BEACWOOD HISTORY 1996 - PRESENT:

This community built its first house in 1996, and at the time there were several builders such as Ryland, Apple Tree, Chapel, etc. By the year 2000 most of the homes were being built by Stephen Homes. Construction was completed in 2003 and now there are 329 homes.

2002:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTION: In May 2002 a notice was sent out that the controlling builder was turning over control of the HOA to the 200-250 homeowners of the growing community, which would still be under construction until 2003. In Spring 2002, we held the election for homeowners to take over control of the HOA, or maybe some of us thought. The Builder had votes for lots, which he would give to three individuals, which placed them in their positions on the board. There were a large number of people on the ballot that year and most voters didn't understand how it all works, so when the election results were announced, many were puzzled. Soon after, people realized that the builder gave votes to 3 individuals 72 votes each for his 72 empty lots and they won the election. If more than the 100ish homeowners had voted, then the builder's choice for the Board of Directors might not have been elected. REMEMBER: CHOOSING NOT TO CHOOSE IS A CHOICE!!!

May 2002 "Homeowner" Votes were as follows:

Chris = 66, Rebecca Bossalina = 43, Jay = 36;

Denise = 24, Bob = 15, and Greg = 4

SUMMER 2002

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - NUMBER: After the May 2002 election, more than 175 homeowners protested that they wanted a fair distribution of representatives on the board by signing a PETITION for the Board to increase the board to the top NINE (per the max allowed in the By-laws) voted for by the homeowners at the 2002 election. I provided this petition to the board and we all hoped this would provide the community with a fair distribution of representatives on the board. Then, per Article IV of the By-laws the board of three increased the board to SEVEN and announced in the December 2002 newsletter that they would appoint the additional directors based on their 2002 election results. Those four were: Rebecca, Jay, John and Ray. Note: Chris moved and was not longer interested.

MARCH 2003

The board's attorney prepared a letter stating that the appointment of four more people to the Board of Directors was done improperly and therefore not valid, so the four members appointed by the Board were removed. If you read the by-laws you will see that the Board CAN increase the board to a maximum of nine (9) however, the community MUST elect the Directors and determines their term of service at the next annual community meeting in May. The By-Laws say:

"Election to the Board of Directors shall be by secret ballot. At such election the Members or their proxies may cast, in respect to each vacancy, as many votes as they are entitled to exercise under the provisions of the Declaration. The persons receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected"

2003 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT:

In December 2002 notices were sent out (per the board of three) asking for a 300 annual assessment for 2003. However, the increase of the HOA Annual Assessment from 120 to 300 (increase above 10%) was illegal without a community vote. My Disclosure Statement with budget page attached explains that after 355 homes were built, the annual assessment would be 120 and would need a special assessment to pay for the pool's start-up expenses. I emailed the board that I didn't think the annual assessment was legal, but they did not want to discuss it with me. So, I shared this information with my attorney and obtained a letter from him explaining this, which I shared with the Board at the next board meeting.

APRIL 2003 SPECIAL ASSESSMENT:

In April 2003 a special meeting was scheduled asking for the community to vote on a special assessment to reach their desired 300 for 2003 only.  There was a quorum and enough members voted FOR and this one time special assessment was granted.

MAY 2003 DIRECTORS ELECTION 

The Board mailed out ballots to elect two new Directors to the board (total of FIVE) at the May 2003 community meeting. In May 2003, the builder still had 17 votes but it didn't matter because the majority of homeowners voting elected Stacy and Rebecca Bossalina and re-elected Greg.

2004 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT

There was a community meeting in October 2003 and the majority of the board asked for an election (need 2/3) to permanently change the annual assessment to 300. After another community meeting in November because we did not have a quorum in October the proposed 300 did not pass. It is now 145 for 2004.

MAY 2004 

DIRECTOR ELECTION & COMMUNITY BALLOT:

The Board's Community Ballot 2004-Items did not pass due to lack of quorum (2/3 did not vote).

The Proposed Items were:

"...The Board would like to have the community vote on these issues. Please note to change any Bylaw or Declaration the current guidelines of 2/3 requirement stand for this vote."

1.  Assessment Change Currently the Board has the authority to raise association fees by 10% without a vote of the community. In order to raise fees above the 10% a vote of the community is required. A quorum is required to hold this meeting; the quorum requires 60% of the community to be in attendance either in person or by proxy. If the quorum is not met then another meeting is held and the quorum is (30%). However 2/3 of those in attendance in person or in proxy must vote in the affirmative. Example  330 owners x 60% = 198 in person or by proxy need to attend meeting in order to vote. If 198 are not in attendance either in person or proxy another meeting is held with a quorum requirement of 30% or 99 owners. 2/3 of the community (330) still need to vote in the affirmative for a vote to pass meaning 217 owners need to vote “yes”. The quorum does not change the fact that 2/3 of the community has to vote.

2.  By-Laws/Amendment Change  The Bylaws and the Declaration may be amended with 2/3 of a quorum of members present or by proxy vote of the community. Again 2/3 or 66% need to vote in the affirmative.

-Voting Requirements - The Board of Directors is proposing a change to the Beachwood Estates voting requirements. The proposed change would allow the quorum requirements as stated above to remain as is. The proposed change is as follows:

In accordance with the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions the Board of Directors would like to amend and adopt the following fining policy:  (1) When a violation of Covenants is first brought to the attention of the Board of Directors, a certified letter will be sent by the Management Company to the violating unit owners stating the violation and requesting notification of their intent to comply/correct in writing and their intent to make necessary correction in a timely fashion. After 30 days if non-compliance the following fining schedule will be enacted.

.00  30 - 60 days

  60-90 days

.00  90-120 days

.00 150 days

In Summary: Any violation of the Declaration or Architectural Guidelines for the Beachwood Estates Homeowners Association, Inc., is subject to an assessment not to exceed .00 per violation. In the event of a violation; the owner will be notified of the fine in writing. These fees are billed and payable along with the respective association fees and are subject to the same collection procedures.

Yes  I vote for the fining procedure as stated above.

No  I vote no for any fining procedures.

4.  Boat Storage Area  Many residents have inquired as to the ability to store their trailer or camper in the boat storage area. At this time they have been told that the boat storage area is designated for boats only. The Board is requesting your input on this issue.

Yes  I vote that trailers and campers may park in this area on a first come first serve basis as space allows.

No  I vote that only boats be stored in this boat storage area on a first come first serve basis as space allows

5.  REMOVAL OF DIRECTOR:

Proposed ballot item vote to allow board of directors to remove a fellow director rather than the current by-law that requires the majority of the community to remove a director (51% of 329).

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MAY 2004 - COMMUNITY MEETING

A Director on the board displayed copies of pool pass applications (with personal information blocked out) which exposed that some other board members listed 2 or 3 people as permanent residents who were not residents, which resulted in getting permanent pool passes for them.   The majority of other community members at the time had to pay the pool 5.00 per adult guest, per day and/or 3.00 for minors.

After this meeting complaints were filed by above individuals (married to police officers) and Rebecca was wrongfully summoned to court to defend a bogus charge of petty theft for copying and displaying said documents at the meeting.  Rebecca had to pay 1,000 to hire a criminal attorney to appear at the courthouse in her defense, HOWEVER, THERE WAS NO TRIAL and records against Rebecca were expunged because she HAD A LEGAL RIGHT TO COPY THESE HOA DOCUMENTS FOR DISPLAY AT THE COMMUNITY MEETING.

NOTE:  I BELIEVE THERE WAS SOME MANIPULATION OF THE SYSTEM SINCE I HAVE BEEN ADVISED THAT UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES THIS ISSUE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PROPERLY REVIEWED AND NO TRIAL OR CHARGE SHOULD HAVE EVER BEEN FILED.

***MAY 2004 DIRECTOR ELECTION***

2004 Board of Directors increased from 5 to 7:

Rebecca still motioned to increase the board to nine, but the majority of the board was increased from five to seven by Al, Stacy and Denise at this meeting. They then, "appointed" two more people (Bob and Frank) based on the tally from this May 2004 Director Ballot.  The May 2004 ballots that were mailed out in April asked us to vote for two (not four).  I believe we need to hold another election for the additional two positions, which would then properly fill the two additional director positions bringing the total to seven (7).

SUMMER 2004 - OFFICER/DIRECTOR REMOVALS

After the pool pass controversy began at the May 2004 meeting, the Board scheduled a meeting in June 2004 and at the meeting the board voted to remove Stacy as chair of the pool committee.  Since she was also a Director, it was a violation per the By-Laws (no multiple offices).  In July 2004 Stacy resigned as Director also.

NOVEMBER 2004 COMMUNITY MEETING FOR 2005 ASSESSMENT

After two failed attempts, the board majority is again, trying to increase the assessment to 300.  However, the approach this time is a slight improvement in that they ask for a vote for select items above 266 which if approved would bring the total to 300.

There is still a need for improvement in regards to HOA funds, such as better reports of previous spending.  

2004 Additional Summary Information:

July 16, 2004

Dear Neighbor,

I just received a packet from MRA regarding a special meeting to remove Rebecca Bossalina from the Board. The premise for this action is that Ms. Bossalina has been charged with removing private and confidential information from the Pool House. I find it disturbing that an unproven allegation is the premise for this action. Ms. Bossalina has not yet had an opportunity to defend herself in a court of law. I have always held the belief that in America, people are innocent until proven guilty .The truth is a matter that will be decided through our justice system. Until then I believe it is premature for us to render judgment.

I have been a member of this community since 1998. During that time I have seen the way the HOA was managed by the developers and builders and by the elected representatives after the builders relinquished control. There has been a considerable amount of dissension among those who have sought to lead this community. Ms. Bossalina has sought to promote an open and responsive government of our HOA. Admittedly, she has the diplomatic skills of a wolverine, and this has hampered her efforts, but she has always been sincere in working for a better community .

Ms. Bossalina has taken on the role of questioning the decisions and actions of the other Board members. Because of this, she often speaks for others who lack the courage or the will to disagree with what is being done. I find it completely plausible that someone else took the documents and provided Ms. Bossalina with copies for her to pursue the alleged abuse of the published rules.

Ms. Bossalina has always tried to establish a consistent set of rules for all of us to follow. What wasn't addressed in the mailing from MRA was that the documents in question revealed that not everyone was following the published rules for pool access. Specifically, the documents in question were pool pass applications that included individuals who were not members of the household on the application. When Ms. Bossalina questioned this breach of the published rules at the last annual meeting, the leadership announced that a policy had been established to allow non-resident babysitters to be included on the applications. Apparently this policy did not appear in any minutes of the board meetings and the community at large had not been advised of the change in the rules.

I only received one side of the argument in the mailing. I prefer to hear all sides of an issue before I render a decision. I believe the information above to be true and accurate and sufficient to demonstrate that the allegations against Ms. Bossalina are motivated by political differences. I would hope that all of the members of our board are mature enough to put aside their differences and control their emotions when performing the duties we elected them to execute.

I believe that one of the strengths of a democracy is the diversity of ideas and viewpoints that come out of dissent. Ms. Bossalina has been the voice of dissent that has resulted in better decision making from our board. I encourage everyone to send a message to all of our board members that we expect them to work together to make our community the best that it can be.

Please vote to continue Ms. Bossalina ' s term.

Respectfully, Jay W. Hidden

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