A PUBLICATION OF THE SILVER RIDGE HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION, INC. ORLANDO, FLORIDA
SILVER RIDGE - A DEED RESTRICTED COMMUNITY
ANNUAL MEETING/ELECTION THUR. MARCH 8, 2001
The Association will hold its annual meeting on Thursday, March 8, 2001. At this meeting, the Board of Directors will inform the members of the state of affairs of the Association. In addition, the members of the Association (owners of homes within Silver Ridge) will elect directors for the Association’s Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors controls the budget and policies of the Association. The Officers of the Association (who are not necessarily members of the Board) implement the budget and policies set by the Board, with the help of the professional manager (Don Asher & Associates.) The Board answers to the members of the Association, via the election process. Therefore it is important that the members carefully elect responsible Directors.
The Board consists of five Directors, whose terms of office last one, two or three years. The terms of office are staggered, so that all do not expire in the same year. We will be electing two Directors to fill the terms that expire this year. The terms which expire this year are: a three-year term held by Johnny Greene, and a one-year term held by Tony Greene.
To comply with Florida law, and with the Association’s By-Laws, we must have a minimum of 10% of the members represented at the meeting, either in person or by proxy. To ensure that we indeed have a quorum at the meeting, the board of directors has authorized a prize drawing, to be held at the meeting. To be eligible for the drawing you have to either: attend the meeting and sign up for the drawing at that time or, send/mail in your proxy by the time of the meeting. Two prizes will be awarded – a $50 Home Depot gift certificate available only to those who attend the meeting in person, and a $25 Home Depot gift certificate available to anyone who attends or sends in their proxy before the meeting. Members of the Board of Directors are not eligible to participate in the drawing.
From the Association’s President
By Johnny Greene
Greetings fellow Silver Ridge homeowners! First let me take this opportunity to welcome you into the New Year. I am, once again, extremely grateful for this opportunity to address you as YOUR Association’s President for this my fourth year.
While I feel it is true that we have made progress this year I must admit to a feeling that there is still much more that could and should be done. I am happy about what we have done this past year, but I must temper this happiness with caution. Caution because I feel our community is still threatened by mediocrity, complacency and the attitude that, "someone else will take care of it".
I see mediocrity in many areas such as the number of people, who show up at community functions e.g.,
What amazes me the most is that it is at these types of gatherings that a strong community is built. More importantly these events are where we spend some of the Association's money so you should participate if for this one reason only.
Complacency can be found just by looking at the increasing number of issues we have to turn over to our lawyers for help. Residents painting their houses (various "creative" colors) or making other "modifications/additions" (e.g., swingsets, room additions, etc) without the prior approval of the Architectural Control Committee (ACC) only make life harder for everyone in the neighborhood. I was going to say harder and expensive for everyone but then I remembered that we have a pretty good track record of recouping our attorney's fees from the offending party.
Complacency is evident by the level of volunteerism exhibited by the residents of this community. This is probably an issue that would fit better under the heading of, "someone-else-will-take-care-of-it-ism". So let's talk about this particular affliction that has been affecting Silver Ridge at a rate that is reaching epidemic proportion. How do I know this malaise affects us? Just take a look at the number of people who volunteer to serve on our various committees e.g., ACC, Newsletter, Neighborhood Watch, Neighborhood Improvement, etc. Complacency is also evident by the number of lawns, roofs, fences, mailboxes and weathered paint that need attention throughout our neighborhood.
We are not asking for a large commitment of your time, as that is not necessary. With 442 homes in our community we should have more than enough manpower to cover our various committee memberships.
So again this year I ask you to consider a more active role in your homeowners association. Think of it as protecting one of your most valuable possessions.
The "Job" of Being on Your Board...
by Robert H. Brown – reprinted with permission, OCHA News, Feb 2001
At a recent board meeting of the HOA that serves my own community, the annual discussion about elections and terms and eligibility was held. I began thinking about this "job" of being on the board of your homeowners association.
I also began wondering why average folks, like you and me, agree to work during our precious free time, agonize over tough decisions and endure personal criticism. We accept this job knowing that almost any decision we make will displease at least some of our neighbors. Why would a sane person do this?
"Being a member of a HOA board is a lot like being a dry cleaner"
I have some answers, but first let me share this proposition; being a member of a HOA board is a lot like being a dry cleaner. Even if you are the best dry cleaner in the world, no one congratulates you because their shirt was perfectly clean. But you can be sure if there is a single spot or a broken button on that shirt the world's best dry cleaner will definitely get an opportunity to chat with one of his customers. We have all felt just like that dry cleaner. No one is going to show up at a meeting just to tell the board that the entryway looks good, or to thank you because the board is op- crating within its budget. Like a clean shirt, those things are expected by our members.
On the other hand, if there are extra cars in the parking lot when we arrive for our HOA meeting we know that some of our neighbors have spots on their shirts or dog stuff on their lawn or a neighbor's tree growing over their property etc., etc. Let the meeting begin.
"Why do we do this?"
So why do we do this? Because, we know it needs to be done. Because, we believe we can help improve our community and protect everyone's property values. We also do it because, just like the dry cleaner, we can and should derive personal satisfaction from our work. People volunteer for service on their HOA board because they are willing to assume their share of responsibility not because they crave applause.
Remember volunteerism is truly its own reward. As board members you are entitled to feel a great sense of accomplishment if you simply make all your decisions on the basis of what is best for your entire community.
OCHA applauds you...
Know that OCHA applauds you loudly -you are improving our community. Hopefully you take great joy on those occasions when you arrive for the meeting and the parking lot is mostly empty. At that moment I hope you think, as I do, "no spots on the shirts this month" and like the dry cleaner, 1 hope that you quietly feel a well deserved sense of accomplishment.
Is Your Home Secure – From Vermin?
By Eric Oelschlager
It’s not just Santa Claus that wants to get into your house via the chimney! Recently both I and a neighbor learned that vermin of some sort – rats or squirrels – have been entering through our chimneys. This has become more of a problem since the trees and shrubs have grown tall, giving rodents an easy way to climb onto the roof.
This invasion is possible because of a poorly designed chimney top. An opening beneath the storm collar is intended to allow air to circulate between the inner and outer walls of the metal chimney pipe, to keep the pipe from getting too hot. Unfortunately, this gap also allows small animals to get underneath the storm collar, and crawl (or fall) between the walls of the metal pipe. A properly designed chimney top would include a mesh or screen that would allow the air to circulate, but keep the rodents and birds out. From what I can tell, most of the houses built by General Homes use the same cheap chimney top as mine.
Needless to say, rodents in the chimney or attic are a bad thing. Not only are they unsanitary and destructive (because they tend to chew things like wiring) but they also have a habit of dying in the most unreachable places, and creating a nasty smell. In fact, a squirrel was building a nest in the top of my chimney, and fell down between the inner and outer walls of the pipe, became trapped inside the wall behind the fireplace, and died. It took many, many hours of work to find a way to get back there (without chopping holes in the living room wall) to remove the dead animal.
It’s been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I can tell you it’s more than true in this situation! If you have a fireplace, do yourself a big favor, learn from the misfortune of others, and have your chimney top inspected and fixed, if needed, to keep the pests out!
Let’s Keep Silver Ridge Beautiful!
Reminders:
2000 Financial Summary – Income and Expenses 1/1/00 – 12/31/00
The 2000 year-to-date income and expense figures are shown in the following table:
