General Membership Meeting Minutes – Welcome to the Spanish Lakes Golf Village Homeowners Association, Inc.

Updated 3/28/2025

The following minutes are the most recent ones. Minutes of prior meetings can be accessed by clicking on the links at the bottom of the page. Minutes can also be found in the HOA binder in the clubhouse.

SPANISH LAKES – GOLF VILLAGE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

MARCH 6, 2025

Call to order

The meeting was held in the Auditorium and called to order at 7:06 PM.
Board of Directors introduced: Bill Neal – President; Chuck Koons – VP; Susan George – Secretary; Doreen Van Buren – Treasurer. Absent: Sandi Pierce – Membership Coordinator
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Minutes of the last meeting

The membership considered waiving the reading of the last meeting minutes as they are posted for review on the HOA website and in the HOA Binder in the clubhouse. Chris Mittelstaedt moved to waive reading of the 2/6/25 meeting minutes and to accept them as written and posted; Jim Braun seconded. All were in favor, and motion was passed.

Treasurer’s report – Doreen

The starting checking account balance on 2/6/25 was $2788.92, and ending balance on 3/6/25 was $2627.00. The savings account ending balance is $100, and petty cash is $31.05. Victor Tamburello moved to approve the Treasurer’s report as written; Linda DiPietro seconded. All were in favor, and motion was passed. (Detailed treasurer’s report is available to members on request).

Membership Report – No report as Membership Coordinator was absent

Grille Report & Information – Susan

The Grille was open 5 days in February.
Attendance was increased and sales were approximately $280.
The HOA Monday and Tuesday Grille Days were suspended indefinitely as of 2/24/25. Susan thanked all who worked to make the Grille a successful effort. If anyone is interested in taking over the running of the Grille, please contact Susan. Future plans are uncertain at this time.

Recent Events – Event Coordinators

Game Nights – No report
February Monthly Dinner Party – The February Valentine’s Day Dinner was well received. We served Baby Back Ribs and a variety of sides. We allowed 30 guests this time but seating is generally kept to a maximum of 24 guests.
Wellness Event – Attendance was poor on the part of both vendors and attendees. We will try again as having health care professionals here to answer questions can be a great service to residents. Door prizes from the Fair will be awarded after the meeting.
Flea Market & Craft Fair – Fran reported that the event was fairly well attended. We sold quite a bit from our Flea Market tables, and donated left over items.
General Membership Meeting – The next meeting will be on 3/6/25.
CPR class – Bill said he has been trying to schedule a CPR class here. A show of hands of interested people was requested, and 10 – 15 hands were counted. The class will probably be held during the day time on a weekday.

Upcoming Events

Board Meeting – The next meeting will be on 3/13/25.
Annual Pool Party – The party will be on March 16^th from 2pm to 6pm. We’ll need help with set up and take down as well as serving and cleanup.
President’s Meeting – The club presidents will meet on March 19^th at 9am to work on the next event calendar. The new calendar of planned events will be posted.
Monthly Dinner Party – The March dinner will be on 3/21. Watch for details.
General Membership Meeting – The next meeting will be on 4/3/25.

Media Reports

Facebook – Bill reminded everyone that posting is limited to HOA
Website – In February we had 273 visitors to our website with 1000 views.

Committee Reports

No reports

Old Business/Board of Directors Report

Litigation status
- Our suit is still in process. Our memorandum in response to the class determination motion brought by the Wynne’s was filed on 2/17. The Wynne’s now have 30 days to respond. Once their response is filed, we will have 15 days for our final response, then the judge will rule on the motion.
- Suggestion made that if everyone donated $100 we would have enough to pay our attorney.
Inspection issues –
- Inspections continue to be nitpicking with new demands made that were not made in prior inspections.
- The Wynne’s refuse to put in writing what is and isn’t allowed. They continue to tell people there is no 5 year rule. There is case law in FL to support the 5 year rule as stated in the statute.
- The Wynne’s attempt to portray themselves as benevolent owners who care about residents.
- We need to have copies of inspection reports that have unreasonable demands. We can’t fight these actions without documentation.
- Litigation and Florida statute information as well as inspection response help sheets are available on the website under Reference Documents & Links tab.

Good of the Order

Discussion about inspections
- One resident had 4 citations and shortly after was again inspected and had 30.
- A resident was told on moving in around 4 years ago that a railing had to be removed. Now has been told there needs to be a railing in the same place.
- Residents are now being told by one inspector that all skirting around the house must be the same yet this has never been stated before. This is arbitrary and there is no written rule about this. Numerous houses have brick in the front and other type surrounding the rest of the house. This is attractive and if in good repair doesn’t warrant changing. See the help sheet on skirting.
- Question: Why are they doing this? Is it just here or also in the other Spanish Lakes parks? No one really knows why the park owners are doing this. We’ve been told by park owners that the inspections are the same in all the parks. Some people have had an inspection done prior to moving with no deficiencies, but shortly after another inspection is done and problems are found although nothing has changed. This makes no sense.
- Question: Why aren’t we told about rule changes? If a rule changes, residents and the HOA must be notified. We have repeatedly asked the Wynne Building Corporation for a listing of all the “rules” but they have consistently refused to do so.
- Question: Has anyone been evicted for inspection issues? We are not aware of anyone being evicted for inspection issues. Some evictions have occurred due to failure to pay lot rent.
- Question: Are there homeowners whose rent has been refused? What can you do if they refuse to accept your lot rent because you won’t do what they say? Yes, it has happened. We are not attorneys and this is a situation that may require an attorney. At the last meeting we discussed setting up an escrow account at the court, but we’ve been advised by the clerk of courts that they can’t do that. At the very least it makes sense to protect yourself with documentation, including emails to and from the park owners regarding the issue, sending the rent in a registered letter, receipt requested, and anything else you can think of. An attorney we had hoped would help with individual issues did not pan out. We are still working on getting resources and have 2 other possible names to explore. There is also Florida Rural Legal Services that may be able to help. (There is a link on our website under Reference Documents & Links tab).
- Question: Why not have Media come to our meeting to hear about our situation? We are working on something along those lines but we can’t discuss it at this time.
- Question: Is it true that park staff don’t have the right to come on our property unless they are there to repair a utility or for a public safety reason? When a park worker was challenged with this he said he has every right to come on our property. By FL Statute 723.025 (See the Reference Documentation and Links tab on the HOA website) there are limitations on park owner’s access to the lots we rent.
- Question: Have any state agencies been contacted? There has been contact with government agencies and there may be some action coming.
Park Maintenance
- The Wynne’s are required by law to maintain the park
- A recent park survey found that 65% of the streetlights need repair. One light is broken off and live wiring is exposed; lighting overall continues to be inadequate for safety; there are 20 pot holes/cracks needing repair; there are 74 inspection issues with 4 Wynne owned houses across from the clubhouse

Adjournment – Motion to adjourn made by Mile Christoffersen and seconded by Linda Forino. All were in favor, and meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM.