St Francis Property Owners launch SRA Vote
Following the successful meeting held to introduce property owners to the renewed details of the Special Rates Area the association has released the following press release . Full details of the proposal are available on the SFPO website and if you are not fully aware of what the SRA entails it makes for some good reading this weekend. All the details along with a voting form are avaiable on the website http://stfrancispropertyowners.co.za.
St Francis property owners within the demarcated area (Village and Canal areas) are being asked to re-vote on the revised SRA Proposal which the St Francis Property Owners Association (SFPO) presented at two Public Meetings at The Links on 20th December and January 3rd. The votes cast in 2017 are not applicable as the
Kouga Municipality revised its SRA By-Law and Policy (gazetted on 29th December) and the SFPO revised its SRA proposal.
New SRA proposal:
- SRA levy of 25% of property owners’ monthly/annual rates (reduced from the original 50%).
- The shortfall in revenue will be contributed from alternative sources ie Riparians, Kromme Joint River Committee, the Port, Kouga Municipality and donations
- The Demarcated area for the levy will include the Village and Canal areas. Santareme, St Francis on Sea, Port, Otters Landing, Industrial Sites and The Links could be included at a later stage if the property owners in these areas choose to participate
- The scope of projects and services include:
- The restoration of the beach, spit and river (priority 1)
- The repair and maintenance of sections of the arterial roads and parking areas to be limited to the Village centre and main intersections along with pedestrian and cycle tracks along main arterial roads (priority 2)
- The installation of CCTV camera surveillance in the demarcated area (priority 3)
- Rebuild of the arterial roads (priority 4)
VOTING – there are several methods available for voting. Vote via:
- SMS: We will send all property owners, for whom we have cell phone numbers, an SMS inviting you to vote. You can reply by entering your Id number and your vote (YES or No). If you haven’t received an SMS request by 12 January and would like to take advantage of this simple voting method, please send your cell phone number and erf to contact@sfbresidents.org
- SFPO Website Voting system at : http://stfrancispropertyowners.co.za/
- Manual voting form:
- Available on the SFPO website or at the SFPO office at 115 St Francis Drive, and a copy
- It is also included below.for your convenience
- You can scan or photograph (with your cell phone) the completed voting form and send it to the SFPO via WhatSapp or SMS on 0827775624, or via email to contact@sfbresidents.org
- Alternatively you can drop it off at our office.
The re-voting process must be completed by February 24th 2018 and we urge all property owners to give this proposal their urgent attention and submit their vote as soon as possible.
A third public meeting is planned for January 11th 2018 (17h30 at The Links) for those St Francis property owners and members of the business community who may not have had an opportunity to attend the earlier meetings.
What percentage do we need to pass this?
Have we received approval from the authorities for the restoration of the spit and river?
HJ Kleynhans
Erf 3781
1) There are those who understood that the SRA “vote” would be controlled directly by the Municipality this time around, not the SFPO “vote” as before.
2) Why has that portion of the Village remote from the beach waterfront and the canals not also been excluded from the SRA as is the case for Santareme, the Private Estates, Links, etc etc.?
If it is argued that the village owners/ residents are included as they can benefit from the beach and canals upgrades, then obviously so too do all the residents of all the excluded zones in the general St Francis area!
3) If the SFPO needs a “YES” vote as a matter of urgency, then logically the SRA should be a demarcation limited to the waterfront and canal properties only. This guarantees the 50% +1 vote needed.
In addition perhaps all registered Business, B+B’s, Estate Agents, Hotels etc. in the area that will surely benefit directly from property values and tourism should be included in the levy.
4) A separate SRA might then later be formed to address roads, stormwater, sewerage etc. encompassing needs of the village as a whole.
classic case of gerrymandering Neil.
Are the people from Santareme, Industrial Area and all excluded areas not going to benefit as well from the upgrade of the roads,boating on the canals and CCTV cameras for safe shopping ? Why are they excluded?