St Augustine Board of Realtors October 2014 BOR Forward Newsletter

S T . A U G U S T I N E & S T . J O H N S C O U N T Y B O A R D O F R E A L T O R S ®

O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 10

B O R F O R W A R D

Officers & Directors 2

Calendar 3

CMA Workshop 4

New Members 5

October Events in St Augustine

6-7

Builder Council News 8

Go Green 9

Tech Tip

10-11

RPAC Games Night 12

Walk/Run for Education

13

YPN Mixer 14-15

American Legion Legacy Project

16

NAR Conference & 22-23

NAR Article 24

FR Article 25

November Preview Staff Contact Information

26

Professional Standards 17

BOR PUBLIC WEBSITE: www.staugustinestjohnsbor.com

Page 2 B O R F O R W A R D

BOARDOFREALTORS®

AndrewBirchall‐PRESIDENTSt.AugustineRealty(O)824‐3331(F)825‐2685(C)392‐[email protected],PRESIDENT‐ELECTOldeCarriageRealty(O)824‐4500(F)824‐6866(C)377‐[email protected]‐SECRETARYRe/Max100Realty(O)461‐9500(F)461‐9501(C)466‐[email protected]–TREASURERStAugustineTeamRealty(O)825‐0099(F)513‐9264(C)669‐[email protected]

DIRECTORSRickMcChesney(1)ColdwellBankerPremierProperties(O)471‐5000(F)471‐4216(C)347‐[email protected]

JohnTaylor(1)AwesomeRealEstate,Inc.(O)429‐0600(F)429‐0601(C)669‐[email protected](2)Century21‐St.AugustineProperties(O)797‐6000(F)797‐7963(C)501‐[email protected]

SteveGay(2)ColdwellBankerPremierProperties(O)471‐5000(F)471‐4216(C)471‐[email protected]

JamieJoCribbs(2)WatsonRealty(A1A)(O)461‐9066(F)461‐9925(C)335‐[email protected]

RoyBarnesJr.,PAST‐PRESIDENTSt.AugustineRealty(O)824‐3331(F)825‐2685/(C)669‐[email protected]

KathyDelaney,Ex‐OfficioWatsonRealty(US1)(O)797‐8600(F)794‐7002(C)669‐[email protected]

VictorJ.Raymos,Ex‐officio(O)829‐8738(F)823‐9512(C)505‐220‐[email protected]

MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE, INC. KatherineDelaney,PRESIDENTWatsonRealty(US1)(O)797‐8600(F)794‐7002(C)669‐[email protected],P.A.,PRESIDENT‐ELECTEdmonson&AssociatesRealEstate,Inc.(O)827‐0722(F)638‐4746(C)315‐[email protected]‐SECRETARYSunshineRealty&AppraisalServices(O)471‐9259(F)461‐3178(C)501‐[email protected]‐TREASURERColdwellBankerPremierProperties(O)471‐5000(F)471‐4216(C)814‐[email protected]

DIRECTORS RonBarry(1)St.AugustineTeamRealty(O)825‐0099(F)513‐9264(C)501‐[email protected](2)St.AugustineRealty(O)824‐3331(F)825‐2685(C)501‐[email protected](2)MatanzasProperties

(O)471‐3900(F)471‐1525(C)669‐7236

[email protected]

AnnKing(2)BerkshireHathawayHomeServicesFloridaNetworkRealty

(O)471‐6906(F)471‐6907(C)806‐[email protected],PASTPRESIDENTCentury21St.AugustineProperties(O)797‐6000(F)797‐7963(C)540‐[email protected]

AndrewBirchall‐Ex‐OfficioSt.AugustineRealty(O)824‐3331(F)825‐2685(C)392‐[email protected]

VictorJ.Raymos,Ex‐officio(O)829‐8738(F)823‐9512(C)505‐220‐8683 [email protected]/27/14

2014 ST. AUGUSTINE & ST. JOHNS COUNTY BOARD OF REALTORS®

AND MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE, INC.BOARD OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

Page 3 V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 1 0

S C H E D U L E O F E V E N T S

1st—NEFAR Contract 1pm 3rd— After the Contract 9am 6th—Education Committee 9am

YPN 11am RPAC 12pm

8th—Business Partner Committee 9am *NEW* FR/BAR-3 3CE 9am

9th—Commercial Committee 9am Technology Committee 9am Technology

13th—CLOSED for Columbus Day

14th—Finance Committee 12pm 15th— MLS Board 12pm 16th—Association Board 12pm 17th—GMM & Chili Cook-off

11:30am 18th—1st Annual YPN Walk/

Run 8:30am

21st—MLS Training 1pm 24th—RPAC Casino Night

6pm 23rd—Paragon 1:30pm

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10

11

12 13 14 15

16 17

18

19 20 21

22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

October 2014 Birthstone: Opal, Tourmaline

Flower: Calendula Astrological Signs: Libra: September 23 - October 22, Scorpio: October 23 - November 21


R E A L T O R S P O T L I G H T —

B U S I N E S S P A R T N E R S P O T L I G H T –

“Courage is the discovery

that you may not win,

and trying when you know you can lose.”

Tom Krause


A U G U S T N E W M E M B E R S

Shelley Albritton NEW Endless Summer Realty

Join Date 08/29/14 (Primary BOR/Primary MLS)

DeAndrea Ferguson Awesome Real Estate


Julie Campbell Abicht Re/Max 100 Realty


Laura Jean Ranneklev Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty

Join Date 09/03/14 (Secondary BOR/Reciprocal MLS)

Andrew Michael Re/Max Unlimited


Michael D. Maushart NEW Sunshine Realty


James Vincent Caputo Search Team Realty


Karen "Jennifer" Cook NEW Endless Summer Realty


Eileen Blocker Magnolia Properties

Join Date 09/12/14 (MLS Only-Broker)

Mason Patrou NEW Watson Realty Corp


Heidi Van Horn-Bash Watson Realty Corp

Join Date 09/18/14 ( MLS Only)

Jerry S. Boling NEW Homestar Pacetti Realty Network



Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

September 2014 September 2014 September 2014

The Wednesday

Market Art In The Park: Drawing At Washington Oaks Gardens State Park ACCORD Civil Rights Mu-seum Curator's Tour At The Light-ner MuseumHonoring The Leg-acy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf

1

Datil Pepper Festival & Home And Garden

Show Educator Appreciation Days At Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Flagler College ToursThe Addams Fam-ily: The Musical

2

Flagler Beach Farmer's

Market Fridays, Sat-urdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons DemonstrationsVintage Car Tours Of St. Augustine Datil Pepper Festival & Home And Garden Show St. Augustine Scenic Cruise St. Augustine Distillery Tours & TastingsHonoring The Leg-acy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf First Friday Art Walk In St. Augustine Meet The Treasure Hunt-ers The Addams Family: The Musical

Fridays And Satur-days Inside The Old Jail Paranormal In-vestigations

3

Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail

Paranormal Investigations Flagler Beach

Farmer's Market Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons Demonstrations

1st Saturday-Saturdays At The GTM

Research Reserve Old City Farmers'

Market Datil Pepper Festival & Home And

Garden Show Flagler College Tours St.

Johns River Farmer’s Market World Golf

Village Golf Festival Living History Day At

Fort Matanzas National Monument Inter-national Food & Wine Festival-Palm Coast

Saturdays Musket Firing Demonstrations

At Fort Matanzas National Monument

Through The Keyhole Sunset Celebration

At Vilano Beach Town Center FREE Civil

Rights & Black Heritage Tour The Addams

Family: The Musical Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal Investigations

4

Fridays And Sat-

urdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal

Investigations Fri-days, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons Demon-

strations Datil Pepper Festival & Home And Garden

Show Educator Appreciation Days At Ripley’s Believe It Or

Not! Lincolnville

Farmers' MarketHonoring The Leg-acy: A Tribute To African-Americans In

Golf The Addams Family: The Musical

5

Vintage Car Tours Of St.

AugustineDatil Pepper Festival & Home And Garden Show

Flagler College Tours

Monday & Friday Lost Ships Tour At The St. Augustine LighthouseSt. Augustine Scenic Cruise

St. Augustine Distillery Tours & Tast-ings

6

Salt Air Farmer’s

Market Honor-ing The Legacy: A Tribute To Afri-can-Americans In Golf

7

The Wednesday

Market Educator Appreciation Days At Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Flagler College Tours Art In The Park: Draw-ing At Washington Oaks Gardens State Park AC-CORD Civil Rights Museum Sun-set/Moonrise At St. Augustine Lighthouse

8

Vintage Car Tours Of

St. Augustine St. Augustine Scenic Cruise St. Augustine Distill-ery Tours & Tast-ings Honoring The Legacy: A Trib-ute To African-Americans In Golf

The Addams Family: The Musi-cal

9


Market Fridays, Sat-urdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons DemonstrationsMonday & Friday Lost Ships Tour At The St. Augustine Lighthouse Flagler College ToursFarmers Market At WGV 17th Annual Greek Festival The Addams Family: The Musical Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranor-mal Investigations

10



Farmer's Market Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons Demonstrations

2nd Saturday Nature Hike Old City

Farmers' Market Educator Appreciation

Days At Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! City

Walks Pet Friendly Tours Second Satur-

day Plant Sales At The Park St. Johns

River Farmer’s Market 17th Annual Greek

Festival Honoring The Legacy: A Tribute

To African-Americans In Golf Saturdays Musket Firing Demonstrations At Fort Matan-

zas National Monument Through The

Keyhole FREE Civil Rights & Black Heri-

tage Tour The Addams Family: The Musi-

cal Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal Investigations

11

October 2014


Fridays And Satur-days Inside The Old Jail Para-

normal Investigations Fri-days, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic Weap-ons DemonstrationsVintage Car Tours Of St. Augustine Flagler College Tours 17th Annual Greek Festival

Lincolnville Farmers' Market St. Augustine Scenic Cruise St. Augustine Distillery Tours & Tastings The Addams Family: The Musical

12

Monday & Friday Lost Ships Tour At The St. Augustine Light-

house Honoring The Legacy: A Tribute To Afri-can-Americans In Golf

13

Salt Air Farmer’s

Market Educator Appreciation Days At Ripley’s Believe It Or

Not! Flagler College Tours

14

The Wednesday

Market Vintage Car Tours Of St. Augustine

Art In The Park: Drawing At Washington Oaks Gardens State Park

ACCORD Civil Rights

Museum St. Augustine Scenic Cruise

St. Augustine Distill-

ery Tours & TastingsHonoring The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf

15

Flagler College Tours

16


Market Fridays, Satur-days, & Sundays His-toric Weapons Dem-onstrations Educa-tor Appreciation Days At Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Honoring The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal Investigations

17



Farmer's Market Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays

Historic Weapons Demonstrations Third Satur-

day Photo Challenge At Washington Oaks Vin-

tage Car Tours Of St. Augustine Old City Farm-

ers' Market Flagler College Tours St. Johns

River Farmer’s Market St. Augustine Scenic

Cruise Tolomato Cemetery Tours St.

Augustine Distillery Tours & Tastings Saturdays Musket Firing Demonstrations At Fort Matanzas

National Monument Through The Keyhole

FREE Civil Rights & Black Heritage Tour Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal Investigations

18

Fridays And Saturdays

Inside The Old Jail Paranormal

Investigations Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons Dem-onstrations Lincoln-ville Farmers' MarketHonoring The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In GolfThe Addams Family: The Musical

19

Flagler College

Tours Monday & Friday Lost Ships Tour At The St. Augustine Light-house 3rd Monday Art & Merchant Walk

20


AugustineSalt Air Farmer’s Market St. Augustine Scenic Cruise St. Augustine Distillery Tours & Tast-ings Hon-oring The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf

21

The Wednesday

Market Flagler College Tours

Art In The Park: Drawing At Washington Oaks Gardens State ParkACCORD Civil Rights Mu-seum

22

Honoring The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In

Golf

23

Flagler Beach Farmer's Market

Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons Demonstrations

Monday & Friday Lost Ships Tour

At The St. Augustine LighthouseVintage Car Tours Of St. Augustine

Flagler College Tours St.

Augustine Scenic Cruise St. Augustine Distillery Tours & Tastings

Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal Investigations

24



Farmer's Market Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays

Historic Weapons Demonstrations 4th Satur-day-Family Seining At The GTM Research Reserve

Old City Farmers' Market Protecting La

Florida – Building America's First Black Militia

St. Johns River Farmer’s Market Honoring The

Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In GolfSaturdays Musket Firing Demonstrations At Fort

Matanzas National Monument Through The

Keyhole FREE Civil Rights & Black Heritage

Tour The Downtown Bazaar Fridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal Investiga-tions

25

Fridays And Saturdays Inside The

Old Jail Paranormal InvestigationsFridays, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic

Weapons Demonstrations Flagler

College Tours Lincolnville Farmers' Market

26


Augustine Monday & Friday Lost Ships Tour At The

St. Augustine LighthouseSt. Augustine Scenic Cruise

St. Augustine Distillery

Tours & Tastings Honor-ing The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf

27

Salt Air Farmer’s

Market Flagler College Tours

28

The Wednesday

Market ACCORD Civil

Rights Museum Hon-oring The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf

29

Vintage Car Tours Of

St. Augustine Flagler

College Tours St. Augustine Scenic Cruise

St. Augustine Distillery Tours & Tastings

30

Trick Or Treating At St. Augustine

Outlets Flagler Beach Farmer's

Market Fridays, Saturdays, & Sundays Historic Weapons Demon-

strations Honoring The Legacy: A Tribute To African-Americans In Golf

St. Augustine Orchestra’s Fall

Concert, A Symphonic SamplerFridays And Saturdays Inside The Old Jail Paranormal Investigations

31

November

S T . J O H N S B U I L D E R S


www.stjohnsbuilderscouncil.com

Leona Brown—Director

1535 SR 207, Ste 304

St. Augustine, FL 32086

(904)671-3875

Email: [email protected]

Visit www.stjohnsbuilderscouncil.com to see photo’s and virtual tour of

this years Showcase on August 30th, 2014. The Parade of Homes

Magazine will be featured in the St. Augustine Record and

the Times Union on August 30th.

“Grand Arbor”

King & Bear

Page 9 V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 9

Tips to have a Green Halloween Like many of our holidays, Halloween can be an expensive and wasteful experience. Don't let the commercialism take all the fun or eco-friendly opportunities out of it! Check out our simple tips to make sure you don't spook Mother Nature this October.

Green Halloween Costumes

Consider reusing or recycling costumes from previous years to make new costumes, or recycling old clothing into new costumes. Before you set out your paper recycling, set aside cardboard boxes and large pieces of paper that you can use to fashion costumes. Instructions for great handmade costumes can be found at places like craftzine and The Daily Green.

This Halloween, make a green Halloween costume box and throw old clothes, interesting props and other recyclable materials into it throughout the year. By next Halloween, you’ll have lots of eco-friendly materials to make into new costume ideas.

Green Halloween Treats

Instead of giving out high-sugar candy, consider giving pennies for UNICEF, pencils, erasers, or temporary tattoos. Besides reducing the waste of all the single-serving packaging, you’ll be providing a healthy alternative to candy. If your kids won’t let you give up food treats, consider small boxes of raisins which have recyclable paper packaging.

Green Halloween Decorations

Halloween decorations can be natural and non-commercial, with gourds, pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns! Lower your emissions on Halloween by buying locally grown pumpkins, and then lower your waste by composting them after Halloween is over. Use recycled paper to make window decorations, and then send them on for another round of recycling after the holiday. Paper grocery bags can be cut and molded into spooky Halloween trees, masks, and painted white for ghostly effects.

Green Halloween Trick-or-Treating

Send your children trick-or-treating with reusable buckets, canvas bags or pillow cases. Lower emissions by trick-or-treating in your neighborhood and get to know your neighbors better by inviting them over for an old fashioned bobbing-for-apples competition at your house.

Green Halloween Party

Send electronic invitations instead of paper to lower waste. Instead of using plastic plates, cups and utensils, compostable silverware and party plates are now widely available. Go to your neighborhood Goodwill and purchase a pile of mismatched cloth napkins and then have guests toss them in a bin for washing and reusing at your next party. Be sure to recycle bottles and cans, and compost leftovers.

Green Halloween Cleanup

Once Halloween is over, recycle your pumpkins, the straw you used to build scarecrows and any other organic material by composting it. For inedible items, add them to your composting pile (or start composting now!) for great, nutrient rich soil in the spring.

Technology Committee “Tech Tip” Protecting Yourself on the Internet Submitted by: Deborah Link


Big Brother is watching you and more importantly so are the Internet Hackers. If the big boys like Bank of America, Target and Home Depot, just to name a few can have their financial information stolen in mass quantities then what about you and me? How can we protect ourselves from cyber-attack?

Well I’m glad you asked! Think of it as a war, it’s the hackers against you and the strategy that you employ can make or break this destructive battle. There are several ways you can protect your information and privacy on-line. First and foremost be aware of what you’re putting out there for everyone to see.

Let’s start with your email, you should have at least two email accounts, one for your banking, billing and credit card sites and one for miscellaneous info like newsletters, social media and the like.

Never ever give anyone your password, and remember legitimate banking sites will never ask for your password and if you get an informational or alerting email, never log into the site using the clickable link provided in your email. Open your browser and go to the site as you normally would which is much safer! Once on the site you can check your messages and alerts.

Guard your username and change your passwords often. For example if a hacker can get into your email they will have a clear pathway towards your banking accounts by simply pressing forgot password and answering a few questions that you’ve most likely already provided the an-swers to.

Are you wondering how you provided those answers? Wonder no more my friend and just take a look at your online profiles; for example are you on Facebook, do you have your maiden name and high school listed, perhaps your hometown, your kids name, etc. Yes indeed these simple profiles that make it easy for old and new friends and colleagues to connect also make it easy for hackers to answer your internet security questions.


The same goes for all the other social media sites like LinkedIn, Google and many others. There is one way to combat this that can baffle any hacker and that’s to answer those security questions on your billing and banking sites with answers that have nothing what-so-ever to do with the question.

For example:

Question: what is the name of the high school you attended

Answer: pizzapie

Question: what city were you born in

Answer: pizzapie

Question: what is the name of your first pet

Answer: pizzapie

Are you following me? Make your answers something only you will know and that make no sense at all to anyone else. Remember you can always change the answer to your security questions at any time. In fact this is a good time!

Another tip would be to never use the same password for everything, don’t make it easy for hackers to get your information.

For Example if you go to www.realtor.com you can use part of the site as your password: hugmerealtor9295lover

www.worldgolfvillagehomesearch.com

password: hugmevillagesearch9295lover

Simply changing the four digit number every two months or so will make it harder for hackers and hopefully they will consider you too much trouble to bother with and go on to the next victim.

Always remember you are never alone in the dark with your keyboard, there are peering eyes over your shoulder alone in the dark with their own dang keyboard looking to score your hard earned money.

Most of us can’t beat hackers at their own game, however you can outsmart them every step of the way by minimizing the information you put out there for the public to see and keeping passwords and user names secure.

Good luck and safe surfing on the World Wide Web!



Page 14 N E W S L E T T E R T I T L E

Y P N S O C I A L M I X E R

Marlene Lagasse, Casey Duggan & Penny James

Victor J Raymos,

Marc Jacalone Jr &

Ron Barry


Y P N S O C I A L M I X E R

Rob West & Craig Rodgers of Paragon

DJ Della Sala & Ashley Casey


A M E R I C A N L E G I O N L E G A C Y P R O J E C T



A U G U S T G E N E R A L M E M B E R S H I P M E E T I N G


HOMESTAR FINANCIAL CORPORATION of Gainesville, Georgia is excited to announce the addition of Allison Barlow as

Mortgage Loan Originator and Production Manager for the St Augustine Branch and Josh Jimmerson as Mortgage Loan

Originator.

Allison has twenty plus years in the financial industry with seventeen years of mortgage lending experience assisting

clients with the dream of home ownership. She also volunteers at the local schools and with Council on Aging

delivering Meals on Wheels. Allison is a sustainer member of the Junior Service League that aided in the development

of Kids Bridge during her membership. She is also a member of the Board of Realtors and serves on the Education

Committee and Affiliate Member Committee. Allison is married and has two children that are both involved in multiple

sports. She especially enjoys watching her daughter compete in gymnastics and cheering for her son on the football

fields!

Josh was born and raised in St. Augustine. He went to our St Johns County public schools where he was actively

involved in Golf, Tennis, Baseball and Basketball. After High School, Josh attended Florida State University where he

was a walk-on to the FSU Seminole Football team. Josh graduated from FSU with a Bachelor of Science Degree in

Finance and a minor in Professional Golf Management. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and a

member of the St Augustine -St Johns County Board of Realtors. Josh enjoys all outdoor sports activities, especially

golfing.

HOMESTAR opened their St Augustine office in January of this year. Allison and Josh will be joining forces with Donna Jimmerson-McGee, Branch Manager and Wendy Powell, loan processor.

Homestar Financial Corporation is licensed in 6 Southeastern states and now has over 50 branches. Homestar began

operation in 2002 and has been a regional direct mortgage lender specializing in Conventional, Construction/

Permanent, Jumbo, VA, USDA and FHA loans. Homestar offers local processing, exceptional client service, great rates

and we will guide you every step of the way.

Copyright © 2013 Homestar Financial Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Homestar Financial Corporation NMLS# 70864, a Georgia Corporation, holds the following lender li-

censes: Georgia residential mortgage licensee #17368, Tennessee #109109, South Carolina MLS-70864, North Carolina L-143335, Florida MLD275, and Alabama #21105.

Homestar Financial Corporation is licensed as a Nationally Approved USDA lender for the Rural Development Single Family Housing Guaranteed mortgage program, a HUD

Correspondent Mortgagee #1897400009, and VA # 64103600000 848 Jesse Jewell Pkwy Gainesville GA 30501 (770) 503-0380.

H O M E S T A R F I N A N C I A L N E W S

2 0 1 4 C O N F E R E N C E & E X P O



2 0 1 4 C O N F E R E N C E & E X P O


N A R N E W S


WASHINGTON (AP) – Nov. 19, 2014 – The U.S. government has the power to hold drone operators accountable when they operate remote-control aircraft recklessly, a federal safety board ruled Tuesday in a setback to small drone operators chafing under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) restrictions.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which hears appeals of Federal Aviation Administration enforcement actions, ruled that small drones are a type of aircraft and fall under existing FAA rules.

The FAA had fined Raphael Pirker, an aerial photographer, $10,000 for operating his Ritewing Zephyr in a reckless manner on the University of Virginia campus in 2011.

Pirker allegedly flew the drone, which weighed less than 5 pounds, (2 kilograms) at "extremely low" altitudes, including under a pedestrian bridge and directly at a person, causing the individual to duck out of the way. He had been hired to make photos and videos of the campus.

Pirker appealed the fine, saying his aircraft was effectively no different than a model aircraft and therefore not subject to regulations that apply to manned aircraft. An NTSB administrative law judge sided with him in March, saying the FAA hasn't issued any regulations specifically for drones and therefore can't determine their use.

The FAA appealed the decision to the four-member safety board, which said Tuesday that the definition of an aircraft is very broad.

"An 'aircraft' is any 'device' 'used for flight in the air.' This definition includes any aircraft, manned or unmanned, large or small," the board said. The board sent the case back to the judge to decide if Pirker's drone was operated recklessly.

The FAA said in a statement that Pirker operated the drone "in a careless or reckless manner" and the fine "should stand."

The decision strengthens the FAA's position as the agency tries to cope with a surge in use of unmanned aircraft, some weighing no more than a few pounds (kilograms) and available for purchase on the Internet and in hobby shops for as little as a few hundred dollars.

More than a million small drone aircraft have been sold worldwide in the past few years, and a growing number of them are turning up in U.S. skies near airports and airliners, posing a risk of collision. Reports of drone sightings near other planes, helicopters and airfields are reaching the government almost daily – a sharp increase from just two years ago when such reports were still unusual.

"It's a huge win for the FAA, and signals it's not going to be the Wild West for drones, but a careful, orderly, safe introduction of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system," said Kenneth Quinn, a former FAA general counsel.

But Pirker's attorney, Brendan Schulman, said the NTSB ruling "is narrowly limited to whether unmanned aircraft systems are subject to a single aviation safety regula-tion concerning reckless operation."

"The more significant question of whether the safe operation of drones for business purposes is prohibited by any law was not addressed in the decision," he said. Several cases challenging the FAA's ban on commercial drone operations are pending in federal district court in Washington.

The FAA has barred commercial operators from using drones, with the exception of two oil companies operating in Alaska and seven aerial photography companies associated with the movie and television industry. Even those exceptions have come with extensive restrictions, including that a requirement that the operators of the remote control aircraft have an FAA-issued pilot's license the same as manned aircraft pilots. The aircraft also have to be kept within the line of sight of the operator and may fly no higher than 400 feet (122 meters).

A wide array of industries as varied as real estate agents, farmers and major league sport teams are clamoring to use small drones. Amazon wants to use drones to deliver small packages to customers. Congress directed the FAA to safely integrate drones of all sizes into U.S. skies by the fall of 2015, but it is clear the agency won't meet that deadline.

Congress also directed the FAA to first issue regulations permitting widespread commercial use of small drones, usually defined as weighing less than 55 pounds (25 kilograms). Agency officials have indicated they expect to propose regulations for small drones before the end of the year. However, it may be months to years before those rules are made final.

Meanwhile, the agency is poised to issue a series of special permits to a wide array of companies that have applied for exemptions to the commercial ban similar to the exemptions granted to the film industry. More than 120 companies have applied for special permits.

Among those close to being granted are permits to monitor and spray crops, inspect smokestacks and natural gas flares, and to inspect pipelines and power lines.

U.S. approves FAA oversight of small drones

S T . A U G U S T I N E & S T . J O H N S C O U N T Y B O A R D O F R E A L T O R S ®

Page 24

Phone: 904-829-8738

Fax: 904-823-9512

C O N T A C T I N F O R M A T I O N

Board Office Staff

Victor J. Raymos, RCE

[email protected]

Association Executive

Professional Standards

Sharon Lainhart

[email protected]

Membership and Finance

Lise Hays

[email protected]

MLS/SUPRA/Newsletter/Website/

Erin Hughes

[email protected]

Membership/Education

/Committee Support

Just like the Board of REALTORS® is your

Board, this is YOUR newsletter! We can’t

do this without you!

B O A R D W E B S I T E : S T A U G U S T I N E S T J O H N S S . C O M

1789 Lakeside Avenue

St. Augustine, FL. 32084

IMPORTANT CONTACT INFORMATION

National Association

of REALTORS— www.realtor.org

1-800-874-6500

NAR Member

Benefits Program—

800-NAR-5233

www.REALTOR.org/RealtorBenefits

REALTOR.COM— 800-878-4166

INNOVIA (MLS) Support—

800-334-0831

FORMSimplicity— 407-587-1450

SUPRA Support—877-699-6787

FloridaRealtors–

www.floridarealtors.org

Tech Hotline—

407-587-1450

Legal Hotline—

407-438-1409

FR Event Registration—

800-669-4327

FR Orlando—407-438-1400

FR Tallahassee—850-224-1400

RPAC—850-224-1400

[email protected]

NOVEMBER 2014

2nd DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ENDS

3rd EDUCATION COMMITTEE 9:00AM

YPN COMMITTEE 11:00AM

RPAC COMMITTEE 12:00PM

68th CRSP-3 9:00AM

COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE 9:00AM

TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE 9:00AM

7th BOARD ORIENTATION 9:00AM

11th CLOSED IN OBSERVANCE OF VETERANS DAY

12th BUSINESS PARTNER COMMITTEE 9:00AM

FINANCE COMMITTEE 11:30AM

MLS BOARD MEETING 12:00PM

13th LISTING AGREEMENT 3CE 9:00AM

ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING 12:00PM

18th MLS TRAINING 1:00PM

21st Installation TBA

St Augustine Board of Realtors October 2014 BOR Forward Newsletter

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