MINUTES
Yacht Club Estates
2010 Annual Meeting
The Yacht Club Estates Civic Association (YCECA)
annual meeting was called to order on January 13, 2010, at 7:00 P.M.
Shannon Huet, President, began the meeting by requesting a motion to
waive the reading of the 2009 annual meeting minutes because they were
posted in the 2009 Spring Newsletter and on the YCE website.
John Huet, Treasurer, presented the 2009 Treasury
Report. Last year we had a total of 241 members made up of 36 Platinum,
10 gold, 73 silver, and 122 bronze member households. Total dues
received were $11,887 which was $5,862 more than the $6,025 that we
would have received if each of the 241 paid members contributed the
minimum $25. This greatly helped to bring more funds to the
neighborhood. YCE had an account balance of $12,682.91 at the beginning
of 2009, added total deposits for the year of $25,687.04, with total
expenses of $24,314.07, which left an ending balance of $14,055.88.
John thanked everyone for the funds contributed then announced that this
would be his last night serving as Treasurer of YCE after 4 years in
office.
Shannon presented
old business and some of the 2009 accomplishments:
·
We should all be
proud that our YCE neighborhood won THREE awards from the City of St
Petersburg this year:
o
Neighborhood Of the
Year Award out of 102 neighborhoods in St Petersburg
o
Neighborhood on the
Move, District 1
o
Certificate of
Award, Navigator Newsletter
·
Completion of the
2009 Neighborhood Directory. A big thanks to Shannon Huet, Bonnie
Cannard, and Wilson Edwards for a job well done
·
YCE hosted spring
and fall wine socials which were always fun and well attended. The
spring party was a big success in 2009 serving Mexican food from
Middle Grounds Grill Restaurant. This year it will be mid April.
Make sure to pay your dues so that you can participate in this fun
celebration.
·
Installed a
neighborhood security camera on advice from Crime Watch. The tapes
have been reviewed to assist in vandalism and other criminal
activity
·
Held our first
annual Car and Motorcycle Show with our neighbors in Causeway
Isles. We plan to continue to have this event in 2010
·
Hosted our annual
Halloween Parade which is our most visited event of the year thanks
to our many residents who participate in the event
·
Formed a new Boating
Club with 25 resident families and had our first outing to the Pub
Restaurant. If anyone would like to join the boat club contact Tim
Connolly for information
·
The winner of the
YCE burgee design went to Barbara Grilli.
·
Hosted our second
annual Holiday Homes on Parade charity event which raised $805. Next
year we would like to again hold this event
·
Luminaries were
displayed on December 24th and it was beautiful. It would be nice
to get some more help as it is very time consuming delivering these
to all of the YCECA members' residences. Please let us know if you
are able to volunteer.
·
Repaired the
architectural Stop Sign on the corner of 80th St. S and
13th Ave S
·
Maintained the
landscaping and lighting in the medians along 79th St. S
and refurbished the park benches
Shannon introduced the 2010 YCE Board of Directors
elect and invited Ed Hotz to lead the formal voting process. Elected
and sworn in for a two year term was Tom Garofalo, President, Gary
Muenks, Vice-President, Melissa Insoft, Treasurer, and Dana Tenaglia as
Secretary.
Ed thanked Shannon for her outstanding service to
YCE as President which was followed by a well deserved standing
ovation! Shannon asked all of the people who volunteered or worked on a
committee in the neighborhood to please stand and be recognized and
thanked them for making our neighborhood so wonderful.
Shannon introduced our City of St. Petersburg
officials attending the meeting. Their comments are presented below:
·
Scott King,
Community Police Officer
·
Mike Vold, Manager,
and Ryan Henderson, Codes Enforcement Office
·
Bill Foster, Mayor
·
Herb Polson,
District 1 Representative
·
Mark Williams, Crime
Watch Officer
·
Susan Fuchs,
Neighborhood Services
·
Susan Ajok,
Neighborhood Partnership
Community Police Officer, Scott King,
informed us of how low the crime rate actually is in YCE. You can
go onto stpete.org website and pull Yacht Club to see the
neighborhood statistics. He asked YCE residents to continue to keep
our alarms on to prevent the typical daytime burglars. Plasma TVs
are a biggie with thieves. He says to watch out for your neighbors
and call in even if you are just suspicious that something is
wrong. Surveillance is a necessity to keep our neighborhood safe.
Lock doors to your homes and cars. There were five burglaries in
2009, four were to unlocked vehicles. Don't hide stuff in your
bedroom because this is the first place thieves go. With the price
of gold so high, criminals are eager to melt jewelry down. Among
the list of stolen goods were laptops, a purse, an Ipod, and a GPS.
These are all easy things for criminals to sell. Copper prices are
also up so vacant houses are an easy target. Watch out for
contractors and who they hire as sub-contractors. Surveillance is
your best defense. Consider investing in surveillance equipment for
your own home. Establish a link to the web site
www.crimereports.com.
This site updates twice a day and will keep you informed. YCE is
one of the safest neighborhoods in St. Petersburg according to
Scott.
Mike Vold, Manager of the West Side and
Ryan Henderson, are Code Enforcement Officers. Mike
congratulated YCE on the best neighborhood award because he felt it
was well deserved. He answered all questions we had. Several people
asked about issues with vacant or foreclosure properties. The city
can put covers on pools or whatever is necessary. Ryan said he has
been an area investigator working in our area for 3 1/2 years. We
have not had many violations in our area. People generally take
care of their homes in YCE. The most frequently sited violation is
for domestic equipment. He reminded us that boats are not permitted
in driveways from 12:00 P.M. Monday to Thursday at 3:59 P.M. There
is one home on 9th Avenue S. that has frequent violations. The
owners are now motivated and are making progress. Be sure to report
code violations to 727-893-7373. Remember to report uncovered pools
at vacant homes. Mosquitoes can be a problem if the pool is left
unattended with no cover. This will occur during the warmer months.
What constitutes short term rental and what is the city code were
questions asked by meeting attendees. It is monthly rentals or 3
one month rentals a year. Is there a code violation to a sawed out
driveway 2 years after renovations? This question was asked by
someone who was told to please call in and report the address. Mr.
Henderson informed us he inspects YCE at least 4 times a week. He
said codes are listed online at www.stpete.org under code
compliance. You can also look at all city ordinances. Please call
the police to report barking dogs because Animal Control doesn't
answer their telephones. After 10 minutes consecutively, the
barking is considered a violation. The police will first contact
with owner, then issue a warning. If it’s an on going issue, then
animal services will follow up. If you’re afraid to call codes in,
you can do it online anonymously.
Our newly elected Mayor, Bill Foster,
answered many questions. He was sworn in as Mayor on January 2nd and
delighted to be elected and invited to the YCE Annual Meeting. He
thanked former Mayor, Rick Baker for opening up his staff to him.
He joked that his Pledge during his campaign was to solve global
warming and he succeeded. (The meeting was on a particularly cold
night). Crime is still the #1 issue in St. Petersburg. He will work
towards implementing a prevention team and community prevention
program. He encouraged community policing teams to watch for code
violations or anything out of the ordinary. He is formulating a
task force for this community policing model. His job is to enforce
the laws on the books. He does want to sweat the small stuff and
enforce those things too. He's working on more cold weather
shelters for the homeless. He's working with Herb Polson to help
people get off the street which is a major issue for St Petersburg.
He plans to start a program called Mayor's Night Out. This will
occur once a month to meet and talk about issues. He will require
all of City Hall to come to each community by attending the
meetings. They will find ways to accommodate our needs. He asked
each neighborhood to step up and volunteer. He has greater
expectations of our citizens. He knows money is short so he's
asking for our time. Please volunteer in any way you can for your
community. He is focusing on Baywalk, The Pier, cleaning up the
downtown area, and pressure washing the high traffic tourist areas.
He said YCE is a model of what he thinks a neighborhood should
represent. He wants all city employees to coordinate between their
departments instead of saying its someone else’s job. This will
make better use of the city’s money. Panhandling in high traffic
areas was brought up by one of the meeting attendees. It's not
illegal unless they are intimidating or if they step on the
asphalt. They can be fined or arrested if the police officer
decides it's necessary. The City Counsel has ordered a workshop to
handle the homeless and panhandling issues. Possibly they have to be
4 feet off the curb. Discussions followed about The Pier. Several
proposals of what to do with the pier are being discussed. It's part
of St. Petersburg's culture so it is a big issue. He plans for
Baywalk to be coming back. Tenants will be coming in again soon.
If someone has an issue or suggestion for city hall, they should
contact Herb Polson. Thank you Mr. Mayor!
Mark Williams, the Crime Watch
Coordinator. Susan Fuchs, neighborhood services
representative can help with infrastructure issues with the city.
Susan Ajok, neighborhood partnerships, helps with grants.
Shannon said a heart felt goodbye as it is the end
of her term in office. Shannon then introduced and pinned the new
president, Tom Garofalo. Tom said thanks to Shannon and a huge
round of applause again for Shannon. He has a hard act to follow.
Tom said he's been in YCE neighborhood for a little over a year. New
Business items:
·
Tom reported that
YCE is planning an application for a new grant. Open to new ideas
as to what to get the grant to cover. Reflective street numbers on
all the houses was one suggestion. Someone commented they felt there
could be a better use of the funds but unfortunately they didn't
have any suggestions. Please email or call if you have something in
mind.
·
Gary Muenks briefly reported
on the newly formed YCE boat club and asked for more participation.
·
Bonnie Cannard with
the wine club, website, and beautification asked for new volunteers
and mentioned the next wine social will possibly be the 2nd or 3rd
Friday in April. The theme will possibly be blended wines. A
suggestion had been made to have it at The Garden Club but any
potential liability must be investigated. If you want to be on the
YCE e-mail list, let her know and she will include you in the
e-mails. Bonnie is also taking over beautification.
·
Charlotte Hughes was
there from Causeway Isles to discuss the car show. It will occur
again this year on March 7 on 79th street just past 9th on the east
side of road. Please participate. Vendors are also welcome to
participate. Information will be posted on the website.
·
Shannon filled in for Suzy
Olson regarding the spring party. A planning committee meeting will
be held on Sunday, January 24th at her home. A sign up sheet was in
the back of the room. An island theme is a possibility and a band.
Maybe we will have more adult entertainment this year.
·
Pam Sherwin
discussed that the garage sale will be on April 17th and possibly
more than one/year. She will have helpful hints posted on the
website.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 P.M.
After adjourning the YCE meeting Herb Polson
discussed an important issue of the U.S. Census on April 1st consisting
of 10 questions. He asked that we all respond. The U.S. has a 67%
response but Florida has only a 63% response. Every citizen needs to
respond so that we get more funding for the state of Florida. It's the
way federal dollars are assigned. Congratulations from Herb for the
neighborhood of the year and neighborhood newsletter of the year. He
said he was going to be a judge at this year's car show. He likes
unique cars so bring out all perfect and imperfect cars with great
stories. He's looking forward to the event. Parkview Hotel on Central
and Park is obviously at a standstill. The owner is upside down and a
stop work order was issued. A cover will be placed over the pool
shortly. They will be given 60 days before fines start being issued.
It was designated as a historic structure. Now it can't be demolished
until it's decertified. He feels many people will complain about
decertification. Herb is still working on crime on The Pinellas Trail.
Supposedly closed at dark but crime still occurs after dark. On 66th
and 9th, the Catholic Diocese made a proposal for a continuum of care
for the aging to progress from one group of buildings to a nursing
home.
Respectfully,
Dana
Tenaglia
Secretary
