SRHA General Meeting Minutes January 26, 2022

The meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM by President Christina Brownlow, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Chris welcomed everyone with her usual cheerfulness. Next month’s meeting will be on Wednesday, February 23rd via Zoom.

Davie Police/Crime Report: Detective Hobales and Officer Larry Elliott provided an update. There was an aggravated assault on Hunter’s Point and a vehicle theft on Sunset Lane. All 3 cars on the Sunset Ln. property had the key fobs in the car—it was “car wash” day, and the one car was stolen. Elsewhere, there was 1 mailbox damaged. Detective Hobales ended by introducing the new member of the family, a puppy named Smoky, who will be joining Bandit in the community!

Town Council Member Comments: President Chris asked for discussion on TSDOR, the Charter and fireworks.

Mayor Steve Breitkreuz: Current TSDOR project is on 199/202 Avenues. Pavement is down, but putting the swales down has been an issue and a change for the residents, and many residents are not happy because the water is not going off the road. Council is trying to determine how to address, since there are engineering rules on how to put in a swale. Individuals who have planted trees or vegetation in the swale have become an issue as well. We are trying to replace and repave the roads so that they last another 25 years, so this is something we need to go through to improve the Town.

Chris asked for help in communicating to the townspeople in Sunshine Ranches regarding the project in our area, which will be next.

We had a lengthy discussion about people planting in the swales without permission. Mayor Steve advised that the ordinances are good, but on most items we as a town have been reactive vs. proactive, so we don’t always address things unless they get brought up. Several residents spoke regarding their issues with the swales, including the inability to ride horses on the swales. Also, some folks are hesitant about raising issues to neighbors who are not following neighborly laws. Mayor Steve further addressed the proactivity of bringing up issues. Mayor Steve also said that as we invest in road improvements, we also need to address drainage, the swales, and of course be sensitive to the horses. Please call the Town or the board if you have any concerns!

The mayor also advised that the Charter group will have a final meeting in February, do the final votes and then it can go before the Council, so he urges citizens to be on the alert and be informed. Chris will help get the word out.

Fireworks has been an important topic. We mirrored the bill that Wellington had, but unfortunately, so did another 20 municipalities. Mayor Steve said that when the Council members went to Tallahassee last week to push this support, we found out that the chair is not very supportive because there are so many municipalities involved. We will look to change the wording to better push it through next year.

Sally Brokken brought up the construction at the complex at Stirling and Holatee.

Vice Mayor Gary Jablonski discussed the Drainage and TSDOR paving projects and guardrails throughout the Town. We received a Florida Fire Fighters grant for equipment. And finally, the Founders Park art project is underway and looking great on Griffin.

Council member David Kuczenski spoke regarding the fireworks meeting at Tallahassee and expressed his commitment to make this happen in the future. He also talked about proactive and reactive code enforcement; the leadership in Tallahassee wants to do away with anonymous code enforcement.

Council member Jim Allbritton thanked his council members for the meeting in Tallahassee and advised that the first meeting of the Safety and Traffic Board will be Feb. 1st.

New Business: Chris brought up the potential new development on Griffin and Hancock and advised that the Council cannot weigh in or comment on the evening discussion. The developer will be on the February SRHA Zoom call. Chris showed an aerial view of the area. A town resident, Carlos Martinez, would like to purchase the land and develop several homes. There are several issues for discussion. Please attend next month’s Zoom call for further discussion and formulate questions for then. Input was provided by several town members.

Slate update was provided by Lori Parrish regarding the board and committees. Made a motion to amend the By-laws of the Sunshine Ranches Homeowners Association on Article IV, section 1(a) to increase the number of people on the board. Strike 3 to 5 and 9 to 13. Also, strike the last line in the section. Sally Brokken seconded, and the motion was voted upon successfully. Saied Taie offered to step down from the board, however, the board members have already been published.

Mr. Bob Parker motioned to donate $1000 for the Scholarship Fund, seconded by David Kuczenski. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s report: Balance $28,777.02 as of December 31, 2021.

Chris advised that since we did not have to pay for the rental of the Equestrian Park for the December Party Event, would we be willing to put the balance of the budget toward a contribution or beautification project of the park. The amount will be discussed at the next meeting.

Membership report: We had an additional 11 members this month, total members are 319. To note, 19 members have paid double the fee and one member paid $450! Vilma acknowledged and thanked the council members, Mayor and board for their commitment to the Town.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:21 PM.