POLO PARK HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATION
426 Polo Park Blvd. Davenport, FL 33897
863-420-1591
Polo Park Homeowners meeting for April 8,
2024
Attendance: Daniel Basham
(President), Mike Wright (Vice-President) by telephone, Linda Bailey
(Secretary), Marianne Helmprecht (Treasurer), Jeff Polston (Director), Linda
Sheerin (Director), Scott Rapp (Director)
Absent:
no one
Pledge of Allegiance was
led by Daniel Basham
Prayer was led by Richard
Ackerman
Secretary Report by
Linda Bailey
Motion to accept the minutes from March 11, 2024 by
Linda Bailey. Linda Sheerin asked if the
minutes from last month had been printed after she had informed the minute
taker, Wendy Mudd, of the errors. Wendy
answered that the changes were minimal.
They will be printed with the minor changes made and handed to the
office for filing. Linda Sheerin, also,
asked about the balance in the Treasurer’s Report from last month claiming that
there were incorrect numbers reported.
Marianne and Linda S discussed the discrepancies on the Treasurer’s
Report from last month. Marianne
reported that she would look into it when she got back to the office.
Daniel Basham asked if we could get a second to accept
the minutes pending the corrections that Linda S and Marianne were discussing. Linda Sheerin suggested to table the minutes
and Treasurer’s Report until the next meeting.
Daniel Basham agreed and asked Marianne to take care of the Treasurer’s
Report for next meeting.
Activities Reports
Golf by Linda Bailey
for Mike Wright
The golf committee plans to take the money that they
have earned through activities and purchase forks for the tractor. This will help move the mulch and rocks and
other items around easier. It will cost
$990.50.
Buildings and grounds
by Scott Rapp
The items under discussion are in New Business and
will be discussed then.
Architectural Review Committee (ARC)
by Linda Sheerin
There were 18 forms from residents requesting
permission to do some work. All were approved. We’re still working on the house on Jackson
Park Ave with the concrete yard. We’re
still trying to get the county to address the situation. Mike Wright spoke on the subject saying that
the concrete falls in golf course grounds.
Mike has talked to Mr. Jarvis from the county about it and Mr. Jarvis is
not interested in doing anything about the concrete and has informed us that
it’s up to golf course. Linda S disagrees
saying that the concrete is on common grounds.
Mike explains that 16 feet of the concrete has touched the common
grounds for the last 24 years, and that it became the owner’s property after 7
years. It doesn’t have to be on title. Linda S. disagrees and says to talk to the
lawyer about it. Linda S. states that she has presented the situation to
ARC. She will be forwarding to Mike
Wright what she has received from the county about the concrete on this
property.
Daniel Basham suggest that the meeting move on.
Pools by Marianne Helmprecht
Marianne informed us that we have a quote to resurface
the Boulevard Clubhouse pool from Hallmark Pools for $45,917.82. There are voids in the fiberglass. Marianne had asked about changing the rise of
the steps from 10 inches to 8 inches.
She was told the cost of the change would be $16,900 as the pool would
need to be restructured. The cost to
convert the pool to become a salt water pool would be $18,350. Jim Valentine is getting two more quotes on
resurfacing the pools and Mary Dolan is getting two more quotes on converting
the pool to salt water. The sling backs
for the chairs need to be replaced. Fred
and Rich would replace them. That would
cost about $1,300 which would come out of the Pool Committee fund. Linda S asks how much was in the reserves for
resurfacing the pool. Marianne answered
that there will be about $86,000 once we transfer $100,000 into the pool fund. We knew that we needed to do the Boulevard pool. There will be enough money in reserves to do
that pool.
CERTS by Linda Bailey
Linda B. asked if Dick Hamilton was available to
speak. Dick is in charge of CERTS and
told us a bit about CERTS. CERTS stands
for Community Emergency Response Team.
If there was an emergency in Polo Park, they would check on the residents
of the whole park to make sure that they were safe. If someone needed to go to the hospital, they
would do that. We had a CERTS team
register at the 24th CERTS convention in Bartow. Our CERTS team recognized someone who took
care of most of our work. She did the CPR
work and the smoke detectors for 2 years. There were about 200 smoke detectors that were
put in the homes within Polo Park. Dick formerly
recognized Chris Mazzeo for all her work.
She also keeps the CERTS running properly. Jeff asked Dick how long does it take to
check up on everyone in the park. Jeff
asked if a drone would help to check on the residents? Dick answered that he was looking into
getting a drone for the area. He was
looking into how much drones cost and knows there are a few people in the park
who have and know how to run a drone. He
thought drones would be a very big help and suggested that there may be times
when a car or golfcart wouldn’t be able to get to someone’s home in an
emergency. There will be a drill on the
19th of this month to go around with golf carts and practice for an
emergency situation.
CAP Committee by
Linda Bailey
Linda reported that they are still waiting for the
permits for the flock cameras. She
reported that the CAP group requested that people slowdown in the park and stop
at the stop signs. Follow the rules.
Rules and Regulations Committee by
Linda Sheerin
Linda S. reported that there were 12 letters sent out
to homeowners. Eight of the letters were
responded to and the items in question were fixed. Three letters will go to the fining committee
labelled A, B and C. Home A has a child
living in the home. Home B needs to clean
the trim on the house. Home C needs to
repaint the house trim and clean the bricks around the flower beds. Linda S. asked the board to vote on whether
these homes would be sent to fining.
Daniel made the motion to pass the letters to the fining committee;
Marianne H. seconded the motion. Jeff asked
if home A is the same house we have been dealing with for 4 years. Jeff would like to hold off on home C and
offer his personal help to take care of the items listed on their letter. Daniel made a new motion to send the letters
for home A and home B to go to the fining committee; Marianne seconded the
motion. The letter for home C will be
held for a month to allow Jeff time to see if he can deal with the issues. Daniel asked for a vote. All voted yes.
Standing Fines Committee by
Linda Sheerin
Linda S. informed us that the committee met on March 2nd. There was one fine for a home on Menlo and
that has been put thru.
Veterans Committee by
Sam Harris
Sam reported that the Dime to Donate event raised over
$3,200 of which 10% goes to the Veterans Committee. Sam thanked everyone for their
participation. The committee would like
to expand this fundraiser to other restaurants in the area. Good turnout for the dedication ceremony for
the memorial benches for the Franklin family.
Sam informed everyone that the committee has 8 by 8 bricks for sale at
$55.00 and 4 by 8 bricks for sale at $35.00. The committee also has 3 by 5
embroidered American flags for sale. No
money is made off of the sale of bricks or flags, the committee sells them as a
service to the community. Contact Sam
for either a brick or flag.
Old Business
Marianne Helmprecht informed everyone that at the Challenger
Clubhouse pool, some of the grout was chipping off. Ryan from Hallmark Pools has been called. Ryan said that it will be calked. Jeff thinks a young guest at the park was
picking at it.
Office space for HR and lawyer meetings. Linda Bailey informed us that the room is a
little small. Some of the shelves need
to go to make room for the 7 people that need to meet there. Linda B. will talk to Richard and Fred to see
about removing the shelves.
Audit Committee. Jeff Polston informed us of the meeting last
week. There are about 10 people on the
committee headed by Joan Henne and Carolyn Auten. We have had good results in the way of some
savings from emergency telephones at each pool.
They are checking to see if we are required to have the phones there.
Compliance Committee.
Jeff informed us that the compliance
committee is also called the document committee. Richard will head the committee. They will need 3 or 4 people for each
document. Jeff informed us that the
members will go through each document and start at the committee level at the
formation. They will need 8 to 10
members.
Swale progress. Scott Rapp has been answering questions about
the swales. He will answer questions on the
phone and/or come to your home to discuss the swales with you. He then told everyone that the work is on its
way down Tivoli. After Tivoli is
completed, work will continue down Challenger.
They have no time tables on how long it was going to take. Probably won’t be out of here for at least 6
weeks.
Sargeant at Arms/timekeeper. Daniel Basham informed us that currently there
is no volunteer for Sergeant at Arms. The
timekeeper is Rod Gustavson.
New Business
Moving funds to receive better interest
rates. Marianne asked
Linda S and Jeff if they got anything in writing from Fifth/Third. The answer was no. Jeff said he had it in writing and will give
the letter to Marianne. Daniel asked if Fifth/Third
was the only bank we had contact with.
Jeff answered that Tony had contacted PNC bank. Jeff felt that Fifth/Third had some better
ideas.
Quick Books was
updated to 2024 Marianne informed us.
Linda S. discussed why the change was necessary. Jeff asked if there was a training module. Marianne said she would look into it. Annette Angelo offered to help with Quick Books.
Question and Suggestion box. Linda B and Linda S. offered the Q/S box as a
solution to the questions or suggestions that come up at meetings so they can
be addressed at the next meeting. Linda
S suggested that a name and phone number to be written on each suggestion so
that a response could be made. Linda S.
also suggested that a question or suggestion could be addressed to anyone on
the board. She said that it was for
everything. Linda B will check it once a
week and divvy them out and everyone will help to answer the queries.
Hiring of Oscar for
the care of the HOA common grounds. Jeff
asked Tony for an update. Tony Mahoney
informed us that our superintendent has a valid license until 2026. The assistant superintendent has materials to
train on and he is taking CEU courses.
He will be taking his core exam and his ornamental and turf exam. Jeff asked for a price that is current. Scott Rapp has a rate for Oscar which is $1,700
per month based on a year contract for all the common areas. This was based on 40 to 42 cuttings a year
which included all trimming, weed-whacking and blowing the areas clear of
debris. Mowed weekly between April and
October and monthly in November to March.
Weed control and weed-whacker will be done as needed. We’re not using our equipment when Oscar is
mowing. He fixes his own equipment. As it stands now, our common area mower will
need to be replaced. This could cost
anywhere from $6,000 to $7,000. Linda S.
asked who is rewriting Butch’s job description.
Scott Rapp said that most of Butch’s hours will be on the golf
course. He will have a job
description. Jeff questioned if flowers could
be planted. Jenny Knaub would like to
propose flowers be placed at the front of the community. Jenny would lead the committee for
flowers. Pat Hess stated that they have
tried that before. With the number of snowbirds, it’s hard to keep them
growing. There are no sprinklers at the
front section. Shirley Hosner stated
another reason for no flowers and that is we don’t know if the islands that are
present on the drive in will remain. They
do not belong to our community. Daniel suggested
that the brick walls that have the Polo Park signs would be a nice place for
flowers. He would be willing to work
along with whom every would like to be on the gardening committee. Jenny Knaub would be the chair. Motion made by Scott Rapp to approve the
contract for Oscar to take care of the common grounds at a rate of $1,700 per
month as of May 1st, 2024. He
needs to hire more people. Linda S
seconded the motion. Jeff asked who will
Oscar be reporting to. Scott Rapp said
Oscar would report to him. All were in
favor. Motion carried.
Solar panels for Gator Pond. Scott Rapp discussed having stand-alone solar
power panels (2) to run the fountain in the gator pond. Scott told us that we would break even after
a year. Bob asked if the pump would run
at night. Scott answered that no, the
fountain would run only in the day.
Batteries would last about 15 years.
Linda S asked where would the panels stand. Scott answered on common ground. Gary Mrowka and Scott would be directing Rick
were to put them. Scott said the final
resting position would depend on where they find the best location. Solar panels cost about $920. Preferred solar panels are $1,200. One year of electricity is $1,251. It would be in the second year where we start
to see our savings. Gary believes that
the batteries would last 25 years. Scott
said the batteries would last 15 years.
Mike Wright asked if there would be something to block any golf balls
from hitting it. Gary answered that we
would have to consider the orientation of the solar panels. Jeff stated that the panels could be put
placed out of the way of flying balls. Gary
indicated that the bill for one meter for one year was $2,198. Gary then went into the details about the
cost of the electricity. He also
discussed the floating fountains. Cables
are already placed to keep the fountains in place. Paul Helmstetter told us that the specs needed
to go the engineering committee. He
indicated that there was something wrong with the numbers. Jeff made a motion to table this until we
have more information; Marianne seconded it.
All were in favor to table the solar panels.
Activity events
by Linda Bailey
Hot dogs ending on April 16th
Coffee, donuts and chat are ending on April 9th
Ham and cheese luncheon on April 10th
Ladies luncheon on May 8th
AARP is ending on Wednesday, April 10th
Sunday funday golf April 21at 3:00 p.m.
Painting with Cece on April
25th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Census report. Linda Sheerin reported that 489 homes have
reported which is 68% of the park. There
are 824 persons living in Polo Park. So,
the census for the reports that have been sent in are as follows. The median age is 72. There are 25 persons renting in 18
homes. Single home dwellers – 182. We have 280 golf carts for the 489
homes. Of the 824 persons, only 242 are
snowbirds. Twelve people didn’t want to
report their age. There are 21 persons
over 90. There are 203 persons over 80. There are 330 persons over 70. There are 190 persons over 60. There are 44
persons between 55 and 59. There are 25
persons under 55.
Paul Helmstetter said that the census one thing we
have to do. We have to prove that we
have 80% of our homes are occupied by those over 55.
Open forum
Pat Hess complimented the work of the swale project as
the flow of water looks much better.
Scott Rapp reported that the county is going to clean
out all the pipes that go to the ponds.
Bob Oliveira wanted to thank Mike for the lock
box. Bob wants to remind people to move
the numbers on the locks so they are not obvious. He, also, said that sometimes it looked like
some of the members of the board were trying to call out the other members on
the board to embarrass them.
Marianne reported that emergency phones are not needed
at the pool. The only time we need a
phone is if we have a life guard.
Annette Angelo questioned not needing a phone at the
pool. It doesn’t make sense not to have
a phone without a life guard.
Rod Gustavson doesn’t want to get rid of the emergency
phone. It’s needed for safety. Jeff said that many people brought their
phones to the pool. Jimmy Angelo suggested
that not many people brought their phone to the pool. Scott suggested to use an old phone and plug
it in the available phone box. Gary Mrowka
has a letter saying that the rule in Florida is that we don’t need a phone at
the pool but we have a cell phone in the box right now. Gary Mrowka and a small committee said that tomorrow
they will meet about the phone service we have at the park.
President’s message
Daniel Basham asked for people to stay and return the room
to the way it was before.
Tammy asked for bakers for the next meeting.
Motion to adjourn was made by Jeff; seconded by
Marianne. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned.