the gazette
THE GAZETTE MAJESTIC OAKS HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION OF OCALA, INC. The official newsletter Vol. 16, No. 4, Whole number 133 Ocala, Florida, April, 2014 Lee Holtman, President… 706 799-5932 George Fisher, Vice President…237-4254 Lue Treblas, Secretary…237-5339
Lou Colaianni, Treasurer…237-7405 Herb Zabroski, Director…509-3026
COVENANT COMPLIANCE PROCESS In an effort to help make everyone aware of how our self-managed covenant enforcement program is going to work, a synopsis is being given in this newsletter. The property inspection Committee is comprised of volunteer homeowners who will be performing a minimum of twice monthly inspections around the entire community. This Committee will announce Covenant areas of focus in the Gazette newsletter, when possible. Teams of two (2) will survey pre-assigned areas. One committee member will track each possible violation issued. Those will be tracked by address. Committee members' first attempt will be to knock on your door and present possible violations in a good faith effort to be non-confrontational. Notices will be left at the door if no contact is made. Notices of covenant issues will be mailed by USPS Certified Mail if issues remain unresolved after an attempt to speak to a homeowner. The Board of Directors will be informed of unresolved covenant issues in the Covenant Compliance Committee's monthly report. The Committee considers “addressing a covenant violation issue” to mean the issue is remedied or a defined plan to remedy the issue has been communicated to the Covenant Compliance Committee. The Committee proposed the following grace periods for homeowners to address covenant issues: 5 days - Vehicle parking 15 days- Lawns, weeds, edging of sidewalk &/or driveway, street not edged. Driveway needs cleaning. Mailbox- needs painting, replacement or wrong color. 30 days- Mildew on roof. Section IX of the Policies and Procedures does not specify an initial grace period time frame; therefore the times above are approved for the committee. There will only be a 2nd violation letter sent and if not corrected the violator can be considered for fining or forwarded to the attorney for compliance. An appeal, to the Board of Directors, by the violator is possible if filed within 15 days of the 2nd notice. We have a separate Grievance Committee formed to review the violation per our documents and make a decision to approve or disapprove a fine in the matter. This information is all contained in your documents. LANDSCAPING The mowing and landscaping contractor Synergy start update was April 1. They started mowing at the entrances and retention ponds. They are getting a feel of the time required and the crew sizes. Drastically needed tree trimming is being done along 60th Avenue berm to improve the outward appearance of our community. We had them focus on the limited visibility issue at the entrance of 60th Ave looking to oncoming traffic from the south at 86th Place. The cooperation of most residents along 59th Terrace was commendable for supporting our efforts to improve our appearance.
The gopher man has been working throughout the development in the Drainage Retention Areas (DRAs) as well as along the entrance ways to eliminate the gophers. The sand piles created by these gophers are unsightly and create mowing problems. Electrical work continues on the entrance wall lights and fixtures. As the bulbs fail, replacement units will be LEDs. This will provide longer life and reduced power costs. New signs with the Majestic Oaks logo with the deed restriction notation have been installed at the 5 entrances to assist our community in raising awareness that we are Deed Restricted and to support our compliance program since so many owners seem to be unaware. TREASURER NEEDED – CRITICAL POSITION The Treasurer position in a self-managed association is a very important and critical job for good financial health of a community. The proper accounting and handling of an association’s money has a direct impact on all homeowners. The term of our current Treasurer will be up this coming election in November. Now is the time to start looking for our next Treasurer, which is an elected volunteer Board position. The size of this community requires an experienced individual with several years experience in accounting and an understanding/experience with collections. The position requires knowledge involving bookkeeping, lien filing, late notice mailings, bill paying, and correspondence pickup and delivery, etc… The record keeping must be accurate for 597 properties in accordance with the state of FL Collection laws. These comprehensive skills are usually provided by a Property Management Company. The Board cannot function without a Treasurer and now is a good time to learn about the job while the current system is functioning well. This could also help in making sure a reasonable hand over could be accomplished at election time for this is an elected position. Past inexperience has shown a fair amount of monies due this association lost through foreclosures, estoppels, and poor collection practices. MARION COUNTY WATER SERVICES As all residents were notified; Windstream Utilities is stopping business and the county is purchasing them. The April 10th meeting by the county utilities manager was very informative and appears to be a positive action. While the water rates are said to be reasonable, the one big improvement to come with the county is fire hydrants being installed in our community. All hookup and installation fees are to be the counties responsibility. COVENANT REVISION MEETINGS There seems to be only a small group within our community that is seeking revisions to our existing covenants. This effort could possibly result in some favorable and not so favorable recommendations that can drastically affect you the homeowner. It is strongly recommended that homeowners become aware of this effort and make the time to attend these meetings, hear what is going on and/or have your voice heard. A covenant revision is a major activity to an association and can be an expensive venture. There are several conflicting items in our documents and the state is expected to pass some new requirements this year. The meeting dates were posted in the March Gazette and the community signs will be posted giving dates and times too. April 29th, and May 5th are scheduled at this time at 7:00 PM at the Sheriff’s office on SR200. NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION Volunteers are still needed for delivery of the Gazette. This only requires an hour a month. Please call Lee Holtman @ 706-799-5932.
Lou Colaianni, Treasurer…237-7405 Herb Zabroski, Director…509-3026
COVENANT COMPLIANCE PROCESS In an effort to help make everyone aware of how our self-managed covenant enforcement program is going to work, a synopsis is being given in this newsletter. The property inspection Committee is comprised of volunteer homeowners who will be performing a minimum of twice monthly inspections around the entire community. This Committee will announce Covenant areas of focus in the Gazette newsletter, when possible. Teams of two (2) will survey pre-assigned areas. One committee member will track each possible violation issued. Those will be tracked by address. Committee members' first attempt will be to knock on your door and present possible violations in a good faith effort to be non-confrontational. Notices will be left at the door if no contact is made. Notices of covenant issues will be mailed by USPS Certified Mail if issues remain unresolved after an attempt to speak to a homeowner. The Board of Directors will be informed of unresolved covenant issues in the Covenant Compliance Committee's monthly report. The Committee considers “addressing a covenant violation issue” to mean the issue is remedied or a defined plan to remedy the issue has been communicated to the Covenant Compliance Committee. The Committee proposed the following grace periods for homeowners to address covenant issues: 5 days - Vehicle parking 15 days- Lawns, weeds, edging of sidewalk &/or driveway, street not edged. Driveway needs cleaning. Mailbox- needs painting, replacement or wrong color. 30 days- Mildew on roof. Section IX of the Policies and Procedures does not specify an initial grace period time frame; therefore the times above are approved for the committee. There will only be a 2nd violation letter sent and if not corrected the violator can be considered for fining or forwarded to the attorney for compliance. An appeal, to the Board of Directors, by the violator is possible if filed within 15 days of the 2nd notice. We have a separate Grievance Committee formed to review the violation per our documents and make a decision to approve or disapprove a fine in the matter. This information is all contained in your documents. LANDSCAPING The mowing and landscaping contractor Synergy start update was April 1. They started mowing at the entrances and retention ponds. They are getting a feel of the time required and the crew sizes. Drastically needed tree trimming is being done along 60th Avenue berm to improve the outward appearance of our community. We had them focus on the limited visibility issue at the entrance of 60th Ave looking to oncoming traffic from the south at 86th Place. The cooperation of most residents along 59th Terrace was commendable for supporting our efforts to improve our appearance.
The gopher man has been working throughout the development in the Drainage Retention Areas (DRAs) as well as along the entrance ways to eliminate the gophers. The sand piles created by these gophers are unsightly and create mowing problems. Electrical work continues on the entrance wall lights and fixtures. As the bulbs fail, replacement units will be LEDs. This will provide longer life and reduced power costs. New signs with the Majestic Oaks logo with the deed restriction notation have been installed at the 5 entrances to assist our community in raising awareness that we are Deed Restricted and to support our compliance program since so many owners seem to be unaware. TREASURER NEEDED – CRITICAL POSITION The Treasurer position in a self-managed association is a very important and critical job for good financial health of a community. The proper accounting and handling of an association’s money has a direct impact on all homeowners. The term of our current Treasurer will be up this coming election in November. Now is the time to start looking for our next Treasurer, which is an elected volunteer Board position. The size of this community requires an experienced individual with several years experience in accounting and an understanding/experience with collections. The position requires knowledge involving bookkeeping, lien filing, late notice mailings, bill paying, and correspondence pickup and delivery, etc… The record keeping must be accurate for 597 properties in accordance with the state of FL Collection laws. These comprehensive skills are usually provided by a Property Management Company. The Board cannot function without a Treasurer and now is a good time to learn about the job while the current system is functioning well. This could also help in making sure a reasonable hand over could be accomplished at election time for this is an elected position. Past inexperience has shown a fair amount of monies due this association lost through foreclosures, estoppels, and poor collection practices. MARION COUNTY WATER SERVICES As all residents were notified; Windstream Utilities is stopping business and the county is purchasing them. The April 10th meeting by the county utilities manager was very informative and appears to be a positive action. While the water rates are said to be reasonable, the one big improvement to come with the county is fire hydrants being installed in our community. All hookup and installation fees are to be the counties responsibility. COVENANT REVISION MEETINGS There seems to be only a small group within our community that is seeking revisions to our existing covenants. This effort could possibly result in some favorable and not so favorable recommendations that can drastically affect you the homeowner. It is strongly recommended that homeowners become aware of this effort and make the time to attend these meetings, hear what is going on and/or have your voice heard. A covenant revision is a major activity to an association and can be an expensive venture. There are several conflicting items in our documents and the state is expected to pass some new requirements this year. The meeting dates were posted in the March Gazette and the community signs will be posted giving dates and times too. April 29th, and May 5th are scheduled at this time at 7:00 PM at the Sheriff’s office on SR200. NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION Volunteers are still needed for delivery of the Gazette. This only requires an hour a month. Please call Lee Holtman @ 706-799-5932.
