February Update
The last meeting of the CROA Calendar Year had a LOT going on. Following is my recap of activities:
On Tuesday, February 6, I attended a Mattamy meeting about Landscape concerns and suggestions for Phase II:
Mattamy doesn’t want to revise the design. They already have county and TCC approval for designs.
Jeffrey asked about getting more details and schedules on the controlled burns.
All of March Island Village can expect frequent deliveries, especially of the conspan for the connection of Phase I to Phase II. Lauren will draft language to update the community on this.
In discussion of potential input for the Phase II Amenity Center, Jared asked if input would be considered. Tanner Adams (Mattamy) said it would, but 60% feedback is due by 2/19. Jared will work with Lauren to get feedback from MPAG, Parks & Rec, and the Board prior to this deadline.
I attended the Dog Park Committee Meeting on Tuesday, February 6. Below is a recap:
The topic of The Rules and Regulations was discussed first (as this was the only item not yet completed on the resolution). Chair Taylor Bentzoni stated that he revied the current rules and regulations and that he saw no changes that were needed. Paul Battaglini motioned to approve the Rules and Regulations, which passed unanimously.
On the topic of Technology, Tom Hull joined the meeting to represent the technology committee. Jose Otero also joined. Tom explained the technology. Jose stated that Town Hall will be set up first with the new ID scanning system, and that the dog park will be second. Member Matthew Blake asked if the data was transferrable between systems, and Tom confirmed that is possible.
Brayan Senquis provided an update on general maintenance topics, including rocks and fertilizer.
There was extensive discussion on issues with solar lights. Matthew Blake pointed out we need them cleaned and maintained. Tom Hull pointed out that we should consider a warranty claim on these items.
The next meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, from 4-5pm.
On Wednesday, February 7, I attended the Finance Committee meeting as liaison. Here is a recap of the highlights:
Kevin Halverson with Sihle Insurance Group joined the meeting to discuss our insurance policies. Good discussion was had regarding efficiencies of deductibles and required coverage requirements. We had a 15% drop-in rate (by reducing coverage), and we are currently at $28 per door, which is comparatively low.
In review of EOY financials, there was serious concern of budgeting errors for CJC overbudget of ($102,404) due to the CNOA cap. Mike Jackson addressed that this should have been foreseen in October or November with a quarterly review, as we are aware of the CNOA cap, and a forecast of this should have been presented to the committee/board prior to the end of the year.
There was a question by Andrew Benenati about why we are recognizing so much money under PacWest.
The new bank, CIT, is having trouble recognizing funds properly from service areas due to everything having the same Tax ID number. Andrew pointed out that we shouldn’t be having this issue as they are a Grand Manors partner bank, and Jennifer said this is a CIT issue and not a Grand Manors issue. I specifically said that we were forced to use this bank, and this is something Grand Manors should be addressing. Jennifers response was that we were not forced to use them, and we could have gone with another partner bank. Currently CIT is working on trying to find another way to allocate funds for service areas (which is the overall issue here.)
Andrew presented a worksheet format that does a Financial Summary view for sharing with the community that included comments to let the community know how money is being spent and any comments on things that are out of budget. Metrius Fair recommended this appear as the top sheet of the financials on the website, to which the committee agreed. It was also noted that the financials on the website were not posted correctly. Jared requested Lauren Gunnyon will have this audited for accuracy.
Andrew made a motion to recommend we close our Regents Bank petty cash account, seconded by Mike. The committee unanimously agreed.
The audit brought up concerns from the committee that they agreed need to be discussed with the board in a joint session. Mike noted that there were excessive entries on the audit and the feedback from the auditor needs further discussion. This will be scheduled by Lauren.
We reviewed the 2023 Finance Committee Resolution Goals and Objectives.
The committee was updated on various projects, including CCFC, Gallagher, and Playgrounds. Lauren will share the new project management process with the committee so they are aware of the new process.
Andrew made a motion to recommend to the board, with Mike seconding, to take $400,000 from the Capital Fund (a little less than half its current balance) and move it to a 3-month treasury bill.
There was discussion about having the Board direct management to renew all investments at a 12-month cycle with changes as required by the Board and Committee as necessary. This will appear as an action item for the Board in February.
On Thursday, February 8th, there was a Board Workshop regarding the Management Company Action Plan. Grand Manors presented a slide deck on the items that needed improvement and what status each item was in currently. There was a board recommendation to have some ARC approvals done by Town Hall staff (example: paint colors.) Grand Manors will be sending out a survey to the community to gather their own data.
On Thursday, February 15th, there was a Board Workshop regarding the Spring Park Playground Request for Proposal (RFP.) The final document allows for three bid options, ranging from complete existing work to entirely new bid scope. The bid allows 3 weeks for responses, with a due date of March 15.
Almost 100 residents participated in the planning for the future of Celebration on Tuesday, February 20th at Town Hall. The Master Plan Advisory Group (MPAG) provided an overview presentation outlining how they established their plan, how they are collecting information, and steps moving forward. They then grouped attendees to six focus groups (four live and two online) to rotate through various topics for resident input. Over two hours, residents provided feedback on topics like Communications, Village-specific feedback, Community Center ideas, and a future Master Plan Committee. Co-liaison Celia Mcfadden and I are very proud of this group and what they have come up with so far. We are very much looking forward to the review and analysis of the data collected tonight, and the group developing the next steps of the community survey. Stay tuned to the MPAG website on the CROA website for updates from tonight’s presentation and data results.
The February Board Meeting occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. Highlights of this meeting included:
Purchase of a new maintenance truck.
Investment of an additional $400,000 into our current bond structure, and renewal of bonds in 12-month terms.
Approval of Spring Park Playground RFP.
Discussion on Eastlawn Playground shade structure.
Full details of the meeting are available on the website, where the video can be viewed.
On February 26, I attended the Finance Committee Meeting as liaison. Following is a recap of the highlights of this meeting:
The January financials were reviewed, without comment.
The new summary view documents were reviewed and discussed.
Andrew Benenati requested to add investment balances to the summary.
Mike Jackson requested to add the summaries to the community board packet, before the financial pages.
The committee will review in the coming month(s) whether or not to provide a quarterly distribution snapshot to the community.
The group reviewed the current T-bills. The committee will review standing T-bill investments as a standing agenda item.
Jared Wise asked that standing agenda items be formally added to the agenda document. Andrew referenced a prior standing agenda item regarding making Truist a partner bank. That and the T-bill investment review will appear going forward.
In asking for follow-up, it was stated by Jennifer that the check scanner works, and that the service area accounts can be paid properly (the account numbers were sorted out.)
Mike asked about balances. Jennifer stated we have roughly $100,000 in PacWest, and $230,000 in CIT.
Reviewing procurement, there was heavy discussion on process and procedure, as well as thresholds.
The committee needs to meet with the board in early March to establish procedures for capital management.
Establish a joint MPAG/FinCom meeting in early March to help establish funding for the process.
There was extensive discussion about the MPAG, CCDD’s potential master plan, and alignment opportunity. More will be discussed at and after the CCDD meeting on 2/27.
The committee agreed to rescind the joint meeting with the auditor, and handle the audit conversation on their own, with recommendations to be provided to the board.
There was a discussion about adding a brief update at the Annual Meeting with a brief presentation by Andrew.
On Tuesday, February 27th, there was a Board Meeting to approve the CROA Attorney contract. Mr. Wise motioned to table the motion given a change in information from Larsen Slaten hours before the meeting. This motion was not seconded. David Anderson made a motion to approve the renewal of the contract with Larsen Slaten, with a second by Bill Grindl. Jared Wise (myself) stated that the board had unanimously agreed to renew Larsen Slaten with a change in lead counsel, that Larsen Slaten agreed to. However, only an hour before this meeting, Larsen Slaten retracted their offer to change lead counsel. During this meeting, Cindy Swisher disclosed confidential discussions and discussed personnel matters held during previous executive sessions, to which Jared Wise (myself) noted as a serious concern and stated he would raise this issue with the new board. Jared also stated that the current motion
The vote was called, with a 4/1/0 vote (Charles Richards did not attend the meeting) for renewing Larsen Slaten, with Mr. Wise voting against it. Mr. Wise also reiterated at the end of the meeting that Ms. Swisher violated Executive Session confidentiality, and that he fully intends to take up this topic with the new board.
On Tuesday, February 27th, the CROA Board of Directors Elections happened. Results were as follows:
Don McDonald
Katy Shultman
Eric Oppegaard
Andrew Dugandzic
The CROA Annual Meeting was held on Wednesday, February 27th at Town Hall. The video of this meeting, recapping the events of the year, is available online. A special congratulations to Mr. Tom Hull, who was awarded Volunteer of the Year, for his continuous service to the community from a technology and community perspective. Thank you, Tom Hull!
Celia and I attended the MPAG Meeting on Thursday, February 29. Joe Dzaluk led the meeting. The agenda consisted of three discussion items, with commentary as follows:
Community Feedback
Recap of the February 20 Workshop
276 comments collected
Scott Reiche stated that data was collected in native, unedited format to eliminate misinterpretation, and also described how data was organized
Survey Questions
There was discussion about what we need to do to prepare for the survey to be released mid-March.
Joe Dzaluk recommended that CROA and CCDD discuss the timelines and overlap of scope.
Celia mentioned that we need to ensure committee representation is considered prior to the survey questions.
Alexandra Laporte stated that the questions would be broad, and reinforced Celias comment regarding considering committee representation.
Outlining the questions, Alexandra stated its important to have conditional questions to ensure we are collecting qualitative information only from those who use the facilities we have.
Joe asked that rating usage frequency is important as well.
Joe read several questions he had that were collected.
There was discussion, led by Alexandra, about questions regarding repurposing.
Questions regarding costs were agreed to be phrased in a way that reflects actual cost to the homeowner.
Partner programs will be provided a brief sub-survey to solicit teens and pre-teen feedback.
CCDD Master Plan Schedule and Coordination
The goals of the group were clarified so that they were kept on task with the MPAG objectives. This included the understanding that CROA will then take this information and determine if it should be funded privately by CROA, what should be partnered with CCDD, and what should be shared with other partners (Advent Health was mentioned specifically).
CROA should solicit CCDD with regard to the survey to see if there is any overlap or cooperation that could occur.