Hurricane Frances Special Notice
As you have all witnessed, our community's landscaping, fencing and other amenities have experienced significant damage as a consequence of Hurricane Frances' ferocious wind gusts. In the 25 years of the Vista Verde Community nothing like this has ever occurred.

Inasmuch as there is no disaster or emergency plan for the Community, this letter is being written to set forth the actions taken regarding the unprecedented damage caused by Hurricane Frances. Due to the inability to have a public meeting, members of the Board undertook to try and make the community safe in light of the fact that another hurricane (Ivan) appeared to be ready to hit us as well.

When Frances hit on Saturday, September 4th, numerous large trees were uprooted both in the common areas, park, lake, and swales and on private property. As a result, many water mains were broken and debris was strewn in the roads and on our properties. Trees blocked roadways and the Community was in substantial disarray.

The city of Boca Raton was contacted and emergency crews repaired the water lines the same day. Several trees were undermined and represented an imminent hazard. Members of the Board undertook to effectuate a process to work with the aftermath. The hurricane was on September 4th and as of this memo, September 18, no public resources (county, state, FEMA) have even evaluated the community or removed any but essential trash.

In our efforts to try to restore some semblance of order in our community, the decision was made to start selecting a company to do critical clearing, cutting, felling and assembling of trees, bushes and debris. After comparing prices, and with Benchmark's suggestion, we selected the Sunshine Landscaping over Top Notch and Bull Dog as both were more expensive. Unfortunately, Sunshine also proved to be inefficient and very slow and clearly was not going to be able to control the liability hazard all of this presented. We immediately dismissed them.

Three of the board members spent late Saturday, all of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday trying to oversee a cut and clear operation utilizing South Florida, a Miami-based company with trucks and manpower. As no one had any idea of the scope of the mess, everyone involved underestimated the time and effort it would take to do the work. Many Vista Verde homeowners asked for help, as they could not individually contract for tree removal (the demands on all resources were strained) and we agreed to help. In some cases we agreed to split costs where it was judgment call on whether things were in a common area or represented a real hazard to life and limb.

We have incurred substantial expenses to do what we have done and it is inevitable that we will require a special assessment to replace escrow funds that were used. That is a matter we will discuss in an emergency meeting in October, as a special assessment meeting by law requires a two-week notice to all homeowners.

We would also like to clarify some facts. Some board members hired either Sunshine or South Florida to cut some of their trees after hours and they will be responsible for paying for the fees. Many homeowners who were assisted through the help of the Board have refused to pay their fair share and this too will be discussed.

Benchmark is negotiating with South Florida to adjust fees; however there is no question that substantial work was done and accomplished and needs to be paid for. We discontinued work as soon as debris and trees were cleared so that we were in a position to wait for county cleanup for the rest. We may be living with the balance for a few more weeks. Be aware that vermin, spiders, snakes, rats, etc, like brush piles and debris, so children should not be allowed to play in them.

Some owners had individual grievances with the demeanor of some of the workers. This is contract labor in an emergency and is not similar to any prior situation. We are sorry for any inconvenience or mishandling, but emergencies are emergencies.

You can help by continuing to move debris to the curb and by calling the solid waste authority at 1-866-792-4636, to push for a timetable for pickup. We realize that we need all the help we can get and by calling them often, then they will remember us.

All this takes time, however, and we appreciate your patience and perseverance. Some real community effort was displayed during the storm and we would especially like to express our sincere gratitude to Marcus Pardel, Francisco Lago, Guillermo Lago, Abraham Khessali, Shane Bredoff, and Alexander Ronnan, who came out after the storm armed with chainsaws, handsaws and muscle to help make the streets safe and passable, and assist a distressed homeowner. What wonderful neighbors we have! All in all, we should still consider ourselves lucky in that we didn't lose lives and power.

There will be another Newsletter later next week further describing the efforts being taken.

Ad Hoc Hurricane Committee
September 19, 2004