SHELL POINT RESIDENTS’ COUNCIL MEETING

Regular Meeting – Social Center

March 3, 2010

Pavilion Minutes
Letter from Sundial Resident

ATTENDANCE BY COURT:

Arbor                    Winona Whitehead
Cameo                    Russel Peters
Cellana                Gerry Wilson
Coquina                John Bendall
Eagles Preserve            Jerry Ingalls
Harbor Court                Joan Perry
Junonia                John Gill
King’s Crown                Sidney Hansen
Lakewood                Fritz Knox
Lucina                    Thomas Timothy
Macoma                Pat Straup
Nautilus                Mike Klein
Oakmont                Bill Lanpher
Palm Acres                Ted Rodgers
Parkwood                Donald Miltner
Pavilion                Mary Fountain – Minutes to William Staples
Periwinkle                Grayce Gore
Rosemont                Richard Maass
Royal Bonnet                Sylvia Chamberlin
Sand Dollar                Harold Waldron
Sundial                Chris Gooden
Tellidora                Norman Arnold
Turban                    John Schulke


CALL TO ORDER AND OPENING PRAYER

Chairman Lanpher called the meeting to order at 8:45 AM and Sidney Hansen offered the opening prayer.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

There were no announcements at this time.

ROLL CALL OF COURT REPRESENTATIVES

The roll was called with those present listed above.




APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 3, 2010,  RESIDENTS COUNCIL MEETING AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA FOR TODAY

On motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously passed, the Minutes of February 3, 2010, were approved as submitted.  The Proposed Agenda for the Residents Council for March 3, 2010, was distributed to each Court Representative present, and on motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously passed was approved as amended.

Two items were added to the Agenda for discussion:

1.    Outside people, resident guests and visitors using the Shell Point sidewalks as     bicycle paths as well as the security issue at the entrance gates.
2.     Orientation Planning Committee.

STAFF REMARKS

PETER DYS

Sidewalks should not be used as Bicycle Paths.    Mr. Dys addressed the matter presented by Richard Maass relative to bicyclists using Shell Point sidewalks as bicycle paths, including outside people as well as residents’ guests and visitors.  Mr. Dys will remind the Security Staff to reinforce compliance with the Shell Point procedures regarding this situation.  Violations occur more at this time of year when there are visitors and guests of residents as well as the general outside community using Shell Point’s bike paths.

If any resident sees a violation of this procedure, call Security immediately to report this occurrence.  Security will handle the situation as kindly as possible and will reinforce this policy.  There should be no bikes on the sidewalks. Residents are asked to remind visitors and guests to not ride bicycles on the sidewalks.

Security Gates -   The Security Gates should be down at all times. The system reads all the Shell Point stickers on the cars allowing cars to pass through.  Mr. Dys will discuss this matter with Security. 

Sales and Marketing Activity -   Mr. Dys reported that occupied units which are drawing fees are just under 93%.  There are 40 units which have been sold, but potential residents are awaiting the sale of their houses.  This would result in an approximate 98% occupancy.  There are 22 units unsold, being a nice mix of 3-bedroom units to efficiencies. 

The recent Open House hosted approximately 4,000 folks resulting in a very positive response.  Those in attendance were the appropriate age and had a genuine interest in Shell Point. Next week there will be a luncheon for the people who have been looking for quite a while and just need a nudge over the top.  We consider this a great success for the investment we made.

The Auxiliary sold food at the Open House and earned approximately $2,000 which is part of their goal in the Pavilion Administration campaign.

Rochelle Cherniawski Update -   Rochelle and her husband welcomed their son, Charlie Michael at 9:29 PM on February 7th.  Charlie weighed 7 pounds.  Rochelle began her 12-week leave of absence on February 8th.   We are glad that all went well and we look forward to her return to Shell Point.

Legislation Update - It will be a very interesting session; still strapped for funds, but perhaps a little less acute.

    •    Medicaid Funding Cuts - It does not so much effect Shell Point, but is very important to our DeLand facility where it represents 80% of our reimbursement.

    •    Tax-exempt status for Non-profit organizations - There are discussions and movement to once again look at removing tax exempt status for non-profit organizations in order to get more tax revenue.  Our state association is keeping their eyes on this situation.  We must be very focused on this and monitor it as it goes along.

    •    Elevator Regulations Modification - This concerns technical changes that have cost many facilities a couple hundred thousand dollars in the past couple of years.   It is hopeful some facilities will now be able to face less expense and benefit from a grandfather provision.

    •    Life Care Communities - There is a task force in place and it appears that legislation will go through giving residents of state association life care facilities the right to review audits, and a number of other important matters.

It also appears that there will be a change regarding assisted living licensures which now limits nursing care.  There will be limited nursing services allowed to be performed in assisted living facilities which were only allowed in the pavilion.  This would be very beneficial to residents, as they would not have to be transferred as frequently from the assisted living facilities to the pavilion.  We already have nursing staff in place.

We are also keeping an eye on legislation which would require background screening in all health care facilities, which Shell Point already does, including screening all contractors.  An additional provision which was proposed would include background checks on all volunteers, to include fingerprinting, background checks at approximately $45 per person; however, that portion of the Bill has been eliminated.

Material Gifts from Residents to Shell Point Employees -   Employees of Shell Point may not take gifts from residents. This is an extremely important matter which must be addressed by all Shell Point Residents.  This is a policy Shell Point has had in place for a very long time.

PLEASE DO NOT PUT SHELL POINT EMPLOYEES IN A POSITION WHICH WOULD CAUSE THEIR EMPLOYMENT TO BE TERMINATED AT SHELL POINT. The Administration has had to terminate several employees when it was learned that they were receiving money from residents.  Administration does not want to be put into a position where firing an employees is required for this reason. We cannot stress too strongly how much support we need from residents in this matter.  The liability is too high.  If an employee is convicted of fraud, that employee could go to jail.  Administration does not want to terminate good employees and is seeking the help of each and every Shell Point resident.

Employee Christmas Gifts - Chris Gooden read a letter from a Sundial Resident regarding Employee Christmas Gifts, a copy of which is attached to these Minutes and incorporated herein by reference.

The Council makes the determination regarding the recipients of these funds regarding who is included and who is not included.  Excluded from the Employee Christmas gifts are the physicians, Sales staff, and contractors.  There are also twenty-five – thirty Administrative employees who are exempt from the receipt of these funds.  The Salon has only one Shell Point employee, Robyn Church, who is a recipient.  All other staff in the Salons are contractors and not employees and do not receive any such funds. In addition, the dining facilities employees receive tips which are not material regarding dollar amounts and are included among those receiving these funds.

There is an annual meeting with the Gift Giving Program Group where this matter is always reviewed.

Pavilion/Administration Campaign -$1,500,000 Update -   Mr. Dys commended the Resident Advisory Group which is doing a wonderful job; however, although approximately $900,000 (contributed by approximately 20% of the residents) towards this goal has been reached, there is some concern that the $1,500,000 goal might not be met by the May 1 deadline.  A decision must be made very shortly relative to continuing the project or holding back.  There will be a meeting with the contractor within the next few weeks to see if we can maintain the bids in place and keep this process going. (No later than May 1st.)  At the recommendation of the Residents’ Advisory Group, Mr. Dys distributed to Council members a handout setting forth suggestions and recommendations, a copy of which is attached to these Minutes and made a part hereof by reference.  Each Court Representative is asked to select one person in his/her Court to promote participation and to disseminate information weekly to residents to help reach our goal. This position will terminate on May 1, 2010.   Reports will include dollar information received to date, summary of percentage of participation, etc.  This information will be available by Tuesday of each week.  This will help residents understand the progress. It is hoped that there will be 100% participation from Shell Point residents.

No outside firm has been hired to raise these funds.  This is an expense-free campaign, resident-initiated, resident-driven activity. At some time or another, all the residents of Shell Point will be using this new facility and it is something we need now.

STEVE MINNIEAR

Mr. Minniear distributed the Morning Assurance Listing.  King’s Crown has 119 of 120 units occupied.  Arbor has 129 of 130 units occupied.  The Skilled Nursing Facility has 186 residents of which 27 are Medicare patients.  Of those 27 beds, 13 are non residents. 

In the last three months, the number of Shell Point residents coming into the Pavilion under Medicare A has dropped significantly from last year. It looks like the residents are well cared for by our physicians.

Mr. Minniear thanked the Village Church for its gift to the residents of the spiritual services of Dr. Sue Stranahan and her assistant chaplains.  This service has been in place in the past, but has recently been formalized under the “Health Care” umbrella.  We are thrilled to have Dr. Stranahan and her assistants in those positions.

TIM LOCHRIDGE

Mr. Lochridge addressed the matter of Ad valorem tax changes for the calendar year 2009 and distributed a summary explaining in some detail the changes effective 2009. 

The Florida legislature, in 2008, made the “Save Our Homes” (SOH) credit portable. This allows Shell Point, for the first time, to use the taxes as calculated by the Appraiser’s office for EACH INDIVIDUAL UNIT, specifically identifying the SOH credits applicable to each unit.

Shell Point’s overall 2009 Property Tax bill declined by 5% from the prior year.  The change in the calculation methodology, however, did result in INCREASES for some units. Approximately 200 units (14% of total units) experienced an increase of more than $100 from the prior year.  To ease this transition to the new methodology, Shell Point will subsidize 50% of such increases for the 2009 CALENDAR YEAR ONLY.  This amount will appear as a credit on the billing statement, reducing the amount of the tax due. This change will help make Shell point’s method of allocating ad valorem taxes to its residents the most accurate and equitable method in the CCRC industry.

It is important to note that, by contract, Shell Point is merely “passing through” this property tax to its residents; Shell Point does NOT make any money on the transaction, and our only goal is to make the “pass through” as fair as possible.  This new methodology helps us move one step closer to that goal. 

REPORTS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF COURTS, KING’S CROWN, ARBOR AND PAVILION

A.  Mary Fountain submitted a copy of the Larsen Pavilion Resident Council Meeting, Notes from February 4, 2010.

B.    Gerry Wilson, Cellana, reported an incident which involved a resident found lying on the laundry room floor, discovered by another resident.  When the pull cord was engaged, there was no response.  Subsequently, a call was made to 9-1-1 and a pull cord engaged in a resident’s apartment.    An investigation should be made into the pull cord situation.  All laundry rooms should have working pull cords and should be properly identified.  It appears that some laundry rooms do not have pull cords.

It was reported that the Arbor has no pull cords in the laundry.

A suggestion was made that all pull cords in the system be tested on a regular basis to make certain they are all in working order. 

Mr. Minniear stated that this is a self-checking system.  Scott Moore previously addressed this matter. The present system has been updated and is not an antiquated system.   Mr. Minniear and Mr. Dys indicated they would speak with Scott Moore regarding this matter, obtain additional information, and report to the Council in more detail.

OLD BUSINESS

A.  Mr. Dys previously addressed the policy of no bicycles allowed on the sidewalks as         well as the matter of Security at the entrance gates to Shell Point.

B.   Employee Emergency Fund Total to Date:  $24,835

C.  United Fund Contribution Update:  $74,208 received from Shell Point residents.  This exceeded the 2009 contribution.  Thank you Shell Point Residents.

NEW BUSINESS

A. 2010 Christmas Gift Committee - The Chair appointed Kate Mondello as Chairman of the 2010 Christmas Gift Committee.  Chairman Lanpher also appointed the following Christmas Gift Allocation Committee:  Dick Rockstroh, Chair; Ted Rodgers, Chuck Durrell, Joan Perry, and Jerry Ingalls as Committee members.  This Committee will locate and review the policies relevant to the Christmas Gift Committee.

B.  Committee to Review the Process for Orientation of the Residents Council.   The Chair distributed a handout setting forth the longevity of Resident Council members for the past three terms and appointed the following Resident Council members to review the process for Orientation of the Resident Council:  John Schulke, Chair; Russ Peters, Fritz Knox, and Pat Straup.  This Committee will meet within the near future.  The members of this Committee will address what the Court Representatives should do, should not do, and could do. 

On motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously passed, Council approved these Committees.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE GOOD OF SHELL POINT.   There were no suggestions for the good of Shell Point at this time.

NEXT MEETING DATE

The next meeting of Shell Point Residents’ Council will be held Wednesday, April 7, 2010, at 8:45 AM in the Social Center on the Island. 

On motion duly made, seconded, and unanimously passed, Council approved holding at least one or two Residents Council Meetings each year at the Woodlands area, commencing 2010.

CLOSING PRAYER AND ADJOURNMENT

The closing prayer was given by Sidney Hansen; the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 AM.

Respectfully submitted,




Linda Nickerson, Recording Secretary
Attachments:
     Undated letter from Resident in Sundial
     Notes from Larsen Pavilion Resident Council Meeting – February 4, 2010