June 2021

June 11, 2021

​Dear VI Residents:
 
After a beautiful and mostly dry spring, the “dog days” of summer are now upon us.  Please remember to stock up on critical supplies as we enter hurricane season.  No one can accurately predict the number or intensity of storms that we may face this season, but we can all do our best to be fully prepared.  I encourage you to sign up for emergency alerts from the City of St. Petersburg at http://www.stpete.org/news/alert_stpete.php and/or follow the City on Facebook or Twitter to stay up to date on storms that affect our community.
 
The real estate market has been especially vibrant in VI the first 5 months of the year with a total of 20 sales recorded through the end of May with three additional transactions pending.  We welcome our new neighbors to VI and we hope to schedule our New Homeowner Event in the fall as we emerge fully from the pandemic.
 
The VIHA Board will not be meeting in July or August given the difficulties in obtaining a quorum during the summer months; however, the DR Revitalization process that I summarized in the May President’s Letter will continue with a response from the Florida Dept. of Economic Opportunity expected by mid-July. The steps that I outlined for revisions to the Deed Restrictions are also moving forward starting with a resident survey that we will target for release in early August.  Please stay tuned as we will need the entire community’s participation in this process if we are to implement the changes that have been proposed by the Deed Restriction Revision Committee and property owners.
 
Several residents have expressed concern about barges parked in our canals obstructing docks and potentially causing harm to seawalls.  While the canals are public waterways and not under the purview of the VIHA, Officer Brandon Bill of the St. Petersburg Police Marine Unit confirmed that parking barges in the canals is permitted as long as the barges are not creating a “navigational hazard.”  If a barge is blocking your dock, the Police can issue a citation and ask the owner of barge to move.  Officer Bill suggests that residents also call the owner of the barge directly if the barge is creating a nuisance.
 
Finally, it looks like Oktoberfest is “go”.  Stay tuned for details.
 
Have a great summer and see you “around the Isles!!!”
 
Rich Scanlon
VIHA President
rscanlon@ourvi.org