September
9, 2014
Owners
of Orange Grove Park
Homeowners'
Association, Inc.
Re: Covenant Revitalization - In Response to
Communication from “Michele”
Dear
Orange Grove Park Homeowners:
The
Board of Directors of Orange Grove Park Homeowners' Association, Inc.
(hereinafter
the “Association”) is aware of a recent communication that a number of the
owners
in
the community have received from a “Michele” regarding the Association’s
current Covenant
Revitalization
process. While this letter will attempt to address the issues addressed in
“Michele’s”
letter, please be advised that it is nevertheless important for each Owner in
the
Association
to return their Covenant Revitalization written execution form (e.g., “Written
Joinder
and Consent to the Revitalized Declaration of Covenants and Governing Documents
of
Orange
Grove Park Homeowners’ Association, Inc.”) to the Association in order for the
Association
to properly continue. While “Michele” may appear to have some knowledge of
certain
issues regarding the Association, upon review it should become quite clear to
the
Association’s
Owners that her response on a number of the issues she addresses is, in fact,
inaccurate.
First
of all, with regard to the Association’s Covenant Revitalization process, in
fact, it is
the
Association’s intent that all Owners within the Association shall be provided
the Covenant
Revitalization
materials either in person or by mail. In order to save the Association money,
only
those
individual Owners who do not reside in Orange Grove Park were provided the
documents
by
mail. Please also note that this is completely legal and proper in accordance
with Florida
Statute
§720.405(5). The Association Owners should also be aware that the advanced
notice
required
in accordance with this Florida Statute is fourteen (14) days, not thirty (30)
or sixty (60)
days.
Nevertheless, however, the Association intends to provide all Owners of the
Association as
much
advance notice as possible before submitting the Covenant Revitalization
materials to the
State
of Florida for review and approval, pursuant to the above-mentioned Statute.
Please note
that
the September 1st date set
forth in the Covenant Revitalization documents was a goal date
which,
unfortunately, has not been met. As such, the Association does not wish for
this to be
considered
to be a deadline by any particular Owner of the Association to provide Covenant
Revitalization
documents to the Association.
The
Board acknowledges that a number of Owners that the Association has attempted
to
reach
in person have not been available at the time when the Board member has
stopped-by to
explain
the Covenant Revitalization process and hand-deliver the materials. As such,
the Board
Members
will continue to visit all Owners within the Association to explain the
Covenant
Revitalization
process until such time as all Owners are provided with the proper materials.
It is
unfortunate
that “Michele” had not received this information in person as of the date of
her letter,
but
nevertheless, it is the Association’s intent to provide that information to
her. Every Owner
will
get a copy of the documents to be used for the Covenant Revitalization, even
including the
Owners
who do not wish to vote in favor of the Covenant Revitalization.
With
regard to the Association’s budget, the Association would like to make clear
that
there
have been many expenditures by the Association, including painting, new
lighting,
repairing
of fences, cleaning of retention ponds, and mowing of certain common areas
within the
Association,
as part of the Association’s $200 per lot annual assessment. Owners should keep
in
mind
that the Association’s budget is, in fact, very small compared to other similar
homeowners
associations.
Owners should also keep in mind that the Association is required to maintain
its
stormwater
management ponds. If the Association were to disband, the Association would
need
to
find another entity to maintain those stormwater management ponds. Often, local
governments,
such as Seminole County, may be able to take-over maintenance of those ponds,
but
in most instances, if a county takes over maintenance of the ponds, they will
only do so upon
establishment
of a Municipal Services Taxing Unit (“MSTU”) for the Community. If such an
MSTU
is established, likely Owners within the community would see an increase in
their
property
taxes. From our Attorney’s and Property Manager’s experience, associations that
have
an
MSTU often find an increase in property taxes which is larger than the amount
of
homeowners
association assessments that may be otherwise levied against a particular
Community.
Moreover, Owners should also keep in mind that the Association has not been
selectively
enforcing its covenants, however, the Association has had some difficulty in
enforcement
where properties have been abandoned and a bank is seeking foreclosure.
As
to communication with the Association’s Attorney, in order to reduce the costs
for the
Association,
the Association does not generally allow Owners to speak to the Association’s
Attorney.
Please keep in mind that if all Owners, or a large number of Owners, would
speak to
the
Association’s Attorney, the legal bills for the Association would be huge. If
you have a
concern
that you feel needs to be addressed by the Association’s Attorney, please feel
free to
address
it with the Association’s Board of Directors and/or the Association’s Property
Manager
and
we will forward the information from there as necessary.
Association
Owners should also keep in mind that in 2005 or 2006, the Owners took a
vote
at a special meeting to increase the assessments and, in fact, the Association’s
assessments
have
recently been decreased from $220 per year to $200 per year due to adjustments
to the
Association’s
budget. Additionally, the Association’s Property Manager is on-site at least
once
per
week and is also assisting the Association with going door-to-door to hand out
and discuss
the
Covenant Revitalization documents.
In
summary, while the Board has made a significant effort to respond to all the
concerns
raised
in this particular letter, please be advised that it is the Board of Directors’
#1 priority for
the
Association to keep its costs low and to show good value to the Association for
the amount of
its
assessments on a yearly basis. Nevertheless, however, the Board of Directors
did feel that this
response
was warranted given the communication sent by “Michele.”
We
look forward to discussing this issue or any other issues you feel are
important to
Orange
Grove Park at any owner’s convenience.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors of Orange Grove Park
Homeowners’
Association, Inc.
