The WCA board voted unanimously at the April meeting to approve Westchase resident Linda Senkowicz’s 2026 contract to teach water aerobics at the Countryway pool. The rate per lane per hour increased from $4.38 to $4.97 in the new contract.
Treasurer Eric Holt then took the floor, informing the board that the first quarter had been closed out and Holt is in the process of reviewing the income and balance sheet. He also mentioned that the association has supplied their CPA with everything he needs for the audit.
President Michiel Oostenbrink announced that Swim & Tennis Chair Dan Haigy submitted his resignation and Pam Wilcox agreed to serve as acting chair. Oostenbrink thanked Haigy for his tremendous effort. Wilcox asked the board to publicly post about the open committee position. She then questioned whether the landscaping around the pools would be refreshed in the near future. Association Manager Karen Marrero said she hoped to present a proposal at the next board meeting.
Wilcox reported that the open pickleball program is doing very well on Thursdays and has been less successful on Saturdays. The S&T Committee plans to continue with the three-month trial period as planned.
Wilcox reminded the board that the S&T Committee submitted its resolution at the November meeting and proposed changes to rules and regulations (along with a summary) at the March meeting. She asked about the status of both documents. Holt replied that the board has until April 23 to review the latter before it went to the association’s legal counsel for review. Oostenbrink told Wilcox that none of the board members had submitted any changes to the rules and regulations yet.
Director Jack Maurer asked whether all of the committees had submitted resolutions. Oostenbrink acknowledged that the board needs to pass all of the existing resolutions to Kathleen Reres, the WCA’s legal counsel, for review. He committed to doing so before the next meeting.
Government Affairs Committee Chair Ashley Wait-Woodcock announced that she has been attending the monthly CDD meetings to serve as a liaison and has submitted her intent to serve as intermediary director. She said the association pays $1800 per year to the CDD for landscape maintenance and if the WCA tasks the CDD with responsibilities outside the existing scope, the association would incur the cost. Director Theresa Lanzar asked what the $1800 included, and Wait-Woodcock said there was nothing in writing. Holt said he thought there was documentation, and Lanzar requested that property management try to find it.
Wait-Woodcock shared that there is finally positive traction regarding the no parking conflict on Brompton Drive between the homeowners and county officials. Oostenbrink added that board members recently met with fire rescue and the county, and officials provided them with a simulation of a fire truck being able to make its necessary turns on Brompton. He continued that adjusting the height of the tree canopy would facilitate both the ingress and egress of the fire truck apparatus. County officials planned to reach out to the CDD to let them know about the trees. While the county has not yet committed to changes, the meeting was quite productive, Oostenbrink noted.
Wait-Woodcock then informed the board that some Westchase residents were blocked in during the recent Kids Run This ‘Hood 5K race hosted by four local elementary schools because several officers on duty did not follow the predetermined plan. She emphasized the importance of proper communication before and during such events with HCSO and county officials. Oostenbrink said he wanted to make sure that the board’s internal communication was on point. He noted that the way in which the board communicated with the county was sensitive, and asked Wait-Woodcock to run issues by the board prior to reaching out to relevant officials.
“As GAC chair, I don’t think I need to bring everything to the board,” responded Wait-Woodcock. “I don’t want to lose momentum because things keep getting kicked down the road. I have good relationships with county officials. If the county isn’t doing what the county is supposed to be doing, they need to know.”
Director Jessica Siddle said that the issue about residents being blocked in was accelerated to county officials more quickly than was necessary. Holt pointed out that the race was not an association event (it was hosted by local elementary schools) and that the GAC chair should represent the association at the discretion of the board. “You have to hesitate before jumping in,” added Holt. “We didn’t need to do anything from a Government Affairs point, because it wasn’t our event. The intent is for you to represent the WCA, not individual residents or other enterprises. You really want to stay focused on representing the board.”
Wait-Woodcock asked how the GAC chair should respond when neighborhoods are affected by events held by non-association organizations. Holt recommended that she run any such issues by the board.
Holt reported that the Document Review Committee (DRC) met recently and started reviewing the INSGs. He said he submitted the DRC’s March meeting minutes to the board for review. Oostenbrink stated that INSGs may be exceptions to master guidelines. All INSGs are now considered exceptions, according to the governing documents, Holt clarified. After reviewing the language, Maurer said he wasn’t convinced that it was specific to all INSGs. Oostenbrink suggested having Reres weigh in on the matter.
Patrick Piper said that S&T staff members have inventoried and labeled the contents of seven storage areas. He added that he has submitted a weekly report every week since January 14. Piper explained that he has been educating staff about chain of command and proper procedures and has also been communicating with Inframark employees to learn what their pain points are.
Piper expressed concern that the S&T staff is currently short four people and will be losing four additional employees on June 1. He stressed the importance of maintaining employees’ part-time status. Holt asked whether Piper had communicated that shortage to Inframark, and Piper said he had.
A conversation ensued about how the hiring process should work. Oostenbrink clarified that Piper should identify candidates and recommend them to Inframark, who will process them. Holt moved to give Piper the authority to recommend the hiring of up to eight additional lifeguards, and his motion passed unanimously.
Marrero then delivered her manager’s report. She said the step bracket anchor needed to properly install the pool slide has arrived but Inframark is still waiting for the vendor to complete the installation. Despite her best efforts, the vendor has been unresponsive, she added.
A representative from Scouts of America requested use of a community pool to conduct a swim test for its troop. She said she hoped to use the pool on the coming Saturday to test 15scouts. Oostenbrink asked how many of the scouts were Westchase residents, and the representative said that she thought about half lived within the community.
After an extensive discussion about liability issues, Piper offered to oversee the test for free in his capacity as owner of Pipeline. Wait-Woodcock made a motion for Piper to use the pool outside of his normally scheduled hours to conduct the test. It passed unanimously.
Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) Chair Brad Swindell said the scope of work for the access control and community surveillance project that the board approved in March had been disseminated to six vendors. Inframark Director Michelle George acknowledged that three of the vendors confirmed that they had received the scope of work and three vendors have not yet done so. The deadline is May 1, Swindell added.
The TAC resolved an issue with outgoing association emails that were being flagged as spam, he noted. Although the board approved Swindell’s recent request to communicate directly with vendor Tampa Bay Tech, the company would not agree to do so, he explained. Marrero told him that he needed to be onsite to do so.
Swindell recommended that Sahil Panikar be added as the newest member of the TAC. Maurer moved to approve the recommendation, and the board voted 7-0 in favor.
Holt reported that he put together a draft of a Welcome Committee resolution and met with Chair Charles Stephens about it. Stephens approved, and Holt sent it both to Oostenbrink and Reres.
Holt made a motion to ratify an amendment to Inframark’s contract in regards to their holiday schedule and the hiring of a maintenance technician. It passed unanimously. Lanzar moved to approve a new postage meter contract with FP Mailing Solutions, and the board voted unanimously in favor.
Oostenbrink mentioned that because the association’s CPA does not specialize in sales tax, it might be helpful to bring on a State and Local Tax (SALT) advisor. This was in response to a notification that Oostenbrink received telling him that the association owed the Florida Department of Revenue for tax that wasn’t collected, he explained. It was eventually determined that the WCA did not owe the amount.
George noted that nonprofit associations don’t pay sales tax, but the Department of Revenue inadvertently changed the status of several organizations that filed extensions. The organizations had to request that their status be corrected, she continued. The board agreed that Marrero should bring a few bids for a SALT advisor to the table so they could determine what the cost would be.
Holt observed that Inframark was actually charging the WCA sales tax in particular instances and he said he wanted to know why. George agreed to investigate.
Siddle, serving as WOW liaison, appointed Mary Griffin and Steve Splaine to the World of Westchase (WOW) Board of Directors. Both are returning to their roles. WOW board members serve two-year terms.