Attachment 1
Salinas Property Owners Association Accounts 2011
Balance at 31/12/10 €30,531.20
Balance at 31/12/11 €30,346.25
2011 Accounts Summary
Category | | Expense | Income | Amount |
Transfer from 2010 | | 5,531.20 | 5,531.20 |
Bank Charges | 137.28 | | 137.28 |
Interest | | | 3.07 | 3.07 |
AGM | 20.75 | | 20.75 |
Gift | 29.99 | | 29.99 |
Totals | | 188.02 | 5,534.27 | 5,346.25 |
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Notes
Deposit Account €25,000.00 is held on deposit at Banco Espirito Santo maturing on 18th May 2012. Interest 3.25% gross 2.6% net Accessible earlier with loss of interest.
AGM Refreshments for owners
Gift Infraquinta in recognition of co-operation throughout the year
___________________________________________
Mr C. Bateman,Treasurer
Attachment 2
SPOA Funds
At previous Annual General Meetings owners have approved retaining funds until we felt certain that Infraquinta would meet all its commitments in improving the area. With roads, water, sewerage, street lights and refuse collection in place there only remains landscaping and work on the footpaths to be completed.
We are, therefore, proposing that a major proportion of the funds be returned to owners.
Background
We have a record of payments into the Road Fund and annual fees paid since 2004 Any money returned will be based on this information. In 2006 the committee, at that time, made the decision to allow owners to withdraw contributions from the Road Fund to meet annual fees. This meant that the €36,310 Road Fund was reduced by €17,275 in 2006 alone. In 2007 only €4,818 was collected in fees; far below the level needed to continue maintenance of the area. As a result the 2008 AGM approved allowing owners to transfer any remaining credit they had in the Road Fund over to pay annual fees. Owners had opportunity to opt out of this arrangement but no one chose to do so.
Proposal
1. There will be approximately €32,300 in the SPOA account at the time of the AGM.
2. We return €30,000 of this on a pro rata basis calculated on the total amount paid by owners as a Road Fund contribution and by 2004 to 2008 annual fees.
3. In the case of properties under new ownership we attempt to return funds to the owner making the contribution.
4. Voting on this issue is limited to owners who have made a financial contribution.
Procedure
If owners approve returning the funds this will be done by electronic transfer to a Portuguese bank account wherever practical.
Detailed information will be produced at the appropriate time.
Attachment 3. Click pages to enlarge
Attachment 4
SPOA in the future
We believe that SPOA will have less work to do in the future and are therefore suggesting that a slimmed down organisation might be more appropriate.
Infraquinta has met most of its commitments. Roads, sewerage, water, street lights and refuse collection are all in place. Only landscaping and work on the footpaths remains to be completed. SPOA no longer collects fees or disburses money. We have already proposed the return to owners of the major part of the funds.
Background
The current Articles of Association and composition of the committees was carried forward from the 1991 organisation when it became clear, in 2008, that we needed a more formal organisation to represent owners in discussions with agencies such as CML and Infraquinta. The present organisation comprises
General Assembly: President and Secretary
Executive Commission: Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.
Fiscal Board: Chairman, Secretaries X2
Proposal
There is a less formal structure with
1. President
2. Liaison Group comprising the President and three elected members
Notes
Because the Association will only be holding “petty cash” and no longer collects fees or makes regular payments neither a Treasurer nor a Fiscal Board would not be needed in these circumstances.
The Liaison Groups main function is contact with Infraquinta.
The main method of consultation with owners will be by mail or e mail.
The Association remains registered and can return to the existing format in the future if required.
Election of officials
The following members of the 2011 committee offer themselves for re election
President Mr Eric Brown.
Liaison Group: Mrs Sara Caetano,
Mr Jeffrey Jackson,
Ms Celia Barros
Attachment 5
One way System, Quinta das Salinas.
Background
Many years ago Salinas set up a one way traffic system at the request of the owners. At some later date the signs were removed by persons unknown.
At the 2009 AGM a vote was taken regarding reinstating the one way system. The vote was 32 in favour and 1 against and consequently Infraquinta installed the system that we currently have.
At the 2011 AGM an owner asked for a vote on removing the one way system. This was taken and resulted in 4 owners voting to allow two way traffic and 24 to retain the one way system.
A number of these votes were cast by proxy. In order to remove any doubt about owners preferences we are asking you to vote again
Current system
Traffic entering Salinas. There is no left turn between Plots 40 and 41
Traffic leaving Salinas. There is no left turn between Plots 57 and 78 (Palm Trees)
Although the roads are wide enough to accommodate 2 way traffic there is a difference of opinion between owners as to whether a one way or a two way system is the safest.
Tennis Courts
Although the area in the centre of Salinas was designated as being for community use, the land is privately owned. This makes the decision about spending money to improve the courts difficult since we have only limited influence over them.
The area around the courts is currently being landscaped by Infraquinta but they will not improve the courts because of the ownership issue. There is currently a security problem with people from outside the area coming in and using them for ball games.
To make the courts secure by repairing the netting around and putting a combination lock on the gate to allow owner access would cost approx. €500.00 (Option1). To put new netting around, patch the surface, repaint the court lines and replace the tennis nets would cost approx.€2,600.00.(Option2)
Ben Heisterkamp
Ben put a lot of time and effort into ensuring improvements in Salinas and we are suggesting that this should be recognized in a tangible way by providing a bench, in his memory, to overlook the Ria Formosa.
