Below are unofficial, community-member sourced meeting notes. These are notes only and are not a formal recording of Board decisions or Owner comments/discussions.
January 16, 2025
Quorum Check and Proof of Notice
Board members in attendance were Marek Bakun, William Brock, Hunter Harman, Randy Merritt and Randy Plank. RCAM employees present were Ken Floyd, Amy Ludlam, Bob Carter and CAM John Miller. Brandon Burg, HOA attorney, was also present.
Approval of prior Annual Meeting Minutes and Introduction of RCAM
Minutes were approved for Feb 1, 2024 and Jun 5, 2024 meetings because no approved meeting minutes were found in the documents transferred from Burg Management to RCAM, the new property management firm.
RCAM employees in attendance were introduced. Questions were answered on how to pay HOA quarterly dues. At this time, payment can be made by check (mail or in person), debit card, e-check, or credit card. Different fees are associated with the online payment types. In the future, the HOA board can approve ACH payment (no fees). Currently individual owner accounts haven’t been transferred from Burg Management.
RCAM will not have a set day to be on-site, but they will visit the property minimum two times per week. Bob Carter, maintenance person, will be on-site daily. Bob will be following a preventative maintenance (PM) schedule as determined by RCAM. Note that no transfer fee was paid by the HOA to Burg Management for RCAM to hire Bob. This transfer fee had been mentioned in previous meetings.
Manager’s Report
A complete copy of the report can be obtained on AppFolio. Submit work requests through Appfolio instead of calling or emailing CAM so that requests can be tracked better. No financial information was provided at this meeting because financials had not yet been transferred.
President’s Report
Marek reported that mailboxes (80 slots) had been ordered for the West End. Estimated completion for the project is mid-March 2025. Large Parcel lockers are still being looked at for the future for both mail kiosks locations.
Marek thanked the owners for their research on different property management firms and thought RCAM was a good fit for the community.
Committee Reports
Social: Reimbursement process is being developed with RCAM. Food trucks will be added to the RCAM calendar.
Enhancement: A presentation was given with eight potential projects. At the request of a HOA board member, the committee recommended three projects that could be completed quickly. The three projects are the flashing speed limits signs ($6,000 plus installation costs, to be installed along Preservation Dr. near the existing mail kiosk); adding a solar light to the Rivercamps sign at the west gate ($350); lockable, exterior announcement boards ($800, to be installed at both mail kiosks).
Firewise: The firewise mitigation will continue pushing back the brush. The contractor will move around to different areas as the conditions dictate. Please be cautious around the equipment if driving/walking by as they are working. Bush hogging will continue throughout the year. Common areas may be bush hogged multiple times in a year, as necessary.
Covenants Committee: Owners should review the governing documents and pattern book to see the rules/restrictions. The Committee will be working with the CAM to uphold the community to a high standard in a fair manner to all owners.
Rebuild Committee: A presentation was given on the pool/pavilion updates and the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the Outfitter and Riverhouse. Updated cost for Pool and Pavilion is approx. $2,700,000.
The GMP for the Riverhouse and Fitness Center is $8,316,189. Total estimated cost for all rebuild is $11.1 million. Insurance funds received are $4.2 million. This is a funding shortfall of $6.8 million.
There may be additional insurance adjustment of approximately $360,000 since the new amenities are being built to the latest building code.
The pool/pavilion project is still on target for Spring 2025 completion. The committee expects to submit a change order request at the next HOA meeting. This change order will be to increase the pool deck by approximately 600 sq ft between the zero entry of the pool and the Pavilion fireplace and ensure the pool finishes comply with commercial building codes.
The rebuild committee requested the board to approve $55,000 to start the permitting process for the Riverhouse project. A permit expediter will be hired to oversee the permitting process. The project could start April 1, 2025 if permits are approved. The board approved the $55,000 request.
Design Review Committee (DRC): No report was provided.
Old Business
There was limited discussion on the special assessment that will be needed to pay for the rebuild cost. Board members said they are working with different banks to present loan options in the future.
Brandon Burg, HOA attorney, reported that he forgot to deal with the issue of short term rental restrictions and a previous owner vote to amend the charter. This matter was left open at the December annual meeting. Brandon is to work with John Miller to send information to owners.
Brandon Burg reported that the owner Legal group had started discussions again with St Joe, and there is a mediation scheduled for January 24.
New Business
The HOA funds (operating, reserves, enhancement, and insurance) are moved to Service 1st bank. Board members with signature authority are Marek Bakun, Randy Merritt and Randy Plank.
The resident HOA board members will work with RCAM to develop an owner survey on a special assessment options in the next few weeks.
Owners Comments
An owner asked why the HOA dues were increased given that there are less amenities since the arson. The budget line item increases were discussed (i.e. significant increase in legal fees due to recent and pending litigation) as well as the fact that in previous years the HOA had overspent the planned budgets, and the dues should have been increased in previous years to account for the increased budget costs.
An owner asked for an update on the HOA court cases.. Brandon Burg stated he thought the case against Carter Adair would rule in favor of the HOA, but there would not be much monetary recovery. Another owner asked why the HOA didn’t file a lawsuit against the other parties that had a higher chance of monetary recovery. Brandon said he could not discuss the legal strategies. He advised owners to monitor the court docket.
An owner asked if the HOA could assist owners if they wanted to sue the plumbing company as a collective group with the recent cross-connection water issue. Brandon said a class action suit was outside his capabilities.
An owner asked if a report was to be given on the causes of the cross-connection issue. Randy Plank stated that there was a comprehensive report on the Bay County Emergency Services website that had details. A plumber connected a new home’s grinder pump discharge to the irrigation stub-out instead of to the sewer stub-out. The irrigation stub-out was tapped from the potable water line, so the grinder pump discharge was entering the community’s potable water system.
An owner asked if they were going to be reimbursed for water purchased prior to the County disbursement. They were told to take their receipts to Bay County for reimbursement. Owners’ utility water bills are supposed to be discounted in the next billing cycle for water used for flushing household water lines.
An owner asked about the insurance funding shortfall and estimated special assessment. Hunter Harman said it was a top priority to figure out the financing options on the special assessment and this would be presented at the next HOA meeting.
An owner if the developer’s DRC function (financial and construction monitor) could be turned over to the HOA. There are builders that are not following the rules for silt fences, dumpsters and encroaching on the wetland buffers, and there may be one new build that didn’t go through the developer’s DRC review process at all. It was stated again by the HOA president that they intend to turn over the financial aspects of the DRC (e.g. construction deposits) to the HOA. There was no discussion on the construction monitor aspect.
An owner asked if the scheduled trash pickup day had changed since trash pickup had been delayed for the past 3 weeks. Randy Merritt said he would look at other options for the community trash services.