Dear Broward Coalition,  Do you know that there are ten (10) members of the CAN Advisory Council in various counties that are working diligently to ensure that communities like yours get what you need from Tallahassee this Session? These folks do not get paid for the countless hours they spend speaking with our legislators to educate them on the real needs and challenges of people living in common interest ownership communities.  Recently, members of CAN's Advisory Council flew up to Tallahassee to spend time with various legislators, our CAN lobbyists and the Governor to follow up on all of the issues we have been discussing in these CAN Alerts.Other Advisory Council Members will be heading up in the next few weeks to continue this ongoing dialogue to ensure that our message does not get lost or overlooked by the legislators voting on bills that can impact your community.  If you have never wondered who these "guardian angels" for communities are, perhaps you should.  Here they are broken down by county: Broward County: Charlotte Greenbarg is a Broward County political watchdog and the current President of the Broward Coalition, Inc., a not-for-profit group consisting of 200+ Broward County associations. Pio Ieraci is the current President of the Galt Mile Community Association, Inc. consisting of 27 high-rise associations located along Galt Ocean Mile in Ft. Lauderdale. as well as president of his own condominium association for years. Wendy Murray is a certified mediator and the creator and President of the Miramar Communities Council as well as president of her own HOA. Collier County: Ed Duch is the Managing Partner of the Good Neighbors Institute, LLC, a company dedicated to fostering harmonious relationships between Owners, Board Members and Managers as well as serving as the Legislative Vice President for the Gulf Shore Association of Condominiums (GSAC). Jim Hoppensteadt is the President and CEO of the Pelican Bay Foundation which oversees the 93 private residential communities that comprise the lovely Pelican Bay in Naples. Ewing Sutherland has been president of his Naples condominium association for years, was formerly active with GSAC and has been a tireless West Coast advocate and frequent contributor to the Naples Daily News calling for positive community association legislation. Lee County: Bonita Vandall is the President of Associa Benson's Inc. and was previously appointed by the President of the Florida Senate to serve as one of seven statewide representatives on the Advisory Council for Condominiums. Miami-Dade County: Lawrence Percival is the Executive Vice-President of the Kendall Federation of Homeowner Associations, Inc. (KFHA) as well as serving on various charitable and civic boards for the past several decades. Palm Beach County: Barbara Zee serves as the Vice President of Legislative Affairs and Insurance Issues for the Alliance of Delray, an umbrella group representing the interests of 65+ community associations in Palm Beach County as well as serving on her own HOA board for years. St. Lucie County: Joel Jeffrey has served on the board of directors for the Savanna Club, a community of approximately 1,900 manufactured homes for the past several years as well as playing a role in local, state and federal legislation impacting common interest ownership communities. This is just a SMALL snapshot of the backgrounds of these very talented and accomplished individuals that CAN is so very proud and fortunate to have working on your behalf. To read the full bios on this extraordinary group and to get their contact information, please click here: http://www.canfl.com/advisorycouncil.cfm Now that you know the players, what have they been up to lately? At the urging of our Collier County Advisory Council Members, the City of Naples and Collier County have both passed Resolutions in support of HB 561/SB 1222, specifically for the sprinkler retrofit relief provisions that are of such importance to struggling associations around the State. Here is the Resolution that was passed:  http://www.canfl.com/Documents/Naples%20City%20Council%20Resol%20re%20Fire%20Safety.pdf Broward County CAN Advisory Council Members have asked the Broward County Commission to put this resolution on their agenda and they have agreed to do so. They are also in the process of asking various Broward County municipalities to pass similar resolutions of support. Our Lee County Council Member and Palm Beach County Member are also pursuing such resolutions on behalf of associations in their counties. Our St. Lucie Advisory Council Member was advised by his county that no associations are impacted by the sprinkler requirements as they are either exempt or they have already retrofitted. Your Miami-Dade Council Member has a series of key meetings set up with Fire Department personnel to discuss how current implementation procedures are impacting the community. Jim Hoppensteadt, Collier County Advisory Council Member, tracked down the following facts and statistics from the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA): In 2008, there were 3,320 civilan and 118 firefighter fire fatalities (USFA) in the USA Florida ranked 11th as the safest state for Fire Death Rate (2006)-8.9 (8.9 average deaths per million). The nationwide average is 13.2 with West Virginia with the highest Fire Death Rate (38.7) and New Hampshire with the lowest (4.6) (USFA) 84% of all civilan fire fatalities occurred in residences (USFA) 84% of all fire fatalities occurred in one- and two-family homes (NFPA) Overall, a smoke alarm is present and activates in 62% of high-rise structure fires. In contrast, a sprinkler system is activated in only 8% of such fires. The discrepancy is largely because high-rise structure fires tend to be small with 92% of fires contained to the object or room of origin. (USFA-2002) 69% of high-rise fires originate on the 4th floor or below. (USFA-2002) In 2003-2006, high-rise structure (all types) fires resulted in associated losses of 62 civilan deaths (NFPA) An estimated 2.7% of all 2003-2006 reported structure fires were in high-rise buildings (all types). (NFPA). While up in Tallahassee, Jim also attended the EPA Public Hearing on proposed standards (singling out the State of Florida) to address phosphorus and nitrogen pollution in Florida's lakes and flowing waters. We addressed this matter in a CAN alert several weeks ago.  The public meeting was attended by approximately 200 people and presided over by Ephraim King, EPA Director, Office of Wetlands, Oceans & Watersheds, and Jim Keating, Environmental Protection Specialist.. According to Federal guidelines, written comments on the proposed standards which can be found at www.epa.gov/waterscience/standards/rules/florida/ must be submitted before March 29, 2010 and identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HG-OW-2009-0596 to www.regulations.gov. Many of the people in the room seemed to have different but serious concerns about the EPA's proposed standards. One official stated that no water treatment facility in Florida could meet the EPA standards without a significant capital outlay. The standards impose protection criteria on lakes, rivers, streams, drainage canals, estuaries and springs for total phosphorus and total nitrogen as they attribute harmful algae blooms to these contaminants.  However, several scientists said the EPA studies do not adequately take into account the progress that Florida has made in recent years and that it is one of, if not the leading, state with regard to monitoring water quality issues. These scientists also stated that the EPA standards being applied are arbitrary and without any direct causative impact on the problem they say they are trying to address. This is one more example of our State being singled out for costly or negative change (remember the FHA's crackdown on condominium lending) at a time we can least afford such attention. As you can see, these 10 CAN Advisory Council Members are spreading our message loudly and clearly throughout the State on issues you might otherwise never have knowledge or input. If you have a moment, please send the Advisory Council member(s) for your County a message of thanks as well as any other issue you would like them to address this Session. We are always on the lookout for dedicated and passionate CAN Advisory Council members in every county throughout our State. If you  or someone you know might be willing to serve in this capacity, please let me know.  The pay is awful (zero!) but the camaraderie with your fellow Council members and the rewards in knowing you've performed a service for millions of fellow Floridians are immeasurable! Best Regards, Donna D. Berger, Esq. Executive Director of the Community Advocacy Network (CAN) Telephone: 954.315.0372 Facsimile: 954.315.0373 Web: www.canfl.com Email: dberger@canfl.com Blog: condolaw.blogspot.com If you no longer wish to receive CAN alerts, please hit Reply and type Unsubscribe in the subject line. You can also contact Diane Schick at dschick@canfl.com to unsubscribe.