Hi Coral Trace Residents and Owners,  hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July weekend.

Cable TV: The talk of the community is the cable TV contract and what we are going to do. If you have been following the newsletters since January you have an idea what is going on. We have tried to keep you up-to-date on the progress of the selection of a cable company or to de-bulk the community.

The Attorney we hired (who specializes in TV contracts) was able to get an extension of our current contract until the end of August. This means the HOA will still supply the basic cable TV until a decision is reached at the July 13, 2010 Special Board meeting on the cable TV. We will give the results of the cable poll and decide what the HOA will do about HOA supplied cable TV. As I have said in the past, please wait and give the HOA time to get this resolved before you make any changes in your Cable TV. Our contact does not expire until July 31, 2010 which was extended until August 31, 2010. So even if the decision is to de-bulk you will have until August 31 to make alternate arrangements.

To help the Board decide what the owners wanted for cable TV, the attorney recommended the postcard poll that was recently mailed to each homeowner. I hope you take the time to read the mailing and past newsletters at www.coraltracehoa.com for details on the activity that occurred for this process. If the community decides to continue with cable being included in the HOA dues, we will keep Comcast and the Attorney will assist us with negotiating the final contract. She has advised us not to sign a long term contract over 5 years because of the changes coming to the TV industry. I just worked with a Pilot who recently got ATT Uverse and said it is great, 23mg internet, DVR recording of 5 shows at once while watching 1 recording and also includes whole house DVR play back. This is just one of the options that will be available in the near future.

Paladin — the company we were looking into for a fiber system — was voted out at our last Board Meeting. The main reason was their failure to respond to a request for them to finance the install of the fiber system and to supply the Board with current updated contracts on the fiber install and the monthly cable costs. At the May meeting the Board decided the community would not finance the cost of the install. If Paladin would finance, then they would have been considered further. The Board did not want to put up the HOA’s money to install the fiber system by a start-up company with no verifiable installation history in the State of Florida. They have never used their money to install a fiber system or where the system was paid for by an Association (we were going to be the first). They stated that they were doing a large install at a community in Covington LA called Terra Bella. There is no mention of Paladin or this state-of-the-art fiber system on the website. This install was paid for by the builder of the community. There is no information on Paladin anywhere on the internet — just a website under construction. These issues led to the Board’s decision not to move forward with Paladin.

This Board has been accused of keeping secrets about the whole cable process. So we are going to post under the minutes section of the website the letter the Association Attorney sent to Comcast, the original Comcast contract we were sent, the Paladin contract Len Kruger gave the Board and the fiber Install sheet we received from Len (Paladin has never given the Board any contracts or bids). We asked Paladin before the June 22 Board meeting for contracts and the fiber install bid. We have not received any communication from Paladin since they stated they would supply this information before the June Board meeting. We did not receive a request for additional time or any aforementioned information. The HOA can’t do business with a company who will not respond to questions and requests concerning a long term contract and a $200,000 plus bid.

Gate code: We have removed the resident gate access code as of July 3rd and all has gone smoothly. One question we have received was: how do my maids, pest control, Fed Ex, UPS, Realtors and other venders access the community? Fed Ex and UPS have gate codes and some other companies already have a gate entry code for Coral Trace. There are a number of companies who have codes that the HOA has no record of because records from the previous company used for this service is not available. We are leaving these codes until July 17, 2010. If you have a company that performs maintenance at your home advice them to contact the HOA via a fax (561-330-8089) on their company letterhead requesting an access code to the community and who they will be servicing, at what address. At that time a new code will be issued to the company. If the people are not a licensed company then you can purchase a gate card to the community for these service providers. If you trust them with a key to your home you can trust them with a gate card.

Also, thanks for your responses about the old remotes. We will keep this remote system working because of the number of these remotes that are still in use.

Collections: We have had a number of owners tell us they have not received late letters from Seacrest when they have been late with their HOA Dues and then were turned over to the Attorney of collections. The HOA sends out a late letter after the 10th day. Then at the 30th of the month if the payment is still past due we send a regular mailing and a certified letter. At this point if no response is received from the owner the account is turned over to the Attorney for collections. At that time you will start incurring Attorney fees which can build up quickly. So if you receive a certified letter from the HOA it is in your interest to sign for and read the letter due to the additional costs incurred for this collection effort. The USPS tries to deliver the certified letter twice before they are returned to sender. Owner stating that they received no letter from the HOA did not pick up their certified letters. The HOA will not waive these fees.

New State Statue: The State of FL implemented a new statue which allows HOAs to collect the rent money paid by a renter to the owner. We are in the process of a legal review of the Statue and how to implement its use. As we get more information we will let you know.

Budget Committee 2011: We have formed the 2011 Budget Committee and are looking for volunteers to help on this committee. The scope of this committee is working with the Board to formulate an accurate budget plan for 2011. The committee will get updated pricing for the vendors we currently use, and recommend and get bids for new projects and required maintenance for 2011. If you are interested in helping, email me at persident@coraltracehoa.com .

Camera security system: The repairs to the camera system are now completed and it is working. We hope to reduce our damages as a result of vandalism. Anyone caught damaging the HOAs property will be turned over to the police for prosecution.

Landscape Cutting and Trimming: The landscape workers have just done a major trim in the community and will do another in July. They have been given express orders on how to trim the plantings in the community. If you have reflectors out and you do not trim your plants “We Will”. We expect a community standard of our plantings and will not let things get overgrown. So please trim your plants if you do not want the community landscapers to do so.

**Also residents have been leaving their hoses and cords in the lawns. The landscaper will not replace these items if you leave them in the lawn and they are damaged. So pick up your hoses, etc.

Repeat Items: Speeding has increased lately so we are again asking the police to visit our community for some added City income.

Pool hours of use are dawn to dusk. That means we do not have a permit for the pool to be used at night. If you use it after those hours you are trespassing and the police will be called.

Pool furniture update: The pool furniture does look nice but you may have noticed we have fewer lounge chairs for use. We have 25 lounges of which 20 are broken or the fabric is pulling out of the frame. We have contacted the factory and they are finding a vendor to pick up these lounges, repair the fabric and return them to the community. At this time we do not have a date for completion. Watch for them to return.

HOA Board Election: We have set the 2010 election date for the next year’s Board members of November 6, 2010 at 1 p.m.

Enjoy your summer,

Karl Chakford
CTHOA Resident, Owner and President