January 10th Board Minutes

Grayton Beach Neighborhood Association Meeting

January 10th, 2008

The GBNA meeting was held at Jean Silva’s house on January 10th at 6 PM. Those members present were:

Larry Jackson
Ann Morrell
Shirley Sahlie
Jean Silva
Linda Eyer
Leslie Provow
Grant Blackwell

Larry Jackson called the meeting to order. The minutes of November 1st, 2007 and December 5th 2007 were approved. The treasurer, Shirley Sahlie gave a report on the expenses for the October Street Party.

8/28/07…..Larry Jackson…......................$94.61 (Postcard Mailing)
10/06/07…Scott Provow…..................... $304.37 (food and paper products)
10/06/07…GTS Entertainment Group..$700.00 (Band)
10/15/07 ...Larry Jackson ….......................$91.86 (party supplies, decorations)
11/10/07…Emerald Waste Services….........$90.95 (Potty)
TOTAL EXPENSES……. .................$1281.79

LEAVING A BALANCE OF $14,800.81

Neighborhood Plan Report

Grant reported that the Neighborhood Watch letter was almost ready to be sent out to the membership. He read the draft letter to the board. He was going to formalize the letter and then sent an email copy to the board, and then sent out a mailing to all the property owners in Grayton. The letter would contain all the information on the program, the cost of a yard sign, and there would also be an information sheet that the owners could fill out, listing particulars about their property. Grant already had street captains signed up for the program. Copies of this letter and Street Captain contacts will be posted both on the blog and web page. The board also chose the blue Neighborhood Watch sign that will be posted as you enter the Grayton Beach area. A motion was made to accept the Neighborhood watch Plan that Grant had explained to the group. The motion was seconded by Leslie, and the plan was approved by the board. Letters will be sent in before the end of the month.

BCC Committee Grayton Beach

Leslie Provow attended the BCC meeting on 8 January, 2008 where Legislative Item 6 considered the Amendment of the Neighborhood Plan Ordinance. This ordinance is being presented to amend Section 2.03.02 of the Land Development Code to eliminate the requirement that neighborhood plans be adopted as comprehensive plan amendments. This would allow for neighborhood plans to be incorporated into the LDC as overlay districts. Presumably, as part of the LDC rather than the Comprehensive Plan, this amendment will more easily streamline and expedite the requirements (both time and money) necessary for the development of Neighborhood Plans. Whether or not Grayton Beach should pursue a neighborhood plan is undecided at this time, and the amendment will be discussed at the BCC meeting slated for 12 February at the South Annex at 4:00pm. All are welcome to attend.

Grayton Beach Membership on the BCC County Wide Committee

Grant reported that Cindy Meadows was going to appoint a 12 member committee, with two members from each Commissioner’s district to look at the beaches in Walton County. This committee would look at all the policy and beach management issues including driving and vendor permits, parking, restrooms, future policy developments for the Grayton Beach public beach. The board discussed whether we should participate formally as members of the board or as individuals. After some discussion of the pros and cons of the issue, it was decided that as a board there would be no participation on the committee until approved by the association membership. We would keep abreast of information coming out of this committee and would also keep our membership informed.

Filing 2008 Corporation Report

Larry gave the 2008 Not For Profit Corporation Annual Report form to Ann and Shirley and they are responsible to file the form along with a check for $61.50 before May 1, 2008.

Continued Establishment of Key Documents

Ann reported that she was still looking for old copies of board minutes. Shirley is going to meet with Ann and give her some boxes that contain old communication records from previous boards so that she can go through them and organize them. The board is still trying to establish a date when the GBNA bylaws were adopted.

Develop 2008 Board Budget

Larry asked the board to come up with a budget for the next year May 2008-May2009. We need to have a capital Improvement budget as well as an open expenses budget.
Some items that need to be included:
1. Acquire an electrical firm contract so electricity can be run to island.
2. Seasonal landscape plants, mulch, and fertilizer for the island. It was also suggested that the west side of Defuniak Street, near the entrance to Grayton be planted with azaleas and bulbs.
3. Watering the island.
4. The main entrance sign to Grayton needs to be painted and updated.
5. Consider building foot pier or park bench at the Lydia-banfield Access to Western Lake.
6. Cost of mailings to members.
7. Fall Party Expense
8. Fees paid to state for Not for Profit Corporation Annual Report
9. Neighborhood Watch Sign

Westside Defuniak Street Cleanup

Grant Blackwell notified the board that the cost of cleaning up the west side of Defuniak Street was $1200. The motion was made and seconded to have Shirley cut him a check for that amount.

Future Dates on our Calendar

The board selected April 19th as the date for the Annual Meeting and Street Dance Party. The party will start around 5:30 with the band to begin playing at 6:30. Leslie said that she would check with Point Washington to see if that date would be OK for the annual meeting, if not our second choice would be the Coastal Branch Library. The morning meeting will start at 10 AM.

Speaker for Annual Meeting

After some discussion of various topics and speakers the Board decided to ask for a speaker from the Regional Airport Authority to speak on the new airport that is going to be built. Leslie agreed that she would try contacting someone in this area to set up a speaker for the April 19th meeting.

Board Candidate Search for 2008 New Members

There are four slots to be filled for the year 2008. Larry asked for names of possible people to contact to see if they would be willing to run. He would like to have the ballot ready to be sent out by the 15th of February. In order to run and vote, a member must have paid their dues for the upcoming year. Dues and mail in ballots should be back in the Board’s hands by March 30th. Those attending the April 19th meeting may pay dues and vote at the meeting.

Do We Need to Meet with CPA?

The Association is registered as a non-profit corporation with state of Florida. The Board will determine if the Association also should be registered as a non-profit corporation federally because of any requirements in the Internal Revenue Code or in other regulations. Jean Silva agreed to contact a CPA to advise us about any federal requirements we might have and what we would need to do.

Trash and Old Washer

Larry picked up the old washer on Grayton Oaks and took it to the dump in Defuniak Springs. Grant agreed to pick up the trash on the corner of Pine and remove it.

Next Meeting

The Board is going to try a daytime meeting for February. The next meeting will be at Shirley’s house on Thursday, February 7th at 4 PM.

Submitted by,
Ann Morrell