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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 09-15-2010 Revised ST LUCIE COUNTY PROPERTY AND HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION Minutes of September 15, 2010 Meeting Convened: 10 am Adjourned: 11.13 am The meeting of the Property & Homeowners Association was held Wednesday, September 15, 2010 in the Administrative Conference Room of the St. Lucie County Administration Annex, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce. Members Present: Walter Fauth, Fort Pierce South Beach Bill Hammer, Reserve/PGA John Ferrick, North Fork Property Owners Mark Boston, Association of Retired Americans Toni Trabolsi, Coalition Of Sandpiper Bay Associations Craig Mundt, North Hutchinson Island Andrew Stark, Palm Grove Hank & Alice Schmitz, Portofino Shores Dolores & Bob Salvato, Nettles Island Pat Pacitti, South Hutchinson Island President's Council Robert Bonshier/Mrs. Bonshier, Nettles Island Kathleen Ivins, River Park Also Present: Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky, Chairman Terri Ann Palumbo, Executive Aide to Commissioner Dzadovsky Deputy Gary Gonsalves, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Sherry McCorkle, Congressman Tom Rooney’s Office Ray Villanova Heather Young, Asst. County Attorney Catherine Chaney, St Lucie County Fire District Faye Outlaw, County Administrator ITEM #1 – CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order. Commissioner Dzadovsky led the Association in the Pledge of Allegiance and then asked for self-introductions. ITEM #2 – APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Dzadovsky asked for a motion for approval of the July 2010 minutes. Approval was moved and seconded and passed unanimously by a voice vote. ITEM #3 – ST LUCIE COUNTY SHERIFF’S REPORT Deputy Gary Gonsalves gave an update from the Sheriff's office. He said crimes of opportunity continue, burglaries on the island, and the beach access areas are hot spots for burglaries. There was also a recent arrest where people from Broward County were found with cocaine and stolen items in their car. He talked about Stop Watch, which utilizes volunteers, preferably parents, to keep an eye out for children at bus stops, both in early mornings and in the afternoons. The Sheriff's Office does a 2-hour training. The volunteers are given vests and magnetic signs for their vehicles. The program is a deterrent for crimes against the children as well. They only have had 6 people volunteer for the program so far, and they are hoping for more. He asked the membership to consider posting information about the program in their newsletters. Volunteers don't have to be there every single day and night. He also talked about the COP (Citizens Observation Patrol) program and what a good deterrent it is. North Hutchinson Island only has two volunteers and they are both retiring in November. The Sheriff's Office fears it won't have a COP program on North Hutchinson Island. COP volunteers aren't required to live on North Hutchinson Island. There's a training session coming up, November 1 – 4 from 6-10 pm, and Deputy Gonsalves asked for help to get new volunteers. Mr. Hammer suggested recruiting through the churches. Commissioner Dzadovsky asked whether there was coordination between the Sheriff's office and the School Board regarding sex offenders near bus stops. Deputy Gonsalves said they try to relocate bus stops if sex offenders move in near them. He said it can be difficult because people move frequently, even though they use the Reverse 911 system to alert people. Commissioner Dzadovsky asked for background information about that because the question has come up several times in the last few weeks. Stop Watch can be contacted by calling Deputy Gary Gonsalves at 871-5369. The Citizens Observation Patrol can be contacted at 871-5398 – ask for Deputy Hoffman or Jim Roy, his assistant. He also said the YouTube site of the Sheriff's office is being maintained, and there's a new video of an arrest in Fort Pierce regarding people reselling stolen vehicles, including the press conference and a link to how to prevent those crimes. Mr. Hammer talked about checking receipts when shopping, in which cashiers are setting up cash back transactions on receipts without the customer's knowledge. Deputy Gonsalves said they'd had no reports of those in this area. A member asked about bicycles – Deputy Gonsalves said they are supposed to have reflectors front and back, and a light at night that can be seen from 100 feet. Bicycles have to ride with traffic, not against it. ITEM 4 – ST LUCIE COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT REPORT Catherine Chaney said nothing out of the ordinary was currently going on with fires and accidents. She reminded the members that the Fire Chief is always available to make presentations to homeowners associations. 621-3333 is the number to contact Catherine to arrange for a presentation. Thursday, September 23rd is the start of the next Citizens Fire Academy, for 6 weeks at 5 pm. It includes presentations and tours of various centers to see the fire district and public safety services. More information is available on the website. She also gave information on the Pink Heals Fire Truck Tour coming to Tradition on September 18th from 3 to 7 pm for breast cancer awareness. Commissioner Dzadovsky asked for a bit of an explanation on what ICE (In Case of Emergency) is. Catherine explained about putting the name and number of an emergency contact that should be listed on cell phones in case of emergency. There's more information on ICE on the fire district website as well (slcfd.com) ITEM #5 GUEST SPEAKER – Faye Outlaw, County Administrator Ms. Outlaw updated the membership on the recent workshop regarding the management of the jail. The three options discussed were the County running the jail, having a private company manage the jail, or retain the existing management by the Sheriff's office. The board decided to stay with the Sheriff's office managing the jail. Commissioner Dzadovsky added that the County will work with the Sheriff to manage the expenses, particularly the utility bills. Ms. Outlaw said that right now the jail costs the county $29 million per year, plus $5 million in medical expenses. In total, with other expenses added in, the costs are upwards of $34 million. Commissioner Dzadovsky asked the members to reach out to their constituents to urge them to get hospitals to use the Medicare/Medicare rate for inmates, rather than the over 400 times the cost of those rates that the County is paying now, as part of their mandate to provide inmate medical care. It takes legislation on the statewide level to make those changes. He asked the members to mobilize their associations to write letters and make phone calls to their legislators. Mr. Mundt asked if anyone was going to represent the County on this. Commissioner Dzadovsky said they are reaching out to Adam Fetterman. It is a priority of the Florida Association of Counties as well. Inmates have to be taken to the closest medical facility which is Lawnwood in this case. They are waiting for Lawnwood to sign an agreement to reduce those costs by 50%, which is 200% over normal Medicaid/Medicare costs. Ms. Outlaw then discussed the SRD (School Resource Deputy) program. Last year the BOCC picked up the 1.62 million that the School Board was no longer able to fund on a one-time-only basis. Ms. Outlaw reviewed the situation and said that the entities are trying to work together to go over their budgets and see what can be done. Commissioner Dzadovsky said that Sheriff Mascara said he could find about $400,000 to help with the situation. Ms. Outlaw said that the Sheriff may be able to stagger how the sheriffs come online, bringing the school board's cost from $1.6 million closer to $1.2 million. She also said the BOCC's $1.72 million is still in the budget. The BOCC has never pulled back its funding commitment, and intends to continue to fund it at that level. Commissioner Dzadovsky said he's been talking to Norm Penner from the Boys and Girls Club to see if there's a way to reduce costs by having non-sworn officers in schools, to create a program for elementary and lower grades. Children will talk to an adult that they trust such as Boys and Girls Club members. He also discussed a Law Enforcement MSTU as a possibility to dedicate monies to pay for these programs. Further discussion on the issues of law enforcement officials in schools ensued. The intelligence gathered by SRD officers is invaluable. ITEM #5A – Pet Restrictions Mark Boston said he'd like to have a survey sent out to the homeowners associations that would answer questions about whether HOAs have insurance policies, whether they restrict by breeds or mixed breeds, etc. Commissioner Dzadovsky suggested putting together a free online survey. Terri will send it out to the membership. Mr. Mundt said every organization sets its own regulations. Mr. Boston said he'd like to know how different associations deal with the pet situation. Further discussion among the membership regarding pet regulations ensued. ITEM #6 OLD BUSINESS Commissioner asked if there was any old business to discuss. There was none. ITEM #7 NEW BUSINESS Commissioner Dzadovsky asked if there was new business to discuss. The suggestion was made to have the how and why of annexations, the comprehensive plan, land development code and Amendment 4 for the next meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, October 13th. Mr. Ferrick talked about acres in St Lucie County that are zoned industrial but are empty, that could be developed. Commissioner Dzadovsky suggested that he bring up the issue at the next meeting. Respectfully submitted by Terri Ann Palumbo, Executive Aide to Commissioner Dzadovsky