Closed door meetings with lawyers. Allegations of conflict of interest. A demand for retraction from one condo president after an email blast to another building’s members. It’s all part of a growing battle at Key Colony, the condominium complex that is home to one out of every four Key Biscayners.
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Entrance to the Emerald Bay condominium, one of four buildings at the Key Colony complex in Key Biscayne, Fla., Feb. 7, 2023. Tensions have risen in the complex over a number of disputes. |
Disputed Fees and a
proposal for change
One focal point is a $145,119.04 invoice sent in January
from HOA, the main association, to Emerald Bay, one of the
four buildings at Key Colony, according to HOA records. The
amount represents fees to maintain the HOA’s amenities, such
as tennis courts, pools and the ocean beach.
Emerald Bay President Louisa Conway is disputing the
invoice, saying it’s not her building’s job to be the
collection agent for the HOA. “It is their fiduciary duty to
collect and manage their own finances,” Conway said.
Joining her is H. Frances Reaves, the president of the
Oceansound building, who says the old arrangement needs to
be changed.
“We have to have a change in the by-laws,” Reaves said, who
took aim at the current HOA President, David McDanal. “We
are tired of people from Botanica running the towers.”
The HOA, so far, is sticking to its guns. It passed a
resolution Jan. 18 “confirming” the existing fee collection
arrangement which it maintains is part of the complex’s
governing documents. Interestingly, the resolution was
approved unanimously, including votes from representatives
of Emerald Bay and Oceansound. Years ago, leaders of the
four buildings appointed the HOA board, but today, they are
independently elected by their respective buildings.
Conway dismissed the HOA vote in a meeting that again
featured raised voices. “This is a silly little resolution
that has no binding on any of us,” she said.
Demand for
retraction
But the fee fight has erupted into more than a debate over
collection methods, with Reaves singling out HOA President
David McDanal, and McDanal demanding a retraction.
In a Jan. 28 letter sent to Oceansound owners, she said
McDanal, who is also the Botanica treasurer, had a “blatant
conflict of interest” serving in both positions. The letter
also said a recent phishing fraud at Botanica “has shown a
fiduciary issue.” She called for him to resign.
McDanal fired back Feb. 2, demanding a retraction and
asserting that the letter defamed him.
“Falsely accusing me of being negligent and responsible for
the fraud that befell Botanica is a defamatory statement,”
he wrote. McDanal, a licensed investment professional, said
the accusations threatened his livelihood.
There was no comment from Reaves as of Wednesday to
McDanal’s letter.
Despite the strain — or maybe because of it — few have
decided to run for office. On Wednesday, the HOA said that
all eight candidates for the 2023 board were elected
unopposed: no one else ran for office.