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Andrew Black, Esq., BCS from KBR joins Hotwire Communications for ‘How to Negotiate Telecommunications Contracts’.
Click the link to RSVP for free: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KHffyhMCRR6VYBimTy0BFw
Tags: Broadband & Internet Solutions, Management News
NEXT WEEK! It’s #hurricane season and all Floridians – new transplant, veteran resident, or snowbird alike – need to brace for the inevitable impact.
Let #Becker’s Donna DiMaggio Berger and #CastleGroup’s James Donnelly offer specific instructions on how your community can safely weather the impending storms.
Register for the June 9th Association Leadership webinar today!
Castle Group invites you to join us for a very important episode of Association Leadership: Hurricane Season. Experts are predicting the potential for more than 20 named storms this hurricane season with a good chance that three to five of them will directly impact the U.S. Please join us for this important episode which will help prepare your community for a potential hurricane. Our Founder and CEO, James Donnelly will be hosting this live webinar with legal expert Donna D. Berger, Esq.
Wednesday, June 9, 2021
12:00PM – 1:00 PM
Register to join by clicking the registration button below.
We welcome longer days and warmer weather, but mosquitoes are part of the deal. Unless you’re one of the lucky few who these pesky insects don’t bother, it can be challenging to avoid them. And, unfortunately, itchy bites aren’t the only effect mosquitoes can have – they are also the most common vectors of harmful and sometimes deadly diseases, including West Nile virus, Malaria, Chikungunya, and Zika virus.
Cold-blooded mosquitoes thrive in warmer temperatures and can get dangerously out of hand without proper management. To protect yourself during outdoor activities all summer long, consider these simple, natural, and effective ways to limit their impact.
Throughout her six- to eight-week lifespan, a female mosquito will lay about 300 eggs, often in standing or stagnant water. Clearing gutters, picking up litter, and emptying buckets and small outdoor containers can help decrease the number of available habitats for mosquitoes to reproduce and thrive. And don’t forget to educate family and neighbors to do the same.
In aquatic environments such as lakes, ponds, and stormwater basins, the introduction of a floating fountain or submersed aeration system can help consistently circulate warm, stagnant water to create unfit mosquito breeding grounds. Simultaneously, these systems can help impede the growth of algae and nuisance weeds by supporting ideal water quality conditions.
Stagnant water pockets in ponds can also be eliminated through the removal of phragmites and non-beneficial floating and emergent vegetation. Effective solutions may include mechanical harvesting, hand-pulling, or highly-targeted herbicides, to name a few. Your aquatic specialist can help you identify the appropriate option for your waterbody.
Dragonflies can feed on hundreds of larvae and full-grown mosquitoes each day. The introduction of native, beneficial vegetation around your pond, like blue flag iris, pickerelweed, arrowhead, spatterdock, lizard’s tail, and various types of rushes and sedges can help attract predator dragonflies to your property.
Stocking a lake or pond annually with fathead minnows, bluegill, and mosquitofish can help prevent mosquito larvae and adult mosquito infestations throughout the summer. Check with an experienced fisheries biologist about your state’s specific stocking regulations.
If the above natural management methods aren’t making enough of an impact on pesky mosquito populations, a safe EPA-registered biological larvicide or insecticide may be used. When applied by a professional, either via ground services, drones, or even aerial fleets, this method is extremely safe and effective.
An Integrated Mosquito Management (IMM) program leverages science, technology, and strategic, environmentally responsible applications to target the insect through each phase of its lifecycle. Thorough site assessments, surveillance, and disease monitoring are all a crucial part of a successful mosquito management program.
It’s critical for communities to understand the threats posed by mosquitoes, educate their residents, and implement a preventative management plan before peak mosquito season arrives. Now that the days are getting longer and warmer, take some time to prepare for a mosquito problem before mid-summer hits—your bare skin will thank you!
Eric Glazer graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 after receiving a B.A. from NYU. He has practiced community association law for more than 2 decades and is the owner of Glazer and Sachs, P.A. a five attorney law firm with offices in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
Eric is Board certified by The Florida Bar in Condominium and Planned Development Law and the first attorney in the State that designed a course that certifies both condominium and HOA residents as eligible to serve on a Board of Directors and has now certified more than 20,000 Floridians all across the state.
Mr. Glazer is certified as a Circuit Court Mediator by The Florida Supreme Court and has mediated dozens of disputes between associations and unit owners. Eric also devotes significant time to advancing legislation in the best interest of Florida community association members.
Tags: Law and Legal, Management News
CS/HB 7 /SB 72 (Brandes) are bills which would protect “business entities” against COVID-19 related claims for damages, injury or death. These bills do include condominiums, cooperatives, and HOAs within the definition of a business entity. Given that most association policies have coverage exclusions for communicable diseases, these bills could help insulate associations from frivolous COVID-19 claims in the coming months or years.
In order to be eligible for this protection from civil liability, a defendant would have to show that it made a good faith effort to substantially comply with authoritative or government-issued health standards or guidance at the time the cause of action accrued. Most community association boards have wisely followed the advice of medical professionals such as the CDC, DOH, and local government health officials when crafting and enforcing COVID-19 safety protocols.
SB 1998 (Pizzo) would create a new Section 718.1285, F.S. outlining fraudulent voting activities which would subject violators to a potential felony charge in the third degree.
Conducting elections and overseeing document inspection requests are two areas where deadlines can easily be missed and mistakes made. Even without the penalties imposed by a bill like SB 1998, it is important that boards and managers have comprehensive election and inspection protocols and policies in place. Reaching out for guidance from your legal team is also advisable.
Lastly, HB 649 (Fernandez & Barquin)/SB 996 (Garcia) would also allow condominium and cooperative associations to file a single joint petition on behalf of their unit owners with the value adjustment board to appeal property taxes. Unit owners could opt out but they would have to do so within fourteen (14) days from receipt of the association’s notice or they will be included in the association’s petition.
RESOURCES
Please continue to utilize our Bill Tracker which is updated weekly thanks to Becker attorney Maritrini Soto Garcia. This tool allows you to review all of the bills CALL is tracking and see where they’re headed.
Please also use our Legislator Connect tool to contact your representatives as well as the Committee Members hearing these bills. Please do not underestimate your ability to make a difference in terms of which bills pass and which are defeated.
ICYMI: Make Your Documents Work For You
Curious about amending your documents to get ahead of the annual legislative changes? Check out Make Your Documents Work For You. My partners – Ken Direktor, Joe Adams – and I discussed what changes you should consider, how to increase your likelihood of getting your amendments passed, and what to expect in terms of costs and timelines. Click here to watch the replay!
DONNA DIMAGGIO BERGER
I often times get phone calls from board members who are upset about the fact that some new owner went through the screening process, filled out the application, paid the fee and showed up for an interview. But it turns out that there are more people living in the unit than expected and none of them went through the screening process! After all, doesn’t everybody who is going to live in the unit have to be screened and approved, except for children?
The screening, approval and denial process is often times complex. As I always say, some boards think they have an inherent right to screen, approve and reject potential buyers and renters, simply because they are the board of directors. They are wrong.
The ability to screen, approve and reject needs to be specifically granted to the Board of Directors in the governing documents. For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume the docs have language that allows the board to screen, approve and reject potential buyers of a unit. Now, let’s assume that the buyer passes the background check with flying colors and is welcomed into the community. A few days later, that buyer brings in her boyfriend, parents, nieces and nephews. Do they have to be screened and approved?
In my nearly 30 years of practice, it is extremely rare that I find provisions of a declaration that would require everyone to be screened. At best, the documents allow the “buyer” to be screened and approved. In addition, there is always language in a declaration that basically says: “the unit is to be used as a single family residence by the owner, his or her family members, invitees and social guests.” Reading all these provisions together, it is clear that once that buyer is approved, that buyer can bring in their family and guests into the condominium or HOA without any of them going through the screening and approval process. That’s right, a guy like Charles Manson may have just slipped through the cracks because your documents were not up to par.
And forget any argument that there really is not a “family” living in the unit when the occupants are unrelated. The definition of “family” is broadly defined and really includes almost any people that are simply living together.
So, the tip for the day is……..if you want to ensure that every occupant who will be living in the home or unit is screened and approved, be clear and unambiguous about it in your governing documents.
Review your governing documents carefully and make sure they say what you think they say or want them to say. And to be safe, get the advice of your association’s counsel so you don’t get sued for trying to kick someone out that has every right to stay.
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