I understand there is some confusion, and I’ll do my best to clarify.

The Board’s letter on January 17th did mention the pickleball noise impact study and its potential reallocation. I completely understand how critical an operating lift at the Beach Club is for so many in our community. I support reallocating the funds in order to repair the lift. It is a crucial and valid use for those funds. In my initial communications with the Board, it was specifically discussed that the lift should be prioritized over the addition of any new amenity. My communication on October 1st urged them to start: "prioritizing a project for the betterment of the residents of Aquarina, such as a working chair lift for the Beach Club".

However, the Board's current reallocation and setting aside plans for a new pickleball amenity is only because of financial reasons that they have not shared in the January 17th communication. The decision wasn't made because they had changed their minds about pickleball. It is simply being tabled for now.

It is my humble opinion that the Board is receiving poor direction from First Service Residential / Pearl Spires and the Association's lawyer in not acknowledging that 95 units (over 20%) had signed a petition to make it a part of the formal Board Meeting, as stipulated by Florida Statutes 720.303 3. (d). She told me their lawyer ridiculed our efforts. Although I said they could verify the signatures with a simple email to the Members – it was “not their job” to do so. Instead they have proposed a standard that could make it much harder for us, as residents, to submit or support petitions.

The digital petition that is being circulated now seeks to both meet those standards that require a digital signature and to ensure community input before finalizing any decisions about the future of Pickleball in Aquarina. We want it to be part of the formal Board meeting, and documented in the Minutes of the meeting so that our Board has clarity on this issue. In order to sign THAT version, you need to send and email to sally.lynn.macdonald@gmail.com - and look in your inbox for an email which includes the subject: SIGNATURE VERIFICATION in the subject line.

We want to make sure that the efforts to stymie petition rights in Aquarina by requiring legally auditable digital signatures is not used as a tactic to require the use of digital signature technology that most of us don’t have access to or know how to use.

In case others need clarification please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have further questions or thoughts.