The Sand Key Civic Association Monthly Board Meeting Minutes March 5, 2014 March 21, 2014 Draft

The Sand Key Civic Association
Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

March 5, 2014

March 21, 2014 Draft

The Sand Key Civic Association Board Meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm, March 5, 2014, by President Arlene Musselwhite. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by the Membership. Musselwhite announced that since Ken Protonentis, Secretary of the Board, was on vacation, Valerie Williamson would be serving as acting secretary for this meeting.

Roll Call: Present: Arlene Musselwhite, Stephen Baker, Al Zimmerman, Valerie Williamson, Todd Ellson, and Eileen Salzwedel. A quorum was met.

Welcome Back Owners From Crescent Beach Club: Musselwhite welcomed back owners from the Crescent Beach Club, whose board voted last Thursday night to enroll their owners as SKCA Members.

Presentation To The US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Division 11: Musselwhite paid special tribute and presented plaques of recognition and thanks to the US Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA), Division 11 for the incredible job they did for the Sand Key community. On Sunday, March 2^nd, a group of volunteers from the USCGA, Division 11 removed over 600 pounds of trash from the mangroves at Bay Park on Sand Key! It took the group over 3 hours of hard work – picking up, among other things: pressure-treated wood, personal items, and several cases of empty beer bottles. Receiving these plaques of recognition were : Karen L. Miller, Division 11 Commander, Cheryl “SiSi” Little, Clearwater Flotilla 11-1 Staff Officer for Marine Safety, and Peter Palmieri, Division 11 Vice Commander.

Special Clearwater Police Report: Lt. William Valveri and Officer Kelly attended the meeting. Lt. Valveri, a 28-year department veteran, is the new beach commander and is looking forward to being on the beach again after being away from beach duty for over 20 years. Lt. Valveri and Officer Kelly reminded Members of some upcoming events that may affect Sand Key residents who are traveling from the beach to downtown Clearwater; these events are: Wild Splash Concert on March 8^th at 1:00 PM; and two events occurring in April: Pier 60 Sugar Sands Festival – April 4 – 13^th and Iron Girl 5k occurring on April 13^th at 7:00 AM. Officer Kelly mentioned that there are two positions on the force for the beach patrol that he expects to be filled shortly. Officer Kelly announced that he will be the day chief for Clearwater Beach; and that, if anyone sees any problems during the day, simply email him at [e-mail]. Officer Kelly said that while there hasn’t been any crime on Sand Key, there were two occupied burglaries on the north side of Clearwater Beach (occupied burglaries means that residents were in the house and the burglarers were aware that there were occupants in the house when they broke in); occupied burglaries are highly unusual for the beach, and he just wanted residents to keep their doors locked even when they are at home. Officer Kelly concluded his report by reminding Members that starting in March, the police will begin giving warnings to those who cross the street at places other than the crosswalks.

Featured Guest Speaker: “The Love Chef” (also known as Francis Anthony): Mr. Anthony gave Members an entertaining and informative presentation. He talked about his love affair for this area of Florida began over 25 years ago when he started visiting Florida from New York. During his business career, he achieved many “firsts,” including his “Cooking with Love,” which was the first cooking course teaching people simply how to cook for themselves. He also did courses in department stores and supermarkets. He was a regular on Live with Regis & Kelly for more than 20 years and now continuing on with Kelly & Michael. He has been a spokesperson for many organizations and has become a food consultant for many food companies. He entertains guests on cruise ships and casino stages. He is also involved in helping corporations team build by taking groups of employees and having them cook and work together as teams. Among the many other things Mr. Anthony does is he critiques hotels and restaurants and provides them with a label for their front window with his rating, although his rating is with “hearts” not with “stars.” Patrons can visit his website to read more information about his ratings. In addition to writing cookbooks, he writes for local publications, and he is working on a couple of pilots for TV, including a program for children on how to eat healthy. He is on Chanel 8 doing a cooking segment and on the radio (Channel 1040, at noon on March 12^th). Mr. Anthony is also committed to helping others – he says that you are given two hands – 1 to help you; and 1 to help others. So, he will be heavily involved in the “Champions for Children “charity event that will be on March 31^st to be a celebrity judge to pick the best chef. He concluded his presentation by stating his philosophy on food, which is “May food be your medicine, and may medicine be your food.” Mr. Anthony generously donated three autographed copies of one of his cookbooks, which were raffled off at the end of the meeting.

Submission and Approval of February Minutes: Since Secretary Protonentis was absent, Musselwhite asked the board to approve the February minutes, which had been distributed previously to Board members by email. Baker made the motion; it was seconded by Salzwedel. The motion was unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Salzwedel advised that the transfer to Home Banc has been completed. Salzwedel then read the Treasurer’s Report. A motion was made by Williamson, seconded by Zimmerman, and unanimously approved to accept Treasurer Salzwedel’s report. If any Member would like a copy of the Treasurer’s Report, please send an email to: [e-mail].

SKCA Proposed Budget: President Musselwhite advised the Board that she has begun work on the budget for 2014, and it will be sent to the Board before the April meeting. At the April meeting, it will be discussed with Members.

Report of Project Review Committee on Beach Showers and USCGA Building on Sand Key Park: Zimmerman gave the report on both projects being reviewed by the committee. Zimmerman reported that Brian Taub, the developer of The Finale, withdrew his offer to donate 0.4 acres of beach property in lieu of paying impact fees of $121,000. The reason for this withdrawal was because of the unhappiness of future Finale owners of this transaction. Taub will now have to pay the City the $121,000 in impact fees. Zimmerman also reported that there are shower heads at Bay Park, which visitors and residents can use. Zimmerman also addressed the article in the Clearwater Beach Newsletter that said that the USCGA would be in their new location on Sand Key Park in July. This article was way too premature. The committee contacted Mr. Papas of the USCGA who is coordinating this project. Mr. Papas advised The SKCA that they have received the authority to hire an architect to develop drawings of what the structure may look like when it is built on Sand Key Park. These plans will need to be submitted to the City, and they will be shown at a future SKCA meeting. However, before anything is built, the USCGA needs to raise the necessary funds, which are estimated to be between $250,000 - $350,000.

Big C Report: Ellson went to the meeting and said that Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri was the speaker and talked about the need for the barrier islands to have an emergency evacuation system in place, and that the City of Clearwater does not have any emergency system in place! Sheriff Gualtieri reviewed some of the elements that would be involved, including a hand tag that would be hung on the rear-view mirror of residents that would have a bar code imbedded on the tag, allowing police to scan the tag to allow or deny access to the area if an emergency evacuation occurs. Sherriff Gualtieri estimated that such a system would cost between $250,000 to $500,000. Officer Kelly said that Clearwater would have to take care of itself if this situation happens, since the county relies on local municipal agencies to implement any such program.

Unfinished Business: Musselwhite distributed to the Board a copy of the form letter used to follow up with those HOAs who have not responded about paying SKCA dues for 2014. HOAs have until March 31, 2014 to make their payment.

New Business: Musselwhite recommended that Al Lijewski, the first President of The SKCA more than 21 years ago, be the guest speaker at the April meeting. The Board agreed that having Mr. Lijewski would be an excellent idea. Musselwhite will follow up with Al Lijewski to confirm his availability to attend the April 2^nd SKCA meeting

Neighborhood Coalition: Musselwhite said the main topic at this meeting was the recent action taken by the U.S House of Representatives on amending the Biggert-Waters Act. Members of the coalition will be looking at this proposal and comparing it to the earlier Senate bill and will be getting back with a report.

Public Input: None

Raffle of Autographed Books By Anthony Francis: Mr. Francis had generally provided three autographed cooking books for The SKCA to raffle to attendees. The three individuals who received the books were Eileen Saltzwedel, Carrie Zimmerman and a guest from the Ultimar 1, Dr Arlene Anderson.

Adjournment: Ellson made a motion to adjourn, Zimmerman seconded, and the motion was unanimously approved by the Board; the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Valerie Williamson
Acting SKCA Secretary in the absence of Ken Protonentis