| As of approximately 30 days ago, (February 6, 2026), there is a new Board of Directors at Ocean Pointe Building 4. I am President, Dave Turner is Vice President and Mark Banks is Secretary/Treasurer.
The current top priority of this new Board is to address the financial well-being of our building. The 2026 budget which should have been adopted by December 31, 2025, was not adopted until February 5, 2026 (the last day that the previous Board of Directors was in office). Although there have been several unusual expenses that were necessary to address (Click here to review the letter from the last Board of Directors that passed the current budget) there are many financial areas that this new Board is going to scrutinized immediately to bring “our financial house in order”. We are very aware that a 25% increase in our HOA fees is unacceptable. As an owner of three units in building 4, I am feeling the pain more than most owners.
My decision to return to the Building 4 Board of Directors was greatly influenced by my attendance at the initial 2025 Board of Directors budget meeting where the Chair of that meeting was attempting to assemble a 2026 budget without knowing what was actually spent in 2025. I must admit I tuned out of that meeting after about 30 minutes when my frustration reached a boiling point because I know that any budget that is not based on actual spending for the previous year is at best a very bad guess. In fairness, Building 4 because of its close proximity to the ocean where king tides flow under our building on a regular non-storm event will always be more to maintain (BTW, that’s why our units are valued significantly higher for rentals and sales – views, views, views). Because of this, however, we have been particularly hard hit with spalling issues, much more than other buildings.
What do we do ???
First, because we don’t have a clear picture of where we are, we need to figure out where we are (I love to quote Yogi Berra).
To address this, I have assembled a very talented group of five Building 4 Owners to analyze what has been spent since 2023. This Committee will tear apart each year’s budget and actual monies spent to determine like any business owner where our budget and thus HOA fees need to be.
Second, as suggested by Rudy from Castle, we will start the 2027 budget in May to have a fiscally conservative but realistic spending plan well before years end and in plenty of time for owner input.
Third, as I said above, please read the letter from the 2025 Board of Directors which addresses the thought process that was used to assemble the current budget, very much later than should have occurred. I want to give a shout out to Mark Banks for jumping into the process after the deadline to
give a phenomenal “Yeomans Effort” that produced a spending plan to keep building 4 cash flow solvent … Great Job Mark !!!
Fourth, I know you are not used to communication from the Ocean Pointe Building 4 Board. When I was Building 4 President during the early 2020’s, I created a building 4 website and sent out a regular series of emails informing the owners about pertinent issues facing Ocean Pointe Building 4. I did this because I found that there is never a good time to hold an Owners Meeting when all Owners are able to attend. I have been spending the last 30 days “ish” resurrecting the above. Because of the technicalities, this takes time but as you can see by this email the “Message from the President” is now ready to roll. The website is almost there and a “blast off” will be announced imminently. Please be patient as this entails a lot of work, especially since it is being done at “zero expense” to Building 4. In addition, there will be public Owner meetings to comply with all of the requirements of Florida Condominium Association law to pass any spending items, etc.
Lastly, I can guarantee that this Board along with Joe D’Amato who has volunteered to be Chair of Special Projects is dedicated to being first and foremost fiscally conscientious. In addition, we also have begun fact gathering to improve the physical appearance of Building 4 to once again have it shine brightly !!!
Stay tuned there is a lot more to follow. |
