Board of Directors Quarterly Meeting

Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 10:03. The meeting was held at the Reinhart’s house in Beachside Village – 3815 Periwinkle. In attendance were Harvey Michaels, Bruce Bardwell, Fred Wagner, John Price and Kim Reuse. Board members Rick Burke, Al Browning and Gary Barber were available on a conference call. Also in attendance was Debbie Reinhart, Bruce Reinhart and Austin Reinhart. The HOA attorney, Steve Schulz and City Councilwoman Marie Robb were also in attendance. Several property owners attended. There was a quorum.

The Board reviewed the minutes from the July meeting. Harvey Michaels moved to approve the minutes and Bruce Bardwell seconded the motion. The minutes were approved. The financial statements and cash accounts were also reviewed. Fred Wagner moved to approve the financial statements and cash accounts and Harvey Michaels seconded the motion. The financials were approved. Fred Wagner asked if the mosquito spraying had begun after being approved at the July meeting. Debbie explained that it had been ongoing and the payments are being shown in the Contract Labor budget category. Debbie will create a new budget category for this expense in 2022.

Marie Robb

Marie is the City Councilwoman for the west end and she was able to attend for a brief time to report on district and city issues before she needed to head out of town for a wedding. She reported on the following:

• She reported that Tropical Storm Nicholas did damage on the west end that is typical with that level of storm. She acknowledged that Beachside Village fared better than most neighborhoods, as usual.
• She reported that the FEMA renourishment between the end of the Seawall and Delanera Park should begin in the next two months and that this project will also include a fortified dune. The GLO has approved (awaiting signature of the land commissioner) funding for the design and engineering for a beach renourishment from the end of the Seawall to the 13 Mile Road. The design and engineering should begin in 1Q 2022 and we could see sand being delivered in 2023. Once this is completed, this stretch of beach will have enough sand such that a fortified dune system could be built – one criteria to install a fortified dune is that there be 200’ of beach seaward of the fortified dune placement.
• Marie also shared that since George P. Bush is running for Texas Attorney General in 2022, several folks are filing to run for his position. She reported that Senator Dawn Buckingham, MD is running for the post. She has worked well with Mayes Middleton (our State Representative) on local issues and she currently has the backing of the republican party. She will be in Galveston for a fundraiser this month and the Reinhart’s will attend and see if they can determine her stance on local beach issues.
• Marie reported that in the last election (November 2022) the west end had more voters than any other district on the island. This is good news for us because the city as a whole will pay more attention to our needs. She reminded the group that any property owner on the west end who typically registers and votes in their home town can choose to vote (at least one person in a couple) in Galveston where each vote carries more weight that in a larger city. If you have any questions about how to make that happen you can give her a call or text and she can help you with this.
• She reported that the TxDOT FM 3005 elevating and repaving project should wrap up in 3-4 more moths and that they will finish and smooth out the entrance to Beachside Village before they are complete.
• Debbie asked her about the city ordinance that will allow homeowners who own adjacent lots to install a parking pad and Marie said that the language had been approved but that it hadn’t been put on the council agenda. She will get with the city and see how to move this forward as quickly as possible.
• A homeowner in attendance asked her whether the new hotels in town were bringing any new restaurants and/or venues. She replied that she had been contacted by a developer who bought a tract near Pirate’s Beach and she told him that she hoped he would consider building an upscale market and possibly new dining options. She also said that there’s a new chef at the West End Grill at the Sea Isle Marina and that it’s getting good reviews. Bruce added that Micheal Burger will be a steak house.
• Lastly, she reported that the city is still requiring that golf carts on the west end need annual safety inspections and that if our neighborhood wants to do a neighborhood-wide inspection project, there are at least two companies that have agreed to come to the subdivision and make the inspections all at one time. The cost of this is $15/golf cart.
• You can reach Marie at marie@marierobb.com or on her cell – 409.256.4518. She encourages her constituents to reach out to her via text if they are having any concerns that she may be able to help them with.

Security Report

Craig wasn’t able to attend the meeting because he had the night shift during the Lone Star Rally. He sent the 3rd quarter pie chart showing the number and types of incidents he responded to during the quarter. As this report was for the third quarter, it’s not surprising that most of the incidents had to do with parking. The coverage during Lone Star Rally should have been two officers, 24/7 from Thursday afternoon to Sunday night. This had been scheduled but one of the officers caught a break-thru case of COVID-19 on the prior Monday and is in the hospital. Craig tried to get us as much coverage as possible but it wasn’t quite a much as requested. His hours in the neighborhood are typically Friday from 2-10pm and Saturdays & Sundays from 10-10pm. Property owners are encouraged to contact him with any security issues/questions while he is on duty. His cell phone number is 713.865.0704.

Old Business:

Storm Damage

Debbie reported that there has been one near miss and one tropical storm hit since the last board meeting. In preparation, the HOA is required to roll back the walkovers to avoid damage to the dune system that could be caused by the walkover material breaking lose. This was done for both events. The two owners of the company that will rebuild the dune were prepared to start rebuilding the dune system last month but they both came down with break-thru cases of COVID-19 so that’s been delayed until the first of December. The board agreed to send out the Special Assessment invoices on December 1st to all property owners. Debbie reminded the board that they had agreed to assess beach front owners $500 and all other owners $250.

Short Term Rentals

With the ongoing conversation and concerns about the Beachbox rentals in Beachside Village and with the fact that owners of the entity have solicited current homeowners in an interest to purchase additional homes in Beachside Village, the board asked Steve Schulz, at the April meeting, to look into the possibility of whether or not a profit motivated, commercial entity such as this could be considered a ‘commercial business’ and therefore its function in Beachside Village would be a violation of the Beachside Village Declaration of Covenants. It has been reported that Beachbox owns and manages as many as 67 homes in Galveston. Steve did extensive research prior to the meeting and he found that case law is slim and would be difficult to pursue additional regulations without the benefit of a change to the deed restrictions that would better define “commercial business”. At the July board meeting, the board also discussed the possibility imposing occupancy limits on rental houses based upon the number of bedrooms in the house. Steve suggested at the November meeting that the board tackle the ongoing rental issues in a two-fold manner as follows:

• Occupancy limits: Steve prepared an Amended and Restated Beachside Village Rules and Regulations Regarding Rental of Dwellings. This is a document that the board established several years ago and has updated a few times. This document is managed by the board and can be modified by the majority of the board of directors. The suggested changes to this document added a few new definitions, created an annual registration application and fee for owners wishing to rent their homes and established occupancy limits. The occupancy limits are intended to reduce the ongoing issues of too much parking, quiet hour violations, concerns about fire safety and police interaction for rental violations. The change to this document also added a fine for violations of the new rules. The majority of enforcement of the occupancy limits will involve monitoring advertising for the rental properties and making sure the dwellings are correctly stating the occupancy limit in such advertisements. As stated, this change can be made by the majority of board members.
• The second recommendation to better manage rental concerns in the neighborhood is to limit the number of rental properties that can be owned by an owner or by one or more related or affiliated parties or entities. The original intent of allowing rentals in Beachside Village was to allow owners to rent out their homes to offset some of the maintenance, tax and insurance costs on their second homes. There came a time several years ago where investors came together to create companies that had the main purpose to achieve maximum revenue and rates of return on their investments. There currently are two homes in Beachside Village that are being run by this business model. It’s clear that an individual owner wanting to offset his/her costs is very different from a business with primarily a profit motive. These profit motivated companies are popping up all over the island and causing havoc in most west end neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods are choosing to disallow rentals all together and the board is trying to find a middle ground to accommodate those wanting to occasionally rent out their homes and those who are completely profit driven. To achieve this end, a change to the deed restrictions in Beachside Village will need to be approved by 75% of the property owners. Steve prepared an amendment to the deed restrictions that changes the section of the existing restrictions to state a clearer definition of what is to be considered a ‘commercial use’ within Beachside Village. The board reviewed the amendment.

Since these two changes are the culmination of several years of board meetings, board discussions, homeowner complaints/input, rental owner considerations and security costs, the board decided to take and record a roll call vote for each of these proposals. For the amendment to the rules and regulations dealing with occupancy limits, Fred Wagner made a motion to accept the changes. This was seconded by Bruce Bardwell. There were 7 affirmative votes – Harvey Michaels, Fred Wagner, Kim Reuse, Bruce Bardwell, John Price, Gary Barber and Rick Burke. There was one negative vote – Al Browning. Steve will make a few modifications to his proposed document and then it will be signed by the board secretary, filed at the court house and distributed to all of the property owners.

For the amendment to change the deed restrictions changing the definition of Commercial Use, a motion to accept was made by Harvey Michaels and seconded by Bruce Bardwell. Again, the board chose to take a roll call vote. There were 7 affirmative votes – Harvey Michaels, Fred Wagner, Kim Reuse, Bruce Bardwell, John Price, Gary Barber and Rick Burke. There was one negative vote – Al Browning. Steve will add the notary signature to this document and it will be distributed to the owners for execution. If 75% of the property owners agree to this change the amendment will be filed at the courthouse and become a governing document.

New Business:

Debbie reported that she had been notified by an attorney that his client had been injured while walking over one of the dune walkovers. Debbie immediately forwarded the attorney’s contact information to the HOA attorney who was in contact with the injured party’s attorney. Debbie also turned the information over to the HOA insurance company who has opened a claim and who is working with the claimant to resolve the issue. Austin Reinhart has had signs made to put on both sides of the walkovers reminding people to use an abundance of caution while crossing the walkovers and to do so at their own risk.

General Discussion:

Debbie reported that the owners of 11610 Beachside finally paid the fine that was imposed several years ago and that the lien on the property had been released. Debbie also reported that in order for the city of Galveston to enforce less golf cart regulations, she had to sign an Affidavit that Beachside Village is considered a Master Planned Community – which it is NOT – but is considered a MPC for golf cart purposes. Austin pointed out that there are several handicap accessible signs on several of the city signs at the entrance to dune walkovers. Debbie asked Steve Schulz to send a letter to the city stating that we believe the mat-style dune walkovers are NOT handicap accessible by ADA rules/regulations. Debbie reminded the board that with the resignation of David Baze as a board member, there is an opening on the board. She suggested that the board ask Ben Westcott to join the board in David’s absence because Ben has a strong interest in getting approval to extend the geo-tube to Sections 4, 5 & 6. He would be able to work with the board, the Reinhart’s and with Marie to make this happen, sooner rather than later. Steve Schulz said that he would review the By-laws and if that plan was consistent with the document, he would let us know and a formal invitation could be extended to Ben. Lastly, the Reinhart’s reported that they are continuing to work on the design of the community pool (that will be privately owned and managed) and that they hope to have an artist rendering at the next board meeting.

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned.

Future Events:

• Board Meetings 2022
  January 15th, April 23rd, July 16th, October 15th
• Annual Meeting
  March 19th – location TBD
• Splash Day
  June 18th