This letter went out to HBTS home owners yesterday. There were activists on site that were acting in a very threatening manner toward a board member inside the clubhouse. This hoard wouldve pissed me off, had I been down there with my kids. All of this because the concerns outlined in this letter were brought up. What say you HBTS owners and CCON members? January 25, 2015 To all HBTS Homeowners, As President of the Board of Directors for your homeowners association I feel urgently compelled to inform you of current events. On Dec. 2, 2014 at the monthly Board of Directors meeting, myself, Mr. Bill Crouch, and Mr. Ryan Miller voted to terminate our contract with First Services Residential (FSR). Rebecca Ward and Jan Frink voted against termination. Each member of the Board voted independently and based on what they believed to be in the best interest of HBTS homeowners. I would like to share with you why I voted to terminate the contract. First and foremost cost: · Annual Contract $47,000 · FSR charges a 25% labor burden on all salary and wages, compared to the industry standard of 17%. The difference between 25% and 17% on our actual salary and wages is $50,748.56 · HBTS total payroll expenses in 2013 was $877K. In 2014 total payroll and expenses was approximately $948K. A difference of $71,000. · FSR policy requires outsourcing of tasks that prior to the contract we handled in house with our current staff (pool maintenance, tree cutting, some types of painting). The cost of this outsourcing is difficult specify exactly since it is built into the maintenance budget. · Prior to our contract the estoppel fee charged whenever a HBTS property was sold was $50.00, which was paid to the homeowners association. Under FSR, the $50 was split between FSR and the homeowners each getting $25. FSR increased the fee to $204, with the homeowners association still getting $25. Later the amount paid to the homeowners did increase to $75.00 but only after the increase to $204 was brought to the Board of Directors attention by a local realtor. The estoppel fee only affects you directly if you buy or sell property. However the $129 that FSR receives represents lost revenue to the homeowners and with approximately 200 property sales a year that is approximately $25,800. · The homeowners association has 3.5 million dollars in investments our net revenues for 2014 was .27%. I do not know what the gross revenue was despite having asked for that information. I honestly believe that by removing FSR we can get a better return on our investments. My second reason for voting to terminate the contract was the involvement that FSR has in our bidding process. Under the prior Board two major projects went out to bid. FSR oversaw the process. The first was a major erosion project on the back 40 in 2013. The bid went to Roads Inc. for approximately $200K. The second project was the new roof which went to Trident/PJH Project Engineers for $500K in 2014 . Both Roads Inc. and Trident are not based in Santa Rosa County. I honestly believe that we could have gotten the work done for much less by local vendors and supported the local community. As I write this it is even more clear to me that when we contracted with FSR we were contracting with them to act in the best interest of the homeowners yet by all appearances they are acting more in their own best interests then they are in yours. As a Board member when you lose a vote you either accept the majority vote or resign. Unfortunately the two Board members who lost the vote on Dec 2nd have instead chosen to align themselves with a small very vocal minority who oppose the termination. Over the last two months their opposition and volume has only escalated. Regardless of whether the termination was right or wrong, the termination was the result of a legal majority vote of the Board. On Jan 24th a group of around 20 people gathered in the common area of the Rec Center with the intention of waylaying two Board Members on route to a duly noted Board meeting. They followed them to the meeting room and for 30 minutes banged on the windows. This was an incredibly childish display of behavior. Is this what we want our lovely community to be reduced to? The rule of the mob? If we allow it to continue we risk lower property values, we risk our good standing in the community and it diminishes us as a neighborhood of intelligent, civilized people. I ask for your help and support as we move forward. To view the behavior of some of your fellow homeowners at yesterday’s Board Meeting click on the two links below. https://youtube/watch?v=5MXrWdpOKcE https://youtube/watch?v=CbUIb2c5A2U
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 10:03:10 +0000
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