Citizens Planning Advisory Committee News

These candidates are running to fill seats on the DCCOA Board.  Three-year positions will become vacant in December.  

The annual meeting will be on January 5 at the Club house.  You have received a ballot from May Management and a statement from each candidate.

It is very important that a quorum is established for the meeting.  If you do not plan to attend the meeting, please return your ballot and proxy PRIOR TO JANUARY 4.  

If you are planning to attend the meeting, simply return the proxy in the return envelope and bring the ballot with you to the meeting. The return of your proxy simply insures that we have a quorum, so that business may be conducted at the meeting.

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Nicholas T. Simonic, C.P.A., MACC

Nicholas T. Simonic, C.P.A., MACC is the founding partner and Chief Executive Officer of Simonic, Simonic, Ratnecht & Associates, Inc.  He has more than 30 years of experience in accounting. Nick began by obtaining two Bachelor degrees, one in economics and the other in accounting. He also received a Masters Degree in accounting from the University of North Florida and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the AICPA and of the FICPA. Nick is also a Vietnam War veteran and a recipient of the Purple Heart.

He has experience that spans through all phases of corporate and personal tax and accounting. His expertise in auditing has given him the opportunity to work with charter schools, health care agencies, network marketers, churches and other not-for-profit organizations, as well as other business corporations.

His client base includes individuals, attorneys, doctors, Realtors, business owners, ministers and churches throughout the world. His business development plans and financial counseling are assets to business owners large and small. He also conducts financial, retirement and estate planning for individuals.

 George C. Partin, MBA

George C. Partin is a former Benefit Integrity Director of Tricenturion, and retired from Blue Cross of Florida after serving in various management positions.  He received his Masters of Business Administration from the University of North Florida in 1985. He also has BS degrees from FSU and Florida Southern.

George has served the community the last ten years with seven years on the finance committee and three years on the Board. During 2011 George has served as Board President. His experience in the budgeting process has helped the Deercreek Homeowners Association reduce contract costs by over $25,000.

Dough Klippel

My name is Doug Klippel, and I am running for re-election to the Deercreek Board.
 
As a Deercreek resident for 15 years, I have been actively involved in Homeowner's Association-related activities during this entire time period. Specifically, I spent 12 years being associated with the Access Control Committee (including several years as Chair) and I have spent the past 3 years as a member of the Deercreek Board of Directors (where I was asked to be the liaison to the Covenants Enforcement Committee). Currently, I am also serving as your Board's Vice-President.
 
My years of experience in administering the affairs of our community position me to be an effective Board Member. In addition, my personal style allows me to work well with a wide variety of individuals, and form productive working relationships with same.
 
Professionally, I am the President of People Development Partners LLC, a human resource management consulting firm located in Jacksonville. Previously, I have worked as the Director of Consulting Services for Hogan Assessment Systems, and originally moved to Jacksonville in 1991 to assume a Director-level role with CSX Transportation. My doctoral training is in the field of industrial and organizational psychology.
 
If re-elected, I will work to ensure that Deercreek retains its status as one of Jacksonville's most desirable addresses, and that the safety and security of our community remains a top priority. We also have issues of infrastructure maintenance that need to be addressed, as well as ongoing budgetary concerns. Finally, as a Board Member, I will strive to be responsive to resident requests, comments, issues, and complaints.

Who's Who gift?   

By Len Fritz

Recently I overheard some of our younger residents (read teenagers) discussing living in Deercreek. The discussion went something like this. Have you seen the Christmas lights on some of the houses around here? Ya, and my parents tell me to turn the lights off when I leave my own bedroom.   Go figure!   Well, what would you expect from the Whos down in Who-ville? This was no doubt referring to the well known Dr Seuss characters and their beloved town. 

Overhearing that exchange caused an immediate flashback to my childhood. It was at that time, before DVRs, DVD, T-VOs, and hundreds of cable channels, we all waited anxiously for that one time each year when the family got together and watched the original Grinch; the one with Boris Karloff as the voice of the Grinch.   There were only two things that came close to this family event. They also happened around the same time, The Wizard of Oz and Charlie Brown's Christmas also aired on one of the handful of channels everyone had. Watching these programs were also annual family events. These events signaled the holiday season was here. This meant being surrounded by family and friends, and gifts; gifts given and gifts received.

I took the opportunity to drive around "Who-ville" the other night and discovered these young adults were on to something. Something they really didn't even totally understand themselves. Yes, we Whos still keep the spirit of the holiday. As I drove through the streets of Deercreek I saw the gifts our Deercreek neighbors were giving. Many homes were decorated for the season. Some homes were elaborately displaying all imaginable lighting schemes, themes, and menageries. Some homes even had synchronized music and light shows. Other's kept a quite repose simply choosing to dedicate their efforts to their faith. Each display was as unique as the family who prepared them for us to enjoy.

It has been a busy year for the Common Property Committee. This is a summarization of what was accomplished this year in the various areas that fall under the Common Property committee's responsibilities. The Committee members are: Mary Stelbrink, Sandy Montgomery, Dave Noble, Paul Davidson, David Peters, Charlotte Johnson, and Mark Deemer.  

Landscaping:

• Connors Landscaping Company has kept Deercreek looking great. The company is in charge of all the maintenance of all the Common Property. This includes weed and insect control, mowing and edging all the turf, trimming all the hedges and trees and installing any new turf and plants.
• The irrigation systems are also maintained and over 100 new sprinkler heads were replaced just last year. Valves are changed when needed and back flows replaced as they are run over by golf carts or cars.
• Their contract also includes all the pine straw that is used as mulch in the many beds within the Common Property.
• With so many trees on the Common Property there are always some that have to be removed due to disease or wind damage. We lost a huge canary palm in the front of the property due to a combination of both.
• Danny Connors and his crew helped the Garden Club install the Holiday Lights on the guardhouse and the front entrance.
• The Garden Club donated all of the new knock out roses that were planted last year.
• Connors Landscaping will remain our contractor for next year.

Lakes:

• With the water levels in all our lakes still very low, it is and has been a major challenge to keep them looking good. The untypically warm weather we have been experiencing this December has caused a major algae bloom that normally does not occur this time of year. Future Horizons will keep spraying for this until they get it under control.
• One of the biggest problems the lake maintenance company has is gaining access to the lakes so that they can be treated by boat. No specific designated access areas were built into the development, so they have to go through residents' yards to reach the lakes. To all those who have allowed access through their property - Thank You!
• Future Horizons will remain our contractor for next year.

Playground:

• We had to deal with some damages done at the playground. The tops of a couple of picnic tables were burnt and since the tops of the tables are plastic coated the damage is permanent.
• As of this year a form needs to be filled out in order to reserve the pavilion for parties. Those forms are available at the guard house.
• One of the sliding boards in the playground area was replaced.
• A new fence has been approved for next year.

Signs:

• Ten new stop signs were replaced due to fading. Lamana, from May management installed them for us and also touched up the paint on the sign bases.
• The front entrance sign and fences were completely renovated - including having all the marble replaced.
• The 'speed bump ahead' signs were replaced with speed limit signs.
• The street and road signs will receive some TLC next year by being cleaned and painted where needed.

Fountains:

• We did not have any major issues with the fountains this year. We have had a maintenance contract with Innovative Fountains for the last couple of years and that has made a huge difference in the amount spent in that area.

Sidewalks:

• The sidewalks have been inspected and there are some major issues that will have to be addressed next year. There are a lot of bump ups and cracks in them due to tree roots.

Guardhouse:

• New carpet was installed in the guardhouse and new tile in the bathroom.
• The guardhouse was power washed before the Holiday decorations were put up.

The Common Property Committee meetings are held on the second Thursday of the month at 6:00pm at the Clubhouse.

The Toy Drive for the Hubbard House Gift Cupboard was a huge success and we thank all of the generous people in Deercreek for making this holiday a little easier for all of the families who are sheltering at Hubbard House.  Elizabeth Curtin and Donna Bernard collected and delivered the donations to a very grateful staff.  If you look at their website www.hubbardhouse.org  you will see that there are many others ways you can help.

Patty Tomka got to play Santa's Helper and drop off a $500 check at Touchstone Village to provide gifts for the kids in residence and help buy Christmas dinner.  We are so proud of the accomplishments of this new concept in youth shelters.  We were there when they opened the doors of Touchstone Village and helped set up the first apartments.  

This year they were honored with this award:

The Youth Crisis Center (YCC) was selected as the 2011 Agency of the Year by the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services.   "Quality and program innovation are the hallmarks which have distinguished YCC since 1974 when our doors opened as Florida's first runaway shelter. The recognition as Agency of the Year is a confirmation of the continuation of these commitments as evidenced by the newest YCC program, Touchstone Village, which provides care for youth aging out of foster care. The Board of Directors is proud of YCC's staff for the caring and compassion for each youth and family we serve."  

Look at http://www.ycc.org to see what they are doing.  They have a request out now for help restocking their linen closet.  When the teens leave the apartments to start life on their own, they get to take all their bed linens with them, so the closet needs to be filled occasionally. Individuals and corporations can make in-kind donations of items that are useful in the operation of Youth Crisis Center. They can use donations of paper goods, food supplies, working computers, televisions, radios, personal care items, recreational equipment, vehicles, teen clothing and other items to assist in our care.  Donations of tickets to recreational and entertainment events are an excellent way of helping the kids get off the campus for a few hours. Holidays are particularly difficult for these children estranged from their families. Gifts and meals brought to the campus are a great source of comfort and healing for these kids.  If you'd like to help with this, please call Patty Tomka 363-6086.

We are working on plans for a couples' Casino Night at the Club in February and will get the information out as soon as we have details.  

If you have any questions about the Alliance you can call our Membership Chairs, Adele Kunzweiler 464-0647 or Cary Flynn 619-4580 or any of the Board Members listed below.  

By Patty Tomka 

By Carol D'Onofrio

Thirty ladies, members of the Deercreek Ladies Golf Association played on Saturday, December 3. Groups were a combination of nine and eighteen hole players in a thirteen hole scramble. It was a great day-- weather wise, lunch wise and fellowship. After lunch and awards, a brief meeting was held.

The nine hole liaison Elizabeth Curtin.

If you are interested in joining a fun group of ladies playing either nine or eighteen holes on Thursday mornings please contact Debbie Grosnick at 519-2927.

The Men's Golf Association had their end of season tournament on December 10th, followed by the Shoot-Out. There were 10 qualifiers and the winner was decided on the 18th hole with a playoff from the 100 yard marker between Mike Basford and Johnny Moore. Johnny hit it closer to the flag and was crowned the Shoot-Out Winner.

Mike Basford and Johnny Moore

MGA Overall Points Winner for the Parking Spot

The MGA points winner for 2011 was Don Nyman who held on to his lead over Mike Basford to win back the coveted MGA Parking Spot for a second time in 3 years.

Don Nyman

2012 Tournament Schedule

The Deercreek Tournament Calendar is now available and can be checked out on www.deercreektournaments.com