was filed and the parent has 3 days to clean up the mess. Please have a talk with your kids and tell them that graffiti is not something to do if they are bored. Doing homework and getting good grades is the better choice. If your kids want to get into a state run university like UF, they have a much better chance if they get straight A's in high school. They can also get scholarships for tuition (Bright Futures) if they get good grades. Kids who don't go to college usually end up in what's called the "service-level" jobs not making much money. The choice is yours. Let your kids "hang out" getting into trouble, or you can stress the importance of straight A's which leads to a professional career.
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Update: Good news, the parent sent the kid back with paint remover and the graffiti is gone.
02/25/09 - The annual membership meeting was held at Volunteer Park. A total of 12 members (10 in person, 2 by proxy) were present. The attorney for the board was also present. A quorum of 30% (51 people) was not met, so the current board rolled over. A statement was read recapping what was done in the 2008 year. In the open forum, a homeowner spoke up asking who takes care of broken sprinklers in the back yards. The irrigation repair company does, if you have a broken sprinkler head, please call the property manager. The annual membership meeting was adjourned. The organizational meeting was called to order. The current board was officially voted back with the current positions remaining the same. The next meeting date was set for Wednesday April 22nd. The organizational meeting was adjourned.
At this time, it is estimated that 8 homes are in foreclosure. Adding to that are dead beats, and people who rent out their home and don't pay their dues. It is estimated that 20-25 people are not paying. There are some homes that are being bought after going through foreclosure, so the cycle is always on going.
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