Sarapalms

Hi Sarapalms Residents,

Unfortunately, due to the controlling and unappreciative nature of the new HOA Board, the website has been changed from its previous version to this message.

I have lived in Sarapalms for almost 30 years. I’m a business professional with over 20 years in the tech industry. There was never any online community, so I took it upon myself on February 14th of this year to set up a site where neighbors could communicate since Margaret with All Fl Services Management & Accounting wasn’t doing her job. You would think such a volunteer effort would be welcomed. During the Board Meeting on June 12th, the Board mentioned they were looking for volunteers and committees, but apparently that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I even had plans to set up a neighborhood watch section on the site, but with the way the Board is operating, they would probably vote to hire private security to surveil the area instead of utilizing resident participation.

At the meeting yesterday, July 11th, it was mentioned that Margaret became aware of the plan to replace her and she turned in her resignation and will no longer manage the HOA.

To further demonstrate the Board’s controlling nature, I requested to join the Facebook group over a month ago, and as you can see they haven’t approved my request. This says a lot about them being the gatekeepers actually. Not everyone uses Facebook, and this group requires you to sign up and join, as opposed to the page I created at www.facebook.com/sarapalmshoa, which can be viewed by anyone without logging in. Perhaps you could inform the residents what the requirements are in order to be approved to join the Facebook group.

It essentially comes down to them being upset that I obtained the Gmail address and domain before them so it’s a form of retaliation.

I kept all events updated, without assistance from the Board and this most recent meeting was rushed so they could vote for an alternative to my website since the original plan was to have the next meeting on September 11th, but surprisingly a 24 hour notice is posted just one week after I notified the residents of the website.

I encourage you to join the Board Meetings, not just the Annual one, so you can voice your opinions. However, it was coincidentally convenient that there wasn’t any time allotted during this meeting for residents to speak. Anyone who asked a question was quickly silenced with “we’re not answering questions now but you can ask at the end if there’s time”. In my opinion, your best bet is to send an email so your message is documented.

Rachel (the current HOA President) proposed a monthly or at least quarterly Meet N’ Greet with neighbors and wants food catered at the expense of the homeowners’ since they’re “saving money” by not staying with Margaret. The option that makes the most sense would be a potluck, but we’ll see how it’s approached. This agenda item was listed on the last two meetings, but Rachel seems to still be working out the plans. This is something an Event Committee could facilitate while she focuses on more important issues such as the pond, landscaping, flooding issues, and other higher priority items, but as I mentioned, volunteers/committees appear to be frowned upon.

Rachel and Sandy came to my home on July 5th, the day after I announced the website to the neighborhood, and expressed their concerns. They were upset that I had control and “got it first.” They said there would be confusion and residents wouldn’t know what’s going on. I reminded them that I was clear in my letter that it was volunteer maintained and that I would work with the Board to ensure it’s updated accordingly and that there was nothing to worry about. This wasn’t good enough for them. Rachel said it was weird that I took the initiative, and Sandy asked that I bring the site down completely. This is the hostile mindset of the current board and how they turned a nice benefit to the community into a toxic situation.

To further illustrate the board’s lack of leadership and open-mindedness, none of the board members even looked at the resident portal that I created to see the value it provided.

The Board voted on Town Square www.townsq.io as the new community site management yesterday which will cost at least $550 a month, essentially the same service I provided at no cost. This reflects their carelessness when it comes to managing your annual HOA dues.

The cost to run my site annually is less than $1,000, an expense I planned on incurring in good faith as my contribution to the community. But at this point, I’m stepping down and they can have at it. Hopefully, their actions don’t result in an increase of annual fees next year.

The $7,500 savings from Margaret is equivalent to 15 HOA fees in the neighborhood, or $86 in savings to all residents, but that would be silly to pass on the savings.

Additionally, only about 8% of the residents joined the website, and I imagine it will be close to the same for the Town Square one. We’re not living in apartments needing maintenance techs to fix our sinks. For the most part, we’re self-sufficient and we don’t need much. Hence why Margaret could neglect us for so long.

I feel I’ve made my point and will leave the site in this state for now. If anyone is interested in purchasing the domain (sarapalms.com) which I’ll include the email address (sarapalmshoa@gmail.com), send me an email and we can discuss it further. Otherwise, it’ll expire in three years, and you’re welcome to purchase it from a registrar then.

Welcome to your 2024 Sarapalms HOA Board! If you wish to discuss anything with me, feel free to send an email to sarapalmshoa@gmail.com. I’m the only one on this account, as opposed to sarapalmshoaboard@gmail.com, which is shared by the Board.

Reach out and let me know your thoughts about the situation.

I guess it’s as the saying goes: “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Sincerely,
Anthony Santos