Conduct of residents.

As per the Florida Statutes 2001 Chapter 720 Homeowner Association subsection 720.304 Right of owner to peaceably assembly.
Gives the right to the entity or entities to adopt reasonable rules and regulation pertaining to the use of the common grounds and or recreational facilities.
In such the proper conduct of the attending residents is essential to the efficient operation of annual, special and regular Board of Director meeting and any other meeting called by the association.
       
       All residents, Guest of and or Speakers must read and obey the following rules.

                                                                  Disruptive  behavior
Residents must remain quiet during presentation by a fellow resident or during Board Business.  This is necessary to ensure the understanding of the speaker's intent and efficient use of time.  Any resident, guest and or speaker found to be disruptive would be reprimand for the first
occurrence and will be reason  for removal upon the second occurrence.

                                            Requests to speak to the  Board of Directors.
Request forms for speaking to the Board of Directors will be rendered to the CLOA.  Office forty-eight hours in advance of the Board meeting.

           It must be presented on the adopted form and must not be in excess of three minutes in length.

           All points and request to the Board of Directors must be in proper verbiage and must not contain any insulting or offensive language or gestures.  This will not be tolerated and will be cause for removal from the meeting. In special circumstance the Board of Directors  retain the right to reduce the speaker time to accommodate all residents and ensure that the allotted time for resident form is efficiently used.     


 
                  Scanned version of letter regarding Video Taping of Meetings :
A. Jeffrey Tomassetti
Attorney at Law
                                                       September 19, 2001

David Rix
8410 Cheswick Oaks Avenue
Jacksonville, Fl. 32244

                               RE : Recording and Taping Membership Meetings

Dear Mr. Rix,

       I am in receipt of your memo dated September 15, 2001 regarding the adoption of reasonable restrictions on video taping meetings of the Association members. It is my understanding that the restrictions being put in place to avoid disruption of the Board of Directors meeting.

        As you know, Florida Statute 720.306 (8) provides that any parcel owner may tape record or video tape meetings of the Board of Directors and meetings of the members. The Board of Directors of the Association may adopt reasonable rules governing the taping of meetings of the Board and the membership.  The right to record meetings may be subject to restrictions imposed by the Board of Directors provided that the restrictions are reasonable and have been adopted as rules of the homeowners Association by the Board of Directors. Examples of such reasonable rules would include restrictions regarding prior notice by the members desiring to make a recording, restrictions requiring installation of the recording equipment in a fixed location prior to the commencement of the meeting, and restrictions on recording equipment that produce distracting sound or light emissions.

        Further, I believe it would be reasonable for the association to set up its own video camera and run a feed to an outside room where any owner is allowed to create their own video tape from the simulcast proceeding. This certainly fits the spirit of the rule permitting the parcel owner to video tape meetings of the Association membership. You can also require advance notice so the association can provide adequate “patches to the feed.

        While you may also produce copies for the membership at a reasonable cost, I do believe that a simulcast feed must be available so that an owner can walk away from a particular meeting with their own video tape recording of the proceeding.

        As regards the code of conduct which you have adopted, I see that you will require residents to give 48 hours notice in advance of their request to speak and limit their discussion to three minutes in length.  Please be advised that if you adopt this code of conduct it must be adopted uniformly for all residents. Therefore, if a resident does not give you 48 hours advance notice of their request to speak they may not speak. You can not make exceptions for some and not for others.

                     Please call me if you want to discuss these matters further.
        
                                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                        ( signature )
                                                                                A. Jeffrey Tomassetti

               406 Ash Street  *  Post Office Box 1443 * Fernandina Beach, Florida 32035-1443
                                Telephone :  (904) 261-1833 *  Fax: (904) 261-8023


 
                                              Newsletter ( Scanned version )
                             
                                                                  October 19, 2001
                                                          From the Board of Directors

In light of last months tragedy we extend our deepest sympathy to all who lost loved ones, friends, and fellow Americans.  This underscores our need to pull together as a community to remain strong.

For over a year now we have refrained from using this format to confront any rumors or dissention because this was viewed as tasteless by us, and many of you.  However on a need to know basis here are some FACTS we want you to know for a surety.  The audit for FY 2000 draft has been completed.
(It can he viewed by anyone interested at the rec office and Rimsco, Inc. office.)
Every thing is in order.  Our business practices are good, and we stand very well financially.  There have been accusations from a small group that our financials are a mess, we are operating in the red, and we don't know where our money is at.  We as the Board are here to tell you all those accusations are false.  We are a strong community and intend to stay that way.  We would like to give a little history of what we have accomplished this year.  The walk paths which were in dire need of repair were completed.  We are looking into adding another section of walk path from Spencer’s Landing to Spencer's Trace, so there would be no reason for our children to cross over Argyle Forrest.  This will also provide more connectivity for the community.  The playground equipment at the recreation center has been power washed, and water sealed.  This will also be done at Sugar Tree and the Gazebo Park.  We have considered the possibility of adding new equipment to these area's.  Your ideas of what improvement to make would be greatly appreciated.  This year we decided to put the landscaping out for bid.  We were paying in excess of $190,000.00 for landscaping and did not feel we were getting our money's worth for various reasons.  One major concern was the ground erosion through out the entire property.  The grass was being cut to short and to often, never allowing it to reseed itself.  We put together a comprehensive scope of work which would allow us to rebuild the property and correct the problems.  We went through a sealed bid process and took the best bid.  The contractor at that time had a right of refusal.  We offered the contract to them.  They agreed to the terms and signed the contract.  On the first of June the contractor nullified their contract.  It was then offered to the next contractor.  We had no intention of switching contractor's in the middle of the year.  We knew it would be difficult for anyone to assume the workload during peak cutting time.  The current contractor is working to our specifications.  The roadways have filled in nicely.  We intend to attack the erosion problems this fall.  The tassels you see along the road ways are a part of the reseeding process.  We have had more rain this year then in the past five put together.  Please bear with us the current contractor is a part of our community and is very conscious of our needs, and is working towards improving our community.

The basketball court had a total makeover this year.  All the cracks were sealed and the court was painted with the same material used on the tennis courts.  The cool deck on the pool was also resealed, new pool furniture purchased, and the old tables and umbrellas are now in use in the rec park and pavilion area.  The maintenance man for the association was sent to pool maintenance and care school at FCCJ.  He is a State Certified Pool Technician.  This allowed us to terminate the pool maintenance contract for a savings, and better performance to the community.  The security company wanted to raise the cost of their contract for additional service seasonally.  We, as your Board decided to make the positive changes of using employees as pool monitors, and park monitors through the summer season.  This worked exceptionally well.  We still use the security company at night and weekends.  We adopted job descriptions for your maintenance man and secretary.  All of these changes were savings to you.  This years budget is in the works and once again you will not see any increase in your annual assessments.  The Boardroom and office were painted and remodeled to better handle traffic.

We have successfully fought off city council on the issue of redistricting.  Argyle will be a part of district 14 when the next elections come.  This was a combined effort between several communities in Argyle which pulled together for the cause.  Your president and Board members started the Argyle Area Community Council composed of CLOA, Highland Lakes, Indian Trails, Sturbridge, East Argyle, and others.  Combined together to be a force large enough to fight for our roads to be widened, and work out issues with the city like redistricting, and Lindsay Terrace, and future issues with the city.  We have obtained through the city a 10 foot bike path from Old Middleburg Rd. to Blanding Blvd. on the south side of Argyle Forrest along with a 5 foot wide sidewalk on the north side of Argyle.

We have established a Code of Conduct for residents who attend Board meetings.  These will enable us to have orderly effective meetings, and allow you an opportunity to address your concerns to the board.
PLEASE NOTE:  THERE IS A FORM YOU MUST OBTAIN, FILL OUT, AND SUBMIT 48 HOURS BEFORE THE MEETING IF YOU WISH TO SPEAK DURING RESIDENT FORUM TIME.
(YOU MAY OBTAIN THE FORM AT THE REC. OFFICE) 
We are currently working on a homeowners Bill of Rights.
In our last few meeting changes have occurred please note:

The on site employees are now employees of the Management company as opposed to CLOA.

Also, the Board room has been set-up with cameras and microphone to record the Board Meetings.  This enables your association to have immediate and accurate minutes and records.  Copies of tapes will be provided to any resident requesting one for the cost of reproduction of the tape.  This set-up will allow for us to Web cast the meetings in the future if the community so desires.  Individual camera and taping will no longer be allowed in the Boardroom itself, however you can connect to the feed in the pavillon if you desire to tape the meetings yourself.

We realize this is a lengthy letter, and some of you have heard some of these items already, however, we wanted to recap hard an efficiently your volunteer board has been working for you and your community.
Thank you for your positive consideration of these FACTS,

Your Board of Directors