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Coastland must be replaced as the management of our Ocean Sands community and have their stranglehold on the POA board ended because of their indifference to the needs and wishes of the Home Owners.
The Governance Committee has been documenting the questionable actions of Coastland Corp relative to the operations of the Ocean Sands Property Owners Association (OSPOA). Here is a short list. At the 2015 Annual Meeting, we distributed a longer list, going back even further (find it here: Questionable Actions). It demonstrates a pattern of disregard for the wishes of the Owners, if not outright disdain.
At the 2015 Annual Meeting, Coastland-controlled Board members:
- Presented minutes from the 2014 meeting that were incomprehensible and more closely resembled a fragmented transcript, not minutes.
- Presented audited financial statements for 2014 that used account labels that were inconsistent with prior year financials and the 2016 Budget.
- Presented a 2016 budget without providing underlying support and told the audience it was not the owners place to approve the budget.
- Told the audience that the Open Spaces would always remain in Coastland’s name…yet OSPOA pays for maintenance.
- Refused to acknowledge the owner votes from the floor to consider discontinuing the Security and/or Trashcan Rollback Services.
- Promised to have a Board Meeting “soon” to discuss the questions and concerns raised by the owners. Six months later, no Board meeting has been called, despite numerous requests from the Owner Representative Board members.
Prompt pumping of the recent flooding was done by the Stormwater Advisory Board, not through Coastland or OSPOA actions. After the storms, Coastland wrote a letter to the County, demanding that the roads damaged by pumping be repaired, and that the county ask permission to come into Ocean Sands in the future (find it here: Coastland Complains to County). Any rational person would realize that pumping did not damage the roads. In addition, this email clearly shows that Coastland does not understand that the Stormwater District has governmental authority for access to private roads.
At the 2014 Annual Meeting, the owners passed a resolution to require a 75% Board approval of any expenditure over $5,000 that was not budgeted. The Coastland-controlled Board has consistently ignored this requirement.
Coastland’s chosen site manager has failed to spend the budgeted money to clear the drainage ditches, which we believe added to the recent flooding. Coastland continues to drag their heels on this despite repeated requests.
Coastland’s attorneys have tried to “stonewall” the Document Production Suit brought by a Board member to gather OSPOA operating records that are supposed to be available for review by board members as a matter of law. This needlessly wastes OSPOA money to impede owners, when this money should be spent improving the community.
Coastland spent OSPOA money to fight against the Stormwater District in May 2016. The past several weeks have demonstrated that Stormwater control has been needed for a long time. Coastland ignored the flooding issue for 40 years. In addition, Coastland was proposing a flood mitigation system paid for by Special Assessments. Conveniently, all Coastland-held property is exempt from Special Assessments, so we owners would have had to carry the full financial burden.
The dues were raised by Coastland’s controlled Board without providing owners with a financial justification. When the annual dues invoice was sent, there was no mention or explanation of the 26% increase. The Owner representatives’ request that the monies generated from the increase be spent on roads and to support the reserve accounts was blatantly ignored.
For years, Coastland refused to approve having a Reserve Study of long term maintenance and replacement costs done. This is one of the fundamental responsibilities of a POA Board. Was this because it was easier for Coastland to sell lots by promoting lower annual dues? Meanwhile, road maintenance was done as cheaply as possible, and it shows.
Our next email will explain the Planned Community Act more fully as our solution for removing Coastland from our lives.
With great appreciation for your attention to this topic, and your continuing support,
The Governance Committee
Al, Chris, Dennis, Greg, Jeanne, Jim, Rick and Robert |
