Quatraine III
Plantation Florida
Homeowners Newsletter
By the People, For the People
FAQ Did You Know? Elections Lost&Found Restrictions Paint Colors
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 2013 calendar year.
12/18/13 - A meeting was held at Volunteer Park. Violations and accounts at the attorney were discussed.
12/07/13 - New landscaping was installed by Native Sun at the entrances. The newsletter was posted at the mailboxes and the pool. The main focus of the newsletter was telling everyone to make sure they received their coupon book. If you didn't get one or you are new to the neighborhood, call Ambassador. The previous owner of a home is supposed to pass down the coupon book, mailbox key, pool key, and HOA documents (by-laws) to the next owner.
12/06/13 - Larger dog waste tubes were installed. These are 6" in diameter. Remember, no junk mail or home garbage is allowed. Take junk mail home to be recycled. Once again, the tubes were designed by board member Shari and installed by April's husband Bill. You will not find these dog waste tubes in a catalog, they are unique. This is what happens when the board participates and stays involved.
11/28/13 - Happy Thanksgiving. A bid to re-landscape the front entrances of the community was approved and will be handled by Native Sun. The cost break down is as follows, $1825 for Blue Pacific Junipers, Firecracker, Fax Lilly's, and Trinnetes, clean up, and new sod/mulch.
11/07/13 - I received my coupoun book for 2014 in the mail today. The assessment stays at $125. Just so you know, we have a lower fee than QIV, they pay $130. And our fee is much lower than the surrounding neighborhoods. The realtors mention this in their real estate ads. That's one reason we kept the fee low, so good people would move here.
10/23/13 - A meeting was held at Volunteer Park. 4 homeowners showed up, one of them was new to the neighborhood. This homeowner was not given their by-laws (2 volumes) or coupon book at the closing. When someone buys a new home, the previous owner is supposed to give them the by-laws, coupon book, and pool key. The restrictions section of the by-laws and the rules and regulations from the board can be found on this page, by clicking on Restrictions at the top. Violations and collections were discussed at length. Approximately 8 vehicles are in the neighborhood with either an expired or no tag. These cars are stickered and eventually towed away at owner expense. The budget was officially passed at this meeting, keeping the fee at $125.
10/08/13 - The light at the entrance of 99th Ave was replaced, it had burned out. A new LED fixture was installed that should last a few years.
10/03/13 - A homeowner e-mailed me asking the procedure for tree removal. A board member gave me some new information. "Fortunately, the City of Plantation is no longer requiring 3 for 1 tree replacement. (That was if you were replacing a tree with palms; otherwise it was 2 for 1.) Right now, it is a 1 for 1 replacement and the replacement tree can be donated for offsite planting. I believe they are charging $350 per tree." Mr. xxxxxxx will still have to plant a bush or hedge where the tree was AND donate the $350. He should put in an AMF and then take that approved form to the City to get his tree removal permit. This is what the other lady in his cul-de-sac just did." So there you have it. If you want to do it by the book, that's it. If the city gives you problems, come to a board meeting and there will be suggestions on how to deal with the city of "No" when it comes to tree removal.
09/28/30 - New Waste Dispsal Drop Off Site.
Wheelabrator, 4400 S. State Rd 7, Davie FL 33314-2110 (954) 581-6705.
Hours
of operation are Saturdays 08:00am - 04:00pm. Closed Holidays.
They accept Yard Waste, Furniture, White Goods, Household Hazardous Waste, and
Electronics.
Hazardous Waste and Electronics Quarterly Events -
located at 750 NW 91st Avenue, Plantation Fl 33324. Hours are
09:00am - 01:00pm.
Event dates are Nov 23, Feb 22, May 10, Aug
23, Nov 22.
09/23/13 - A bid was received to repave the streets minus the driveways. The main road way is 5,127 square yards. The culdesacs are 20,944 square yards. To mill up to 1" and haul away is approximately 100k. To Pave 1" of S3 hot mix asphalt is approximately 190k. This doesn't include the parking stops either. So the entire bid would be close to 300k. If anyone knows a paving company that can help out, let us know by coming to a meeting or sending an e-mail below.
09/13/13 - Newsletters were distributed on this day, including the by-laws, rules and regulations, and an AMF form. It was also posted on the mail boxes and at the pool.
08/31/13 - The pool pump motor was repaired on this day (Saturday) and the pool re-opened. It was available for the Labor Day holiday (Monday). The lock at the pool was sticking, was noted by a board member, and the property manager was called to have it taken care of (GC Lock Company).
08/28/13 - A meeting was held at Volunteer park. The violation list was discussed. Most of them are for broken fences and dirty roofs. Loose pavers at the pool will be glued down by Braz Pavers. New dog waste tubes will be installed to make them 6" in diameter. The current tubes work, but fill up quickly. The entire reason for using tubes is because people were putting their trash in the cans. A bid to repave the streets (minus the driveways) will be requested from Lot Pro. Other companies charge to give a bid, this one will give one free estimate to give the board an idea of how much this job will cost. The board has been saving 2k in reserves a month for 7 years to cover this job. This was the budget workshop meeting, the board decided to keep the budget as is, and not raise the fee, it will stay at $125 for next year. This will mark 9 years in a row the fee has stayed at $125.
08/27/13 - The pool pump motor burned out, the pool was closed at this time. A new motor was ordered.
08/19/13 - Busy Bee was on property pressure cleaning the perimeter fences along the canal. The cost of this job was $1,800. Also included in this job was pressure cleaning sidewalks, curbs, medians, rear sidewalk on north side ($1,500). Pressure cleaning the pool pation was $150. The entire bid for pressure cleaning was $3,450.
06/26/13 - A meeting was held at Volunteer Park. Existing Violations were discussed. Walk-throughs are done every 3 months. The board requested to give 30 days to complete repairs and 60 days for major repairs such as a complete roof, cleaning, and house painting. An AFM will be included with the letter. Becky is working with the new maintenance man bringing him up to speed.
05/15/13 - Sod was installed by Native Sun to fill in tree circles and areas along the streets where the grass disappeared from too much edger trimming. Native sun is aware that over edging the tree circles causes the grass to disappear, then the roots come up through the soil.
05/11/13 - The water fountain at the pool was replaced. The palms were trimmed by McKenna.
04/24/13 - A meeting was held at Volunteer Park. Various issues of repair were discussed at length. Becky waited 2 days then called Driveway Maintenance asking them why they didn't finish the job and left the barricades behind. Doug wanted to drive the property himself saying he would take care of it. Needless to say, the board held the check because the job was not done and Becky wanted to show him the missed spots. Pressure cleaning the sidewalks and the fence along the perimeter was discussed. Becky taked with Toni from Busy Bee about the job. The issue was whether Toni could get her truck to the back area along the canal. The water fountain at the pool has been ordered and will be installed by Moody for $925. The tree trimming bid was approved by Gasper of McKenna at a cost of $4,398 and will begin soon. After that, sod can be installed by Native Sun. A homeowner asked what can be done about white fly in their yard. The board told her about a product sold at Home Depot from Bayer in a blue bottle that goes for about $20. The product is mixed with water and spread on the roots.
04/18/13 - Driveway Maintenance was on the property patching the streets.
03/31/13 - The master sprinkler pump was repaired and it rained to help the grass out front.
3/29/13 - The annual master association meeting was held at Parc Court clubhouse. I stepped down as Secretary/Treasurer and became a director. I informed everyone the sprinkler pump was down, they knew about this. The pump had been removed and we were told it was shot. Jeff spoke up saying any time Victor messes with a pump, he tells us it's shot. The cost to repair the pump is approximately $1,200. A bid for tree trmming was approved at $6,200. I also informed everyone that lights were out, and no one noticed. I told CiCi it would be her job to work with the light vendor going forward.
03/29/13 - New dog waste containers were installed around the community. They were designed and fabricated by a board member. You will not find these containers in a property manager catalog or at the local building supplies store. So why the new containers? Because people were putting home garbage into the old containers, filling them up. This design allows for smaller dog waste bags, but not home garbage or junk mail. This is another example of what happens when board members participate.
03/28/13 - The lights for the master are still out, so is the sprinkler pump, that's why the grass is brown. In the past, I'd call Terry from Top Shelf and the pump would be fixed the next day, that's called participation. Now someone else takes care of the pump. At the time of writing this, the master has $49,952.55 in the operating, and $47,601.44 in reserves. I write this to keep track of the balances going forward. Regarding the street repairs in QIII, the delay is caused by permit issues. Plantation is the city of "NO." Nothing can get done because of all their red tape. I walk to the Publix shopping center and see a bunch of empty store spaces along with a half finished ice cream shop that can't open. That tells you something. Let's get back to participation. When board members help out, things get done. When they do nothing, things fall apart. Don't worry, the board of QIII participates, we have 7 members, and the homeowners help out as well. It's the master that is a mess, controlled by QIV board members.
03/14/13 - On this day I drove past QIV and their entrance lights still were not working (as documented below) along with the light at the corner of QIV and Jaranda Point entrance. The master sprinklers were on at 7am wetting the sidewalk. This was caused due to the time change, a homeowner walking her dog let me know. In this case, I reset the sprinkler clock, but we'll see how long the lights stay out before anyone notices.
03/02/13 - Above are pictures of the grass that caused Terry from Top Shelf to be fired WITHOUT CAUSE from the Master Association. Looks green to me and the other guy hadn't started yet. The reason the grass was brown a couple weeks ago, is because we were in a drought, happens every year. This is corrupt politics just to give the QIV vendor a job, even though his work has been proven unreliable in the past. The idea to do this came form the QIV board members and they are completely responsible.
02/27/13 - The annual meeting was held at Volunteer park. A quorum (for the membership meeting) was not established (the final count was 27 in person or by proxy) and the current board rolled over (Thank You). During the floor nominations, Connie Lino was welcomed as a director, bringing the board count to 7. A report of the previous year accomplishments was read which included projects at the pool, tot lot, entrances out front, and fences. Future projects were discussed such as White Fly using Guaranteed Pest Control, the bid was given to Becky to follow up. The street repair project using Driveway Maintenance has been delayed because of a permit problem with the city. Turns out, they require a flag man at the entrance of the community, and barricades, even though the work is happening inside on private property. The term for this is "MOT" and is another reason why working with the city is impossible. The bid for this job goes up $650 to $4,876, the board approved the new amount. When it comes to tree trimming, or root pruning, Plantation is the City of "NO." Our landscaper met with the city asking about the roots along the sidewalk, and they were rude to him asking, "Where is your board member and why are you here?" Whenever people go to the city and ask about removing a nuisance tree, they are told "NO." The idea of putting top soil and sod over the roots is the best solution at this time. Issues with the maintenance man were discussed, there is high turn over in this position because the company makes $16 while the worker only gets $9/Hr. Becky said this problem happens with all maintenance companies (high turn over). Pressure cleaning the fences along the canal was brought up. Connie and another home owner volunteered to let their water be used (with pay back) by Busy Bee to do the job. Tree trimming and pressure cleaning the side walks was also discussed as future projects. The subject of home and car break-ins was mentioned. A homeowner went to Publix (gone only 2 hours) and theives broke into the home by lifting the sliding glass door off the track and going inside. The best idea here is to install a pin along the top of the door. The theives also broke into unlocked cars in the SW culdesac along the canal. This has been mentioned in previous news letters, but it is important to LOCK YOUR CAR DOORS. If you see strangers in the area, call the police and let them know. They will come through the neighborhood (sweep) looking for trouble. The more people who call, the more sweeps we get.
Click here to return to the home page.
To send an e-mail, click here quatraine3@bellsouth.net
QUATRAINE