RUMOR CONTROL - CALL FOR INFORMATION

Hi all,

What I am going to write is so absurd as to defy belief, and I sincerely hope it is untrue.

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I have heard from multiple sources, that a few malcontents are soliciting Associations to contribute money to finance a law suit against UCO!!

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Can anyone reading this confirm or deny this incredible story, if true, have the instigators really thought through the consequences of suing yourselves!!

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THINK folks, you might find it to be a refreshing experience.

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Dave Israel

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Transponder Malfunction

The gate guard says my Sunpass is interfering with my transponder which did not work yesterday, really?? they have both been okay for many years.

Two questions,since I have been up north for the last two plus months I wanted to know what the update on the homeless guy living in his car I am very disturbed with that situation why cant he be simply escorted out of CV. Also in one of the last blogs I read  a blog where someone talked about losing our senior status because we are letting too many people under age to buy at CV I want to retire here someday and I don't want to be living around teenagers and loose the serene,secure CV feel. Is losing our status as a senior property a possibility?

Also I for one do not want to pay for a lawsuit against the developers who want to develop the golf course I believe a sane approach would be to insure a secure buffer zone around CV and (Golf View in particular must be secured ) I believe we can safely coexist with this project, of course a viable golf course would be my first choice but that horse has left  the barn.    lenny clark Northampton R

I have just read Florence M. Molinaro's letter to the editor in the Reporter. She writes that Mr. Waldman is "seeking rezoning to forever take away our golf course and our senior status and benefits" She is also rallying the faithful to get behind the Pro-Active Committee to sue for our rights to keep the golf course in perpetuity.
First of all it is not OUR golf course. It was sold years ago by the Levy's as it was becoming a losing proposition. I am in no way in favor of Mr. Waldman's high density village. I am also hoping that when Florence is rallying to sue she is also digging deeply into her own pocket to come up with the thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars for this law suit. As a condo owner I do not want anyone putting their hands in my pocket for a lawsuit. I think the Pro-Active Committee should start canvassing owners for money for this lawsuit now. I have heard people at the Delegate meetings complaining we cannot afford to pay about $4.50 per month for HBO and complain when needed repairs are done. I do not want my monthly maintenance going up to pay for lawyers.  We need our money to pay for village expenses and repairs.
As for taking away our senior status and benefits that will only happen as more associations allow under age people to move into their associations.

EXECUTIVE BOARD REGALED WITH TALES OF NON-EXISTENT FINANCIAL WOES - CATCH THE SECOND PERFORMANCE AT THE DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

The following chart was presented at the Executive Board meeting of May 25, 2012:

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It purports to convey a balance of some $10k in the Road Reserves line, implying the inability to pay the $240k owed to M&M Paving. This is, of course a self fulfilling accounting artifact of our ludicrous system of seven checking accounts and the rediculous concept that excess surplus monies in other lines cannot be moved. This is of course absurd. Furthermore, there is no consideration given for future revenues plotted against anticipated expenditures; which indicate that there are plenty of funds to pay ALL obligations, this will be shown in the next chart, which of course  was not distributed in the financial report.

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To put this issue in proper perspective, there is, even after due consideration of our accountant  recomended cushion of one month monies in all budget lines, remaining some one million dollars in cash; more than sufficient to cover the $240k due to M&M!

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So, what is this fear mongering all about? Watch your pockets for the big unnecessary budget increase planned for 2013, which as far as I am concerned, is "Dead on Arrival"

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Fellow Residents, don't fall for it - don't vote for it.

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Dave Israel

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TEST RUN ON FONT SIZES

Thank you, Dave, for info on how to change font size. I am in Compose mode now, and, under Tt, this is Normal size.

Now it is in Large size. It was certainly never this big on my screen before.

Now I have switched to Small size. This is definitely SMALLER on my screen than it was before.

The conclusion I draw is that I need to change from Normal size to Large size, so I'm doing that.

Just a note for anyone fiddling with this: To the right of the Tt box is a box that says "Normal" on my screen. This can be changed from Normal to Heading, Subheading, etc. This mixed me up at first until I realized it apparently has nothing to do with the "Normal" under Tt. THIS "Normal" (in the box) refers to what we might think of as TEXT—as distinct from headings, subheadings, etc. I will be keeping that on Normal unless I want to tinker with headings and subheadings

I hope I have this right. I'd like to get this right for you, Denny—unless you're Mr. Magoo myopic, and it will throw everybody else off! The proof will be in what my post looks like.

Water Break

At 5:30 this morning I went to brush my teeth to go out walking. No water. Big break between Cambridge F and Dorchester D. Four trucks were there and the water was shooting up in the air. It seems it was a twofold break. Water pipe and sprinkler break although I saw the sprinklers were on at Cambridge E. Problem Seacrest could not be reached to turn off the sprinklers at it was off hours. Since I only drink bottled water I had lots and could even wash my hair. When they were ready to open the water they came and opened the hydrant on our property. I was told if I got a flood in my condo to sue the County Water Co. They had the hydrant open almost half an hour and yes we had a small pool of water on the grass and the bus sloshed through the water on the road. All is well that ends well. I just hope that Seacrest remembers to turn the sprinklers back on as we are supposed to be watered tomorrow or do we now have to wait for Seacrest to come and fix their break.

HOW TO ADJUST FONT SIZE

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Hi all,

When in compose mode, go to the top of the compose box and note a button that looks like this tT,  that is the control for font size, drop the menu. 

The choices are:

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smallest

small

normal

large

largest

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That's all there is to it

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Dave Israel

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new bus sched question

ms. cornish writes in the june reporter - internal buses are internal only --I then look at new bus schedule - internal bus #1 lists Publix but with no arrival time - am I to understand Internal bus #1 no longer goes to Publix - if that is so, good luck to me trying to get on the publix express bus to get to the store - I have been on Internal bus #1 many times when people were turned away at the clubhouse stop -no room for them on the bus.  I'm not an idiot but I am not understanding the intent of "internal buses are internal only - thank you for understanding etc -page A4----I would love to get to a transportation meeting but has always ended up that I am taking my invalid mother to a dr's appt that has been scheduled long before the trans. meeting date - thanks for clearing the new sched up for me ----I can't believe I am the only one asking this question ----but maybe I am! 

Do you know where your grandchildren are?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32DorQ-u7Cw 

Beware grandchild activity in CV Deerfield, we could be next.

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE - NOTICE OF MEETING CHANGED DATE

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Dave Israel

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UCO REPORTER - JUNE 2012 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

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The June 2012 edition of the UCO Reporter is now live in Cyberspace, follow the link:

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http://goo.gl/eN2c0

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Dave Israel

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Clubhouse closed?

Just came past the clubhouse to see the gates closed and the buses loading on Century Boulevard in front of Walgreens.  Anyone know what is up?

You may be a Century Villager if:

I made Lanny smile once, I shall try again, everyone feel free to help me out:

You may be a Century Villager if:

You know 10 people over 100 years old

You know 40 words of Yiddish even tho you are from Canada

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-yiddish-handbook-40-words-you-should-know/

You cannot complete Dave Israel crosswords

You know the West gate is on the South side of the village

You know what to say to a CV 'naked ape'

You hide when you see Frank Cerabino

You know what midgies are

You complain about complaining, whine about whining..

You have negotiated the 4-way when other car drivers have only knuckles visible

You know what Red Buttons advertised

You can eat a huge early bird fast enough to get to the Show

You have met a raccoon at the twilight dumpster

You wish for a hurricane to enliven the dog days

You know what is a senior six pack (a Mercury w/6 passengers)

You do not need any tropical vacations, you have it all already

FIRST MARKET OF THE SUMMER SEASON

Wednesday, May 23, 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Waterfront Commons, Downtown West Palm Beach, FREE!

Parking in the Banyan Street Garage: $1.00 for the first two hours, and $1.00 each hour thereafter

For more information: 561/822.1520 or www.wpb.org/greenmarket

Lightning Strikes

Our guardhouses were hit by lightning on Saturday, is that the second time or more?? Phones and computers were zapped. Many thanks to Ed Black for organizing the recovery. Are we missing lightning conductors / rods, should we have more protection? (The reclaimed water facility has many conductors.) Current U.S. lightning protection standards are embodied in a document published by the National Fire Protection Association known as NFPA 780...

Belgian Ideas

Maybe Comcast would like to copy this in CV.

CONGRATULATIONS, ED BLACK

Just wanted to congratulate you Ed on your new appointment as Chair of Security.  Barbara

CV Birding List

Yes, there are wild turkeys in the village. A young hen races away at Sussex K (they are afraid of 2-legged creatures but do not mind cars). 
A wood stork shows off manicure at the North Bridge.

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING - CHANGE OF VENUE



AN IDEA FOR THE BLOG

I have had some down-time recently because of having been ill, with the result I have been reading more. The other day I e-mailed two of my sons, recommending the latest book I am reading, James Michener’s “Caribbean.” I have read a number of Michener’s historical novels, but never “Caribbean,” and yet I live in Florida now, right on top of the Caribbean. Time to learn about it, I think! I’m halfway through the book (it is a tome). It is fascinating and so informative.

It made me think that a good use of the Blog might be to share what we have enjoyed about certain books with other bloggers. Do you think that would be a good idea? What are your thoughts, Dave? This has been done to some extent in the UCO Reporter.

For those of you who don’t know, Michener was a scholar. His historical novels are scrupulously researched. One can learn a lot about historical events and personages from them. The following is part of what I wrote the boys about “Caribbean”:

The thought suddenly came to me that you might be interested in it--especially since you enjoyed "We, the Drowned." There are similarities in that much of the book has to do with sailing vessels, the action takes place over a period of time (a few centuries), and it is a historical novel based on many facts that have been discovered or handed down.

The book is about how the Caribbean came to be settled by white men and the phases each island went through, right into the 20th Century. It describes the differences between the islands and which were settled first and which later. As in "Drowned," it is a story throughout, some of fictional characters and some of real historical characters. Michener is known for his research and accuracy, so as with any of his books you need not worry that they are wild tales with no basis in fact. Except, I should say, when he attempts to tell a story about prehistoric societies. Then he can be very speculative. There isn't much of this, however, in "Caribbean," and even in his other books, this occurs only in the beginning of them. He soon gets on to times about which there is documentary evidence.

There is plenty about sailing and ships, fighting and storms, the slave trade, and piracy in "Caribbean." The Spanish had control of virtually all of the Caribbean at first; then Britain, Holland and France got in on the act. There is much fighting on the ships and on the land, a lot of torture, killing, and sinking of ships. You learn about some of the well-known pirates and which ones worked for which countries. (That's right, a number of them were unofficially in the employ of governments.)

P.S. The book is actually about more than the Caribbean as we think of the Caribbean islands. There is a very interesting chapter on the Mayans, in Mexico. Their knowledge of astronomy was amazing. They had a calendar more accurate than any calendar in use in Europe or elsewhere in the world—equivalent, I would guess, to our present-day Gregorian calendar. Panama comes into the picture, including about those who tried to cross the isthmus (this was before the Panama Canal, of course)—and to some extent, the Magellan Straits and Cape Horn.

Help

How many total condo associations comprise Century Village? My wife and I are considering starting a small management company to service the needs of the building board members.

SPECIAL OFFICERS COMMITTEE MEETING

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DAY: MONDAY

DATE: MAY 21, 2012

TIME: 11:00AM

PLACE: UCO CONFERENCE ROOM

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AGENDA: SELECTION OF NEW SECURITY COMMITTEE CHAIR

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Dave Israel

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PSA CAMPAIGN SPOT - JUDGE PETER EVANS

NOTICE OF MEETING - PROGRAM AND SERVICES



i would like to shout out to ken graff a great big thank you for the beautiful slide show on the side bar of the blog. if only the residents were as tranquil as your photos.thanks again, ken

THE PLACE OF TRADITION

The following is submitted to correction by any and all who know better—who may, for instance, have taken a basic civics course, which I have not.

A lot of governance is done by tradition, without there being any specific written law. The British, I understand, have no written constitution. That is why the comparative fledgling United States can boast of having the oldest written Constitution of any country in the world.

Regarding US presidents and vice presidents, there was a time when we elected them independently, so that the two might be from different political parties and completely different political persuasions.  This was found to be pretty unworkable. It is comparable to how our CV president and the four vice presidents are elected.

Later, it became traditional to have the US president and vice president be from the same party; in fact, now, as we all know, the presidential nominee handpicks his vice presidential running mate. I don’t believe, however, there is anything mandating this procedure—or the previous one—in the US Constitution.

According to the Constitution, presidents are really elected by electors in the "electoral college," equal in number to the total number of senators (always 2) and representatives (a varying number) for each state. This system was set up because the framers of the Constitution didn’t trust the people to necessarily make a wise, informed choice. Although this procedure is still followed, the electoral college BY TRADITION now simply rubber stamps who the people have voted for. Should they not rubber stamp the people's choices, there would be a HUGE outcry.

Supreme Court justices are appointed by the sitting president, but must be confirmed by the Senate. As we know, the Senate now sometimes puts up a fight over such appointments, whereas BY TRADITION  the president used to more often have his way.

By contrast, the US president’s appointed cabinet heads, also subject to Senate approval, are BY TRADITION usually subject to far less scrutiny by the Senate. According to the Constitution, the Congress can make some presidential appointments his to make alone, not subject to approval by any other governmental authority.

My point is mainly that, even in “a nation of laws” like the US, tradition still plays a major role in how things work.

I think this is part of what is making things difficult for us now in Century Village. Apparently a majority of the officers, executive board, and delegates—and even the president himself—thought the president should not have complete, unrestrained authority regarding appointments. So it was voted that the officers should have a say.

How much of a say is the question.

Too much say will obviously completely hamstring the president, no matter who he is.

This is what’s at issue, I think, and tradition enters into it. We need to be sensible, use some common sense, come to mutual agreement, and hold to it.

UCO OPEN MEETINGS - JUNE 2012

Subject to Change

The UCO BYLAWS - A Major Policy Change in Review

I have read David's post and the comments which follow. I will not comment on the repaving project, the whistle blower who went to Code Enforcement, the restructuring of the UCO Budget, the technological advances which brought UCO into the 21st Century.

I do although feel that it is important and instructive to briefly clarify the statement “The U.S. President picks his own cabinet” since many individuals have the tendency to model UCO after the U.S. government structure. The president appoints cabinet officers as well as many other members of the federal judiciary. Once the president announces the nominees/appointees the Legislative Branch then conducts Senate Confirmation Hearings where members of the Senate interview and question each nominee to ensure that each is well qualified. The Senate then votes to confirm or disapprove each nominee. This keeps the Executive Branch from nominating people who might support only the political views and agenda of the president. At the same time, it allows the president the ability to choose qualified, fair people to work in key positions within the government. This system of Checks and Balances is used to limit the powers of the President.

This system (of Checks and Balances) has been unanimously approved by the President, the Advisory Committee, Officers' Committee, Executive Board and by the Delegate Assembly. So that everyone is on the same page, I will briefly provide the background information which is necessary in order to gain an accurate picture of where we stand, and where it appears that we are headed to.

1. The UCO Bylaws were amended on March 2nd, 2012. Generally speaking, and with certain named exceptions, the UCO Bylaws have historically granted the President the right to appoint [and create] all standing and special (ad hoc) committees, and more recently, to determine the mission and term of service of committees, unless otherwise provided in the Bylaws. In an attempt to achieve a greater balance of power within the administration, the Bylaws were amended so that the President would now be required to seek the advice and consent of the Officers' Committee.

2.  During the Advisory Committee meeting of May 10th, 2012, I suggested that the previously approved language, originally suggested by David, “The President, with the advice and consent of the Officers' Committee”, increased the likelihood that a deadlock would occur between these two parties when creating and appointing UCO Committees.

3.  After a period of discussion, instead of proceeding as originally planned (to apply this phrase to each committee in the UCO Bylaws, if applicable), it was unanimously decided to remove this language, and to vest the Officers' Committee with these powers, except as otherwise provided in the UCO Bylaws.

Not to be disregarded, is the Bylaw amendment also adopted on March 2nd, which gave the Executive Board, the power and authority to disapprove proposed amendments, and/or to amend them. Article XI, “Miscellaneous Provisions”, (D), “Method of Amendment” now reads as follows.
“The Executive Board, after due deliberation, shall either approve or disapprove the amendment proposal. The amendment proposal, if approved as presented or as amended, shall then be published in the next issue of the UCO Reporter and shall be read and considered by the Delegate Assembly at the meeting immediately following its publication.”

UCO is presently moving toward a major policy change which will require very serious consideration by all parties. There are no Bylaw amendments which can eliminate bureaucratic infighting within the UCO Administration. There are no Bylaw amendments that can ensure that the President of UCO and the other seven Officers of UCO will work together in harmony, regardless of their differing views and personality differences. There are no Bylaw amendments which will convince them to embrace the concept of compromise, and to consistently work toward achieving goals which are in the best interest of our Village. These resolutions can only take place within ourselves, which would require a major change as well.

WHAT DO YOU ELECT A UCO PRESIDENT FOR?

Hi all,

Todays Staff meeting, which is held every Monday at UCO degenerated into a session of lies, and inuendo by a few malcontents. Our Treasurer turned on her tape recorder in what was the beginning of a pre-scripted performance. This was a cue for our corresponding Secretary to read a prepared script accusing me (the President) of having a meeting with M&Ms Jeff Cohen  (Paving Contractor) and his Attorney. This was a blatant lie.

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Jeff did indeed come to UCO on Friday to obtain my signature on a new permit for restriping the UCO parking lot, there was NO Attorney present at that meeting. The job did not originally require a permit at all, until one of our Residents caused Permits to re-open the case, which they had originally signed off on as completed. This is just the beginning of this nonsense, as, the result of this "dime droppers" actions will incur additonal costs for all residents in our village.

The malcontents dance at our Staff meeting was simply an extension of the kabuki played out at our Delegate Assembly meeting of May 4, 2012; which caused over half of the Delegates in attendance to walk out in disgust. (Perhaps we need to terminate these Staff Meetings)

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Additionally, some of our elected Officers are causing Bylaw changes to be presented that would strip the President of virtually all authority to make appointments to Committees. Who knows what they have in mind next!

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So, I say to all of you Delegates out there; what do you elect a
President for, for who they play cards with, for who they are friends with, for who they glad-hand at the Clubhouse, For how many meetings they can disrupt, for how much they can scare us about money in order to raise our budget payment, for how much they can increase our Insurance premiums; in other words: to what extent they can get away with egregious arrogation of power!!

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I think you elected me to put an end to this sort of nonesense; and the malcontents who could not get elected, just can't get over it, they want "power" back so they can reach into our pockets again, so that they can shut off the information streams that my Administration provides, so that they can resume political censorship of the UCO Reporter, so that they can roll back the technical advances that we have wrought in UCO. Please do not  pass Bylaws that leave a virtually powerless CEO who can no longer pick those who are most qualified to populate our Committees, do not let Committee appointments return to the realm of political patronage positions!!

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Or! let them get away with it, in which case; you can pick a new President. Life is to short for me to put up with the nonsense that we have all been subjected to of late!

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Dave Israel

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PRESIDENTS CLUB - NOT A UCO ORGANIZATION

Hi all

There is some sort of flyer going around on Channel 63, and perhaps via other channels about a meeting of the so called "Presidents Club" . We here in UCO receive calls about this club.

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Let me make it crystal clear, this is NOT a UCO sponsored organization, and the "information" they impart is in no way official UCO information.

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If any Resident wants any information which is relevant and accurate, please contact UCO to obtain it. Otherwise, beware!

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Dave Israel

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NOTICE OF UCO OPEN MEETINGS

SPECIAL OFFICERS MEETING

DAY: WEDNESDAY

DATE: MAY 16, 2012

TIME: 9AM

PLACE: UCO CONFERENCE ROOM

AGENDA: PAYMENTS TO M&M

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ADVISORY

DAY: THURSDAY

DATE: MAY 17, 2012

TIME: 10AM

PLACE: UCO CONFERENCE ROOM

AGENDA: BYLAW AMENDMENTS

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Dave Israel

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a wish for all

I WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL THE LADIES A VERY HAPPY MOTHERS DAY. IT IS A GOOD TIME TO REMEMBER THOSE THAT ARE HERE AND THOSE THAT ARE NO LONGER HEREAND BE GRATEFUL TO ALL THE MOMS AND THANK THEM FOR EVERYTHING THEY DID FOR US. BLESS THEM ALL !!!

THEY SOW THE WIND AND THEY SHALL REAP THE WHIRLWIND

Hi all,

One of our Village Residents, for reasons know only to himself , raised issues regarding the striping of our parking stalls with County Officials. This action has caused the Zoning Director to require the contractor M&M Paving to re-stripe the Village. Since the Permit had been approved and closed, it is very likely that we, Century Village will be required to pay for this re-striping. All I can say at this point, is that potential costs are unknown; and by the way; be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. Following is the anticipated sword of Damocles which in this case, descended by Email.

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RE: Decisions Regarding Century Village Paving Project

Deficiencies

hide Details

FROM: George Galle

TO: Dom Guarnagia

CC: REDACTED FOR PRIVACY
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 On May 8th the zoning director Jon MacGillis, called M&M

contracting and informed them that the striping needed to

comply with current code of 9' parking widths and as the

plans were submitted.
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 George D Galle

Zoning/Landscape Field Representative II

Certified Arborist FL - 1339A

Certified Landscape Inspector 2008-0053

2300 N. Jog Rd

West Palm Beach, Fl. 33411

Direct# 561-233-5283 / fax: 561-233-5285

ggalla@pbcgov.com

...........................................

More news as it becomes available.

Dave Israel

CORRECTED UCO FINANCIAL DATA

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Don't believe the panic mongering at Delegate Assembly or at any other meeting about money.

UCO is in excellent financial condition.

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The Panic Mongering campaign is an attempt to prepare you for unecessary increases in the 2013 budget

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Dave Israel

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River of Grass

 

The west half of our North Canal actually. Perhaps UCO could enquire of our Lakes & Waterways Services if this is a result of enriched reclaimed water. It is good for breeding fish fry (baby fish not fried fish). 

Our Neighbors

Why is it that the goat that stinks on yonder hill has dined for years on chlorophyll?
Everyone enjoys them anyhow.

Stamp Out Hunger Drive

Is the P.O. doing its Stamp Out Hunger Drive this year, we did not get any bags to fill?  nor a sign.

DBPR EDUCATION TEAM - JAN SHEKITKA

Hi all,

Do not miss this session, everything you wanted to know about the Department of Business and Professional Regulation; Especially Regulation and Financial reporting. Important handouts, both hard copy and CDs to include: FS-718 and the Administrative Code. Come one - Come all - bring a friend:

Especially important for ALL Board Members:

DAY: Monday

DATE: May 14, 2012

TIME: 9:30am

PLACE: Room C, Main Clubhouse

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Dave Israel

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Polo & Balloon Festival

https://www.poloamerica.com/eventschedule.php

6 a.m. !  I may wait for the CV Camera Club to bring back photos.

CALLING IN A GUEST—A QUESTION

It used to be—I think—that if you wanted to call in a guest using the 689-1759 number, you had to call on the day the person was coming in. About 2-3 years ago I heard that you could call in someone for the next day if you called the day before in the EVENING—I think it was anytime after 6:00 p.m. Now I read in the June issue of the Reporter that when you call in, permission for the person to come in holds for 32 hours. I just want to be sure of this—is it true that no matter when you make the call to 689-1759, permission for a guest to go to your address is permitted for 32 hours from the time of your call?

Thank you.

What is Real!

Found by Grace

Car Driving On Sidewalk

Well, now I have seen it all in our village. About 20 minutes ago as I was stopped at the 4 corners stop sign. I looked left to Golf's Edge to make sure that no cars were coming through the intersection and what did I see? A black Hyundi sedan driving on the SIDEWALK up to the corner. The lady turned right to leave the village. She has short blonde hair and was wearing sun glasses on the top of her head. I only give the description in the event that anyone reading this knows this woman and would tell her to not drive on the sidewalk. There were no cars on the road driving the same way as the woman. Maybe she did not know the difference between a sidewalk and a road. Good thing that no one was on the sidewalk walking or she would have run over them.

Just before the rains

Less Interruptions

Subscription to the Florida Do Not Call list is now being offered free of charge for residential and mobile telephone numbers.

Your number will remain on the Florida Do Not Call list for five (5) years.
It’s fast and easy – subscribe now! http://www.fldnc.com/

WHAT ARE THE REAL PAVING CONTRACT OVERAGE NUMBERS?

Much talk at Delegate Assembly about how M&M has billed us $500,000.00 more than the contract calls for!

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Well guess what, that number is actually $378,000.00 high. The actual overage is, as noted in the spreadsheet above more like $122,066.50

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What are those monies; Permit and procurement fees, Car stops, Drain extensions, Trip hazards, Field change orders. Oh, by the way, there is a matter of $104,732.00 to repave the walkways.

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In a project totalling $4,762,792.50 this represents 2.56 % of the total of all paving contracts.

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The point is simple, in a contract of this size and complexity, issues arise in the field which must be resolved in near real time, to avoid additional time and charges occasioned by delay. These decisions were made and authorized by our LCAM, and selected Officers of UCO; and that is their responsibility!

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Dave Israel

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MIDGES

We have thousands of these midges around our building and cars.  Since we are on the lake, we even have more of these nuisance bugs.  I took the time to find out about them on the Internet and the following is what I found:

Midges: Non-biting Gnats 

by Barb Ogg, Ph.D, Extension Educator

Midges are widely distributed in the United States and Canada. The most common midges people complain about are non-biting nuisance pests belonging to the family Chironomidae. The general public often refers to them as "gnats." 

Chironomus midges are similar in appearance to the mosquito, but they cannot bite. Midges have plumose antennae that resemble a small feather. They are very small--none larger than 1/8-inch long. The adult midge may be a variety of colors from dark brown to green. 

Midge populations are dependent on water--this includes a variety of sources including wet soil or plant waterings. In the Lincoln area, homeowners in the Capital Beach area are perennially faced with large numbers of midges during periods of the warmer months. Typically, male midges swarm in large numbers at dusk. Mating occurs when females enter the swarm. 

Like mosquitoes, the midge larval stage is aquatic. The adult females lay eggs in masses over open water or attached to aquatic vegetation. They hatch in several days and the young larvae drop to the bottom where they build tube like structures of bottom debris held together by strands of silk. One interesting fact is that the blood of some midge larvae (called bloodworms) is red, unlike the blood of most other insects. It is red because it contains hemoglobin which binds tightly to oxygen. This is necessary because of the stagnant, low oxygen conditions that may be present where these larvae live. 

The larvae are scavengers, feeding on bottom debris. Under favorable conditions, they are larvae for about four weeks and then they pupate for several days. Just before emergence, the pupa rises to the water surface, emerging from the water surface, like a mosquito. Larval midges are very beneficial because they serve as food for fish. 

During their swarming activities, adults may be attracted to lights. Buildings with outside lighting will attract large numbers of these insects. If these lights are around vent openings, air conditioning units or windows, the insects can find ways into the structure. The next day, dead midges can be found on window sills, possibly through the entire building. This causes concern to homeowners and occupants of office buildings, hotels and healthcare facilities. 

Control. Avoid the use of unnecessary lights around dusk when midges swarm. If midges are entering the house, make sure that vent openings and other entry points are sealed.

Pools of standing water should be drained if possible; yet, it is not possible to prevent midges from breeding in lakes and permanent bodies of water. 

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

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Looking for Trouble in All the Wrong Places

At the May 4 Delegates Meeting, we spent a lot of time on two issues that never should have come up.

Dorothy Tetro proposed moving money around in the budget because we don’t have enough money in road reserves. She also was concerned that “we have many line items with no expenses.” Former Treasure Ed Black explained that filling up line items is unnecessary because we have adequate reserves and insurance for the things like roads and hurricanes that Dorothy is worried about. 

The financials shown clearly prove there is $90,575.38 in road reserves although we still owe $149,424.62 more. There's also a $755,625 remaining surplus which would allow for the balance to be paid -- still leaving more than $600,000.00 and the one month’s surplus which the Auditor, Dorothy and Ed agree should remain for our protection. The money is there to pay our bills and we are current in all payments. Pumping up line items for contingencies already accounted for will only lead to unnecessary budget increases for residents.

Let’s not forget that the budget prepared for 2012 saved residents money. Why change a budget structure that follows standard accounting practice and has proven its validity? Dorothy wants to do a good job, but she needs to listen to Ed and other accountants who can compensate for her lack of credentials in finance.

Ed Grossman didn’t think our paving contractor was living up to our contract, so he turned us in to the authorities for a code violation—striping in some cases exactly doesn’t match the stipulated 9-foot length for the lines delineating parking spaces. Could there have been a more destructive way to handle this?

To make a point (Ed said he had tried to get the contractor to respond to the issues he raised), he put the whole Village at risk for enormous disruption if we are forced to redo all the striping. Working through the proper processes might have taken longer, but we would have gotten this resolved. But instead, who gets hurt? Residents and the Village generally if code inspectors demand that the striping is redone. Then there’s the Pandora’s Box that will open when inspectors come in and begin to identify more and more non-critical, non-life threatening violations that come with a huge 40-year-old complex where compliance is bound to be less than perfect.

We need mature management of our finances and affairs by people who know what they are doing. Officers like Dorothy can turn to the talent that resides in the Village and is willing to help. Ed Grossman can find better ways to solve problems. Wholesale disruption of our meetings for issues best resolved elsewhere is not the way to go. Dorothy and Ed, please put your energies toward things that will improve life for our residents. Line item formats and parking lot stripes are not what we need from our officers.

DELEGATE ASSEMBLY - MAY 4, 2012 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

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Videography:..... Steve Cohen.....WPRF

Video rendering, data conversion, Upload to Channel 63:..... Ed Black..... UCO

Upload to BLOG:..... Dave Israel..... UCO

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It's a team effort, join our Geek squad, help bring UCO into the Digital age

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Dave Israel

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Dave - More Cloud Storage

Watch out Dropbox, Amazon Cloud and Microsoft SkyDrive! Google introduced today its free, 5GB cloud storage service, Google Drive. Available to anyone with the Google account, Google Drive enables users to upload, share, collaborate on files stored in their Google Drive account.

In addition to accessing the service from within your Google Docs account, you can also download the PC and Mac Google Drive client that launches as a folder on your computer. All files, including videos, photos, PDFs, and Google Docs, dropped into the Drive folder get synchronized to your account. You can also opt to not sync selected folders to one or more of your computers.

If you’re Google Chrome user, you will also able to access your Google Drive account when you’re not connected to the Internet.

Google Drive can essentially replace the Documents folder on your computer, because whatever changes you make to a file stored in the Drive gets automatically updated, and it can be accessed from any other computer logged into your account.
Follow blue boxes 'to Google Drive' 

https://drive.google.com/start?authuser=0#home  
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Dave - Norton Identity Safe

Norton has released a new password manager by the name of Identity Safe, which aims to create and store all your logins and passwords securely. The service is a straight competitor to services such as 1Password, and is also similar to the open source KeePass. While eventually the app will cost money, Norton is offering it for free up until October 1. Anyone who downloads Identity Safe before that date will enjoy it for free forever, no strings attached.

https://identitysafe.norton.com/

Garage Sale

GARAGE SALE
WINDSOR Q PARKING LOT
(SAME STREET AS CAMDEN POOL)
SATURDAY MAY 5TH 2012
9:00 AM TO 3:00 PM
VENDORS FROM OTHER BUILDINGS WELCOME

                                                                             (set up for Vendors 8:00am)

                                                            GOT QUESTIONS?  CONTACT ROZ
VIA EMAIL (Preferred) : linda99@ican.net
PHONE 647 930 2667 OR 561 727 4669PLEASE PASS THE WORD AND POST THIS ON YOUR
BUILDING'S BULLETIN BOARD. THANKS.

German iPad

The woman asks her father if he's figured out how to use the iPad she gave him, which he affirms without question.

If no-one blogs

.... there will be more lame jokes!!