January Update
January was a big build-up for the election. What follows is my recap of my experiences in January on the CROA Board of Directors:
The Technology Committee met on Wednesday, January 3. I attended as a resident. Following is a recap of the highlights:
Website update: there is still a bit of work but moving ahead.
Working on automated form for arc approvals in the works to make it easier to submit forms
EV Charging:
keeping fast chargers
negotiating with Nova Charge for 3 year service agreement
discussion of making a NEV charger in lakeside
Tom had good discussion on pulling out the chargers and if we should keep them. It was noted that it was a Board directive to remove them.
It was mentioned that Tom Touzin is managing the GoGov rollout from the CCDD side and the committee wants to be involved in their conversations and roll out.
There was no input on the training videos.
Keycard Access - approvals received by board to proceed with artisan park. jose wants to get a small commmittee involved for the roll out of the system to ensure it has proper oversight.
There was good input on the rollout of integrations (dog park, digital IDs, etc) asking to have a quality white board session to ensure the rollout of this process should be clarified in great detail prior to implementation. including a small testing group.
Tom Hull volunteered to be part of the infrastructure installation steps to help ensure continuity of equipment and consistency of hardware effectiveness.
There was discussion on upgrading cameras for better visibility and clarity.
The 2024 Board of Directors Candidate slate was announced on January 3. A link to the candidates information can be found here. I personally reached out to every candidate to meet with them and understand their perspective on CROA issues and their desire to run for the board. Of the remaining 19 candidates, 11 met with me within a week, 4 were disinterested, and 4 never responded. If you are interested in my findings, please reach out to me directly.
The Dog Park Committee met on Tuesday, January 9. I attended as liaison. Following is a recap of the highlights:
There was a request from management to detail on a map where rock placement should occur. This was discussed and identified.
Of the six items on the Resolution, 4 of the 6 have been completed (#2, 4, 5, 6). Of those that have not yet been completed:
The group reviewed their Resolution, and discussed vaccine requirements for the park and how to track that. They will ask for a Technology Committee member to join the next meeting to go over the technical details and schedules for notifications and such.
There was a request to update signage in the bulletin board to have the top 3 violations highlighted for park users.
The current rules and regulations will be distributed to the committee by Danny Mann, and between now and the next meeting the members will review and provide comment on the rules. Then, at the next meeting, they will review and propose an updated rules and regulations to present to the board.
The committee will request to the Board that the future committee consist of a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 7 members.
With regard to the dissolution of the committee, the committee argued that the committee should remain, and offered the following:
The committee believes there needs to be a committee of individuals experienced with dogs to evaluate dog attacks and issues within the park
There are variables that the dog park committee resolves and handles from a safety and operations perspective that the Board could not handle
The committee successfully deals with complaints on a very regular basis that heavily reduce management efforts
There is no cost savings to eliminating the dog park committee, but rather the committee raises funds to pay for dog park amenities so that owners don’t have to carry this cost in dues increases
Parks & Recreation Committee does not have the capacity to handle this amenity, and this committee helps alleviate this amenity for that group
The committee deals with maintenance issues at no cost to the community, and reduces future damage and cost overruns due to improper maintenance
The Pups & Pints event was discussed. The committee was unaware of the event until reading about it, so the note was made for management to ensure they include the committee for future event planning (or at minimum, awareness for planning and scheduling.) The committee planned who would work the booth for the event, and also discussed merchandise.
Brayan Senquis gave a maintenance update and stated there was only one bid back for the rock placement (Prince & Sons). He is getting two other bids. A water fountain needs maintenance and that will occur this week. The button by the library needs frequent maintenance, so they are troubleshooting why this is a continuous issue. Brayan found a substitute for the fertilizer that does not have the same active ingredient as Round Up, and they are waiting on the proposal to present to the Board at the next board meeting.
The MPAG meeting for January 9th was cancelled due to bad storms.
On Thursday, January 11, the Board held a special meeting regarding Community Safety. This meeting was called by Charles Richards. Some topics discussed were:
Damage to the fields and the criminal case related to such damage
There was discussion about camera use and upgrades throughout the community
An executive session with the Technology Committee was requested to ensure details of our security equipment remains confidential
There was a request for discussion with the Sheriff’s office representative
Request for ARC to relax requirements for doorbell cameras
The rescheduled MPAG meeting was held on Tuesday, January 16. This was a closed meeting, where the group discussed the format for the February community workshop. They also discussed how to formulate the questions and what data to gather. More work was done in subgroups prior to and after this meeting to facilitate the process.
On Tuesday, January 23rd, the CROA Board Candidates participated in a Forum discussion. Questions about CROA and current events were asked by a moderator. A link to this Forum can be found here.
Board meeting on Wednesday, January 24th. Following are some highlights:
A sheriff from Osceola County spoke about safety
There was discussion on purchasing a new truck for CROA, which was tabled.
It was voted to replace only the damaged sod spots from the vehicle vandalism in the parks.
With regard to the playgrounds, the RFP that Vigilant sent was generic. Vigilant needed their contract extension signed to continue (which was voted on at the time to approve.) Vigilant is also waiting on the playground inspection prior to completing the RFP, which they state will be provided by February 7-8. Vigilant stated that a rough timeline for the project would be bids in early March and completion in May. Jared Wise (myself) reiterated that there was no concern with the previous contractor and that they were still interested in the project. Cindy Swisher stated that the reason she voted no to using the previous contractor because they could not make things safe. Vigilant confirmed that this was not the case and that the bidding contractor (360) was prepared to make sure everything was safe and that they would accept the work. Mr. Wise stated we could go with 360 to complete the playgrounds before this new scope is even written and out to bid. This was dismissed by the other five board members. Grand Manors also noted that the safety inspector recommended salvaging some of the equipment as it was very usable going forward. The vote was made to reject the current RFP and wait for the final prepared RFP from Vigilant. The new RFP will have multiple options, allowing contractors to use existing equipment or fully scrap the lots and start from scratch.
Jared Wise (myself) requested that Grand Manors stop using their @grandmanors.com email, and only use their @townhall.celebration.fl.us e-mails. The reasoning for this is that e-mails to their Grand Manors emails are not discoverable by CROA or its members, and that staff should only use their Town Hall e-mail addresses for all business purposes. It was agreed by all board members and is to be implemented immediately.
On Tuesday, January 30th, MPAG held a meeting to discuss final details for the community workshop. They discussed the following:
Survey sent out mid-March, results end of March, and six weeks for analysis
Prioritize budget, community space, and community input
Questions from the survey will be different from the 2/20 community workshop
As we near the end of the board term, we have 17 candidates running for four board positions. It is incredibly important to vote. Elections in Celebration are historically decided by only a handful of votes. I personally won my seat by only two votes above Bill Grindl last year, so when you hear EVERY VOTE MATTERS, it is absolutely true. Please meet the candidates, pay attention to what they are saying (or not saying), and listen to recommendations from those you trust. It is important to vote, so please reach out if you have any questions about how to do that, how to change you vote if you already voted, or any other questions you might have.