SBC UPDATE

This is a response to some of the distorted information that is being disseminated throughout the SBC by the Three Blind Mice (3BM), as referenced in the following blog posting: http://sbcoversight.blogspot.com/, as well as other co-conspirators such as Eileen Frasier and Lori Rand (PH34), who have been instrumental in many of the shenanigans some of these individuals have been engaged in.

Oversight Letter:

The “Oversight Blog / Letter” was intended to inform owners at the South Bay Club about some of the alarming things certain board members and their co-conspirators have been up to, in an attempt to have extensive construction work performed on the roof, penthouse apartments, and pool deck, among other areas. The necessity of these projects in questionable, and at the very least, an independent assessment of what work is really needed at the SBC and when it is needed, is warranted. Our previous engineer recommended, at a recent SBC board meeting, that we need NO additional construction work at this time, but the 3BM are intent on this new construction regardless of the consequences.

Already, there have been board members trying to pass 1-bid construction contracts to their friends – this can be verified through the recording of a board meeting from several months ago.

The 3BM board members (Carlos Vicaria, Mark Saracino, Greg Johnson), have conspired to keep the pool deck closed until they can pass this massive special assessment and begin work on their project to redevelop the South Bay Club. The reality is that any multi-million dollar special assessment imposed on building residents at this time will cause catastrophic devastation to the South Bay Club owners and put extreme pressure on an association that cannot even close our 40-year re-certification permit from over 3 years ago.

How can these same individuals be trusted with such a huge construction project? Any redevelopment of the South Bay Club should be done with the participation of anyone who owns a unit at the SBC who wishes to participate, not just a few individuals who are trying to force this on us before their term on the board ends. These individuals (3BM) were not voted into office, but merely injected themselves into vacant board positions so that they could control our finances, impose assessments, and renovate their apartments at the expense of the rest of the association. At the very least, there should be some oversight over which penthouse apartments get fixed and to what extent they get fixed.

Develop a Plan First:

Doesn’t it make sense to create a design committee, develop a plan, hire an engineer, find a suitable contractor, bid the project, pass a special assessment, submit plans to the city for permitting and THEN close the pool and do the work? This is a two-year project, but yet, the 3BM tried to keep the pool and deck closed the entire time – and hit us with a huge special assessment right now, at a time when so many residents are struggling – it’s just wrong, there was absolutely no reason for it except as a way to force another project on the residents by a few individuals, as they push their own agenda at everyone’s expense.

They have no real plan but they are still moving forward with the special assessment. We can all thank a group of concerned owners for uncovering what was going on and fighting to re-open the pool and hold-off another special assessment until we have had a chance to get an impartial evaluation of what work is really needed at the South Bay Club and when it is needed.

Poor leadership:

The current board has paid for 3 separate engineering reports from separate engineering companies until they were able to get a report that included the roof, penthouse apartments and other areas they wish to renovate. The 3BM then directed our building attorney (Robert Blanch) to lobby the city to include these items in the 40-year re-certification, which we have been trying to finalize for the last three years.

It’s unconscionable that they would put pressure on the City of Miami Beach to mandate more construction work to be included within the scope of the 40-year recertification. Why not just get the work done outside of the 40-year certification if it needs to be done?

The 3BM had intended on replacing all of the penthouse apartment windows with new impact resistant windows at the expense of the entire association. They tried to get it included in the 40-year re-certification to “lock it in”, in the event that they were not elected to next years board of directors.

A group of owners actually blocked their attempt, which resulted in our buildings attorney (Robert Blanch), needing to write an opinion letter regarding his opinion on if the windows were the responsibility of the entire association or the penthouse owners themselves. The opinion letter stated that the windows were the responsibility of the individual unit owners - but ask yourself; why was the opinion letter needed, if the board had not intended on replacing the windows at the expense of ALL of the SBC owners? We will post the opinion letter to the oversight blog soon, or you can ask for a copy from the management office.

In addition, their plan is to re-claim the area on the pool deck that is currently being used as backyards to several ground level apartments. The owners of these apartments will fight this with all the resources they have. This will take years to litigate. Ask the office – this is the plan of these three individuals (3BM).

The 3BM and management have decided to cover the planters, by the interior lobby fence, with wood and Astroturf. This is very unsightly and reminiscent of a trailer park. The management was asked by many SBC owners to place dirt in the planters and a low ground cover of plants until anything was decided about replacing the entire pool deck.

We were told by the management office that any new potential construction of the deck would not include these planters, that were just fixed and poured with new concrete. There is absolutely no reason not to fill those planters with vegetation. It would have cost much less to get a truckload of dirt and some plants than to pay for the work crew for a week as they framed and covered the planters with plywood and green carpet. They also tried to kill all of the plants in the other planters (read the blog). http://sbcoversight.blogspot.com/

The management and 3BM blocked every attempt by a group of owners to re-open the pool. The owners were told that the pool was out of code and could not be reopened until we redesigned and installed a new pool and new pool deck. The owners had to call the city and health department themselves to find out what was really needed to open the pool and they were told the pool & deck could be opened. The SBC management was instructed by the 3BM to keep the pool closed - they never asked the city to open the pool or how to open it.

The owners found pool contractors and obtained the required 3 bids and then presented them to the office and then still had to fight with management to open the pool deck.

Why do we pay our manager $70,000 a year to fight us on these issues and to never have any answers or solutions only hindrances and roadblocks. Our management office also needs a to be a little more courteous to our residents.

The 3BM and management also refused to reinstall the old fence that was removed for the planter refurbishing (in an attempt to keep the pool deck closed). The owners had to again find contractors, get bids and then prove to the management office (Norman) that we could still use our existing fence. We were previously told by the board and management that we needed to replace the entire fence in order to re-open the pool deck. This is another of the many lies that have been perpetrated against the SBC owners – these will be documented soon but the office has audio recording of the board meetings – I encourage all owners to get involved and do their own research.

Every owner would be enraged if they knew all the details of the current construction fiasco we are involved in. The construction companies know they are dealing with an unsophisticated and intellectually challenged group of individuals who are approving all of the change orders (3BM). This is the reason we have seen the bloated construction costs continue to soar out of control and we continue to live in this construction mess with no plan of attack or end in sight.

It is also important to note the our manager (Norman) has been told by the 3BM to not focus on updating the board meeting minutes, and that "it was not a priority". This is why the owners are finding it impossible to figure out what is going on. Any minutes that have been created in the past have been poorly written and absent of much of the content of the meetings - where is the transparency?

Pass this around to anyone you know who is an owner at the South Bay Club or e-mail sbcoversight@gmail.com if you wish to be placed on the distribution list and receive updates on what is happening and how we intend on improving the quality of life at the South Bay Club.