April 2009

The days are getting warmer and the squirrels in my yard are realizing that the party is nearly over.  Last fall I read that, in Maryland, there were virtually no acorns produced.  This was pretty much unheard of and would decimate the squirrel population since they depend on their stash of acorns.  I decided to feed the squirrels over the winter.  They received corn and peanuts all winter.  Now that Spring is here, I am weaning them off the free food.  I guess they'll have to go back to trying to get to my bird feeders again!

There are signs of Spring everywhere.  The marina celebrated with its second annual Freeing Of The Feet party on Saturday, March 21st.  Basically, a bunch of boaters have a party with a bonfire and everyone is supposed to burn their socks.  The idea is that Annapolis boaters don't wear socks again until the Winter.  I burned a sock (just to show that I am cool) but, in reality, I wear socks all summer.  It was a nice party with about 50 people showing up.  So, if you heard stories about some strange people doing strange things at the marina, they were true!

Another sign of Spring is the wonderful decorations at Leslie Donaldson's house at 425 Hillsmere Drive.  In the last Sea Breeze, Leslie wrote about how much she loved Hillsmere and how she had fallen while putting up her famous Christmas light display last year.  She promised to get  better  in  time  to  decorate  her  Easter  Egg Tree.  As you drive by her house, stop and marvel at the amazing number of eggs on the tree in her front yard.  In fact, we are asking children (12 and under) to guess how many eggs there are on the tree.  Send your guess by email to EasterEggTree@hillsmereshores.net or leave a message at the 24 hour voice mail at 410‑263‑4456.  Include your name, age, address, and now many eggs you think are on the tree.  The winner (whomever is closest to the correct number) will receive a $25 gift card to a local ice cream store from HSIA.  Leslie has graciously agreed to leave the Easter Egg Tree up for a week after Easter so everyone can get a chance to guess.

On April 25th, the Beach Committee will be sponsoring another beach work day.  The last work day was on Saturday, March 28th.  It was nearly canceled because of the rainy weather but 20 people showed up.  They raked and cleaned the entire beach so it will be all ready for the Easter Egg Hunt on April 11th.  The beach work day on April 25th will be a special celebration of Earth Day.  Most of the work will center on the rain gardens and the restored marsh area next to the new rock revetment that was installed last year.  Many of the native grasses that were planted didn't survive the winter.  The beach volunteers will plant more to help reclaim the area.  The work will begin at 9:00 am and continue until noon.  Once the work is done, the volunteers will have a hot dog roast and congratulate each other on another successful community volunteer effort.  Come out and volunteer a few hours to improve your community beach.

At the March General Meeting, there was a very lively discussion about the future of the Hillsmere Pool.  As you may know, the Hillsmere pool is on community property.  HSIA leased the property to the Hillsmere Pool Association so they could build and operate the pool.  That 30 year lease expires on June 4th, 2011.   According to the lease, if the current lease is not renewed or a new lease signed, then HSIA would take over control of the pool.  There have been a lot of rumors flying about and a few hot tempers as well.  No one on the HSIA board has ever suggested that the pool be shut down or converted to tennis courts, as some have said.  There was a joint committee formed that spent some time talking about possible changes to the lease.  Several board members have suggested that the pool should serve more community residents than it currently does.  At the last board meeting, a motion was approved to form a new committee to investigate and gain a full understanding of what it takes to operate a community pool.  The committee will look into pool management companies, how other community pools are managed, how access to community pools is regulated to comply with maximum occupancy laws, what is a reasonable pool utilization level to give quality pool experiences for patrons, possible methods of funding, etc.  The committee will report back to the HSIA board no later than the May board meeting.  This does not mean that HSIA is planning on taking over the pool.  We just want to fully understand all of our options.  The board will consider all available options with the goal of having the Hillsmere Pool continue to be a wonderful resource for our community.  The bottom line is that there will continue to be a Hillsmere Pool no matter who is running it.

Last season, there were a number of people who never paid their marina slip fees.  There are two problems with this.  First, it means that the community is not getting paid as it should.  Second, when these fees are not paid on time, someone who is on the waiting list never gets the chance to use the community facilities.  At the last board meeting, the HSIA board voted to set a date of May 15th, 2009 as the absolute deadline.  Anyone who has not paid their fees at that time will lose their slip.  The same applies to boat park and dingy/canoe rack fees.  Another related issue is the slip waiting list. In order to remain on the waiting list, you must do two things. You must be a paid member of HSIA and you must sign your HSIA application indicating you want to stay on the waiting list.  The current slip waiting list is published elsewhere in this Sea Breeze.  If you are on the waiting list you must join HSIA by June 1st, 2009 or your name will be dropped from the list.  There are a lot of people waiting for a slip.  It is only fair to them that we carefully manage the list.