February 8th 2008 GBNA Board Minutes

Grayton Beach Neighborhood Association Board Meeting
February 8th, 2008

The GBNA meeting was held at Larry Jackson's home on February 8th at 4 PM. Those members present were; Larry Jackson
Ann Morrell
Shirley Sahlie
Leslie Provow
Grant Blackwell
(Linda Eyer and Jean Silva were absent.)

Larry Jackson called the meeting to order. The minutes of the January 10th meeting were corrected, and then approved. Shirley reported that there was a balance of $14,800 in the GBNA account. Expenses paid out were $1200 (Grant Blackwell) for Defuniak Street West Side Clean up and $510 (Larry Jackson) for Triangle fall plantings ($215) and February membership renewal drive postage and materials ($304).

BCC Committee Grayton Beach

Leslie reported that she would be unable to attend the next BCC Meeting that was scheduled to meet on February 12th at the Annex. Larry Jackson said that he would try to attend the meeting. Larry suggested that we maybe should poll our membership to see if Grayton Beach should pursue a neighborhood plan as being discussed by the BCC Committee. (For more information: on the BCC’s Neighborhood Plan see minutes of January 10th)

The Board also included a membership poll in the Renewal Form asking if the Association should endorse a proposal that a BCC citizen committee be formed to develop future management policies for the Grayton Beach public beach development, access, parking and permitting.

2008-2009 Membership Renewals and New Member Mailings

Larry passed out a copy of a draft letter for the Board to look over that would be sent to the membership in our Membership Renewal Letter packet that included a short survey that would reference this item. Larry asked if someone would write up a one-page summary of accomplishments by the Board this year to be included in the letter. Ann Morrell agreed to do a summary. (Summary is attached) Grant Blackwell wanted to develop as separate flyer to non-members to join the Association. He offered to work on this letter and have it ready to go out with the Renewal mailings on the 14th of February.

Filing 2008 Corporation Not For Profit Report and Federal Requirements

Larry Jackson and Jean Silva said that the CPA that had been contacted by the Board had advised that the GBNA about federal tax exempt filing requirements. Ann and Shirley will need to file the Florida 2008 Not-For-Profit Annual Corporation Report with the Department of State by May 1st, 2008.

The association appears to qualify for Internal Revenue Code tax-exempt status as a 501 (c) 4 Social Welfare organization. The pertinent definition is “a community association devoted to preserving the community traditions, architecture, and appearance by representing it before local legislature and administrative agencies in zoning, traffic and parking matters.” (Note: Association By-Laws restrict the board to the following: “The Board may not take a position representing the Association before any governmental body without a vote of the association . . . .”) The association will need to file a Form 1024.

Establishment of Key GBNA Documents

Ann Morrell is still trying to gather up key documents of the GBNA She asked that anyone having old copies of minutes or treasurer reports to please share them with her. She would like to get all discovered key documents and GBNA Board History on to Cds so that the GBNA will have a record for future board members to refer too.

Neighborhood Watch Update

Grant Blackwell reported that the application form on the original Neighborhood Watch Letter that had been sent out had been mailed out. Both Richard Veldman and Grant had ordered Neighborhood Watch Signs that would be posted at the entrance to Grayton. Grant reported that he had received quite a few Neighborhood Watch filled out applications back in the mail. There was some discussion that maybe the Board should purchase a few more signs to post in other areas of Grayton.

Draft of 2008 Board Budget

Larry passed out a draft budget for 2008. He then led the board through the draft, item by item. He asked the board to suggest any item that might have been overlooked. Larry suggested that there also be a section in our annual budget that be labeled as Capital Improvements. The board agreed. The Proposed Budget will be refined and a budget will be presented to the Board at the March Meeting as GBNA’s Budget for 2008-2009.

GBNA Spring Calendar

The next item discussed was the Board’s Spring Calendar.

Annual Meeting
Our Annual meeting will be held at Point Washington Church on April 19th. The Stephenson Building has been reserved from 9 - 1PM. Our annual meeting will begin at 10AM. The speaker (no name yet) will be from the airport Authority and will speak on the new airport.

Week of Feb 14th
The Renewal Membership letter will be mailed out. There will be a Renewal GBNA stuffing Committee that will meet Feb. 12th at Shirley’s house that will stuff both Old Members Renewals and also Non-Members Membership packets.

March 15th
The ballots for 2008-2009 Board Officers will be ready to mail out.
Currently there will be three open positions. Linda Eyer’s position will be reviewed for special configuration at the next board meeting. Those not up for re-election are:
Ann Morrell
Grant Blackwell
Jean Silva
Lynda Eyer (Special Consideration pending)

Candidate Search for GBNA Board

Larry asked for names from the members of who the Board might ask to run for the 2008-2009 year. Several names were mentioned and individual Board members agreed to approach those individuals. It was also agreed that both the blog and the web page would post notices about the Board’s vacancies. There would also be information about the Board vacancies in the Renewal Letter and also in the Non- Member Membership Letter. Names suggested would be discussed at the March meeting and those agreeing to run would be asked to provide a paragraph about them that would be shared with the membership.

Triangle / Defuniak Street / Grayton Beach Entry Sign

Larry contacted two yard service companies to get bids on the upkeep of the triangle. Blue Mountain Lawn and Plant Care (Leah Webster) bid of $58 per month was accepted and approved by the board. Larry reported that he is still working on getting bids on the electrical connection for the Triangle. Grant agreed to approach the county about some gravel to fill in the holes by the triangle. The Board discussed going back to the original artist, Brian Hand, to refurbish the “Welcome to Grayton Beach” sign on the Triangle. Grant knows how to contact him.

The Board agreed the west side of Defuniak Street by the county needed to be seeded. Grant agreed to ask county to do that. Subsequently, the County put down white load-bearing shoulder materials on both sides of the lift station.

No new meeting date was set…a date would be announced later and emailed to the Board.

Submitted by,
Ann Morrell

Grayton Beach Neighborhood Association 2007 Update

The board identified five main Goals for Emphasis for the year 2007- 2008. In regards to these concerns the board accomplished the following:

IMPROVE SAFETY AND OVER ALL ROAD CONDITIONS
* Contact was made with County Road Dept for shoulder maintenance multiple places along DeFuniak Street and street repair on Pine Street.
* A drain cover for the corner of Pine and Grayton Oaks was installed
* A safety barricade installed at Grayton Oaks and Pine Street
* A Neighborhood Watch Program with Street Captains established for the Grayton Beach Neighborhood
*Met with the County Road Sign department and pointed out signs that needed replacing or additional signs needed for our area.

MONITOR BEACH ACCESSESS
* Met with TDC to have hurricane debris removed from the Defuniak Street beach entry point. The area is now free of debris and both safe for driving and walking.
* The board has monitored the Pine Street State Park Beach Access and is in talks with the Park to replace the old and frayed roping.
* The board has talked with Commissioner Meadows about developing a better and safer parking situation for beach goers on the Garfield Street access.
* The Board is working on establishing a park bench at the Lydia-Banfill Lake Access.

PROMOTE A SENSE OF “NEIGHBORHOOD” – THE GRAYTON COMMUNITY
* The board sponsored two street party/dances for the Grayton Community.
* The board holds a General Informational Meeting once a year to elect new officers and to inform the membership of what has been accomplished throughout the year.
*Our 4th of July Parade continues to be an annual summer event for the community.

MAINTAIN COMMUNICATIONS WITH MEMBERS, COMMUNITY & GOVERNMENT LEADERS
* The board has met with Cindy Meadows and discussed our concerns in regards to our Grayton Beach Neighborhood. Bike and pedestrian safety along DeFuniak Street, crowded parking issues in relation to the Grayton Public Beach, and the county overall plan for the Walton County Beaches was discussed.
* Board Members have attended various county meetings to keep the membership abreast of changes or future issues that might affect our community.
* The board maintains both a web site and a GBNA blog where members can find copies of minutes, reports of meetings with county officials, and other important information concerning our community.
* The board has had a member at most of the recent BCC meetings.

IMPROVE AND MAINTAIN APPEARANCE OF COMMON AREAS
* Continued Defuniak-Magnolia corner “Welcome to Grayton Beach” entry triangle landscaping maintenance with seasonal plantings and a water system installed
* Cleaning up trash and weeds form the West side of DeFuniak Street at the entrance to Grayton Beach.
* Working with county to repair and seed damaged shoulders because of the Regional Utilities Pump Station construction.
* Board worked to have dumped debris and an abandon car removed from our area.