December 2007

Here we are in the holiday season.  It’s a wonderful time of the year, except for our waistlines!  Most of the leaves are down and it’s time to make sure you have an ice scrapper in the car.  I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving and has a terrific holiday.

Our November General Meeting had a lot on the agenda.  There was a great turnout too.  Over 100 people showed up.  The election for directors attracted a lot of interest.  Two board members decided not to run for re-election and there were three other residents hoping to be elected and two of them were.  As it turned out, the vote was very close.  All of the incumbents were re-elected.  The actual results are listed in this issue of the Sea Breeze.  The new board members will take office on January 1st.

Alan Weiss and Laura Bertran were the two board members who decided to not seek re-election.  Alan has acted as the chairperson of the Security Committee for the last two years.  He has done a great job of getting us through the transition from our old security company (the one we had so much trouble with) to the current one.  Thanks to Alan’s hard work we now have excellent security at a reasonable cost.  Alan will continue in the security role for a few months until we find someone to replace him.  Laura has been on the board for several years.  She worked tirelessly on many board issues, serving for a few years as the co-chairperson of Piers & Harbors.  She has been a voice of reason and compromise helping the board work through numerous divisive issues.  She will be missed by everyone.  I want to personally thank both Alan and Laura for their service and dedication to the board and to our community.

The two new board members represent two very important segments of our community.  Jennifer Adams is a mother of two young children and a relative newcomer to Hillsmere.  She is active in the Hillsmere Moms playgroup.  Sue Miller has lived in Hillsmere for over 40 years.  She raised her family here and is now retired.  She has served the HSIA board many times on various committees and even a term as Treasurer.  One of the great things about our community is the great diversity of our residents.  I am pleased to have both Jennifer and Sue on the board.  They will bring very valuable perspectives to the many issues we will face in the next few years.

Another important issue that was discussed at the general meeting was the planned beach restoration project.  The board had hired Flood Brothers to create a design that would protect the beach from erosion, preserve the recreational benefits we all enjoy, and be environmentally sound.  The design that he proposed is called a “living shoreline”.  I am very excited about the plan and what it does for our community.  There were a lot of questions and concerns raised at the general meeting.  Although the ultimate decision on how to proceed with the beach restoration is the board’s responsibility, a vote was taken and the results were 46 to 46, a tie.   I feel that many of the concerns expressed were because we had not provided enough information about what a “living shoreline” really means.  Kate Penn and the Beach Committee have spent many hours researching all aspects of the plan.  She has written a report that is published in this Sea Breeze.  There is also an article entitled “What Are “Living Shorelines”?.  I strongly suggest you take the time to read it and to explore the links the article has to more information on the internet.  You can also read it on the HSIA web site.   One of the results of the large turnout was that several residents who are professionally involved in environmental and shoreline issues came forward with suggestions and some concerns of their own.  As a result of the tie vote, the concerns of the membership, and the additional information, Kate asked the board to approve a six-month study period to investigate specific issues that were raised and to get more information on alternative designs.  Some parts of the plan that were previously budgeted and not a major concern will be started right away.  Please read Kate’s report for more specific information.  At the general meeting we discussed the possibility of receiving an $88,000 grant to help defray a significant portion of our costs for this project.  The larger part of that grant request was denied. The primary reason was that our “living shoreline” had a swim area with a sea nettle net and other recreational uses.  Other, more strictly environmental, grant requests won out over ours.  The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Chesapeake Bay Trust are very interested in working with us to find other sources of funding.  We will continue to explore all avenues of assistance, however, our beach will remain primarily a recreation and swimming area for our residents.  You will hear a lot more about this project in the next six months, so stay tuned!

The other part of the general meeting was the budgets for FY2009 that start on July 1st, 2008.  The Special Tax budget was unanimously approved by the membership and the board at it’s November 29th meeting.  The details of that budget are published in this issue of the Sea Breeze.  They will be presented again at our January 10th General Meeting, as required by the county.

The board also voted to increase the dues for HSIA from $10 to $15 per year, effective next year.  The community survey overwhelming supported an increase in the dues.  The dues only support the General Fund budget.  The General Fund is the smallest part of our three part budget.  One of the benefits that come from the General Fund budget are the entertainment events such as the Community Picnic and the Ice Cream Social.  The Hillsmere tee shirts and some committee costs are also supported by this budget.  As you look at the budgets published in this Sea Breeze you will notice that the Piers & Harbors budget is $166,796 for FY2009.  All of the costs of the Piers & Harbors budget are paid from slip fees, boat ramp keys, and other Piers & Harbors related activities.  If you don’t use any of these facilities then you are not paying any of these costs.  The Special Tax budget is the part that’s funded by everyone and collected through your real estate taxes. 

Another action the board took recently was to increase the cost of HSIA building permits in certain circumstances.  Anytime you need to get a county building permit or if you are building a fence, you need to get a permit from HSIA.  The HSIA Building Committee only checks to make sure you are not in violation of the covenants.  We do not turn down permit requests for any other reason.   The cost of a permit is $5.  Instructions for getting an HSIA permit are published in every Sea Breeze and on our web site.  Some residents ignore this requirement.  Once we find out that a permit has been issued by the county, we make a visit to the property and try to contact the owner.  If we are not successful in making contact or if our requests continue to be ignored, then we will send a certified letter explaining the situation.  If HSIA has to send the certified letter then the cost of the building permit will be $20 instead of $5.   This change will be effective as of January 1st.

Finally, as we enter the holiday season, we often think about helping those who are less fortunate than us.  Usually this means a donation to one of the charities that help those in need.  In the next few weeks, we will be organizing a “Good Neighbors” program to help our neighbors in Hillsmere who could use a hand.  The program will not focus on  money but on services and other donations.  There are many elderly people and others in our community who probably need our help.  It could be as simple as helping to change a light bulb or taking out their trash.  It may also involve donating items we don’t need anymore to those who do, or checking on vulnerable people in the event of a major storm or power failure.  Becky Lund, a Hillsmere resident, approached me with this idea.  She has volunteered to lead this program.  If you would like to help out one or two hours a month or would like to help in other ways please send an email to GoodNeighbors@hillsmereshores.net.  You can also leave a message on our 24 hour voice mail at 410-263-4456.  We also want to reach out to the people this program will try to help.  If you know of a neighbor who you think might benefit, let us know that too.

Have a great holiday.  Enjoy all the food and time with friends and family.  Get out and see the holiday decorations and take a moment to appreciate the wonderful community we live in.

-Bill Shuman
President, Hillsmere Shores Improvement Association