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Friday, December 20, 2019
Tree Committee
November meeting minutes...Someone really busy writing complaints. Merry Christmas to the 60 members who will soon get their "priority" violation letters. Click on each page to enlarge:
15 comments:
Steve Cox
said...
This is SICK !! There is a desperate need for the BOT to set specific limits on how many complaints one individual can file at a time, and a limit on the annual submission by one individual. Clancy has apparently been doing this for several years, and has escalated his practice of this this year, the rumor earlier this year was that he had submitted about a hundred himself.
Now, obviously, there are others, almost certainly on the Tree Comm., doing the same thing. The HOA has indicated that they want to switch from a "Complaint-driven" system, to a "Proactive" one, whatever that is. There have been murmurings of Reber wanting to hire 2 Compliance Officers. That is a massive increase in cost for the membership.
What we know now, is that Clancy and a couple of others have done the same thing with lighting, having turned in at once, at least 50 lighting complaints. All of this is intended to give the appearance of a compliance crisis. No one writing these complaints has determined that these residences are non-compliant. They are simply making a list of addresses and filing dozens of complaints to force inspections of these properties.
Unfortunately, people have unwittingly brought this on by griping about the "Complaint System", which has historically been an honor system, allowing for owners to solicit the HOA to help them resolve issues that they have not been able to resolve with their neighbors. This has never been a burdensome program, as most folks can negotiate simple issues with their neighbors.
Mr. Reber, who was hired in part to be a Water Dept. manager, is not qualified to do so, and is not properly accredited to do so. But he has decided that in the absence of a Compliance Officer, he will become the new Compliance Czar, and hire his own little dept. of Compliance Nazis.
This is getting ugly folks. This needs to be stopped, and the political willpower of this community is relatively non-existent. That means we're all in for the Reber Nazi driven Police State - SURFSIDE !! Makes ya proud doesn't it ? Our dues and assessments can be pissed away on this intrusive crap that will make you feel like people are searching your property day and night for compliance issues.
This is part of why Reber had 3 different explanations for where the lighting complaints came from. I think we have to assume that Clancy is a party in this as well. The Board is complicit by allowing it to continue year after year on the Trees. owners are going to have to get vocal about this, because this will make this a very undesirable community in short order.
Well said Steve. If these jerks want the attention of the community, they will get it with all the complaint letters. I hope they write hundreds more. Maybe the members will finally have had enough of this elitist gang. These fools are destroying the kingdom they are trying to preserve. Flood had it right when he said this is a concentration camp. That kind of fits in with your narrative.
Reber needs to hire someone to manage the water department. He sure can't do it. They need to dump him and make Kimber the Office Manager. She knows more than Reber. Kimber and Heidi with one part time help can take care of things just fine. April can manage the water department.
Dear tree committee, The board does not approve your committee minutes. The board accepts your committee report and it can or can not include the committee minutes.
Your minutes are the same as all the other committee minutes. The committee members approve the minutes after they have reviewed them and vote to make them final.
You have been making this basic error for several years.
My husband and I have been concerned when we started seeing trees being cut down this past year. We never had any idea there were 214 complaints filed! According to the minutes the board reduced the time from notice of non-compliance down to 6 months before the issue is sent to the lawyer! That seems like it’s going to result in paying more legal fees, but I may be wrong Something is out of balance here for sure. In a time of concern about our environment and our area is cutting down entire lots of trees, this seems illogical.
So 8:49, what makes you think Kimber will take the office manager job if offered? What makes you think April will take the water system manager if offered. Right now James Clancy is the de facto water system manager. He should be able to chase off all of the crew in short order. Reber is not going to assert himself in any way. You may want to attend the next water committee meeting. James the peacock Clancy should be in full plumage for your entertainment.
Are you aware that the reduction to 6 months is only for those cases where the person who gets a complaint notice doesn't or refuses to respond to it? If you do respond in a timely manner with a plan you can have longer than six months and the lawyer doesn't get involved.
It is illogical JoAnne. Those with J Place addresses need to pay an additional, say $40, a year in dues & assessments for a Tree Maintenance, Replacement & Planting Fund. This fund would help pay for trimming, topping, replacing, or planting trees that grow to heights which protect their views per the CC&R. The details could be worked out.
Interesting point! I wouldn’t think they (realtors) would want to tie up their transactions with more paperwork! In our experience with buying and selling in HOAs, the only needed information at closing is the status of the dues and assessments! I certainly have never heard of this previously. The compliance issue should only be between the buyer and seller if they want to pursue the covenants they can on their own time! This just seems like involving more parties into something that isn’t that important. Someone else to do the dirty work!
10:46 ---What escapes your understanding is, it is not MY hate but the establishment's that is driving this madness. You are missing the point. There has NOT been a community-wide explosion of non-compliance.
Annually, the community has fielded less than 150 complaints in total in 2017 and 2018, even with Clancy increasing his practice of loading the docket with Tree complaints (to about 100). His practice has been ramped-up, as Peg Olds has eagerly embraced her role as Tree /Chair, and where tree complaints have been slightly more than 100 the previous years, this year we have about 275. Lighting complaints have been around a dozen or fewer annually in 2017 and 2018.
Much of the year the community only has a few hundred fulltime residents, and a large percentage of part-timers do not have night lights that shine in their absence. During the holidays there will surely be a bit of a jump in visits, but drive around the community well after dark here say in mid January to early March, and you will see a very dark community.
Many homes have a main front door light that is an area light in modest wattage, and may have another accent light somewhere, or a motion-detecting light somewhere on their home. What we hear is that the detectors tend to malfunction and aren't worth the trouble. There's an informative comment I've seen by a long term owner, and they outline how damaging the weather is to metal lights and recommend plastic if it can be found.
The point is, what do owners need, and what is most practical in this marine environment, and not "what do they do in expensive gated communities on Bainbridge Island and in Sedona Arizona ?"
Prior to Mr. Reber's arrival, the office Manager Laura Frasier, managed the office AND handled compliance in the community. Except for Clancy's fake complaints, the system was not burdened by hundreds of bogus complaints, and with Larry Raymer handling enforcement, there were not dozens of tree owners being fined and threatened with legal consequences.
Reber wants to hire 2 compliance officers, which along with greatly increased legal spending, wages and benefits for Reber and his police force become a massive increase in spending on enforcement. When I refer to a "Nazi Police State" I'm talking about a ridiculous concept of who lives in Surfside and a perversion of what Surfside has been and wants to be. This is not a heavily populated urban area full of people trying to get away with serious violations.
Most who own here will return each time, expecting the same quiet peaceful natural area to recreate and relax. It's great if the door latch still works and the light fixture is still hanging on the wall, in spite of the relentless corrosion and rust. The less things needed to be fixed each year, the more time to have fun.
This whole "proactive" enforcement attitude as outlined by the HOA president is a fancy way of saying "police state". We do not have a compliance emergency in Surfside, and for at least half of the year, the community is sparsely populated. Neighborly issues like lights can easily be negotiated by neighbors in most cases, and have been since the community began. HATE you say ? "Proactive enforcement" will take this sleepy little community and make it an angry community of conflict, over imaginary "issues" like lights that don't observe property lines.
The HOA is obligated to field owner complaints, and that has been a practical and manageable approach, without great expense. No matter what the HOA tells you, complaints will still be taken and investigated. But this is something the BOT needs to act on, by setting specific limits as to how many and how frequent any one individual can submit COMPLAINTS. And we don't need Reber's Gestapo and the HATE and expense it brings with it.
In case you haven't notice, we are being victimized by an unscrupulous board who is pursuing their own special interests. The Nazi references are way too relevant in way too many places. You don't wanna see references of this type, go take Clancy's pad away.
A couple of notes on "James". Who was the person who negotiated the contract for the water building that was built on wetlands and has cost us about $30k so far? Who was the person who directed that the RV lot funds not be put into its own account, but put into the General Fund for use to oh say pay fines? Who let several contracts for the RV and Compactor lots only to have them discarded or unusable due to time constraints ($30 to 45K)? Now he wants to take over the water department. My guess is so he can impose water fees. As far as Mr. Reber, he has yet to obtain the proper state certifications to even work on the water team doing labor. It is a long way to becoming the water manager. In fact, one of the water employees relates that to become "thewater manager", he actually has to spend a large amount of time at the water plant, working the plant. How does that fit in with his office duties? Who came up with the idea that just to pay him for two managerial positions that he would ever be qualified or work either one simultaneously? One job, one pay scale. On another post, looking at BOT transparency, do you think you are going to effect the new lighting covenant because it is actually being acknowledged? The Board has already passed it without our knowledge. How else would they want to enforce it already or accept all the new complaints?
15 comments:
This is SICK !! There is a desperate need for the BOT to set specific limits on how many complaints one individual can file at a time, and a limit on the annual submission by one individual. Clancy has apparently been doing this for several years, and has escalated his practice of this this year, the rumor earlier this year was that he had submitted about a hundred himself.
Now, obviously, there are others, almost certainly on the Tree Comm., doing the same thing. The HOA has indicated that they want to switch from a "Complaint-driven" system, to a "Proactive" one, whatever that is. There have been murmurings of Reber wanting to hire 2 Compliance Officers. That is a massive increase in cost for the membership.
What we know now, is that Clancy and a couple of others have done the same thing with lighting, having turned in at once, at least 50 lighting complaints. All of this is intended to give the appearance of a compliance crisis. No one writing these complaints has determined that these residences are non-compliant. They are simply making a list of addresses and filing dozens of complaints to force inspections of these properties.
Unfortunately, people have unwittingly brought this on by griping about the "Complaint System", which has historically been an honor system, allowing for owners to solicit the HOA to help them resolve issues that they have not been able to resolve with their neighbors. This has never been a burdensome program, as most folks can negotiate simple issues with their neighbors.
Mr. Reber, who was hired in part to be a Water Dept. manager, is not qualified to do so, and is not properly accredited to do so. But he has decided that in the absence of a Compliance Officer, he will become the new Compliance Czar, and hire his own little dept. of Compliance Nazis.
This is getting ugly folks. This needs to be stopped, and the political willpower of this community is relatively non-existent. That means we're all in for the Reber Nazi driven Police State - SURFSIDE !! Makes ya proud doesn't it ? Our dues and assessments can be pissed away on this intrusive crap that will make you feel like people are searching your property day and night for compliance issues.
This is part of why Reber had 3 different explanations for where the lighting complaints came from. I think we have to assume that Clancy is a party in this as well. The Board is complicit by allowing it to continue year after year on the Trees. owners are going to have to get vocal about this, because this will make this a very undesirable community in short order.
Well said Steve. If these jerks want the attention of the community, they will get it with all the complaint letters. I hope they write hundreds more. Maybe the members will finally have had enough of this elitist gang. These fools are destroying the kingdom they are trying to preserve. Flood had it right when he said this is a concentration camp. That kind of fits in with your narrative.
Reber needs to hire someone to manage the water department. He sure can't do it. They need to dump him and make Kimber the Office Manager. She knows more than Reber. Kimber and Heidi with one part time help can take care of things just fine.
April can manage the water department.
Dear tree committee,
The board does not approve your committee minutes. The board accepts your committee report and it can or can not include the committee minutes.
Your minutes are the same as all the other committee minutes. The committee members approve the minutes after they have reviewed them and vote to make them final.
You have been making this basic error for several years.
My husband and I have been concerned when we started seeing trees being cut down this past year. We never had any idea there were 214 complaints filed! According to the minutes the board reduced the time from notice of non-compliance down to 6 months before the issue is sent to the lawyer! That seems like it’s going to result in paying more legal fees, but I may be wrong
Something is out of balance here for sure. In a time of concern about our environment and our area is cutting down entire lots of trees, this seems illogical.
So 8:49, what makes you think Kimber will take the office manager job if offered? What makes you think April will take the water system manager if offered. Right now James Clancy is the de facto water system manager. He should be able to chase off all of the crew in short order. Reber is not going to assert himself in any way. You may want to attend the next water committee meeting. James the peacock Clancy should be in full plumage for your entertainment.
JoAnne:
Are you aware that the reduction to 6 months is only for those cases where the person who gets a complaint notice doesn't or refuses to respond to it? If you do respond in a timely manner with a plan you can have longer than six months and the lawyer doesn't get involved.
Yes I just didn’t write it completely. My mistake, thanks
It is illogical JoAnne.
Those with J Place addresses need to pay an additional, say $40, a year in dues & assessments for a Tree Maintenance, Replacement & Planting Fund. This fund would help pay for trimming, topping, replacing, or planting trees that grow to heights which protect their views per the CC&R.
The details could be worked out.
Mr Cox, referring to surfside members of this HOA as nazis is totally uncalled for. you show how much you really hate.
Anyone wonder if tree n lighting being put forward on realtor advice?
Interesting point! I wouldn’t think they (realtors) would want to tie up their transactions with more paperwork! In our experience with buying and selling in HOAs, the only needed information at closing is the status of the dues and assessments! I certainly have never heard of this previously. The compliance issue should only be between the buyer and seller if they want to pursue the covenants they can on their own time! This just seems like involving more parties into something that isn’t that important. Someone else to do the dirty work!
10:46 ---What escapes your understanding is, it is not MY hate but the establishment's that is driving this madness. You are missing the point. There has NOT been a community-wide explosion of non-compliance.
Annually, the community has fielded less than 150 complaints in total in 2017 and 2018, even with Clancy increasing his practice of loading the docket with Tree complaints (to about 100). His practice has been ramped-up, as Peg Olds has eagerly embraced her role as Tree /Chair, and where tree complaints have been slightly more than 100 the previous years, this year we have about 275. Lighting complaints have been around a dozen or fewer annually in 2017 and 2018.
Much of the year the community only has a few hundred fulltime residents, and a large percentage of part-timers do not have night lights that shine in their absence. During the holidays there will surely be a bit of a jump in visits, but drive around the community well after dark here say in mid January to early March, and you will see a very dark community.
Many homes have a main front door light that is an area light in modest wattage, and may have another accent light somewhere, or a motion-detecting light somewhere on their home. What we hear is that the detectors tend to malfunction and aren't worth the trouble. There's an informative comment I've seen by a long term owner, and they outline how damaging the weather is to metal lights and recommend plastic if it can be found.
The point is, what do owners need, and what is most practical in this marine environment, and not "what do they do in expensive gated communities on Bainbridge Island and in Sedona Arizona ?"
Prior to Mr. Reber's arrival, the office Manager Laura Frasier, managed the office AND handled compliance in the community. Except for Clancy's fake complaints, the system was not burdened by hundreds of bogus complaints, and with Larry Raymer handling enforcement, there were not dozens of tree owners being fined and threatened with legal consequences.
Reber wants to hire 2 compliance officers, which along with greatly increased legal spending, wages and benefits for Reber and his police force become a massive increase in spending on enforcement. When I refer to a "Nazi Police State" I'm talking about a ridiculous concept of who lives in Surfside and a perversion of what Surfside has been and wants to be. This is not a heavily populated urban area full of people trying to get away with serious violations.
Most who own here will return each time, expecting the same quiet peaceful natural area to recreate and relax. It's great if the door latch still works and the light fixture is still hanging on the wall, in spite of the relentless corrosion and rust. The less things needed to be fixed each year, the more time to have fun.
This whole "proactive" enforcement attitude as outlined by the HOA president is a fancy way of saying "police state". We do not have a compliance emergency in Surfside, and for at least half of the year, the community is sparsely populated. Neighborly issues like lights can easily be negotiated by neighbors in most cases, and have been since the community began. HATE you say ? "Proactive enforcement" will take this sleepy little community and make it an angry community of conflict, over imaginary "issues" like lights that don't observe property lines.
The HOA is obligated to field owner complaints, and that has been a practical and manageable approach, without great expense. No matter what the HOA tells you, complaints will still be taken and investigated. But this is something the BOT needs to act on, by setting specific limits as to how many and how frequent any one individual can submit COMPLAINTS. And we don't need Reber's Gestapo and the HATE and expense it brings with it.
You got anything useful to post?
In case you haven't notice, we are being victimized by an unscrupulous board who is pursuing their own special interests. The Nazi references are way too relevant in way too many places.
You don't wanna see references of this type, go take Clancy's pad away.
A couple of notes on "James". Who was the person who negotiated the contract for the water building that was built on wetlands and has cost us about $30k so far? Who was the person who directed that the RV lot funds not be put into its own account, but put into the General Fund for use to oh say pay fines? Who let several contracts for the RV and Compactor lots only to have them discarded or unusable due to time constraints ($30 to 45K)? Now he wants to take over the water department. My guess is so he can impose water fees. As far as Mr. Reber, he has yet to obtain the proper state certifications to even work on the water team doing labor. It is a long way to becoming the water manager. In fact, one of the water employees relates that to become "thewater manager", he actually has to spend a large amount of time at the water plant, working the plant. How does that fit in with his office duties? Who came up with the idea that just to pay him for two managerial positions that he would ever be qualified or work either one simultaneously? One job, one pay scale. On another post, looking at BOT transparency, do you think you are going to effect the new lighting covenant because it is actually being acknowledged? The Board has already passed it without our knowledge. How else would they want to enforce it already or accept all the new complaints?
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