Westchase Community Association President Michiel Oostenbrink presented the Westchase Medallion to Sonny Whyte at the May board meeting to thank her for her many years of service to the community as office manager of the Westchase Community Development District.
Oostenbrink acknowledged that because he didn’t properly notice the May meeting, all official actions made would have to be ratified at the June meeting. Board Member Rick Goldstein moved to add the matter of video recordings of the WCA board meetings to the May agenda, and his motion passed unanimously. He stated that he had requested that the issue be added to the agenda prior to the meeting, and didn’t understand why it had been denied. Oostenbrink replied that he had planned to add it to the June agenda because the May agenda was already quite full.
Goldstein, who also serves as chair of the Government Affairs Committee, introduced a team from the Hillsborough County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to discuss lessons learned from recent hurricanes. Logistics Chief Michael Lackey took the floor first to share a presentation that included updates about warning systems, data collection, and damage assessment tools.
Christina Hummel, Project Manager/CRS Coordinator, Brittany Lemke, and Katja Miller, Emergency Management Operations Section Chief, were also on hand to share resources and answer questions. They told the board about the Elevate Florida Grant Program, which has provided more than 600 Hillsborough County residents with funds to raise homes above flood level and purchase hurricane clips for roofs and/or impact windows. Residents can visit floridadisaster.org to apply.
They said that the OEM works closely with the county communications department to disseminate emergency information to residents, who can find updates online, through local media outlets, social media, snipe signs, flyers, and messaging from first responders, among other sources.
The team recommended that residents visit hcfl.gov to register with HCFL Alert, the county’s official opt-in mass notification system. Notifications will inform residents of shelter locations, evacuations, sandbag distribution points, and more.
Residents may also join a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to learn about disaster preparedness and what to do in emergency situations. The class is free and provides training in basic disaster response skills, fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Visit ready.gov/CERT for more information.
Lemke pointed out that Westchase is in three different flood zones and three different evacuation zones, and encouraged neighborhoods to submit emergency plans to OEM. These plans will familiarize county officials with relevant logistical information. For example, if the neighborhood has a single access point and a tree were to fall and block that access, OEM would know that clearing it was a priority, she added.
Residents who purchase flood insurance should automatically get a 25 percent discount, stated Hummel. Oostenbrink asked her whether OEM would work with the CDD to clear drains. The WCA could submit a service request to the Public Works Department, replied Hummel, but clarified that the county won’t address any issues on private property.
Board Member Terry Boyd introduced Mike DeMare, the association’s CPA and auditor. DeMare reported that the 2024 audit went smoothly and showed that the association is in a strong financial position. The amount of money in reserves is about 85 percent of what it would take to replace all reserve items; it’s rare to find such reserve strength, he added.
The WCA has invested in six CDs worth $250,000 each, two of which will mature at the end of May, Boyd reminded his fellow board members. The association expects to earn approximately $65,000 in revenue from all six accounts over a six-month period, he continued. If the accounts are reinvested at the same rate, all accounts would generate a total of about $130,000 over the course of a year, he said.
Boyd moved to reinvest the two maturing accounts so they would continue to generate interest income, and his motion passed unanimously. He then made another motion to create a separate line item designated for improvements to the West Park Village pool and to use the investment interest revenue earned by December 31st, 2025, to fund that line item.
Oostenbrink expressed concern that earmarking those funds would make them unavailable for any contingencies that may arise. Board Member Theresa Lanzar asked whether the money would have to remain dedicated to the pool improvements or if it could be reassigned. Boyd said the funds would be assigned to the project until its completion. Ultimately, the board voted unanimously in favor of Boyd’s motion.
Westchase resident Linda Senkowicz, who has offered an aquatic fitness program at the Countryway pool, would like to restart it in mid-June, reported Oostenbrink. She has requested an amendment to her contract, dictating that the board will pay her a cancellation fee when they cancel one of her classes, he continued. Senkowicz was not present at the meeting, and the board agreed to table the matter until the June meeting.
Clearwater Aquatics and Hudson Valley Swim both wanted to offer swim lessons at Westchase facilities, said Oostenbrink. Clearwater Aquatics did not share any information with the WCA, nor did they send a representative to the meeting, he added. Hudson Valley Swim co-owners Mindi and Alan Gartner were in attendance and presented their proposal to use a single lane on Saturday mornings year-round to offer swim lessons to Westchase residents ranging in age from four months old to adults.
Goldstein said he wanted to hear from Patrick Piper of Pipeline Swimming to ensure that there would be no overlap or competition. Piper told the board that in addition to running the swim team program, he also offers swim lessons to all ages four days a week, with makeup days on Saturdays. Pipeline launched a water wellness program for elderly swimmers last year, he added, and Hudson Valley Swim would be in direct competition with them. The board thanked the Gartners for submitting their proposal but agreed that they wanted to respect their contract with Pipeline by not bringing in another vendor offering the same services.
Oostenbrink provided an update on the proposed repairs to the Countryway storage room. He stated that the floor is lower than the surrounding threshold area, which has caused water to collect in the storage room. Biller Reinhart Engineering Group submitted a proposal to raise the floor by four inches, Oostenbrink said. Boyd made a motion to move forward with the proposal as long as the company agreed to two minor changes, one of which would ensure ADA compliance. The board voted unanimously in favor of the motion.
After seeing the estimates to repaint the association’s outdoor metal tables, Board Member Jack Maurer questioned whether it would be more cost-effective to replace them. Goldstein moved to table those proposals to the June meeting to provide Community Association Manager Debbie Sainz the opportunity to determine the cost of purchasing replacements. The motion passed, 7-0.
Maurer then made a motion to accept Paint Corps’ estimate for sanding and repainting the community’s light poles; it passed unanimously. He also moved to approve Paint Corps’ quote for repairing the wooden benches. Board members voted 7-0 in favor of the motion, and Maurer asked Sainz to expedite both requests.
Oostenbrink acknowledged that after consulting with legal counsel, he approved a change order from Hoffman Designs involving toilet components as part of the bathroom renovations without running it by the board. He said the request was time-sensitive and he was under the impression that, as president, he had the authority to authorize the relatively minor change (at a cost of $2,700).
Board Member Nancy Sells said that such decisions were board decisions and shouldn’t be made unilaterally. Goldstein expressed frustration that Oostenbrink didn’t take the time to send a quick text or email to keep the board in the loop. Boyd stated that the dollar amount was not the issue, and that he expected board members to adhere to the same standards to which they hold their vendors.
Maurer shared that the construction industry is quite fluid and that it’s necessary to have a point person who can quickly respond to necessary changes. He made a motion to authorize the president to approve any construction changes up to $5,000. Oostenbrink told him that such authority already exists according to legal counsel, so a motion was unnecessary. Oostenbrink apologized for his actions and assured his fellow board members that he would notify them of any similar decisions that needed to be made in the future. Boyd moved to ratify the change order, and it passed unanimously.
Oostenbrink then made a motion to give Maurer the authority to oversee the renovation project, communicate with Hoffman Designs, work through any issues, and relay any issues back to the board and to Sainz. Goldstein said he refused to vote in favor of a motion that would allow Maurer to make unilateral decisions. The motion passed 5-2, with Goldstein and Sells voting against it.
Goldstein said that he was concerned that some residents thought that Radcliffe Voting Member Eric Holt’s unofficial video recordings of board meetings were official WCA records. Oostenbrink assured Goldstein that Holt wasn’t doing anything wrong and that legal counsel said that residents were permitted to record the meetings, despite there being pros and cons to the recording process. Lanzar moved to have the association record their own meetings and find an appropriate way to store them so an official record would exist. Her motion passed, 7-0.
Five people testified about the proposed Westchase crosswalk at the May 7 Board of County Commissioners meeting, reported Goldstein. Four of the five were against the crosswalk, he added. Board Member Jessica Siddle asked him to clarify exactly where the crosswalk would be constructed. Goldstein told her that the plans were still fluid, but his impression was that it would go straight across Linebaugh in line with the entrance to Westchase Elementary School.
The county is hosting a meeting about the crosswalk on May 20 at 6 pm at the elementary school, and Goldstein said the association needed as many residents as possible to attend. He mentioned the possibility of a compromise, and Siddle asked him to elaborate. Goldstein replied that they’re still trying to figure out what would be best, but that they’d considered a tunnel and an extra lane going from Linebaugh into the school.
Maurer told Goldstein that only the president of the association speaks on behalf of Westchase, and he expressed concern that Goldstein, as GAC chair, had spoken on behalf of the community at the recent Board of County Commissioners meeting. Oostenbrink added that he was unaware of the meeting. Goldstein and Oostenbrink exchanged words about the challenges they face when communicating with one another.
Swim & Tennis Committee Chair Dan Haigy said that they had discussed the possibility of having at least one pool open between the hours of 7 am and 9 pm every day. Those opening hours could be staggered among both pools, he added. Sainz introduced Head Lifeguard Nick ????, who said they had recently hired several new lifeguards and assured the board that staffing would no longer be an issue at either pool moving forward.
Sainz reported that the replacement pool slide had been delivered earlier in the day, and that bathroom renovations began on May 5.