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About The Starlight Express

The very First Issue of  Starlight Express Newsletter was created by the Editor and Chief Pat Ifft on February 29, 1992 and since then is maintained and produced monthly by her for 17 years! All Starlighter's owe immense gratitude to Pat in keeping them informed with all happenings good and bad. 

Thank You Pat 

Volume XVIII, No. 6

 
October 26, 2009
Pat Ifft, Editor (eifft@tampabay.rr.com)
Webmaster, Louisa Simos
www.starlight-tower.com

Nature’s a/c has finally kicked in, the Gulf temperature is down to about 72 degrees from its summer high of 89, and some of our snow birds are returning. Should they be called Birds of Paradise? Well, in any event, life here is at its most comfortable, with lots of good weather to refresh our spirits.

Autumn sky looking East

First of all,

the Board held a special meeting on Tuesday (10/21/2009) to report on old business: status of the restoration project, and the seawall fence; and to conduct new business: the awarding of a contract for a new roof for the building, and to create a procedure for setting up the proposed budget for 2010.
 
Thanks to Lynn Dopp and Marlene Reid

for their input to the following news from the Board: The restoration project is complete except for the installation of the custom-built a/c vent covers on the walkways. The design has been established and they are now being manufactured. The ’08 stack covers have been installed and are working well. Final payment and sign-off on the project has been withheld until all the covers are installed, and the inspector has made his final inspection. The project is $130,000 over the original amount, for several reasons:

• 1) Two owners are in default on the assessment (approximately $ 44,000);

• 2) time and material exceeded the original plan because of more extensive damage found, including necessary re-sloping of the walkways and rebuilding the knee walls of the first floor units;

• 3) enhancements requested by the Association, including painting the garages, changing the color of the walkways to a custom darker color, and the upgraded first-floor walkways. The lien against Starlight owners was enacted by the contractor when he did, because he had only 60 days by state law to do so. Otherwise he could have risked forfeiting the outstanding $130,000.

Picture above taken Saturday, 10/24.

The necessary city permit has been received for the fence installation and that work is underway as I write.

As reported previously,

inspections during the recent renovation project identified critical problems with our roof, and 9th floor owners are now reporting leaks, which we have had to ‘patch’ in anticipation of the required replacement. Earlier this year, the Board contracted with a professional roofing engineer to evaluate the problems and oversee bids from roofing companies (6 received). The Board approved awarding the contract for the roof to Tar Heel Roofing in St. Petersburg, a company which has done many major projects, including the Don Cesar and the Pier in St. Pete. Included in the job will be a rerouting of rain water from the roof. The interior roof drains will be closed and the water rerouted from the roof into downspouts on either end of the building. Total cost of the project will be $144,345.

So, where does this leave us?

The Board is faced with two choices: trying to secure a loan from a local bank in the amount of $270,000; or assessing everyone his share according to the percentage listed in our Lease Provision. If a loan is arranged, owners would pay it back each month in addition to our maintenance fee. Owners would have the option of paying their entire assessment up front, thus avoiding a monthly installment payment plus interest charge.

Of course,

if we had a reserve fund, as most Associations do, the roof would be paid for from that fund. Florida law requires us to carry a reserve fund for major projects – roofing, driveways, and painting of the building, unless a majority of the owners votes to opt out of the requirement. And every year, a majority of Starlight owners have voted for no reserve fund at the annual meeting in February.

The Board

is currently preparing the draft 2010 Budget to be sent out to all Owners. In order to avoid the problems in previous years with having a budget in place prior to the Owners vote on the Statute required items (Annual Audit and Reserve Funding) in February, this year the ballot/proxy for these two items will be included in the mailing of the draft 2010 Budget. This will be sent out later this month and to allow for the 30 day review/return process, a Special Owners Meeting will be scheduled in late November for the votes to be tabulated (or cast in person.) With the results of that vote, the Board will be better able to plan for next year. It was noted at the Board meeting that banks do NOT look favorably on loans to Associations without a Reserve Fund. This year, the Board is recommending the Owners vote NOT TO WAIVE the Reserve Fund.

Thanks to the organizing efforts of Kevin Hing and several other SPB residents, the St. Pete Beach Corey Avenue Post Office, which was on the list of sites to be closed, will remain open! A petition with hundreds of signatures and a rally of post office patrons, culminated in the good news. The fate of the Pass-a-Grille facility is still unknown, but after a rally down there and another signature-laden petition, things are looking up.

According to the St. Pete Times, (10/7) our beach is due to be renourished sometime in the spring (delayed from now, then January). Nicole Elko, longtime advocate for our beaches and former coastal management director for the county, was fired from her job last month. Pinellas County Environmental Management Director Will Davis assures the beach communities, “There will be no blip in the schedule…..the county realizes how important the beaches are to the economy."

Some people news...

• We are saddened by the death of Joan Carlock, winter resident of Starlight, and extend our sympathy to Jack and his family. Jack will return to Starlight in January.
  

• Our sympathy is also extended to the family of Betty Jennings, who passed away last month. Betty spent more than 20 winters at Starlight, until the last few years. She was the godmother of Ric Garland.
  

• Congratulations to Al and Carol Stucko (108) who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 8.
  

• A warm welcome to the new owners of 508, Ted and Poletta Przytula.
  

• Congratulations to Kevin Hing, who passed the Florida Bar exam recently.
  

Roberta Whipple, Director of the St. Pete Beach Public Library has written a book about our fair city in days gone by: “St. Pete Beach’s Corey Avenue”. It’s available at www.Amazon.com for $21.95. Roberta’s dad owned a drugstore on Corey some years ago.

This is “Volunteeer Week” – a good time to bring up volunteering to serve on the Starlight Board of Directors. Please give this your serious consideration. Some members of our board are completing their second terms. If you have questions, talk to any board member for their input. Thanks in advance.

Sorry we missed wishing HAPPY BIRTHDAY...  

...to these October folks: Judi Spencer, 6th; Ernest Bailey, 7th; Season Wales, 9th; Chuck Simpson, 19th; Sharon Isaacs, 29th. November celebrants: Edel Quinn, 1st; Lynn Dopp, 3rd; Karen Gulia, 4th; Jeanine Fansler, 9th; Luke Dickinson, 20th, John Machado, 26th.