ROTONDA WEST ASSOCIATION, INC.
Annual Meeting
Thursday, December 6, 2007

Present: Claudette Romano, George Krabbe, Bruce Miller, George Burger, Ken Guillerm, Pete Traverso

Absent: Nick Gizzi

Management: Norene Kugler, Assistant Manager

The meeting was held at the Tringali Center and called to order at 7:00 PM by First Vice President Claudette Romano, in the absence of President Nick Gizzi, who was in New Jersey for the funeral of his brother-in-law.

Mrs. Romano introduced George Krabbe, 2nd Vice President; Bruce Miller, Treasurer; George Burger, Secretary; Ken Guillerm and Pete Traverso, Representative of the Developer. Also introduced were Norene Kugler, Acting Manager, the Association’s attorney, Richard DeBoest and CPA Geoff Lorah.

Mrs. Romano introduced Jay Lyons who is the RWA Office Manager and a Consultant to the Board of Directors. It is the full intention of the Board that Mr. Lyons will ultimately assume the position as Manager of the Rotonda West Association, upon obtaining his Community Association Manager license. The Board decided to utilize the time prior to Mr. Lyons taking the licensing exam to shorten the very steep learning curve. He will be sitting in on all Board and Committee meetings as well as observing the interaction between Property Owners and Office Staff on the handling of day to day issues. Mr. Lyons has already taken the required State courses to make application for his test date. It is anticipated that he will take and pass the State exam within eight to ten weeks. Mrs. Romano, on behalf of the Board, welcomed Mr. Lyons.

Pledge of Allegiance

Roll Call was conducted by the Secretary of the RWA, George Burger.

Proof of Service of Notice of Annual Meeting of Members was presented by George Burger.

Minutes of the December 7, 2006 annual meeting:
Claudette Romano explained that she and George Krabbe were unable to locate any minutes from the 2006 Annual Meeting. No minutes were presented to the Board, by the Association Manager at that time. The following information was compiled from the RWA newsletter, WestWays.

The carry over of excess funds from 2006 to 2007 for the Operating Budget and Reserve expenditures was approved.

Treasurer’s Report
Chair Bruce Miller gave the following report:
This Board was not presented with an approved 2007 Budget by the 2006 Board of Directors, which was their responsibility.  We were left with a $47,000 deficit to begin with.  Our computer accounting system was in total disarray. 

Accomplishments

Improved Budget & Expense Reporting, more definitive
Changed Banks to achieve maximum returns on our money.
Set up a CD Program to fund reserves and operating
The Board is more aware of its financial status.

The Future

Looking into online banking
Bring the office up to current office standards
Less paperwork, make use of technology tools
Possible replacement of our current accounting system
RWA has a business office and must be run as such

Mrs. Romano expressed the Board’s thanks to Ken Guillerm, for his dedication during his five years on the Board of Directors. He successfully chaired several Committees and initiated the ideas for the Memorial Parks and Project Gateway Pride. During his term as President of RWA, Mr. Guillerm was chosen by the South Gulf Coast Chapter of the Community Association Institute (which included Charlotte, Lee and Collier Counties) as the 2005 Association Board Member of the year.

Election Committee
Chair Sue Artz explained the responsibilities of the Election Committee, which include conducting the annual meeting and under the supervision of CPA Geoff Lorah, counting the votes submitted at the annual meeting. Mrs. Artz thanked the committee members.

Aquatic Canal System
In the absence of Chairman, Nick Gizzi, George Krabbe gave the report. Originally, the name of the committee was Aquatic/Canal Bank Committee. The name has been changed to more accurately reflect that the responsibilities are far more than just canals and canal banks.

Four sub-committees were formed:

Marine & Aquatic Habitat
Canal Infrastructure & Storm Water Outflow
Aquatic Trash Prevention/Clean-up
Education and Publicity

Mr. Krabbe thanked the committee members.

Beautification/Mowing Committee
Chair Claudette Romano listed the following accomplishments:

The White Marsh Memorial Park was completed and dedicated in March, 2007.
All directional signs were re-worked with reflective background and reflective lettering.
New landscaping was completed on the Cape Haze Drive Bridge.
Rotonda Boulevard West bridge was upgraded in August, 2007.

Mrs. Romano thanked the committee members for their dedication and hard work.

Budget & Finance Committee
Chair Bruce Miller gave the following report.
It has been a busy year for the Budget & Finance Committee. The first order of business was to present a proposed 2007 budget to the board. Normally, the previous board would approve the budget for the next year. That was not done. Thanks to Hank Artz and Bud Nill a budget was quickly brought forth and approved. To begin with we were left with an audited $47,000 Reserve deficit. We assume much of that was to cover Mr. Madsen’s enormous salary. We discovered that our computer accounting system was in total disarray.  A $313,000 discrepancy in our accounts became a focus of the press. All kinds of accusations were reported in the press and on the local radio. Gerry Townsend, a member of the Budget & Finance Committee and a CPA looked into the accounting problems. She discovered many General Ledger entries were put in the wrong accounts. Sloppy Bookkeeping and a lack of understanding the accounting software contributed to the $313,000 discrepancy. Accounts were not reconciled using the accounting system product since the beginning of the year. It became obvious the previous two managers did not understand the product either, based on their mistakes. As of today the books are in order and all funds are accounted for. Copies of my full report are available. The fact that this happened opened our eyes and became a wake-up call. What are we doing to avoid this in the future? Accounting system training for the Office staff will begin a.s.a.p. Accounts will be reconciled monthly. We are investigating improving the software product.

Accomplishments:

Conducted a thorough study of the Association’s banking relationship
Recommended affiliation with Englewood Bank to maximize both operational efficiencies and returns on invested funds and to utilize services not available from the previous bank
Established a banking relationship within the community

The Future:

Conduct a study of Association Reserves to insure proper funding of long-range projects
Evaluate various Reserve Study vendor products
Develop Vender Billing Guidelines

Community Relations Committee
Chair Ken Guillerm thanked Don Mahon for his 5 years as Editor of the WestWays newsletter. Each edition requires 60 to 70 hours of Don‘s time. The first Rotonda Christmas parade was the result of a combined effort of the Community Relations Committee, the Rotonda Elks and the Rotonda West Woman’s Club. Mr. Guillerm said Harry Senger is retiring after eight years as Chairman of the Gazebo Decorating Committee. Mr. Guillerm expressed his thanks to all of the approximately 100 Volunteers.

Compliance Committee
Chairman George Burger said the committee has seven members and five alternates. They met five times during the year, one of which was for training.

Deed Restrictions Committee
Chairman George Burger thanked the committee members for their assistance in drafting a complete rewrite of the Deed Restrictions. A copy has been given to Cape Cave Corporation, the Developer, for approval.

RWA Properties Committee
Chairman George Krabbe said the Committee completed the following goals:

Installed new locks on the doors and windows in the Community Center Building
Installed a security system on the offices
Repaired outside lighting
Repaired and painted the stairs and handicap ramp
Cleaned the interior of the Community Center and painted the offices
Removed diseased and infected trees which were overhanging the Community Center
Replaced the diseased trees with pigmy palms
Repaired, power washed and sealed the docks and gazebo bridge
Painted the gazebo
Installed a new telephone and internet system
Purchased a copy machine, fax machine, media projector and microphones

Mr. Krabbe thanked the committee members.

Residential Modification Committee
Chairman Pete Traverso explained that the function of the committee is to review and approve or disapprove forms that have been submitted for exterior changes to the owner’s property. Mr. Traverso thanked the committee members.

RWA Street & Drainage Committee
Chair Claudette Romano said the committee has been working closely with:

Tom Moore, Charlotte County Commissioner
Tara Musselman, Charlotte County Municipal Service Benefits Unit Representative
Tim Free, Charlotte County Public Works Manager
Barry DeMello, Charlotte County Public Works Foreman
Jamie Huish, Charlotte County Utilities Operations Manager

Through the combined efforts many projects have been completed or are in the process of being repaired including:

Replacement of broken or missing grates
Pipes have been cleared of debris
Street depressions have been repaired
Swales have been regraded and sodded
Curbs have been installed at all main entrances
Buck Creek bridge has concrete pipes and a new bank surface to prevent erosion

Subdivision captains are still needed for White Marsh and Pine Valley

Introduction of the Board of Directors Candidates - Nick Gizzi (not present) and Earl Haas.

Mrs. Romano opened nominations from the floor for additional candidates for Board of Directors.

Earle Simpson nominated Jim Tibert.
Doris Walker nominated Hank (Henry) Artz.
Joe Romano nominated John Carroll.
There being no more nominations, nominations were closed.

Darcey Nicolosi, Charlotte County Code Compliance Officer and Shawn Horton, Charlotte County Code Compliance Supervisor gave an informative talk while the votes submitted at the meeting were being counted. Questions from audience members regarding code compliance enforcement were answered.

Reid Schaefer of W. D. Sanders Company, Inspector for Florida Safe Homes Program explained the grant program. Joe LaRue, Representative for My Safe Florida Home; Chuck Henderson, Owner of Storm Safe; and John Fischer, Regional Director of the Bureau of Consumer Outreach provided information and their brochures.

Election Chair Sue Artz announced the election results as follows:

Carry over of excess funds was approved. Yes: 1,701 No: 34

Member Input
Board Directors and Attorney Richard DeBoest answered questions from the audience. Jim Roberts expressed his thanks to Norene Kugler and Dianne Brophy for “hanging in there during all the turmoil”.

Directors Input
Ken Guillerm wished Earl Haas “Good luck” and expressed to the Board members, “Thanks for the memories.”

The Board of Directors reorganization meeting is Tuesday, December 11 at 6:00 PM. The next regular Board meeting is Wednesday, December 12 at 3:00 PM.

The meeting adjourned at 8:23 PM.

Norene Kugler, Acting Manager