I have been President for about two months now and I have to tell you that this is a very tough job. But I also must say that the encouragement that many of you have extended to me at times when I least expected it and needed it the most have made all the difference for me. To borrow a phrase from a famous song, your words are "the wind beneath my wings". I give you my heartfelt thanks for supporting me.

We have had our challenges these past two months. The development of a fair and reasonable 2009 budget was one such challenge. I know some of you are not happy about the increase. In fact I know of no one jumping for joy over increased monthly fees. However, I commend the Finance Committee for doing a great job at looking at all alternatives and choosing the best possible solution. The 2009 budget will assure that we maintain our current level of services. The increase in the 2009 monthly fees is attributed to three major factors:

• More than half of our monthly fee increase is due to additional Meadowcrest fees required to fund reserves supporting Meadowcrest assets (park, swimming pool, clubhouse, tennis courts, office, and other common property).

• Our administration costs increased due to hiring Robbie Anderson on a part-time basis to fill the Maintenance Chairperson vacancy. This cost increase can be directly attributed to not having any volunteers come forward from Fox Hollow to fill that much needed vacancy. My personal assessment is that Robbie is a quite a bargain. She knows what she is doing and she offers a professional perspective that is highly valuable.

• Our landscaping and pest control expenses increased due to 2009 contract terms with Greenbrier.

Let me assure you that the Board is actively looking into possible savings for next year's budget. We are researching paint technology to see if we might extend our house-painting schedule. We are looking into road maintenance to determine if we really need to do a full repave in 10 years. We are working closely with Greenbrier to take advantage of economies of scale on their services. These are just a few examples..

Another challenge that we faced recently is the bad turf situation. I want to commend the bad turf subcommittee for taking the lead on this issue. All the villages in Meadowcrest faced bad turf challenges this year. The other villages addressed the issue this spring. Here again I must commend you on your willingness and responsiveness to this effort. I cannot believe the support I have received from you on this endeavor. By the time this article gets published I am hopeful that all the sod replacement is successfully behind us and that soon we will see great results.

Now I would like to direct your attention onto a different subject -- the subject of covenants. I am sure every one of us at times has wondered how areas not specifically defined in our covenants can be enforced in a homeowners association. It is an area that I personally struggled with until I became a Board member. I think it is an issue that surfaces all too frequently in our community and one on which I would like to share my perspective. To begin, I need to define what I mean by "covenant" and "policy". A covenant is a documented and legally recorded rule, which is enacted by a majority vote of the association's membership at some point in time. Once enacted a covenant can only be amended or abolished by a majority vote of the association's membership. The State of Florida holds the homeowners association's Board of Directors responsible for enforcing all covenants. A policy is a decision made by the Board of Directors that supports but does not change the covenants. Policy decisions are enforced like covenants and usually are documented in the content of Board meeting minutes. The Board may decide if additional communications are required about a policy. Such communications may be expressed in the form of a communication delivered to your home address, in a President's Message in the News & Views newsletter, or an announcement on channel 95.

Here is an example of a covenant -- one that comes right from our own FHVPOA covenants.

Here are examples of policy decisions made by the Board of Directors supporting this covenant:

• The exteriors of all homes and front doors in Fox Hollow are painted specific colors.

• Homes and front doors are painted on a six-year cycle based on the home's build date.

If you read through the covenants you will not see any of these kinds of details about painting. The question that is raised is why wouldn't we want to have these details documented in our covenants. There are many good reasons why we do not do that. One reason is that whenever we add to or modify our covenants we involve an attorney so that we can assure our verbiage is legal and correct. If and when the covenant is enacted the amended covenants are registered with the State of Florida. The attorney fees and registration process cost money.

Another factor is the enormous time and effort required of Board members (who are all volunteers) to prepare for addition or modification to the covenants. After the Board is satisfied with new revisions, the change has to be communicated, distributed, and voted upon by over 100 Fox Hollow association members. That is a significant feat. So, you may surmise the Board is prone towards leaving covenants as they are unless there is a real necessity to change them.

Another reason why the Board is resistant to keeping details out of our covenants is that the Board wants to be able maintain its effectiveness no matter what situations and changes impact the association. Let me give you an example of this. Let's suppose that the three policy decisions that I have described above were in fact covenants. Suppose that the company that manufactures our exterior and/or door paint went out of business and no other company made that exact color. Since the Board has the responsibility to enforce our covenants it would be hard pressed to uphold it under such a circumstance. It would either have to delay house painting until we change the covenants (attorney and registration fees and tremendous effort to do) or paint every house in one year a new paint color (very expensive to do). It would literally make the Board ineffective and get many homeowners upset. The Board may alter policies at will when such change warrants it through its normal decision-making process.

Influencing policy changes versus influencing covenant changes are also potentially easier for homeowners. Let's suppose there were a policy decision found objectionable by a homeowner or perhaps a homeowner would like to promote a new policy. The homeowner can schedule himself or herself to appear before the Board to plead the case for or against a policy. You need only convince a majority of the Board members (4 out of 7 people) to see things your way. If the policy were in fact a covenant you would have to convince not only the Board to want to change or add a covenant but you would next have to convince the majority of your neighbors (over 50 people) to vote in favor of your position. Wouldn't you agree that influencing 4 people might be easier than influencing 50 or more persons? I have changed my personal philosophy about covenants in the four years that I have lived here. At one time I wanted the covenants to be very detailed and cover all the dos and don'ts. Now I see as a homeowner and as a Board member working on your behalf that keeping the details at a policy level makes it better for everyone. So there you have it. That's my view on the subject of covenants.

Before I sign off I wish you all a wonderful holiday season. I am looking forward to another winter season here in Fox Hollow.

Submitted by Sharon Ziemba