The Huntington Homeowners' Association
St. Petersburg, Florida
Board Minutes for 2024
February 5
Huntington Homeowners’ Association Quarterly Meeting Minutes February 5, 2024
The board of directors held a regular quarterly meeting by the pool on Monday, February 5th, at 8pm.
Board Members Present: JA Booker (23), Tim Baker (16), Gabrielle Schlichting (20), Pam Haigh (27), Mark Welton (12)
Other Members Present: Jackie Collom (10), Hillary Cone (24)
The meeting was called to order at 8:04pm by President JA Booker (23). Election of Board Officers:
The board selected Tim Baker as Treasurer.
The board selected J A Booker as President.
The board did not select a Secretary and will leave the position vacant for the time being. The board will alternate the responsibility of recording minutes to a different board member each meeting. Tim will manage the contact list.
New Business:
Water Bill:
As discussed during the annual meeting, January’s water bill reflects a tripling of usage from November’s reading. The board will be following up on identifying the source of this increase. If unable to pinpoint the source of the extra water usage there may need to be some further exploration, like hiring a plumber, to determine where it's happening. Tim has been monitoring the meter daily since receiving the bill, around 4pm, in an attempt to narrow down the source of the problem. Huntington's single water meter shows how quickly water is flowing and there are
times of the day when it is not flowing at all indicating that there is not a continuous leak. Gabrielle has volunteered to collect meter data in the mornings to add to Tim’s afternoon data.
Dead Tree at Pool:
The dead tree is on the neighbor’s property. The board has previously reached out to the owner of the property and they are not interested in taking action. JA consulted the arborist when they were here to see to our other trimming. The arborist stated it needs to come down. JA has put in a request with the city to condemn the tree via their online portal See. Click. Fix. but is having difficulty getting a response from them. Pam volunteered to follow up and see if we can get some action taken. If the tree is condemned by the city, they may compel the property owner to act.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:23 pm.
Jackie Collom
November 11
Board Members Present: JA Booker (23), Tim Baker (16), Gabrielle Schlichting (20),
Pam Haigh (27), Mark Welton (12), Philip Foley (15), Lola Walker (21)
Other Members Present: Herb Haigh (27), Alison Murphy (3), Joe Maka (18), Stacie
Booker (23), Quay Peters (19), Lisa Palmer (9), Robert Nee (26), Hillary Cone (24),
Anne Marantz (8), Rick and Nancy Chapman (4), Karen Kaufman White (22)
The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by President JA Booker.
Motion to approve minutes from last meeting made by Philip Foley; seconded by
Gabrielle Schlichting. Motion passed.
President’s Report
Trim Update
- We have finally reached the end of the trim repair project. Five months was longer
than we expected, and everyone’s patience is appreciated
- Underlying problems were also repaired
- Tim Baker and JA Booker previously discussed, “Why $31,000?” Partly because we
hadn’t had any trim work done for about 4 years. From this point we will strive to stay
ahead of it
- Mark Welton picked up some here and there kind of repairs on his unit.
Post-storm(s) cleanup and repairs
- Still have some storm repairs. Jon Myers roofing was here last week, and is
preparing estimates by unit
- For repairs that fall under owner’s responsibility, it is the owner’s choice of whether to
use Jon Myers.
Treasurer tasks
- In light of Tim Baker’s illness, Nancy Foley volunteered to take care of basics, such as
paying the bills
- From this point Nancy is serving as an apprentice to Tim for the larger range
of treasurer responsibilities.
Treasurer’s Report
Tim Baker noted a second reason for higher trim cost is that the balconies were
included, using high quality materials, which should last indefinitely.
(See “New Business” below for the balance of the Treasurer’s Report)
Old Business
Beneficial Ownership
- The US Government is making sure that US corporations aren’t laundering money or
otherwise mishandling funds. To that end, a form had to be completed by 12/31/24 in
order to avoid a steep fine
- We sought guidance and it was determined that since we can’t have 27 separate
owners on the form, only one name would be submitted – JA Booker. The form was
timely filed.
Landscaping Committee – Stacie Booker reported for the Committee
(First, from President JA Booker: Thanks to all who have cleaned up post-storm(s) –
raking, sweeping, loading trucks, all of which easily saved us $3,000)
- Link to Huntington Landscaping Committee –
Report to the Board 11.11.24
- Members are asked to send any questions they may have, as well as any landscaping
company recommendations to the Landscaping Committee.
- Additional landscaping updates provided by President JA Booker:
- This landscaping project is over and above what we have budgeted for regular
care and replacement of original plantings. This redesign only covers the
public spaces, and is likely to entail a special assessment – unfortunate, but
necessary. Many of our plants can’t be restored – some of them we can’t
cut back without killing them. It is my intention that whatever is ultimately
endorsed and approved will only add to the value to the property
- I terminated Ron and Buzzcuts today. We have paid him for the month of
November. Ron is clearly not equipped for the job. Thanks to Mark Welton for
mentoring Ron and trying to help him establish his business
- Starting December 1, we will be using CLS Landscape, the company that takes
care of The Cottonwood next door. They are well staffed and work only during
work hours; the contract is clear and explicit on both sides. And the price is the
same as Ron’s. Contract will be posted once it is fully executed
- Noted that palm branches and other debris can’t be left in the alley. Fines
could result. We are deemed a commercial property, which means that the City
will not pick up.
Painting
-The cost of painting our buildings has more than doubled. This is money already set
aside in our budget, but doesn’t leave much wiggle room
-Will paint all buildings and trim, but not walls or gates
-Planning to paint during the 4th quarter of 2025.
Water Leak
- We were never able to identify the source
- A couple of recent developments
- It appears the swimming pool has been leaking significantly; JA Booker has
found a mechanism for testing this
- Also found by pure chance that the Haigh’s unit (27) likely has a leak from the
main line for our community
- Also, Unit 27 has a significant leak under the foundation; leak detector and
others are working on how to fix it. If this is a breach of water supply for the unit,
it may be that we are all vulnerable to it
- Thanks to the Haighs for doing the legwork and keeping us all informed
- We have been paying so much for water over the last year and a half. We may
be able to get some relief from the City, if we fix the problem(s) and save our
receipts to present to the City
- JA Booker mentioned all of this even though we are in the very early days of
understanding what we’ve got. Practically speaking, we may need to have
every unit checked. Will talk more when we have more information and a
proposal for what to do about it.
New Business
Hurricane follow-up
- We haven’t had Bay City Trees out yet, but they will clean out the tree and suggest
a different kind of trimming in order for the tree to be less vulnerable
- As for the trees on 4th Ave. N – the City is responsible for assuring that those trees are
healthy
- Roofs – some have expressed concern about impact. Jon Myers walked all of the
roofs and concluded that we took no hits; no roof damage
- If you do experience any leaks, interior damage is your responsibility and perhaps your
interior person can help identify the source of the leak
- None of the aluminum pieces that found their way to our property came from our
structures. All were blown here from other properties
- The City is promising that by midnight January 11, 2025, everything will be picked up.
2025 Budget and Monthly HOA fee
- Tim Baker presented the Proposed 2025 Budget. Link to 2025 budget.
- Some explanations were given regarding typical cost increases, such as insurance,
monthly pool service, and cable; the atypical increase results from the difficult water
usage dilemma we are still working to solve
- Bottom line: the above adds up to an increase of ~10% to HOA fees:
$505/mo beginning January, 2025
- any unused HOA fees will go into our reserves
- discussion ensued concerning the fact that the main water intake on 4th Ave. N. is still
in the name of the developer, Hyde Park Builders. This could become particularly
problematic if we do at any point get a refund for some of our water costs from the
City
- JA Booker reminded residents that in 1998, a consultant was hired to help the original
Board determine what our reserves should be. When we replaced the roof in 2018,
that 1998 estimate was within a few hundred dollars. So, we are reasonably confident
about not being saddled with other costs
- Motion to approve 2025 Budget and Monthly HOA fee made by Philip Foley; seconded
by Pam Haigh. Motion passed.
Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made by Pam Haigh; seconded by Gabrielle Schlichting; motion
passed and meeting adjourned at 8:35pm.
Karen Kaufman White