The first item of business in September was the organizational meeting to determine officer positions. Michiel Oostenbrink stated that he wanted to step down from his role as president and he nominated Eric Holt to serve in the role. Holt accepted, and the board unanimously voted him into office.
The board also unanimously voted to appoint Oostenbrink as Vice President, newly appointed board member Tim Green as Treasurer and returning board member Terry Lanzar as secretary.
Holt nominated Pam Wilcox to serve as Government Affairs Committee chair, but she declined. Richard Torra then volunteered to serve in that role, and Holt’s motion to appoint him passed unanimously. Brad Swindell moved to make Wilcox the WOW liaison, and his motion passed, 7-0. Swindell will serve as a Director at Large.
Holt shared that typically the president and treasurer serve as designated signatories on the association’s bank accounts. The vice president is also currently a signatory, Holt continued, and he recommended keeping a third person on the accounts. Oostenbrink moved to keep himself and Holt as signatories, remove Lanzar and add Green. His motion passed unanimously.
While the president is the primary liaison to the association’s attorney and property manager, Holt stressed the importance of all board members having access to legal counsel if they feel uncomfortable going through him. He urged his fellow board members to be judicious in that regard, however, to manage attorneys’ fees.
Oostenbrink moved to designate whoever holds the role of vice president as the person responsible for overseeing the management contract. The motion passed, 7-0. Holt then reviewed the limited authorities granted both to the president and Community Association Manager (CAM) in terms of making monetary expenditures without a board vote. Holt adjourned the organizational meeting and called the regular September meeting to order.
In audience comments, a resident complained that he couldn’t play tennis that evening because the courts were unexpectedly closed. Holt apologized for the inconvenience, noting that the closures should be temporary. He added that the facilities will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week moving forward.
Holt then delivered his final Treasurer’s report. He stated that the association is well under budget thus far, and the increased capital contribution has been a pretty significant windfall. He said the Voting Members’ budget workshop was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, at 6:30 p.m. The VMs don’t have to approve the budget but they do have the ability to veto it, he reminded the board.
Holt shared that the reserve study is complete and shows that the WCA has 109% of funding requirements on hand. Swindell asked whether the large influx in capital contributions was largely due to the new construction at Westchase Station. Holt said it was and that the board needed to be conservative on the number of new homeowners that they expected when preparing the 2027 budget.
Holt then brought new GAC Chair Torra up to speed on a Town and Country-based consortium that is concerned with future plans for the former waste treatment plant on Sheldon Road. Oostenbrink updated the board on the progress that has been made in regard to recent changes to parking in West Park Village.
On the Document Review Committee (DRC) front, Holt reported that, starting the following week, reference packets would be sent electronically to the VMs regarding potential changes to each neighborhood’s INSGs. He then moved to make Erica Augello a new formal DRC member and asked that Ray Carson and Jonathan Hull be made alternates. The motion passed unanimously.
Swindell, who serves as the Technology Advisory Committee chair, said that the vendor hired to install access control equipment at the facilities broke ground earlier that day. He also noted that new equipment was installed at Countryway that would enable video streaming of VM meetings.
Swindell explained that the TAC would like to do formal mailbox archiving and standardization. He also mentioned that the committee is conducting a comprehensive review of reservation systems to determine whether Your Courts is the best option for Westchase.
Lanzar, who is interim Welcome Committee chair, reported that she planned to schedule a meeting with as many committee members as possible in the hopes of determining some new policies. She also cited the need for an updated inventory of items that go into welcome bags.
Oostenbrink provided a high-level recap of the plan to transition from lifeguards to Community Service Attendants (CSAs) to bring the new board members up to speed. The requisite signs have been created and installed and once the board approves the new job descriptions, property management can go over them with staff members, he continued. Patrick Piper will continue to oversee the CSAs.
Wilcox asked to see the proposed budget and schedule for the CSAs. Holt told her they were not yet finalized but assured her that facilities would be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Wilcox said she wanted to be sure that staff members started their shifts prior to 7 a.m. so the pool would be ready to accommodate swimmers at that time. Holt noted that that would be the responsibility of Piper and the property management.
Wilcox stated that she also wanted to know whether the slide rules were outlined somewhere. Holt replied that no one would be regulating the slides under the new CSA model. Wilcox said she was uncomfortable voting on the job descriptions until she had more time to review them and Piper had the opportunity to weigh in on them.
Holt told Wilcox that he was confident that all of her concerns had likely been addressed somewhere in the job descriptions. He added that a failure to approve them that evening would lead to a delay in getting and keeping the pools open. Oostenbrink reminded Wilcox that the descriptions were subject to change at any time.
Torra asked what policy staff members followed when closing the facilities due to weather. Holt said the CSAs would continue to use WeatherBug, the same application that the lifeguards currently use. Many facilities have more formal procedures in place, along with monitoring equipment, Torra responded. He asked whether the S&T committee could explore the option of purchasing equipment and report their findings to the board.
Green said he wanted to know when residents would potentially have fobs to access the facilities. Swindell replied that installation will take approximately 12 weeks. Holt noted that an employee should always be accessible to check residents in. The fob can determine eligibility status, but the CSA is needed to prove that the fob is being used by the proper individual, Swindell clarified.
“The basic answer is a policy question,” Holt stated. “Can we become a manless operation? We can. The question is, do we want to? Up to now, our policy has been no.”
Green expressed concern that residents could continue to encounter situations where facilities were being closed due to a shortage of staff members. Swindell told Green that the system comes with a two-way switch that enabled either manual or automatic entry.
Green then said that he didn’t see any requirements in the job descriptions for the CSAs to be CPR-certified or to have basic first aid knowledge. Holt explained that the association will not require CSAs to perform lifesaving measures. Wilcox asked about AED machines and Holt told her that they would stay in place.
A lengthy discussion ensued about whether the board should vote on job descriptions prior to Piper’s review. Torra moved to approve them with the amendments made by WCA Legal Counsel Kathleen Reres and the stipulation that Piper’s new position be called the CSA Supervisor. The motion passed 6-1, with Wilcox dissenting.
Holt then made a motion to allow Inframark to proceed with Reres’ draft of Piper’s new contract in the CSA Supervisor role. Green seconded the motion. Swindell asked Piper whether he had seen the contract yet and expressed concern that the board was going to potentially approve a contract that they hadn’t yet seen.
Piper said he was part of a discussion of “an overview of ideas,” noting that the contract was in need of refinement. Torra insisted that he wanted to see the contract prior to approval. Five board members voted in favor of the motion; Wilcox and Torra voted against it.
The discussion then turned to a review of several capital improvement proposals. The board unanimously approved a bid from Fuller to replace the air-conditioning system at the office on Parley. Holt moved to approve a bid from Fast-Dry Courts for approximately $124,000 to repair and resurface the tennis and pickleball courts. His motion also passed unanimously.
Lanzar moved to approve a pickleball tournament to be held in honor of Dan Haigy on Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Westchase courts. Her motion passed unanimously.