Due to Hurricane Irma’s widespread impact on cell phone towers, cable lines and Internet service, a number of owners who were not in International Village during the storm have had trouble contacting friends, relatives and office staff over the last few days for news about the hurricane’s impact. During the storm, International Village lost cable, Internet, email and landline phone service (but unlike about 75 percent of Broward residents, most of the community fortunately never lost electricity). Cell phone service was also very spotty for many residents, including myself, for the first couple of days after the storm, and it may remain spotty for some. The office and guardhouse phone lines and the office email server, as well as our property manager’s work cell phone and the rover’s cell phone, have been working sporadically, so if you have any hurricane-related damage or other issues to report and
are concerned that your message may not be getting through to the
manager, please copy me on the email and I will verify that he got it.
Thank God Hurricane Irma’s impact on International Village was far less than it would have been if the storm had remained on its originally forecast track, but the storm has been our community’s most significant event since Hurricane Wilma, and cleanup and repairs will continue for at least the next few weeks. We also send our thoughts and prayers to all those living in those parts of Florida that were hit hardest as they recover from the devastation.
The biggest impact on International Village was the number of trees and limbs that were downed by the strong winds, which swelled to gusts of over 100 mph. A couple of windows on the lake side of the Heidelberg building were smashed by the limbs of an
uprooted tree, and several cars were damaged by downed trees or snapped branches. Several leaks
also have been reported, a number of lamp posts were damaged, and sections of the wooden fences around the clubhouse and next to the resident entrance were toppled. However, a makeshift fence has been put up at the entrance to prevent unauthorized walk-ins. Two elevators are down, but the elevator contractor has been contacted and they should be serviced shortly. Both pools are closed pending maintenance by our pool contractor, but should reopen today or tomorrow. Garbage pickup also has been delayed as the city’s waste collection crews have been diverted to address the large amount of debris on the roads. As for the surrounding Broward community, a large percentage of traffic signals are still out of service and many tree limbs remain on the roads, but signs of normalcy appear to be returning, with more gas stations, stores and businesses beginning to reopen.
A big thank you to our International Village maintenance crew, who got quickly to work the morning after the storm cleaning up the extensive debris, leaves and branches that littered the entire property and clearing trees that were blocking roads and walkways. I would also like to thank our security chief Austin Freeman for keeping an eye on the property throughout the duration of the hurricane, as well as all the owners and residents who heeded the warnings to secure their properties, and especially all those I personally observed chipping in to help after the storm without being asked – whether by raking leaves in front of their buildings or checking in on neighbors and absent owners’ properties.
Hurricane Irma is the biggest test International Village has faced since Wilma, but it has demonstrated that when put to the test, we truly rise to the occasion and come together as neighbors to help each other and show our love for this community we call home. Irma was also a sobering wake-up call, reminding us that even though we went more than 10 years without a hurricane following Wilma, we still live in Hurricane Alley and may have to start considering ways to better protect ourselves and our properties from nature's fury.
John Labriola
International Village President
On behalf of International Village, I’d like to wish all unit owners a very merry and blessed Christmas. We have a lot to celebrate as we look back on 2017, including surviving Hurricane Irma, continued progress on our building renovations, and the fourth year in a row with no increase in maintenance fees.
A big thank
you to all the owners who heeded my persistent calls to return your proxies. A
large surge of proxy submissions in the last week – and especially the last few days – propelled owner participation
to a near-record high, allowing us to avoid a maintenance fee increase while improving board
accountability by downsizing the board of directors.
Thank you to all the International Village owners who turned in your proxies over the last week. We are now much closer to the number needed to avoid a maintenance fee increase, but we must receive your proxy no later than Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m., which is the time of the budget meeting. If you haven’t already done so, please CLICK HERE to download a proxy, then print it, fill it out, sign it, scan or snap a picture of it and email it back as soon as possible. (To avoid higher fees and downsize the board of directors for greater accountability, vote "YES" on #1 and "YES" on #2.) 
Only a week remains before our budget meeting and we are unfortunately still FAR SHORT of the number of proxies we need to waive reserves and avoid a massive
maintenance fee increase for all International Village owners. I can't
emphasize enough the importance of returning your proxy as soon as possible. As I explained in my previous blog post, not voting is essentially the same as voting to RAISE MAINTENANCE FEES BY 50 PERCENT because state law requires us to obtain owners' consent to waive reserves. That means if you are currently paying $292 in monthly maintenance, you will pay $438 if enough of you don't return your proxies before our Dec. 5 budget meeting. And if you currently pay $449 a month in maintenance and we don't receive your proxy by then, you will run the risk of paying $674! “Abstaining” is not an option. If we don’t get enough proxies back before the Dec. 5 deadline, we will be forced under state law to “fully fund” reserves and massively raise your maintenance fees. We’re asking you not to make us do that. If you haven’t already done so, please reply to this email with your proxy. Just CLICK HERE to download it, then print it, fill it out, sign it, scan or snap a picture of it and email it back. To avoid a maintenance fee increase and improve board accountability, vote "YES" to waive reserves and "YES" to reduce the board from seven to five members. (For a detailed explanation, click here.)
I would like to wish all International Village unit owners a happy Thanksgiving. As a community, we have a lot to be thankful for this year. At the top of the list of course is surviving Hurricane Irma. As we all know, if Irma had maintained its original course, the damage to our community would have been devastating, so we should all be very grateful that didn't happen.
As mentioned
at our recent Board of Directors meeting, you should be receiving your budget
proxy in the mail in the next several days. Voting YES to waive reserves means
no maintenance fee increase. Voting No or failing to vote means a 50 percent
maintenance fee increase. So you must vote YES if you would prefer to keep
maintenance fees the same. 
A big thank you to all those who volunteered at the International Village Cleanup Day on Oct. 7.
Ready to help make International Village look better than ever? Now is your chance!
Due to the heavy rains forecast for this weekend, as well as the number of residents who
informed us they would not be able to participate this Saturday due to the Jewish
holiday, we are rescheduling the Cleanup Day to OCT. 7.
Due to Hurricane Irma’s widespread impact on cell phone towers, cable lines and Internet service, a number of owners who were not in International Village during the storm have had trouble contacting friends, relatives and office staff over the last few days for news about the hurricane’s impact. During the storm, International Village lost cable, Internet, email and landline phone service (but unlike about 75 percent of Broward residents, most of the community fortunately never lost electricity). Cell phone service was also very spotty for many residents, including myself, for the first couple of days after the storm, and it may remain spotty for some. The office and guardhouse phone lines and the office email server, as well as our property manager’s work cell phone and the rover’s cell phone, have been working sporadically, so if you have any hurricane-related damage or other issues to report and
are concerned that your message may not be getting through to the
manager, please copy me on the email and I will verify that he got it.
uprooted tree, and several cars were damaged by downed trees or snapped branches. Several leaks 
also have been reported, a number of lamp posts were damaged, and sections of the wooden fences around the clubhouse and next to the resident entrance were toppled. However, a makeshift fence has been put up at the entrance to prevent unauthorized walk-ins. Two elevators are down, but the elevator contractor has been contacted and they should be serviced shortly. Both pools are closed pending maintenance by our pool contractor, but should reopen today or tomorrow. Garbage pickup also has been delayed as the city’s waste collection crews have been diverted to address the large amount of debris on the roads. As for the surrounding Broward community, a large percentage of traffic signals are still out of service and many tree limbs remain on the roads, but signs of normalcy appear to be returning, with more gas stations, stores and businesses beginning to reopen.
I wish all our fellow unit owners and neighbors and your families a very happy and blessed Easter.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the owners of International Village for their overwhelming vote of confidence in this Tuesday’s Board of Directors
election. I and my colleagues Luis Jimenez and Carl Simmonds are humbled
and honored by your resounding vote to keep us on the Board to continue working
for you. (See election results announcement HERE.) We look forward to fulfilling our promise of staying the course of saving money while making the necessary investments to ensure that International Village remains “The Jewel of Inverrary.” 
Only one day remains until the Feb. 28 International Village Board of Directors election. If you have not already done so, this is your last chance to choose between continuing to move forward or returning to the dirty deals and costly scams of the past. 
