January 2021

Dear VI Residents:
 
I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season and a great New Year!!!  It was nice to see all the VI traditions continued over the holidays such as festive lighting on so many homes, the golf cart parade down Grand Canal (this year there had to be 300 of them), luminaries on the seawalls and the fireworks on New Years’ Eve.  We “experimented” with having the seawall luminaries on New Years’ Eve rather than on Christmas Eve based upon the positive response we had to moving them to New Year's Eve in 2020.  We will sample the neighborhood to get your reaction and preferences for future years. The funds generated by the sale of the candles/bags are used to provide the “welcome gifts” to new residents of VI. 
 
The VI Holiday Food Drive on December 12 was a great success!  Thanks to the generosity of the VI community, 1,370 pounds of food were collected for the benefit of the St. Pete Free Clinic Food Pantry.
 
We are still planning to have an “in person” Annual Meeting on January 20, 2022, at Lutheran Church of the Cross (“LCC”); however, this will be dependent upon the status of the Omicron variant.  The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 pm with a “social time” on the outside patio and at 7:00 pm in the church sacristy for the business meeting.  The primary objectives of the Annual Meeting will be: (i) the election of VIHA Officers and Board Members for 2022; (ii) review of VIHA operations; and, (iii) an update on the Deed Restriction (“DR”) revision process.
 
The slate of candidates for the 2022 VIHA Board are:
 
President:                    Rich Scanlon             1992 Carolina Circle
Vice President:         Tom Testa                    2001 Kansas
Treasurer:                    Mark Brenman         1930 Kansas
Secretary:                    Linda Testa                  1997 Kansas
 
Board Seat (2 year):    Eric Johnson               2075 Hawaii
                                    Bill Greenfield             1924 Massachusetts
                                    Patton Youngblood     1928 Carolina
                                    Jan Herzik (*)             1936 Massachusetts
                                    George Bridgmon (*)  2055 Massachusetts
 
Board Seat (1 year):     Brian Hill (*)              1910 Kansas

(*) new Board members
 
In addition, the following are members of the VIHA Board whose terms expire at the end of 2022:
                        Charlie Baker             1972 Massachusetts
                        Matt McNulty             1901 Iowa
                        Chuck Miller               2038 Carolina
 
I know it is often difficult for VI residents to attend the Annual meeting so, pending the direction of the Omicron variant, the plan would be to have a series of meetings with Board members and the residents of individual streets to hear directly from, what we hope would be a greater number of residents, of the issues that are of concern that the Board should focus on in 2022.  I like to call this “VIHA Board Members in the House” so look for further info.  Please contact me if you would be interested in hosting a meeting for your street in your home or on your lanai.
 
The Deed Restriction Revision Committee has identified a number of Deed Restrictions ("DRs") to address based upon property owner input.  As a reminder, to amend, add or delete any DR requires the consent of 66.67% of the property owners in VI.  In January, the first “ballots” for updating the DRs will be delivered to property owners.  The decision was made to present 3 DR revisions per ballot rather than including all the proposed revisions at once.  The three DRs that will be included in the first ballot to be sent in January include:
 
Deed Restriction 03 – defines all setbacks and aligns with City Code.
Deed Restriction 13 – defines ARC approval requirements for exterior improvements
Deed Restriction 53 – fences, a new DR, defines materials and heights of fences
Note that DR 53 was previously approved but because of the “Revitalization” of the DRs that was completed in 2021 it must be balloted and approved again.  The only changes to what was approved previously for DR 53 is to make the measurements clearer. 
The DRs can be found on our website at:  Deed Restrictions - Venetian Isles Homeowners Association (VIHA) (ourvi.org).  
 
Thanks to the 181 property owners who have paid their 2022 VIHA dues so far.  Instructions for paying your dues can be found at http://www.ourvi.org/pay-dues.html.  Only 2022 VIHA members are eligible to vote in the Board elections so please pay your dues no later than January 19 and make an effort to attend the Annual Meeting on January 20 at LCC.  We will confirm that the Annual Meeting will still be held on January 20 with an email blast on, or about January 18.
 
I hope you all have a happy and prosperous 2022.
 
Thank you.
 
 
Rich Scanlon
VIHA President
rscanlon@ourvi.org