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PSJ HOA Meeting May 13, 2003

The meeting was called to order in the PSJ Library Community Room at 7:05 PM. The Pledge was recited and the minutes of April's meeting were read and accepted without changes.

The Treasurer's report was given and there was $5,641.46 in the account. There were $130 in donations for the PSJ Library's outdoors playground equipment. And this amount and any further donations the HOA gets before the cut-off date will be matched by the HOA.

A Lieutenant from the Sheriff's Dept. was there to answer questions and tell us about new speed bumps going to be installed in PSJ. Also, there are problems with Fay Lake Wilderness Park and Fay Blvd. Park (with the ball fields) having to do with drugs and vandalism. The Sheriff's Dept. is looking into those issues. Also, they are looking into the Ranch Rd. issue where there are a lot of trucks going in and out because of the expansion to Cypress Woods. According to the agreement they signed, they have to pave Ranch Rd. when they expand to over 70 homes. The Lieutenant also heard about speeders on Fay Blvd. Also, someone complained about the loud car stereos. It gets really bad when it's two in the morning and a car comes through with the music blaring.

The sewer issue has been finally put to rest. The State has taken us off of their future sewer hook-up plans. And we're not just talking for a few years; PSJ is OFF the future sewer plans. Nowhere on the radar! Congratulations for the pure, plain victory! Another one in eight short months for PSJ. We're doing pretty good here!

The President, Helen Dezendorf, and I had attended the monthly meeting with Commissioner Scarborough on the 12th, and he brought up the plans of the County Commissioners to put on the ballot this November a referendum to increase our Brevard County sales tax by a penny, to seven cents a dollar. Helen talked about the benefits of it -- it's not going to be taxing your mortgage, prescription costs, utilities, etc.; one-third of it will go to the schools, one-third to the cities within Brevard County, and one-third to specific projects to be done by the proceeds. The tax would (supposedly) go away in twenty years. Those are the pluses. I covered the minuses: Comm. Colon's district would get 45% of it (and she voted against the idea!). We, District 1, would get 1.6% for our projects. Also, if you will check out the page I'll put up in the next few days (I'm still doing research), and you will see a bit of the possible real costs of this tax increase to your family. No, it doesn't go on your food, but it will be added to the cost of buying your next car. Can you afford an extra $300 toward taxes instead of toward your food bill, new shoes for your child, or a trip to north Florida to see your grandchild graduate? Think about every toy you buy for your child costing more because of taxes which will only come to you in 1.6% of what is collected. Is that what you want? If not, look at the link above. If so, check it out, too, just in case you haven't thought of something there yet.

Helen was contacted by someone who has volunteered to install the play equipment for the library which will save the library the cost of installation -- at least $2,500. And donations are still being taken for the library. If you give $25, Helen will give you your pick of the remaining bears from the HOA's participation in the Christmas parade.

Tammy Amato, from Amato Realty, was the invited speaker and she gave us a rundown of the demographics of PSJ: average house costs for 2, 3 & 4 bedroom houses, renter/owner numbers (PSJ has only 13% renters), the age "make-up" of PSJ is 55% working age adults (20-59), 30% children and 15% retirees. We have had a 20% appreciation per year for the last three or four years. (Not bad, PSJ!)

October 4, 2003 is the Community Garage Sale at the Community Center on Corto Rd. Don't have a specific time yet, but as the date gets closer, I'll have more info.

August 5, 2003 is the National Night Out which we will be celebrating indoors at the Community Center with hotdogs and stuff provided by Publix (Thank you, Publix) and a few others possibly donating something. We will gather either at 6 PM or 6:30 PM to start this thing, depending on the class that is scheduled for that evening. We will be using the big room with the divider rolled back. And, we may have some activities and things.

PSJ HOA Meeting April 8, 2003

The meeting was called to order at 7:07 PM and the Pledge was said. The minutes were read and accepted without change. The Treasurer's report was given, we have $5,819.82.

The Bylaws were scheduled to be worked on at the April Meeting, but because we only had 26 people there -- enough to be considered a legal quorum by our Bylaws, but not enough to alter the Bylaws -- we had to postpone altering the Bylaws.

Elections were scheduled and held. The floor was opened to nominations and the Nominating Committee Chair, Martin Sullivan, opened the floor to nominations. The only office completely open, without a person agreeing to fill it, was the Vice Presidency. Bob Lewis did not want to fill the position for another year. Fifteen minutes is the designated amount of time the Bylaws say the floor has to be open for nominations; and it was, but no one nominated anyone nor volunteered themselves. President Dezendorf said that the State of Florida says that we have to have a President and a Treasurer and that we can operate without a Vice President if we have to, and she guessed that we would have to do that for a while.

While the floor was open for nominations, we covered other business. The VP did not have a report to give. (Note: all of the following issues were discussed, but not necessarily in the following order.) The problem of the HOA's bad reputation was discussed. Ideas were discussed as to how to improve the HOA's reputation and how to get people to attend the meetings. If we each ask one person to attend, maybe attendance will increase. Maybe we should post signs at the ball fields. Maybe we should put it in Happenings what we are trying to do and what we have done in the past. Maybe we could do a mailing to people who aren't members. Maybe we could do an insert in Happenings. Maybe we should toss out flyers. (Helen replied it's illegal to put them on personal property.) Someone suggested being specific about who we would like to attend.

There are signs available to remind people about the HOA meetings. We had a sign-up sheet for the signs for people to put them out at the most convenient busy corner for them to place the sign Friday night before the HOA meeting, and pick it up on their way home from the meeting Tuesday nights. Please come sign-up for a sign after the meeting.

The floor was closed for nominations at 7:31 PM.

The Elections Committee had given out printed ballots earlier in the meeting, and membership were instructed to fill them out. There was space for a write-in candidate for the Vice President's spot. As the Election Committee gathered up the ballots, my tape recorder was still running and I got the notes on tape (as always). The Election Committee consisted of Jim and Alice Williams and myself. Ballots were counted and the results were:

President: Helen Dezendorf 26 Votes for; no votes for anyone else.

Secretary: Vicki Smith 26 Votes for; no votes for anyone else.,

Treasurer: D.J. Olson 25 Votes for; no votes for anyone else.

And now the surprise of the evening: For Vice President, there was one write in vote for "Not Me" who isn't a real person, so this vote did not count. And one write in vote for yours truly, Linda McKinney. So, guess who the new Vice President of the Port St. John Home Owners' Association is: Me. I was more surprised than anyone else! Some discussion ensued, but Randy Rodriguez said that, technically, because I was the only person who got any votes at all, I was the Vice President.

Helen asked for an update for the Library fundraiser, the project for the Library is coming along. An artist has "jazzed up" a rendering for them. Regarding the brick program and the matching funds offer from the HOA: IF you are buying a brick, the HOA is NOT matching that money. It is purely DONATIONS ONLY, not purchasing of a brick. If you give $1 -- apart from purchasing a brick -- the HOA will match the money. IF you buy a brick, your donation will NOT be matched by the HOA. Most people use the Library and even if it's for the free internet access, the Library is used. The Library Book Sale made $560 of absolute profit because the books are donated and it doesn't cost the Library a dime.

The PSJ HOA's Treasurer's books are audited once a year and it is time again. D.J. needed another person to participate in that.

Someone just got the newsletter that day, even though it was mailed the previous Wednesday.

Someone brought up the possibility of what Titusville is planning to do for a Fire Station on Grissom Road near the PSJ boundaries. Someone said it would be a "good issue" to go against and it takes an organization to make a fuss. I reminded the membership that the Fire Station would be a good thing thanks to the "Mutual Aid" agreement; if something happened and our County fire trucks were out, the Titusville Fire Dept. would be available to help people in PSJ.

People who were interested in being on the Board of Directors were asked to come to the front of the room and sign-up to be on the Board. Several members came forward.

Starting this coming month (May) we shall be having our Regular Membership meetings at the PSJ Library in the Community Room. Board meetings will be at the Community Center.

The Door Prize drawings were done and Sandra DeMartino, Bob Lewis, Randy Rodriguez and Kathy (somebody, sorry I missed it) won.

Someone in the audience brought up the fact that there is some work that needs to be done at the racquetball courts. Helen said that she had a phone call scheduled the next day to talk to Cheryl Page and she would be sure to mention it.

Reliant had some really black smoke coming out of it the previous Friday afternoon. It was very bad and the person who brought this up asked if anyone else had noticed it; it was very scary. Someone else in the audience had an explanation as to why this happens.

Come to the meeting at the PSJ Library next month, May 13th, at 7 PM. Come support your local VP. Please.

We adjourned and had cookies while I questioned suspects as to who wrote my name in for Vice President!

More next month, I suppose, from the VP.