Editors note: Attorneys at Goede, Adamczyk & DeBoest, PLLC respond to questions about Florida community association law. With offices in Naples, Fort Myers and Miami, the firm represents community associations throughout Florida and focuses on condominium and homeowner association law, real estate law, litigation, estate planning and business law.

Q. The board members for our homeowners association (HOA) frequently eat and socialize together. Many people suspect that they are running the association in these informal meetings, and it is my understanding that board members should only make decisions in meetings that are open to the residents. Can you please clarify when it is appropriate for the board members to gather and discuss association business?

B.A.

West Palm Beach

A. By law, a meeting of the board of directors occurs whenever a quorum of the board gathers to conduct association business. We constantly hear complaints about boards operating outside of the sunshine law and having illegal closed meetings, but it is important to remember that not every gathering of board members constitutes an official meeting that must be properly noticed and open to the membership. First, you must have a quorum of directors. The quorum requirement can be found in your bylaws, but generally a quorum is established when a majority of the board members are present in person or by teleconference. If a quorum of directors are frequently gathering to discuss association issues and they are making decisions for the community in these informal meetings, then they are probably violating the law. However, board members should not be afraid to socialize or be seen together in public. They simply need to exercise discretion and avoid conducting association business unless they have organized a proper meeting that is open to the membership. Board members should also be careful when using email to discuss association business. If a quorum of directors is discussing association business and making decisions by email that would also be an illegal board meeting.

Q. We have a unit in our condominium that has been delinquent for years. We are nervous that the owner may try to quietly sell or transfer title to the unit in an effort to avoid payment to the HOA. Is there anything we can do to ensure that we collect what is owed?

K.S.

Delray Beach

A. I understand why you are anxious, but rest assured that the condo association has adequate protection. Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes provides that any new owner is jointly and severally liable for all assessments and charges owed to the association by the prior owner. This means that if the current owner does not pay all amounts owed at the time of sale or transfer, then the association can pursue the new owner for 100 percent of those delinquent charges. Should the association not receive payment from either owner, it can file a lien on the property and foreclose on that lien. The association can also pursue a personal money judgment against either owner. You can periodically check the status of title by going to the county clerks website which will show any transfers of title. If the owner attempts to sell through traditional means and employs a title company or real estate attorney to handle the transaction, the association will be notified of the transfer and will have the opportunity to collect payment of all delinquent charges at the closing.

Q. I live in an HOA and I bought my home because I wanted the freedom to maintain my own landscaping and make improvements to my property. Last weekend, I was trimming and edging and I was told to stop because the HOA was solely responsible for landscaping. I also want to plant a garden and I was told that I need to first obtain approval from the HOAs beautification committee. Can the HOA really stop me from making my property more attractive?

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John C. Goede: When can board members discuss association business?

Comox Valley Curling Club president Jack Holden poses with the club's failing ice-making plant, one of the reasons taxpayers are being asked for permission to borrow up to $1.9 million.

image credit: Scott Stanfield

The regional district board has given the green light to an alternate approval process (AAP) to determine if it is to borrow $1.9 million to renovate the aging curling facility at the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds.

Pending consent of the electorate, the Comox Valley Curling Club will contribute $100,000 to the project. An engineering study recommends replacing the slab and ice plant, upgrading electrical wiring, and insulating the walls. Seismic upgrades are also needed.

"The main goal is to keep curling going in the Valley, and continue providing a service," club president Jack Holden said. "We've put a lot of money into it (over the years)."

The rink was built in the late-1950s with additions constructed around 1972 and 1988. The club is committed to raising funds by way of bottle drives, auctions and garage sales "to put more into the pot," Holden said.

He notes a public misconception that assumes curlers own the building at Headquarters Road. The club is, in fact, under a lease agreement with the Comox Valley Regional District.

"It's the taxpayers' facility," Holden said. "We just rent it, and provide a service to the region to operate it. The curlers pay rent, plus we pay 100 per cent of the operating costs, and quite a bit of capital repairs."

Other costs include building insurance and employee wages.

In the off-season, the club rents the facility to MusicFest, the Newcomers Club and other user groups. It also provides ice for Special Olympics.

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Funding proposal to repair Comox Valley curling building to next phase

Homebuyers who buy an older home or foreclosure often are frustrated by the difficulty of financing needed repairs and renovations. But a Federal Housing Administration home loan program offers some help.

A Section 203(k) loan allows borrowers to wrap the cost of repairs and improvements into a single mortgage.

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"We've seen tremendous growth in the use of these loans across the country, especially in areas where the housing stock is old and needs repairs or when people are buying foreclosures and short sales," says Stephen Adamo, president of Weichert Financial Services in Morris Plains, N.J.

The 203(k) loan is a boon for cash-strapped homeowners who either cannot or do not want to tap their home equity. It also offers an alternative to borrowers struggling to find other sources of financing.

"This is a great loan product because it can be very hard to find a construction or rehabilitation loan these days," Adamo says.

There are two types of 203(k) loans. The first, and more common, loan is known as a Streamline 203(k) and is restricted to repairs or improvements that total $35,000 or less.

The second type of 203(k) loan applies to improvements costing more than $35,000.

More here:
FHA Mortgage Loan Funds Renovations

A security review has a local hospital working to close the door on people who might be looking to cause problems at the facility.

Starting Monday, March 17, Topeka's Stormont-Vail HealthCare will close some entrances early and add extra precautions at others.

Marketing director Nancy Burkhardt says, while there have not been any specific major incidents with unknown individuals gaining access to the facility, an evaluation found a lot of access points that were not necessarily secured. She says that left the door open to not having the best possible grasp about who might be coming and going from the facility. She says the new restrictions will allow Stormont to minimize the number of access points, thereby improving safety for patients, visitors and staff.

Starting Monday, the North Tower main entrance will be the only hospital entry open to the public around the clock. Burkhardt says this entrance was the logical choice for maximum access since it is adjacent to the facility's parking garage at SW 9th and Garfield.

The emergency room entrance will remain open 24/7 for ER patients and visitors, but will not provide an access to other areas of the hospital.

The South Tower and Surgery entrances, which currently are open until 9 p.m., will close at 6 p.m. In addition, the Pozez Education Center doors will become an entrance for staff only. Burkhardt says guests attending events, classes or other gatherings at Pozez are instructed to park in the parking garage anyway, so entering through the North Tower main entrance and following signs to Pozez will add little, if any, walking distance in addition to minimizing the need to walk outdoors in inclement weather.

For added safety, visitors at the main entrance after 9 p.m. will be required to show photo identification.

"We looked at what entrances are closest to the services we offer," Burkhard said. "What makes it most convenient and safest to patients and visitors and staff."

In addition, doors previously unsecured have new, keycard access installed for staff and additional security camera monitoring. Even with those additions, Burkhardt says, staff also will be required to use the main entrance after 9 p.m. because it is considered the safest entry with the best lighting.

In another step, Stormont now has an armed security officer stationed in its emergency department. Burkhardt says that as patient volumes have increased through the facility's Trauma Center, administrators felt it was time to make the shift.

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Security Review Prompts Shift In Public Entrances At Stormont-Vail

WESTBROOK - In the proposed town government budget the selectmen adopted in a 2-1 vote last week, town spending would rise by 4.1 percent to $8,341,097 and annual town debt payments by $63,451 or 2.5 percent. The proposal also funds requested additions to some town staff members' hours and several new positions.

"People-town staff, chairs of town board and commissions-were all very much engaged in the entire budget process," said First Selectman Noel Bishop.

The combined budget of town government and debt service payments would rise to $10,921,149 from $10,525,423 in the current year, an overall town budget increase of $395,726 or 3.8 percent.

Had the original requests from town staff and board and commission chairs all been granted, it would have meant a 5.5 percent increase in non-personnel accounts. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) in a memo told these spending units that the non-personnel spending increase target was three percent and asked each unit to suggest 2.75 percent in specific cuts from their budgets.

"This year we used three-year trend line spending reports to guide our decision-making," said Bishop.

The reports allowed the selectmen to identify which town spending units didn't spend their appropriations fully over the past few years or whose spending fluctuated.

Selectman Chris Ehlert had a different view of the budget process that the Board of Selectmen followed to arrive at a final number this year.

"This was the most convoluted and haphazard budget process I've participated in as an elected town official," said Ehlert. "I couldn't support the budget because of the process by which the BOS arrived at the final budget number. It was misleading to town department heads and chairs of boards and commissions."

Ehlert, a Democrat, voted against the proposed town budget. Republicans Bishop and Selectman John Hall III voted to approve it.

"We're still not looking as selectmen at saving money in the budget by exploring shared services with the Board of Education, by bidding out our contracts for oil and electricity, or cutting the $75,000 town contingency account, which I view as a slush fund," said Ehlert. "I believe we could have gotten to a three percent increase without reducing town services."

See the article here:
Selectmen Send 4.1% Budget Request Forward

HOARDER: Nick with his beer cans.

COLLECTAHOLICS BBC2, 8pm

NICK has spent 38 years amassing an astonishing collection that most people would consider plain rubbish. Not the election manifestos of the Liberal Democrats, rather the 7,000 British beer cans that line his walls like modern art, all housed in a carefully-controlled setting, with the curtains closed and temperature maintained. Whether he's receiving medical attention is unclear.

Long-suffering wife Deborah has done her best to confine the cans to a single room, but Nick shows no sign of giving up his passion anytime soon. With no space left for new additions, can presenter Mel Giedroyc and antiques expert Mark Hill help the couple find a solution? And how much is skip hire these days?

Elsewhere, Stuart's love of all things railway has led to him building a lifesize 1950s railway station in his back garden to house his 1,000-piece collection of signs. We've all done it.

But Stuart's passion doesn't stop there. He has not one, but three huge collections. As well as his railway hoard, he has 'petroliana' (signs and equipment from petrol stations) in the garage, and an entire street of Victorian shops in his attic to house his 6,000 items of ancient packaging.

Read more from the original source:
The Sentinel published TV preview: Collectaholics

DEMAREST Security measures have been beefed up at five Demarest schools, thanks to a new emergency radio network.

The system has created a broad communication network that can be used by school and law enforcement to better manage emergencies in the borough and in schools, said Police Chief James Powderley.

The system allows police to communicate directly with school officials during a crisis. Users of the system also will be able to communicate with other schools that have the system.

Currently, five schools and two administrative buildings in the borough are equipped with the system. The network will be monitored by the County Communications Center in Mahwah, which is responsible for handling the dispatch of county support services. The radios, which cost roughly $1,800 each, are equipped with panic buttons and GPS tracking.

Demarest has not had a history of violent incidents in schools. But police as well as school officials were eager to take a proactive approach, particularly in light of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre and other tragic incidents in schools and public places in recent years.

The schools already are armed with cameras, security guards and monitors. But the radios offer quicker and more efficient assistance.

If a security guard or staff member spies a suspicious-looking person, they can call over the radio to dispatch and immediately report the incident to get help, said Powderley. The officers on route could even talk to school staff to find out where the person in question is. That is much quicker than calling 911, which puts the caller through to a call center, which might be several towns away. This brings us on the same page as the folks in the school building trying to manage the crisis, said Powderley. We can now communicate easier and react quicker.

The newly installed system proved itself Monday morning during a crisis at the Academy of Holy Angels, in which two students passed out in two separate areas of the building within moments of each other around 9:30 a.m.. Staff called in on the new radios, after the first student became unconscious and help was dispatched immediately. Another call was placed when the second student passed out.

Having these radios and being able to communicate directly with the school allowed us to quickly find the students, and determine it was a coincidence, Powderley said. We were able to eliminate the down time. The radio system eliminated much of the confusion that would have transpired had they called 911 twice about a student passing out, he said.

Jean Mullooly, dean of Students at the Academy of Holy Angels, added, They got here so quickly. An officer was right here within a few minutes. Had we needed to, we could have spoken to the officer while he was on his way. The girls were transported to area hospitals and were released several hours later to their families.

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Montclair's first-ever Ladies Night Out this Friday

A preliminary draft of the Glen Rock school district's 2014-15 budget will be presented at the Monday, March 10 Board of Education (BOE) meeting. A public hearing on the final budget proposal is scheduled for May 5, according to BOE fiscal management chair Carlo Cella III.

The last piece needed to complete the tentative budget document materialized on Thursday, Feb. 27, as the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) announced its 2014-15 state aid grants to all school districts.

Glen Rock will receive general fund aid totaling $1,065,353, an increase of $54,875, or 5.43 percent, from last year's award. Debt service aid came in at $682,918, edging last year's amount by $3,209 (0.47 percent).

At the Feb. 24 BOE meeting, Cella expressed confidence that the new budget would meet the board's goal of topping out below the state-mandated 2 percent cap, but noted that much would depend upon the state aid, which had been expected to mirror last year's grants.

"You never really know until the governor sings," he quipped at the session.

The subsequent aid announcement at midweek provided positive news, as business administrator/board secretary Michael Rinderknecht plugged the numbers into the tentative document in time for the Monday night presentation.

While providing no numbers pending the meeting, Cella offered several "highlights" during his Feb. 24 committee report. In addition to observing the cap, thus removing the need for a public vote, he said the budget would have no negative impact on current instruction and programming, and that it would provide for school staff additions. He also cited significant allowances for district technology upgrades and ongoing school security enhancements, as those initiatives continue.

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Glen Rock school board to present first draft of budget

TAMPA A day after Gov. Rick Scott made a $194 million pledge to help pay for the biggest expansion in Tampa International Airport history, the board that governs the airport cut its first big check for the project.

The Hillsborough County Aviation Authority voted Thursday to pay Austin Commercial up to $29.9 million to design and oversee construction of the newest additions to the airport.

The board approved nearly $1billion in new construction in April, then voted in December to hire the Texas firm to design and build the project by 2017. Austin will get $27.1 million for the job and can be reimbursed up to $2.8million for expenses.

Austin pledged to hire Tampa Bay workers and firms, something Hillsborough Commissioner Victor Crist, who is on the board, said he will keep an eye on.

"I'm going to be watching you closely," Crist said. "If you don't make me happy, I won't make you happy later."

The plan calls for the airport to build the Tampa Gateway Center, a five-story, 2.3 million-square-foot car rental and retail facility south of the main terminal, by the economy parking garage. The new building will be connected to the terminal by a 1.3-mile people mover. The purpose of the new building is to move the car rental counters and cars out of the main terminal, freeing up space to expand the terminal in the future.

The total cost of the project is expected to be $943 million. Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he's earmarked 21 percent of that cost $194 million in his next transportation budget, which has to be approved by the legislature. The airport will finance the rest.

The airport will pay for the rest of the $749 million cost of the project with bonds. On Thursday, it voted to approve new car rental fees to help finance some of that debt.

The board raised a rental car fee and approved a new fee. It voted to double its customer facility charge, or CFC, fee for each vehicle rented at the airport from $2.50 to $5 per day.

It also voted to institute a new fee, a transportation facility charge, or TFC, of $2 that will be charged for each off-airport rental per day. The new fee will be a condition imposed on rental companies that do business with the airport but are based off-site.

Original post:
Tampa International Airport cuts first $29.9 million check for expansion

JULIAN WYLLIE | Columnist

President James Danko may not want to admit this, but he is a businessman.

Should students be worried or concerned, frightened or skeptical?

Yes, they should, but not for reasons that you think.

Students should question if Butlers leader is considering their opinions when the university decides to make drastic changes.

In 10 to 15 years, Danko wants students to look back and believe their degrees are more prestigious and nationally recognized.

We need to make sure that we are up there with the other well-known, residential, private universities, Danko said.

Danko said that elite class of universities includes Georgetown, Wake Forest and Villanova.

Achieving this will not be easy, and students will experience growing pains as the university continues to make changes.

I think there will be inconveniences when new construction breaks ground in the coming months. I expect the cost of attending Butler University will also have to rise to fund any additions to campus.

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Students should challenge Danko