WHERE DO THOSE FRACTIONAL ALLOCATIONS IN YOUR ASSOCIATION BUDGET COME FROM

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In another Post on this BLOG, the poster asks in essence, why do different apartments in the same or different buildings pay different assessment amounts in their Association budget?

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It's really very simple, and is to be found in your original Association Documents. These percentages were set by the Developer, and are clearly stated in the property survey which is part of your Documents.

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Following is a page extracted from the survey of a Chatham Association:

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Note the Bold letters A, B, D; they refer to apartment types of varying configuration and state clearly the percentage of ownership of each unit owner by type of unit; EG. 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, number of bathroom.....Etc. So, if it's a Common Expense, the listed percentages apply.

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Your documents may be found in the sidebar of this BLOG

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Dave Israel

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UCO REPORTER - FEBRUARY 2015 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

UCO Reporter February 2015

- Dave Israel -

UCO Contractuals

With regard to the various contracts UCO has entered into on our behalf, such as Transportation,
Ambulance Service etc., billed to each Association, whose property manager's then apportions our
cost, based on square footage of one's unit...What in heaven's name does the square footage have to do
with the service provided?  We don't receive any additional services because of it.....
If it was based on occupancy, we have several 1 bedroom units occupied by 2 persons., as well as
2 bedrooms by 1....I am not aware of any 2 bedrooms, occupied by 3 persons, however, the law does
permit that...Can anyone provide an answer, other than " That's the Way it's always been done"
Again, my reference is to UCO.....Thank you...

NOTICE OF MEETINGS AND CORRECTIONS

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Dave Israel

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SPECIAL BID COMMITTEE MEETING

SPECIAL BID COMMITTEE MEETING

FEBRUARY 2, 2015 AT 10AM  IN THE UCO OFFICE

OPENING OF LANDSCAPE AND IRRIGATION BIDS

ROAD STRIPING BIDS

ALL WELCOME

NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING - CORRECTED NOTICE

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Dave Israel

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UH OH, IT'S HAPPENED AGAIN!

Uh oh, it's happened again. A notice has come from AT&T saying the monthly charge for Internet service, which appears on my telephone bill, is going up by $3.00, from $39 to $42.

I can remember only a few years ago when it cost me $20. Then, if memory serves me right, I changed to their faster service (though not the very fastest) because what I had was incredibly slow. This upped the monthly fee to $25. Since then there have been steady incremental increases. I've just put up with them, because I hate the bother of always changing horses in midstream. I feel the same way about insurances. Some people seem to thrive on "recalculating" everything. I don't .  But sometimes it gets to be too much, and I make a change.

Whether I'll change horses right now, I don't know, but this latest increase has made me think about what I could be saving if we had campus-wide Wi-Fi. Campus-wide Wi-Fi sounds "clean" to me. It would give us Wi-Fi coverage everywhere in the Village with no ands, ifs and buts. The technical people in our Village have given it a lot of thought.

And what would it cost? Let's say (because I am always wary about such things) it cost twice the $4 a month estimated by proponents, or even three times as much: $12 a month. I would still be saving $30 a month!  And the cost, I'm sure, would be a lot more locked in than leaving it in AT&T's hands, or Comcast's!

I know there are other benefits to campus-wide Wi-Fi. I don't understand them all, because I don't have a Smart phone, am a latecomer to all these technological breakthroughs, and, to be frank, my poor brain can't take it all in. Saving $30 or more a month on my Internet charge is enough to convince me, however. I hope the Village revisits campus-wide Wi-Fi. 

Duck Island

Can someone explain the purpose of the dock on Duck Island?

dock ¹

  (dŏk)

n.

1.

a. A platform extending from a shore over water, used to secure, protect, and provide access to a boat or ship; a pier.

b. docks An area along a commercial waterfront having docks or piers.

c. The area of water between two piers or alongside a pier that receives a vessel for loading, unloading, or repairs: The boat moved slowly into the dock.

2. A floating platform attached to a mooring and used as a rest or play area when swimming.

3. A platform or door at which trucks or trains load or unload cargo.

4. Computers See docking station.

v. docked, dock·ing, docks

v.tr.

1. To maneuver (a vessel or vehicle) into or next to a dock.

2. To couple (two or more spacecraft, for example) in space.

v.intr.

To move or come into or next to a dock.

---

[Early Modern English dok, area of mud in which a ship can rest at low tide, dock; akin to Middle Dutch docke, area of water between two piers or alongside a pier, of unknown origin.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dock

 (dɒk)

n

1. (Civil Engineering) a wharf or pier

2. (Civil Engineering) a space between two wharves or piers for the mooring of ships

3. (Civil Engineering) an area of water that can accommodate a ship and can be closed off to allow regulation of the water level

4. (Civil Engineering) short for dry dock

5. (Theatre) short for scene dock

6. (Civil Engineering) US and Canadian a platform from which lorries, goods trains, etc, are loaded and unloaded

vb

7. (Nautical Terms) to moor (a vessel) at a dock or (of a vessel) to be moored at a dock

8. (Nautical Terms) to put (a vessel) into a dry dock for repairs or (of a vessel) to come into a dry dock

9. (Astronautics) (of two spacecraft) to link together in space or link together (two spacecraft) in space

According to the definition above, does the "dock" on Duck Island qualify? Maybe we should call it the platform, because that is what it truly is, just an overpriced platform for the 20 or 30 people that want to fish. Boats do not use it, although it would make sense if they did.
WPRF is wants to repair the dock and the bids for the repairs are in the $30k range for replacing the deck. Just The deck. The pilings under the dock may or may not still be good, there are no guarantees that they will. If not, this could more than double the price. Why spend this kind of money just to benefit 20 or 30 people?

It irks me that some complain about paying for WiFi which would result in a savings for thousands in the village and yet I don't hear them complain about spending 30 to possibly 60 thousand for the benefit of 20 or 30 people. Oh wait...anyone can have access to the dock, so it would be more than 30 people... same could be said of WiFi. Anyone can have access and rather than paying 20, 30 40 a month it could be 5. BIG DIFFERENCE. Then there are those that will say "Well, I don't have a computer, so what do I need WiFi for?" But they have children and grandchildren that visit and then they are bothering their neighbors for access to THEIR WiFi passwords... or they are calling on Neighbors with computers to look something up or send an e-mail for them to their kids or some business.

I don't ride the buses, but I pay for them. What would happen if everyone that didn't ride the bus decided to "OPT OUT"? I'll tell you what would happen, your bus service would be drastically cut to just the bare essentials. No Morse, No Family Dollar, No Imaging center, No Library, No Humana, No Post Office, No Dr Sapenoff, No Nana's Diner, No Church, No Dollar Tree. Just Wal-Mart, and Publix...and not 13 times a day, probably just 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Missed the bus? Call a cab. And forget Excursions to the casinos, Flea Markets or State Fairs, they would be gone too.  

Just because I don't ride the bus doesn't mean I should opt out, same is true for the WiFi. It benefits MANY in the village. Not 20 or 30, but thousands.

How many were here when cable came in? How many opposed it? How many would complain if cable was suddenly taken away?
 Back to the Dock, The Dock from what I was told, was used mostly by the fishing club for catch and release fishing (which is probably the best way to fish here). WPRF should use the money for something other than repairing a useless dock.
the fishing club, and anyone else wanting to fish can do it the way it was meant to be...from the shore.

The Decline of Hotel Rooms in Montreal, Quebec.

I read with interest in the Montreal Gazette ( local newspaper) the decline of Hotel Rooms in the City,
several of the hotels, were being converted to "residences".. some for college students, other's for
Senior Citizens....Could this all be related to the possibility that Montreal, the largest city in the
Province of Quebec, no longer wishes to welcome "The English Speaking" Tourist, regardless
of where they hail from?  I surely hope not, for this would be "disastrous" to their economy, and
impact on South Florida as well....however, we would survive, we do welcome people from other
cultures ...
....As one who had the "advantage" of living the first 21 yrs., of my life in English speaking areas and subjected to receiving a bi-lingual education, will always be grateful for a "special" Labor Day
weekend, when I met the "Love of My Life" a Brooklynite, whom I shared more than a half of
century with, in the" Land of the Free, Home of the Brave."
A closing note....should you intend to visit, take lessons, otherwise you will be greeted
with " Je parle pas englais" that's French Canadian....not Parisian French....

REVISED UCO BUDGET PASSED BY FINANCE COMMITTEE

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Following is a summary sheet for the revised UCO 2015 -2016 budget. It reflects a significant overall reduction, with a reasonable start at establishing important Reserves. I have sent the specific details to the UCO bulk Email Information Forward Initiative recipients. The time has come to pass this budget, which will be presented to the Officer's Committee, the Executive Board and the Delegate Assembly.

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Dave Israel

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ROYAL "WE" THREATENS - LET US HAVE OUR WAY OR "WE" WILL CRASH THE BUDGET AGAIN

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The latest drivel to come across the transom, is from someone with three , yes 3 titles, let's have a look:

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Ed Grossman <justiceforresidenceinc@gmail.com>	1:07 PM (3 hours ago)
to me, vicepresident3, vicepresidentv., vicepresidentv., Veronica

Now is the time to listen to your fellow unit owners and avoid the 2015 budet being voted down again.

Ed Grossman CPA President of :

Wellington A

The Century Village Messinger Club

Justice For Residence Inc.

WE ARE AWAITINGV YOUR REPLY!!!

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

Well, oh glorious Ras-Tafari, lion of Judah, son of Ra.....Disrupter of meetings, aspirant to relevance .....Etc.

UCO does not respond to threats.

Dave Israel

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BID COMMITTEE RE-SCHEDULED

The Bid Committee will meet January 21, 2015 at the Uco Office at 10:30

All Are Welcome

BECKER & POLIAKOFF - FLORIDA CONDO & HOA LAW BLOG

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All CV Residents may find this resource useful. It is produced by the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff, known experts in Condominium law. Take a few minutes to explore this site. I have also placed the following link in the side bar under direct links:

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http://www.floridacondohoalawblog.com/

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Dave Israel

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UCO BUDGET REVIEW

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Dave Israel

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NOTICE OF MEETING - NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE

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Dave Israel

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THOUGHTS AFTER A VISIT TO UCO

Two people, commenting recently on the state of affairs here, told me that they thought perhaps UCO should be run by professionals rather than by our volunteers. One of them opined that this would end up costing all owners an awful lot more in dues, and I have to think he's right. The money to pay professionals for what is done now by our volunteers certainly wouldn't come out of thin air. I expect our dues would go up astronomically. I suspect too that we would find we need to drop some benefits we now enjoy. This might cut deeply: Perhaps Investigations, the AMR emergency service, the buses and the shows would have to go.

With a huge increase in condo dues and a cutback on services, the poorer among us (how many, maybe 20 percent?) would be left high and dry. If the number of owners who simply stopped paying their dues worked a hardship on our condo associations a few years ago at the height of the recession, think of the effect if we switched to an all-professional UCO.

I visited UCO on Wednesday to interview Bob Marshall for an article coming out in the February UCO Reporter and couldn't help noticing what a busy place UCO was. People were coming in left and right seeking help with this or that thing. Ron and Natalie were very busy at the front desk. Mildred was busy as usual helping someone at her desk outside Investigations, and inside, the Investigations personnel were assisting people. Bob Marshall helped two residents while I waited for him to get free. Joy Vestal, Ed Black, Pat Sealander and Dom Guarnagia were going back and forth, attending to one thing after another. I saw Phyllis Siegelman briefly to say hello; the same with Dave Israel, who was on his way to a meeting in the conference room. Residents in droves were having barcode stickers put on their cars.

The place was humming, and I couldn't help thinking: What would we do without these wonderful volunteers? The Village wouldn't be the same for any of us.

I hope we take a long, good hard look at where we are now, appreciating what we now enjoy, and not throw it all over because of the troubles some among our number have stirred up. UCO hasn't been a perfect vehicle, and its "board of directors" (the delegates to the monthly meetings), because of its size, has always been an unwieldy thing, but some very good things have come about through our imperfect system. "The perfect can be the enemy of the good," Voltaire said.

I have also heard it suggested that it might help to have a paid, certified parliamentarian sit alongside Dave Israel as he presides at the delegate meetings. For one thing, I'm sure he would not allow "points of order" that are not points of order at all to interrupt the proceedings.

OOps

With regards to my previous post....I do appologize to our esteemed VP of  WPRF, for the incorrect
spelling of her name....which should have been "Rachesky" and not Rachesfsky...Sorry Eva.
Bettie

VOLUNTEER'S APPRECIATION LUNCHEON

On behalf of my Committee, I should like to take this opportunity to Thank all who have offered to help
in which ever way they could.
Of course if we hadn't in excess of 220 volunteer's ,many of whom wear "Multiple Hat's",
 there would be no celebration...
We all look forward to sharing a lovely Cold Buffet Luncheon, this coming SUNDAY
 afternoon ,JANUARY 11TH, 2015,  from 12 NOON to 3 PM. in our lovely partyroom..
Music for Dining and Dancing will be provided.
Active Committee Members included.:
 Marilyn Pomerantz, Dr.Roni Stein, Sandy Levine, VP Marsha Ziccardy.
.Unfortunately there were a few other's who were unable to attent our "planning" session's,
 however, I do appreciate their interest....Last but not least, without the co operation of
WPRF's staff and VP Eva Rachefsky, this would not be possible. Again I thank you one and all.
Bettie Lee Bleckman

Something uplifting from a group of young French students. - A wonderful flashmob

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After this awful day in France, here is something uplifting from a group of young French students.
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Andre Legault 
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VETERANS HOMEOWNERSHIP AND PRESERVATION PROGRAM

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Dave Israel

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The UCO Reporter

Having recently being "Terminated" by the co editor's, without any explanation, I am using this venue
to share my thoughts with the rest of the community, as to whether they feel our paper is biased in
many respects....One particular individual found the word "G-d" inappropriate and requested it be
removed from any and all articles(it was)..One co editor, due to a clash with an individual, refuses to accept
any articles for insertion into the paper..It would seem to me, one has to seperate one's self  from their
professional and personal positions...after all, they do not OWN the paper..they are only the
Current care taker's...they too will be replaced.. in time to come..
To my knowledge, whether it be the Palm Beach Post, New York Times, etc., prints
ALL OF THE NEWS.....ALL political points of view.... which of course does NOT appear in
our UCO Reporter.. We have unfortunately gone through this before, I believe this practice
must be reversed.  \
Bettie L Bleckman

REFLECTION ON DELEGATE ASSEMBLY MEETING - JANUARY 2, 2015

This is UCO's 33rd year and look what we've accomplished. we now have delegates who believe we should eliminate committee meetings, ignore the Officers meetings and Executive Board meetings and just permit anyone to come before us and tell you how to vote with less than a complete understanding of the facts. 
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The last meeting one delegate, forgetting how he said what a great job our Treasurer,  Howard O'Brien, had done in the proposed budget meeting held in room C, encouraged and voted no on the budget presented.
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Another delegate, who also voted no, encouraged we "opt out" of part  of the budget that remains in effect, because we failed to approve the budget.
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Seems like those that won't volunteer want to run things using any shortcut to undermine the hard work of many volunteers and delegates that come to meeting to "participate in the process of evaluation and recommending" to the Assembly.

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The next step would be to have Delegate Assembly meetings evaluate and consider all things. We could bring invoices to the Assembly to seek approval, even though the Vendor's work was evaluated by the committee, bid committee, Officers and the Executive Board. We might breach our contracts, but that is the cost of the few trying to micromanage, without participating at the committee level where this belongs.
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Outdated Transponders

For the snowbirds who will be arriving over the next few weeks, will the outdated transponders that are on our windshields still work when we arrive? Can someone re-post the process to obtain the new bar code sticker. I understand they are now being issued at the club house. Thanks!

DELEGATE ASSEMBLY - JANUARY 2, 2015 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

Delegate Assembly 1-2-15 PART 1 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.

Delegate Assembly 1-2-15 PART 2 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 1-2-15 PART 3 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 1-2-15 PART 4 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 1-2-15 PART 5 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
Delegate Assembly 1-2-15 PART 6 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.
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Dave Israel
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MOB RULE - LET'S KEEP SCORE

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Marked by the return of our Resident lawyer simulator, and of course the "Usual Suspects"; the Malcontents crashed a perfectly good and well constructed UCO budget for 2015.

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So, let's start a box score for the Village and the rest of the world to see:

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1) Wi-Fi -crashed.............................Mob 1  CV 0

2) Budget (attempt 1) - crashed..........................Mob 1 CV 0

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Total....... Mob 2 CV 0

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Do tell, what is being accomplished?

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Dave Israel

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PROVOCATION OF THE DAY - FORENSIC AUDIT

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Phrase of the day

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FORENSIC AUDIT

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DEFINITION of 'Forensic Audit' An examination and evaluation of a firm's or individual's financial information for use as evidence in court. A forensic audit can be conducted in order to prosecute a party for fraud, embezzlement or other financial claims.

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Apparently, there is a new auditing firm in CV, although I cannot find a Corporation filing in Florida Sunbiz! The team of Grossman, Loewenstein and Tetro, who are elected to do nothing in UCO, want to get their hands into UCO financial matters.
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A-Ok! Let’s have a look at this “offer”, do you think these three are unbiased actors in this case; of course not, one member of this un-vetted trio has regularly disrupted our Delegate Assembly for over four years, the other two are former officers of UCO, one of whom has no professional accounting experience whatsoever.
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They can’t seem to understand that they are no longer authorized to perform such “services” for the Village. Worse yet, their demonstrated bias preclude them from performing an “arms length” audit of UCO finances.

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This ploy is yet one more disruptive tactic which is out of order from its inception.

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Going back to the definition above, if these three "want-to-be" auditors, or anyone else, have evidence of any sort of crime or fraud; they should know that the place to go, is to the PBSO and thence to the State Attorney for Palm Beach County.

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The mob tactics demonstrated at our Delegate Assembly, the Email spamming of our residents, the name calling and condescending drivel published on the INTERNET, needs to be regarded with the disdain it deserves; if you have proof, go to PBSO. Only the combined efforts of our vast majority of reasonable Residents and Delegates can send the simple message that is required, “behave - or be gone”

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Finally it must be noted that UCO’s finances have been audited by an independent accounting firm and UCO has received a clean  opinion. I have released this audit for the last two years.

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Dave Israel

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Roads

There was a meeting by a group that talked about the roads in the village and I guess their lawsuit, suing UCO and themselves for the road work. There was a meeting with the company before the paving and it was explained that to get a good job and not have the cracks come back they would have to go down to bedrock and start over. It would cost more. The Delegates at the Delegates Assembly meeting voted for cheap as we usually do and we got exactly what we paid for. Cheap is not always better.