Dear Neighbors,
 
I want to share a quick summary of the past week’s events:
 
Town Hall Meeting on 11/21 to discuss “Revitalization:”
A good crowd was on hand to learn more about revitalization of the Deed Restrictions (“DR”) in VI.  Anne Hathorn, legal counsel to the VIHA and a specialist in community association law, clarified the process and answered residents’ questions. The discussion highlighted the following points:

• The need for Revitalization is an “unintended consequence” of the passage of the Marketable Records Title Act (“MRTA”)
• If approved, Revitalization will extend the existing Deed Restrictions “as-is” for another 30 years under MRTA
• Approval of 50.1% of the property owners in VI is required for Revitalization of the DR’s to occur
• If Revitalization is not approved, the Board can decide to attempt Revitalization again, let the DRs expire or dissolved the VIHA altogether
• Revitalization does NOT transform the VIHA into a Section 720 HOA

 
By signing the Consent Form, you are agreeing to keep the existing Deed Restrictions in place.  We encourage you to return your signed Consent Form A.S.A.P.  Let’s keep our neighborhood looking beautiful and keep increasing our property values by extending the DR’s.  Once Revitalization is approved, the Deed Restriction Revision Committee will begin evaluating which DRs need to be eliminated, updated or added.
 
The Organizing Committee is available to answer any questions or concerns you may have prior to returning the Consent Forms. The contact info for the Organizing Committee members is included in the Revitalization packet that you should have received, and can also be found at http://www.ourvi.org/revitalization.html

 
First Annual Venetian Isles Fishing Tourney:
A committee lead by Terry Heddon and including Alex Becham, Eric Johnson and Scott Gault successfully organized the first neighborhood fishing tournament on 11/23.  A total of 14 teams participated and competed for a number of trophies, but more importantly “bragging rights.”  Results of the event are posted to www.ourvi.org.  Thanks to the Committee for putting this together and a special thanks to the Tournament’s sponsors who are VI residents:

• Northstar Realty
• St. Pete Brewing
• The Carpet Store

 
St. Pete Neighborhood Shuffleboard Tournament
Congratulations to the Venetian Isles team, led by Janice Drinkwine, for finishing 4th out of 15 Neighborhoods at the St. Pete Neighborhood Shuffle Showdown on November 10.
 
The Annual Meeting, including election of the 2020 VIHA Board, has been scheduled for January 23, 2020 at LCC.  Hope to see you there!!!  Nominations for the 2020 Board are due November 30.  Nomination forms can be found at  http://www.ourvi.org/board-members.html
 
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!
 
Rich Scanlon
VIHA President
[email protected]
 ​

Dear Neighbor:
 
At the General Meeting held on October 17 at LCC, we had our regularly invited guests including Don Herring, our Community Policing Officer from the SPPD, and Lt. Mark Turner and his squad from the Shore Acres Fire Station.  Don reported that crime in VI remains at low levels as long as residents are vigilant about removing valuables from their cars (including valet keys and fobs), locking car doors and making sure your garage doors are closed at night.  Mark Turner echoed the concerns that I wrote about in the November President’s Letter regarding parking and the issues that could face emergency responders.  Please observe the City and VI parking regulations and park only on the east side of the streets within VI (houses with “even” street numbers).
 
Randy Havey gave a report on the need for VI to “revitalize” our Deed Restrictions, based upon recommendation from our counsel, which will preserve them for another 30 years.  The recommendation has been to revitalize now to make sure there is no question as to their applicability. All homeowners of VI will have received a package containing a number of documents by late October explaining the need and the process that we need to undertake.  Included in this package is a “Consent Form” which must be signed by each party whose name appears on the deed for the property.  Randy, Tom Testa, Mark Brenman and Linda Testa have dedicated a lot of time over the past months to get VI ready for this process and we should all extend our thanks for their efforts.  Feel free to reach out to them if you have any questions about this process.  Their contact information can be found on http://www.ourvi.org/board-members.html. We hope to have this process completed within 90 days of its initiation and to be successful, we will need the approval of 50.01% of the residents of VI.
   
The holidays are right around the corner.  Don’t forget to buy your seawall candles from the candle sellers so we can “light up” the seawalls throughout VI on Christmas Eve.  Additional details about this festive VI tradition can be found in this issue and on the ourvi.org website. 
 
The Annual Meeting & Board Elections is scheduled for January 23, 2020 at LCC.  Hope to see you there!!!
 
Rich Scanlon
VIHA President
[email protected]

*Note this letter also appeared in the December issue of Life on the Isles