Conservative PSJ, FL

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Click on the pic above to read the PSJHOA events of August 10, 2004. You will be amazed.

My PSJHOA meeting notes for July 13, 2004

Remember, this is NOT the official PSJ HOA page. These are my notes from written notes taken the night of the meeting, and taken from the recording I made of the meeting. If you want to see their official newsletter, go to their website [no longer available] and click on the newsletter link to read them. Then come back here and read mine to see what little angels they are.

The meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was said. Why, I don't know; probably for look's sake, but considering their apparent lack of respect for the US Constitution, why do they want anything to do with the Pledge?

The Treasurer's Report was given as $3,955.14 in the kitty. The minutes of the last meeting that I took for them were not read. They were complete minutes, similar to the ones on this website for June of this year, but they were over three pages long, so I guess that was why they were ignored.

It was announced that July 3rd, the evening for local fireworks event had the PSJHOA making cotton candy that sometimes turned into runny goop because of the rain. A Board member brought his generator for the machine. The fireworks were rained out and will be shot at a later date (possibly New Year's Eve). The remains of the cotton candy supplies would be used for NNNO. The tumblers and karate demonstrators had a difficult time with the hot mats.

At the beginning of the meeting, Helen had put a sign up on the head table that said "Whining" with a big red circle with the bar going through it (the "No" symbol; as in "No Whining"). Then she proceeded to whine. She complained (ranted was her word) about getting phone calls from PSJ residents who wanted the HOA to do something about "blank". Substitute the word "blank" with just about anything you want and there are people in PSJ who want the PSJHOA to get involved in it. Do something about their neighbor, someone's parking here... etc., etc., etc. If we want a new library, etc., that's what we're here for. We're here to fight the hoochie-cooch parlor that's probably going to go in at PSJ Bullevard that we'll have to deal with in the future. She hasn't had volunteers for NNNO. She said to call Truman Scarborough's office, "that's his job!"

Helen also said she is "ready". She implied that she is "ready" to resign, but never said it. She's tired of nobody helping, not having enough volunteers to do things, and of the same people every time having to do all of the work. NOTE: She said about the same thing last year and she's still here.

National Neighborhood Nite Out is (now was) August 3rd at the PSJ Community Center. Publix donated money for the hotdogs and buns; she hopes to get McCotter Ford to bring the giant bouncy thing again. See the article on NNNO at the PSJ Bulletin for more information on how it went.

The PSJHOA's webmaster has received no pictures (at the time of this writing) of the past events of the PSJHOA for the website. He has received some from Helen, but no one else. Apparently they haven't had much time to do much of anything else to help him with it, either. It's been up for a while now and all it has is the homepage and the July newsletter. It needs more than that to be of use to the community.

Helen apparently sends the HOA newsletter out to "what amounts to about 250 people"; I suppose that counts husband and wife because last time I heard, PSJHOA membership numbered about 130 houses. Only eleven people responded to the invitation to receive the newsletter via e-mail. They have discovered two problems with the e-mail newsletter thing: not everyone can open it. And, you don't know when your membership expires when you receive your newsletter via e-mail. That date is printed on the mailing label, so it was decided that it's going to be sent only via snail mail from now on.

It was announced that Ed Warner was on vacation. I'd be on vacation, too, after the last Board meeting fiasco.

NNNO details were given and another call for volunteers was made, including help with the signs for the event.

The desalination plant issue was brought up again. Helen had a video she played for us from the History Channel (Modern Marvels) on future water resources. It included information on reverse osmosis desalination plants as an alternative water source. It said that the Tampa plant serves about 2.5 million residents in the Tampa/St. Pete area. Question: How can this plant serve 2.5 million residents if it never works as alleged by local leaders? Helen said she wanted us to see the video to get an idea as to the size of the desal plant they're talking about putting here.

She unfolded a map of Florida and showed us Tampa Bay and the Indian River Lagoon. She said that if the Tampa plant worked perfectly, they're only taking 25 million gallons out of that great big bay and the people here want to take 60 million gallons out of the Indian River Lagoon times two because they want to do it at each plant, so that each plant will produce 30 million gallons of clean water. That's number one.

Number two, Helen said, the Tampa electric company built with the desal plant in mind and refitted existing stacks to the Federal standards, built two new stacks and they already have 223 miles of stuff on their plant. The desal plant here would be six times the size of Tampa's plant. Where are they going to put the pipes for getting all of that water out here? And next, our power plants would spit too much crud out of their stacks if they had to put that much more energy out, they'd spit even more crud out. Add to that what the desal plant would be spitting into the air. On top of that, Helen says, the Tampa plant is not working.

The PSJHOA webmaster read on the internet that they're not pumping ground water.

Helen said even if the Tampa plant was working, we can't use this model.

Female audience member (not I) said that the Tampa plant was also discharging into the ocean, not brackish water.

Helen said that the doubly salted water would be dumped back into the lagoon and the plant here would be paid for with our tax money. It started out costing $110 million and they've spent an additional $14 million on it and it's still not working.

A friend said that desalination is a political solution, not an engineering solution. It only works if you have unlimited money and don't care about the efficiency of it.

Helen said that if water has to be double the price because water is sarce, then we'll all have to pay it. But if water is not scarce, why would we want to go ahead with this, they've already spent $250,000 on the "study" (she did the finger quotes), and will be spending $250,000 more to complete the study. This is why we want you all to know what's happening. It's not scare tactics (oh?), it's no one in your government is going to come stand and call a public meeting and tell you that we're going to spend your money and the only place we have to go for comparison is not at all like the area we live in and it's not working. Bring up the newspaper over there and do a search and find out "why the he-- isn't it working?" Why she felt like she had to cuss with a minor in the room, I have no idea, but it got worse. She said that the last public meeting was about how osmosis works and was "given by a really nice gentleman from Melbourne" on how their system works. Not true.

I raised my hand and was called upon and said that the last desal meeting was given by the Marine Resources council, an independent organization endebted to no one, and that the Melbourne person was just one of the people who spoke.

Someone asked who has the final say in whether this plant gets built.

Helen said it was the St. Johns Water Management people. The Federal government has restrictions on who can draw water out of the water system or the ocean are the power plants so that's the reason they're coming here because we have these two companies who already have permits to take water out. Helen said she called both companies and neither of them said they were asked if they were interested.

Helen said that Comm. Scarborough is not a happy camper.

Helen said that if we suck water out of the lagoon the hole created would be filled only from the south, not the north where it is stagnant so often.

A female audience member said that there were times of over-salinity in the river.

I had to speak up and say that the over-salinity cycles already happen and that the plant could be good for the lagoon due to the fact that there would be more water being brought into the lagoon. But Helen talked over me for part of my statement.

Brandon asked don't we not want it to stink?

Helen said, Yes, but it costs half a million dollars and we have people in this room who don't want to spend an extra penny in sales tax. That sales tax was not guaranteed to give us anything from it; remember Truman Scarborough's own words. A water plant gives your grandkids fresh, drinkable water. There's a big difference.

I have a question for you; if the PSJHOA is NOT doing scare tactics, why is EVERYTHING they say and publish about the desalination plant negative and everything make it sound terrible, harmful to the Indian River, too expensive and something that won't work? Why? Because they want us to be afraid to find out the facts! I don't know what the study will show. I just know that I'm willing to find out what the possibilities are. I am not in favor of the plant, nor against it. I'm in favor of finding out the facts! There is no harm in that! The PSJHOA is being irresponsible in telling everyone that this is something that will damage the river when the Marine Resources Council says that it may be good for the river. The PSJHOA is irresponsible in not telling the truth that these plants are being widely used in the Middle East and used successfully. The PSJHOA is being irresponsible in this as it is in most things lately. And I, for one, am fed up with it!

Helen said the Marine Resources people haven't made up their minds yet, they're waiting for more money to be spent. Rather derogatory of the MRC, don't you think?

This is when Helen bragged about standing up in the very first desalination plant meeting after seeing a chart displaying water resources and purple being areas in trouble, and saying, "Well, excuse me, if all those people in purple would stop building all those God da-- houses, we wouldn't have a problem!" This brought snickers from some of the attendees, but I had a minor child with me and I don't think it's necessary for anyone in a leadership position to speak like that during a public meeting where they don't know who is a Christian, Jew, Muslim, etc., and who it would offend. If she needs to talk like that, she should do it in her own house to her own family. I don't want to hear it!

Helen said that the authorities at the meeting aren't worried about Brevard County having water, they're worried about Orange and Osceola having water.

NNNO volunteerism was encouraged again.

The fireworks absence was explained. The shooters had to be paid for even though they didn't do the work. It's going to cost another $1,500 to get them fired. But it might be on New Year's Eve.

Helen asked if we were interested in sponsoring a delegates evening for the people running for candidate to be able to come speak to the PSJ people. No one was interested in doing so. Helen said she has been many times accused of not caring about politics. I never accused her of that.

Someone asked what big cities like NYC do for water and was told it was a resevoir system.

I spoke up and said that desal plants were being used successuflly, en masse, in the Middle East.

To which Helen replied that they were "very expensive and they are in oil rich countries where they don't care because their people don't pay for their water." Notice she didn't say they don't work? She just argued that they are expensive and that the people over there don't pay for their own water. She couldn't say that these weren't working. She admitted that they are even irrigating their fields with water from desalination plants, but that the Shah or whomever, is paying for the cost because the people don't pay for their water. I bet they do.

A male audience member said that there are some small scale brackish ground water plants working.

Helen said that it's called demineralization, not desalination when they do that.

Then she said that the lobbying groups for desalination plants had millions of dollars to spend to get these things built, multi-multi-multinational corporations with millions and millions and millions of dollars in their budget to get governments to use this. That's right, Helen, bring in the "big bad corporation" scare tactic. It's corporations that have an agenda... etc., etc., etc. No scare tactics, just nothing positive to say about anything about them. Not even when admitting that they are working in the Middle East. If that's not scare tactics, I don't know what is.

NNNO again.

Someone asked why the dues are not due all at the same time of year; for example, why don't the dues run January to January? Answer: too much work all at one time for DJ, the Treasurer and it's in our bylaws.

The PSJHOA asked if the PSJHOA would like to change its mind about the donation we gave to the Humane Society a few months ago. The dog park we gave the money to support won't be where it was going to be, but it will be built. Do we want to let the Humane Society keep the money, or recall the donation? I said that if I had known before the vote that the Humane Society is NOT a "NO KILL" organization (killing only those animals too sick to cure and adopting out the rest), I would not have supported the motion in the first place. There was some discussion, but it was voted to allow the Humane Society to keep the money (I voted against it).

NNNO again.

The meeting adjourned at 8:13 PM.