December 2008

Well, winter is finally here, at least as far as temperatures go.  As I write this, it is about 25 degrees outside.  It’s still beautiful, as long as you are dressed for it.  With such a cold start, I hope we get a few good snow storms this season.  I know only about half of you agree with me on that one!

We had an excellent General Meeting on November 13th.  The November meeting is where the community gets to approve the Special Tax budget for the next fiscal year.  This meeting was well attended with 84 people present.  The big item on the agenda was a proposal to contract with the County to have our own police officer dedicated to Hillsmere.  The cost would have been $125,000 the first year and approximately $105,000 in subsequent years.  This equates to a $102 per lot cost in the first year and then $86 per year/per lot thereafter.  Because the Special Tax budget (without the additional security cost) was dropping from $160 to $90 per lot, the increase would have been only $32 per lot for FY2010.

There were many people who felt that there was not enough of an increase in crime to justify the expense.  Some felt that the officer wouldn’t be effective.  Some felt that we were paying taxes to the County for police coverage so the County should provide the needed patrols without additional cost.  On the other side, many people felt that crime statistics were very under reported and that crime was increasing.  They felt that the increased security of having a dedicated officer was well worth the low cost per household.  They pointed out that the County normally has one officer patrolling the entire Annapolis Neck Peninsula from Route 2 to Bay Ridge.  There was a very spirited discussion with strong feelings on both sides.  In the end, the motion to hire a County police officer dedicated to Hillsmere was defeated with 57 against and 35 in favor.

The basic budget, before adding a dedicated police officer, still had $40,000 for security.  This was the same amount as the current year.  The security budget item includes hiring the beach attendant during weekends in the summer and private security patrols.  Currently, both of these functions are performed by Randy, our regular security guard.  In addition, we have an off-duty Anne Arundel County police officer who patrols about six nights a month.  These are called “Secondary Patrols.”  The County allows their officers to provide patrols in uniform in their County police cars.  We pay the officer directly and pay a mileage charge to the County.  It has been difficult to find officers interested in working for us because they had been doing a lot of overtime plus other employers, like the mall, paid much more than we did.  We have been paying only $30 per hour for several years now.

At the General Meeting, after the dedicated police officer motion was defeated, a second motion to double the security budget from $40,000 to $80,000 was considered.  The additional money would be used to have more security patrols.  This motion was approved with 56 in favor and 40 against.  We will be looking into an increased number of secondary police security patrols as well as additional private security.  We should be able to have patrols during the daytime as well as at night.  Although the new budget doesn’t go into effect until next July, we will probably be able to ramp up patrols in the spring as well.

I am very pleased with the outcome of the deliberation on this issue.  I think the community will benefit from an increased level of security.  The other vote at the meeting was for HSIA officers.  The current officers ran unopposed and will serve another two year term.  I want to thank everyone who participated in the General Meeting.  It was quite a challenge to get everyone checked in, validate both HSIA membership and property ownership, deal with the many proxies and people owning more than one lot, etc.  The volunteers did a great job.  We really appreciate the patience shown by those who had to wait in line while we made sure everyone was processed correctly.

Another important community issue, that I’m sure you have all heard about by now, was the decision on the beach strip lawsuit.  The Court of Special Appeals ruled against us, basically siding with Judge Looney on every count.  You can read the entire 71 page opinion on our web site at www.hillsmereshores.net.  There was an article in The Capital on November 2 that was mostly accurate with one glaring exception.  The article said that the plaintiffs now own the entire beach strip from the beach to the marina.  That is not true.  The only property that the community has lost is the land between the three plaintiffs’ lots and the water.  The land between the other 14 lots and the water still belongs to HSIA and the community.

So, is it now over?  The most likely answer is “yes”.  The Court of Appeals, that is higher than the Court of Special Appeals, can decide to review and rule on the case, or any part of it, on its own.  As of this writing, they still have a week or so to do so, although that is very unlikely.  There are very limited situations that would allow us to appeal to the Court of Appeals and, since we don’t believe that any of them apply to us, we will not be filing an additional appeal. There is another interesting fact that may still allow us to control the beach strip and eventually restore it to a sand beach as it was when the community was created.  As I reported in the May Sea Breeze, because Hillsmere was part of a land grant made in 1736, we may own past the high tide mark out to where the land was then.  In this case, even though the lawsuit gave the plaintiffs ownership to the current high water mark, we would own the remaining land that is currently under water.

I was quoted correctly in The Capital when I said that I was not sorry that we fought this fight.  Even if the letter of the law supports the plaintiffs, adverse possession is still taking something that belongs to someone else.  In this case, it was taking your property.  The HSIA board has believed from the beginning that we had a moral and ethical obligation to defend community property from this kind of seizure.  The total cost to our community was about $57,000.  That’s a lot of money that could have been used for other purposes.  However, the cost to each Hillsmere property was just $46.50.  That’s the entire cost, including the land surveys.  We felt that was a reasonable price to pay to try to protect our community and its property.

Another change is in the works.  The Eastport/Annapolis Neck Library has a difficult system for reserving the meeting room.  You have to get there the day they open the reservation book and hope no one else took the day and time you wanted.  This year, we didn’t get there in time and all the good times for Come And Get It Day were taken.  Therefore, we will have Come And Get It Day this year at The Key School.  It will be on Saturday, February 28, from 10 am to 2 pm.

I hope everyone enjoys the holidays.  It is a great time to get out of the cold and enjoy the warmth of friends and family.  Because of the crisis in our economy, many people will not be able to enjoy the holidays as you and I can this year.  I hope that, if you can, you will donate something to one of the many charities that serve those less fortunate than us.  Remember, we have a Good Neighbors program to assist those in our community in need of services and/or donations of needed items.  You can contact us at goodneighbors@hillsmereshores.net or leave a message at our 24 hour voice mail at 410-263-4456 if you or someone you know needs some help.

Have a happy holiday and a safe and happy New Year!