Presidents Message
Tom Russell
May 1, 2026
This is the last regular meeting of the Board for this term.
As your President, I have had the pleasure of serving with these fine gentlemen. They approached this thankless job with professionalism, vision, and guts. They have made a difficult job more bearable, and I thank them for their service to the Pine Ridge Community.
I also want to acknowledge the committee chairs and their members for their tireless volunteer efforts on behalf of the board- and by extension our members to maintain and approve our quality of life.
And last, but not least, our management and staff, who keep this place running smoothly. This is among the most populous HOAs in Florida, and we operate with a very lean staff. We will show our appreciation to them in a more substantial way in a few minutes.
Sadly, we have been personally and collectively slandered, libeled, and vilified by certain members, publicly accused of corruption, graft and illegal actions. None of this has been shown to be true. And yet we persevered. We have all strived to do the right thing in all decisions. We have followed the Florida Statues and our own procedures and upheld our duty to protect the community. Whenever there was any question, we consulted with our attorneys for their advice.
This has been a board of action. We have completed projects that have been pending for years. The long-dilapidated storage room in the barn is now open for business. There is comfortable meeting space for six, slightly more in a pinch, with en-suite restroom facilities. I want to especially thank Mr. Wayne Tuch for acting as project manager to make this a reality, and John Hyde for doing a lot of the leg work.
We completed the concrete paving of the dog park entrance to make it more comfortable for out pawed-friends and neater access for their owners.
We upgraded the lighting in the upper parking lot; there is additional lighting in-process for the lower lot.
We have completed the round-pen and supported upgrades to the equestrian facilities.
We facilitated and funded two well-attended equestrian events.
We supported the formation of the Stop the Sand Mine subcommittee.
We completed the Committee Charters.
We formed two new committees; Communications and Welcoming.
We funded a traffic survey to provide a baseline for through-traffic, and additional sheriff’s deputy traffic patrols to enhance safety for our residents. You’ll hear more details from our Roads Committee shortly. (The Committee reported a dozen tickets for excess speed, plus as many warnings, and a half dozen stop sign violations in the short time the enhanced patrols were in effect, particularly in the vicinity of the horse crossings. I call that a success story.) And we have sent the long-delayed Tree Protection amendment to the Deed Restrictions for referendum vote, among other housekeeping updates.There are many, many small tasks that never hit the radar that have occupied our time and energy but kept the association running smoothly and our amenities in-service. Of course, there are some things that we had planned that are not yet completed, but that’s the nature of the game. I trust that the next board will carry these through to completion.
I hope that you will all celebrate the successes of this board and the spirit of service to our community.
My Best Regards,
Tom Russell
President
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