Westin St. John [Master Thread]

[skewbiesnaxx]

Dear Westin St. John Villa owner:

You have just received your ballot(s) (called “proxies”) for the election of two owner representatives on the five-member Board of Directors of the owners association. (Starwood currently appoints the three other members).

We are a group of owners, just like you, who want to have our interests more vigorously represented and reported to us. (Our current Board representatives have not kept in touch with us or updated us regularly during their three-year terms). Maintenance fees have skyrocketed, not only costing us more each year but also decreasing the market value of our units -- and we have to pay higher fees because of the unpaid obligations of owners who default.

We are therefore uniting to try to elect the two candidates listed below, who will stay in touch with owners and represent their interests. This does not mean knee-jerk opposition to expenses that are necessary to maintain and improve the property. But our representatives should work with management to keep expenses down as much as possible, eliminate unnecessary ones, and figure out a better way to make up for the losses caused by those owners who don’t pay their maintenance fees. For example, when owners don’t pay their fees, their units should be made available to other owners who will make up some or all of the arrears. We also want to amend the by-laws to give owners majority control. Starwood employees should advise but not dominate our Board. Also, the Board should set up a password-protected website for owners so that they can swap weeks with one another.

If you are not personally attending the meeting of the owners association on May 17 in Florida, we urge you, therefore, to fill out your proxies as follows:

1. Do not fill in the circle to appoint Pauline Carter as your representative. She is a Starwood employee, and the owners’ interests may not be her first priority. Instead, we recommend you fill in the second circle and designate Tom DeClemente to be your proxy holder. He is an owner and member of our group who will attend the election meeting.
2. Then check the box giving Mr. DeClemente “limited powers” and check the appropriate boxes, next to the names of candidates, to instruct Mr. DeClemente to vote for the election of the following two candidates to the Board of Directors:

Philip Schrag
Robert H. Werbel

(The personal statements of these candidates were included in the mailing that accompanied the proxy form).

3. Sign and date the proxy – not in the very bottom line on the page, but on the line above the word “signature” that appears in bold letters.
4. Mail it, in the envelope that Starwood sent you, no later than May 10.
5. If you own more than one unit, follow this procedure on a separate ballot for each unit.

Thank you for your attention to this important election for directors who have the duty of protecting your interest in our wonderful resort.

Tom DeClemente*
Stephen C. Dixon*
Gene Jaspan**
Cathleen Noland
Clay Peters*
Philip Schrag
Robert H. Werbel

* Nominated candidate who is withdrawing his candidacy in favor of electing candidates Philip Schrag and Robert Werbel

** Sender of this email. If you have questions or know of others who should receive this email, you may contact Mr. Jaspan at cruisingemj@gmail.com

I have done exactly this. Thanks for you hard work!

 

[DavidnRobin]

I have done exactly this. Thanks for you hard work!

Great - just 1000s more to go... :whoopie:

 

[GeneNWendy]

People attending meeting at Westin

Is anyone else planning on attending this meeting in person?

Jim

Hi Jim,

I know with certainty that Tom DeClemente, Robert Werbel, and Clay Peters will be present at this meeting. As an I aside, I was planning to go myself when it was originally scheduled for April 27th. I even booked flights and made hotel reservations for that date. Since the meeting wasn't going to take place, I decided to go down anyway so that I would have a day in the warm weather. As it turned out, there were major storms in the Northeast on Monday, April 26th so my flight got cancelled. I guess a positive way to look at it is that I got my money back for everything.

Unfortunately, I will be out of the country on May 17th and will not be able to attend the re-scheduled meeting in Orlando.

Gene

 

[OCsun]

Great - just 1000s more to go... :whoopie:

I followed your instructions too! Thanks for your help! Pam

 

[GeneNWendy]

Thanks for your support

Hi Pam,

Thank you for your support. You should join our owner's list if you haven't already done so. You can send me a private message with the following info:

1. Mailing address
2. E-Mail address
3. Contact telephone number
4. Week # (s) and Villa # (s) owned at WSJ

You can also e-mail me directly at CruisingEMJ@gmail.com with the same info. BTW, our group has a name now St John Virgin Grand Villas Coalition .

Regards,
Gene

 

[GeneNWendy]

ctbt, ... In the Virgin Islands, it seems the Bylaws are King. Not many other restrictions.

Virgin Islands Code, Title Thirteen (Corporations), Chapter 3 (Non-Profit Corporations), Sec. 495:

"§ 495. Bylaws; adoption; contents

Before transacting any business or acquiring any property the persons constituting the membership of the corporation shall meet and adopt bylaws. The vote of a majority of all the members in good standing of the corporation shall be necessary to the adoption of such bylaws and when adopted the same shall be written in a book kept by the corporation, to be duly signed by all persons thereafter becoming members of said corporation so formed under this chapter. The corporation may by its bylaws provide for the time, place and manner of calling and conducting its meetings; the number of directors, managers or trustees, the time of their election, their term of office and the mode and manner of their removal; the mode and manner of filling vacancies on the board of directors, managers or trustees caused by death, resignation, removal or otherwise; the power and authority of the directors, managers or trustees; the compensation of the directors, managers or trustees or of the officers; the mode and manner of conducting business; the mode and manner of conducting elections; the qualifications for membership; the manner in which membership shall cease; the mode and manner of expulsion of a member; the termination of a member's interest in the corporate property under the cessation of his membership, and whether he shall be remunerated therefor, and, if so, in what manner; the amount of membership fee, and the dues, or other charges which each member may be required to pay, if any; the charges which may be made for services rendered or supplies furnished the members of the corporation by it; the manner of collection or enforcement of membership fees, dues or charges, and the method of forfeiting the membership interest, for nonpayment; the method, time and manner of permitting the withdrawal of a member, if at all, and how such withdrawing member's interest may be ascertained and payments made therefor, if the corporation decides he should be reimbursed therefor; the formation of a surplus fund and the manner and proportion in which such surplus fund shall be distributed, either upon the order of the corporation or upon its dissolution; and generally, all such other matters as may be proper to carry out the purpose for which the corporation was formed."

http://www.michie.com/virginislands/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=vicode

Also, for condos, see Title Twenty-Eight (Property), Chapter 33 (Condominium Act), Sections 902 (Horizontal Property Regimes) and 919 (Books of Receipts and Expenditures):

"§ 919. Books of receipts and expenditures; availability for examination; annual audit

The manager or Board of Directors, as the case may be, shall keep detailed, accurate records in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the common areas and facilities, specifying and itemizing the maintenance and repair expenses of the common areas and facilities and any other expenses incurred. Such records and the vouchers authorizing the payments shall be available for examination by the apartment owners upon reasonable notice in advance at convenient hours of week days. An annual audit by an independent auditor shall be made of the books and records."

Has any owner ever asked for a copy of the annual independent audits at WSJ? Inspection of the audits should disclose whatever happened to any reserve fund (if there was such a thing) and at least what general categories of expenses exist. The audits normally would compare each year the budgeted and actual income and expenses and, in the notes, would indicate the terms of the management agreement, related transactions and give a pretty good indication of the percentage of delinquencies.

Even if the election does not result in your election, you certainly have (and always have had) the right to get a copy of the annual audit. Good luck in the election.

I was at the resort about 2 weeks ago. First trip. It's a very appealing place - assuming the infighting calms down a little. ... eom

Jarta,

I have the 2008 independent audit. If you send me a private message with your personal e-mail address, I can e-mail it to you as an attachment.

Regards,
Gene

 

[TimW1]

Received a newsletter from our association. It is a nice surprise. Nice to see refurbishment progress update and information about upcoming election. Most of the budget information is general but it's a start.


http://www.starwoodvacationownershi...iation/WSJ/1785_VirginGrand_HOANewsletter.pdf



We are leaving this Saturday for our vacation and ready to go!

 

[jerseygirl]

Here's the Bay Vista one as well:

http://www.starwoodvacationownershi...sociation/WSJ/1786_BayVista_HOANewsletter.pdf

It mentions a proxy was sent for a May 17th meeting. Did anyone receive this? I got mine for Phase One (Hillside) but this is the first I've heard of a meeting on the same day for Bay Vista.

 

[DavidnRobin]

A few comments:

The Owners meeting at the resort have always gone on (although I have yet to attend...).

Interesting that the HOA BOD is reaching out for improved communication. - including a voluntary Owners directory initiative. Gee, I wonder why the concern all of a sudden...
Goes to show if you get enough Owners together - you can implement change.

The revolving door for the WSJ GM and Director of Operations continues. Nobody has lasted long in these positions. I hope the best for Mike Ryan (GM) and John Ireland (DO) - it cannot be an easy task dealing with the USVI workforce, demanding vacationers, and the 'island-time' culture.

Re: Refurbishment Projects Chart - estimated completion dates
I am confused by this chart - does this mean for the blank cells - that these activities have alreay been completed? {so building 34 just has mattresses to go?}

In 2011 - roofs, sidings and roofs are to be replaced - great news (and great to finally to see it in writing) - I wonder if we will still have our infamous bees in the walls of our villa this year?

...and replacement of some exterior door and windows - since I have heard of leakage - this is good news.

The Westin ferry is back - I had heard from some that it was not operational for a while - of course it is $110pp RT with no Owners discount.

And of course - the new restuarant that replaces C&B - we may try and get there this year and check it out - it has gotten good reviews.

Utilities savings by the resort going more Green - Yeah! Since DnR represent those green planet-global warming-america destroying socialist fanatics that everyone should fear --- we are all in favor of this.

Financials -
Standard text about the unpredicted recessionary times that we are currently facing (not by Goldman Sachs... but everyone else...). I would imagine that WSJ Owners are in the top 5th percentile of incomes where it must be really hard to keep up those payments on their 2nd vacation homes.

SVO paid 11.1% of the MF for VOIs that they own. Interesting that they refer to them as unsold versus SVO owned.
The collection of 2010 MFs is expected to be similiar to the 2009 rate at an ~95% rate - matches my hypothesis above regarding WSJ Owners

Property taxes -
2006 billing (at 1998 rates) going out around the end of June.

Update on BOD elections -
everyone should be aware already - interesting that they restated the BOD make-up - I think that thi sgoes against them with the incumbants - we shall see...

 

[DavidnRobin]

Here's the Bay Vista one as well:

http://www.starwoodvacationownershi...sociation/WSJ/1786_BayVista_HOANewsletter.pdf

It mentions a proxy was sent for a May 17th meeting. Did anyone receive this? I got mine for Phase One (Hillside) but this is the first I've heard of a meeting on the same day for Bay Vista.

Looks like they are going to have the WSJ-BV HOA BOD at the same time as VG meeting. Interesting that they mention proxies for BV - especially since all of the WSJ-BV BODs are Starwood Associates - so they really control all the votes. At least we have 2 'independent' Starwood lackeys on our BOD...

 

[jerseygirl]

Looks like they are going to have the WSJ-BV HOA BOD at the same time as VG meeting. Interesting that they mention proxies for BV - especially since all of the WSJ-BV BODs are Starwood Associates - so they really control all the votes. At least we have 2 'independent' Starwood lackeys on our BOD...

I suppose my BV proxy could have been lost in the mail .... but it's strange that I received my Hillside proxy but not the BV one. You're right -- it's a meaningless vote with 3 of 3 BOD members Starwood employees. I wonder if Starwood still owns the majority .... if so, they'll have their quorum even if things went wrong with the mailing.

 

[tytto]

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I'm glad I found this site. We arrived at WSJ yesterday (I know, I can't unplug). I attended an owner's meeting this afternoon, which we were told is the first of what will be weekly owner's meetings. Not many people showed up - I think about 12 of us, but it was a nice 1 hour information session with questions and answers at the end. The people running the meeting are listed below:

Arno Pfeffer - director of rooms
Gregory Gray - director of sales and marketing operations
John Ireland - director of villa operations

It was a basic powerpoint presentation that went over the % delinquencies, what the fees have covered and when the rest of the improvements are scheduled. (We were upgraded this week since our studio is under construction. My husband and I laughed, saying to each other that we were upgraded so the sales team can push us to buy the upgrade). They also stated that they were looking to create a website just for owners, but now that I have read this post, I'm not sure what to think about it.

A few owners asked about the vacant villas due to the lock outs, and provided suggestions so that it would benefit those that pay the fees. I wish I found this site earlier, so I could have asked better questions! I will be reading over this site thoroughly! (Oh, and I did send a PM with my info to add to the growing list of owners).

 

[Carolyn]

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I'm glad I found this site. We arrived at WSJ yesterday (I know, I can't unplug). I attended an owner's meeting this afternoon, which we were told is the first of what will be weekly owner's meetings. Not many people showed up - I think about 12 of us, but it was a nice 1 hour information session with questions and answers at the end. The people running the meeting are listed below:

Arno Pfeffer - director of rooms
Gregory Gray - director of sales and marketing operations
John Ireland - director of villa operations

It was a basic powerpoint presentation that went over the % delinquencies, what the fees have covered and when the rest of the improvements are scheduled. (We were upgraded this week since our studio is under construction. My husband and I laughed, saying to each other that we were upgraded so the sales team can push us to buy the upgrade). They also stated that they were looking to create a website just for owners, but now that I have read this post, I'm not sure what to think about it.

A few owners asked about the vacant villas due to the lock outs, and provided suggestions so that it would benefit those that pay the fees. I wish I found this site earlier, so I could have asked better questions! I will be reading over this site thoroughly! (Oh, and I did send a PM with my info to add to the growing list of owners).

Sounds like this is better than the "Owners Update"( i.e. please buy another timeshare...Bay Vista). My husband and I were insulted last November when we attended the "Owners Update" BECAUSE THIS IS NOT AN OWNERS UPDATE. It is only a ploy to get you to buy something else. Starwood could
care less about our concerns especially when we presented our letter showing the 25% increase in maintenance fees. They were very anxious to get rid of us!!!

 

[DavidnRobin]

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I'm glad I found this site. We arrived at WSJ yesterday (I know, I can't unplug). I attended an owner's meeting this afternoon, which we were told is the first of what will be weekly owner's meetings. Not many people showed up - I think about 12 of us, but it was a nice 1 hour information session with questions and answers at the end. The people running the meeting are listed below:

Arno Pfeffer - director of rooms
Gregory Gray - director of sales and marketing operations
John Ireland - director of villa operations

It was a basic powerpoint presentation that went over the % delinquencies, what the fees have covered and when the rest of the improvements are scheduled. (We were upgraded this week since our studio is under construction. My husband and I laughed, saying to each other that we were upgraded so the sales team can push us to buy the upgrade). They also stated that they were looking to create a website just for owners, but now that I have read this post, I'm not sure what to think about it.

A few owners asked about the vacant villas due to the lock outs, and provided suggestions so that it would benefit those that pay the fees. I wish I found this site earlier, so I could have asked better questions! I will be reading over this site thoroughly! (Oh, and I did send a PM with my info to add to the growing list of owners).

Welcome to TUG - read up. This thread alone will tell you a lot of what is going on at WSJ. They are also trip reports for different slants.
We will be there in a few weeks - we may or may not go. No 'Owner' updates unless they offer me enough incentives - that BBQ last year was worth it - or was that the year before?

 

[olivias dad]

BBQ was last year hee hee, i thought that was just OK. Drink coupons....blah. And food, thank god for Miss Annas hot sauce - just sub-par in my opinion (would have rather grilled at my villa). And the "fire people/dancers", good for 5 mins, not 60. Honestly, while not a bad night out, just not worth being put thru the ringer...

:annoyed:

 

[DavidnRobin]

obviously you did not drink as much as us - as our photos show.
Did you know that the bug spray they supplied - took the markings off the drink tickets. :whoopie:

we enjoyed the band and dancing...

 

[olivias dad]

I guess the "pre-game" drinking might have helped the food tasting i guess haa haa, but no-way, we've done the "buffet on the beach" beach in other settings and its just sub-par. I've seen ur faboulous photos of the fantastic grilling ur have done at the villa grills - would rather be there (polar bear coolers rule btw - StarFish Heirloom tomatoes do not!)

 

[DavidnRobin]

we are bringing our own tomatoes this time - lol
enjoy

 

[tytto]

Sounds like this is better than the "Owners Update"( i.e. please buy another timeshare...Bay Vista). My husband and I were insulted last November when we attended the "Owners Update" BECAUSE THIS IS NOT AN OWNERS UPDATE. It is only a ploy to get you to buy something else. Starwood could
care less about our concerns especially when we presented our letter showing the 25% increase in maintenance fees. They were very anxious to get rid of us!!!

Oh - yes, we went to the regular "Owner's Update" and there was a BIG PUSH to sell Bay Vista. I was pretty quiet through the tour (I wasn't impressed), but then the big sales pitch started once we returned (no mention of the villas AT ALL until I repeatedly asked about the prices). They've never seen a time when the developer knocked of 15-20k off prices...and of course it was for Bay Vista! Once I asked what would stop me from buying on secondary market, they mentioned the points. Then I stated that the hillside was mandatory (thanks to this thread), they laughed and stopped trying to sell. They said - yes, by all means, buy on the secondary market!

The 1 hour time ended up being 2 1/2 hours. Next year, I won't go...unless there are great incentives...this year we had a choice between $125 or 6000 points.

 

[GeneNWendy]

Oh - yes, we went to the regular "Owner's Update" and there was a BIG PUSH to sell Bay Vista. I was pretty quiet through the tour (I wasn't impressed), but then the big sales pitch started once we returned (no mention of the villas AT ALL until I repeatedly asked about the prices). They've never seen a time when the developer knocked of 15-20k off prices...and of course it was for Bay Vista! Once I asked what would stop me from buying on secondary market, they mentioned the points. Then I stated that the hillside was mandatory (thanks to this thread), they laughed and stopped trying to sell. They said - yes, by all means, buy on the secondary market!

The 1 hour time ended up being 2 1/2 hours. Next year, I won't go...unless there are great incentives...this year we had a choice between $125 or 6000 points.

Way to go Tytto!!

 

[DavidnRobin]

BUMP

Remember to send in your proxies for the upcoming WSJ-VG BOD vote.

 

[TimW1]

BUMP

Remember to send in your proxies for the upcoming WSJ-VG BOD vote.

Thanks, done. Flying to St. John tomorrow.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Maho Bay/Campground Update

http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com...ase-nears-end&catid=547:201005-news&Itemid=38

...hopefully - this land stays protected from development

 

[DavidnRobin]

USVI Smoking Ban

USVI Anti-Smoking Bill signed into law.
http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dejongh-signs-into-law-anti-smoking-racino-bills-1.781232

:whoopie:

 

[NerdAlert]

Annual meeting May 17--Need more comments

Schrag and Werbel won hands down. We were at the meeting, but had to leave early. Two-Great points we saw: 1. When WSJ was touting a 9.41 guest satisfaction from a random survey, no owners in the room had ever received such a survey over like 10 years...2. Starwood said there was a "unit availability" email that regularly got sent to owners, yet no owners in the room had ever received one. Starwood announced there was a computer glitch that prevented WSJ owners from receiving it but that it was corrected right then and there. BTW cookies were phenomenal!