Sea Pines Homeowners Association

Monthly News

 

 

June 11, 2006

 

Dear Neighbor,

 

Three meetings were held at the end of May.  The minutes will be posted upon approval by the respective bodies.  This letter focuses on the key issues discussed at those meetings.  Consequently, this letter is longer than normal.  These meetings had one common aspect – no attendee fell asleep!

 

 1. FMB meeting May 27.  (a) The Treasurer reported that income and expenses remain within the parameters of the budget.   (b) From the Grounds and Maintenance Committee: The painting in Phase II was virtually complete; Jeff and Ken were highly productive despite the substantial rainfall during the work period.  The street light at the entrance to our development will be repaired by Mercantile; a new permanent light will be installed during renovation of all street lighting.  Completion of chimney repairs had been delayed by the monsoon season but repairs are continuing. Landscaping under the time line of the Five Year Plan was near completion.  (c) From the Bluff Committee:  The Brewster Conservation Commission granted Sea Pines a one year extension of the Order of Conditions. The Committee has begun preparation of a proposed NOI that will be submitted to the Conservation Commission; the extension terminates in 2007.  The second cutting across the Bluff will occur early in July. Invasive species that survived the first cut in March will be treated with Round Up as part of the long run effort to eliminate most of the “illegals” that have migrated to our bluff.  (d) From the Pool Committee:  The pool was scheduled to open on June 7 pending approval by the Brewster Health Department.  (e) Regarding the proposal from the Security Committee: Many owners signed a petition objecting to paying $10,000 for a guard to prevent unauthorized access to our facilities during July and August. The FMB tabled the matter pending discussion of this program at the Annual Meeting and recognized that the new FMB could handle the proposal.  (By the way, three people kicked off the season at the pool on May 28th rather than attend the Annual Meeting.  The scheduled June 7th opening date was posted on the gate into the pool area.  Daring souls; they swam in a half-filled non-chlorinated pool.)

 

Litigation Matters.  (a) The land Court set trial dates for November 6-7 for the Matter involving Beach Rights; the Judge had scheduled a walk-through of the property for June 7. (This stroll occurred during the heavy rain and the judge ended with wrinkled feet.)  (b) Our motion for Summary Judgment in the Matter of the Garage Conversion was to be heard on June 6.  (c) A homeowner filed for a preliminary injunction challenging the legality of the Phase III Board’s approval of the By-Laws and seeking to block the election of Board members under the By-Laws recently approved by the owners.  No injunction had been issued through the date of the Annual Meeting.  (d) Numerous attendees appeared very pleased to learn of the sales price of a unit on Duneward Drive and shortly thereafter were spotted at the Cape Cod Mall and auto dealerships.

 

2. Annual Meeting of the Owners May 28.  (a) Owners held a moment of silence in recognition of the deaths of long-time residents Fred Crosby and Milt Powers.  (b)  The Chair conducted a straw vote of the owners on two aspects of the proposed hiring of a guard for to prevent unauthorized access to our facilities during July and August.  A substantial number of owners present supported the idea of “policing” parking and use of the pool and beach. A second showing of hands showed very little support for spending money to “police” our facilities.  (c) A stirring discussion related to differences in perceptions of our legal matters died a natural death.  (d)  An energetic, orderly and efficient group of volunteers tabulated the votes for Board members of each phase. Three candidates from each phase were elected with the length of term positively correlated with the number of votes for the respective candidates.  This Dirty Dozen serves as the board for each phase under the new By-Laws.

 

3. FMB Meeting May 28:  The newly elected members of the facilities Management Board gathered in the Club House and elected: Terry Milligan, Chairman; Bob Wiesel, Vice Chairman; Frank Fiorentino, Treasurer; and Vera Fields, Clerk.  The board members, titles and length of term for each Phase follow.  Phase I: Richard Rose, President, 3 years; Larry Huller, Treasurer, 1 year; and Ken Jameson – 2 years.  Phase II: Frank Pease, President, 3 years; Nigel Godwin, Treasurer, 1 year; and Terry Milligan, 2 years.  Phase III: Frank Fiorentino, President, 3 years; Jim Dalton, Treasurer, 2 years; and George Pierce, 1 year. Phase IV: Dave Sullivan, President, 3 years; Bob Morse, Treasurer, 2 years; and Bob Wiesel, 1 year.

 

The new FMB addressed the matter of securing our facilities. The Board concluded that at its next meeting it would rescind its earlier approval that had set aside the $10,000.00 to pay a guard; the item had not been published on the meeting’s agenda.  The board discussed how volunteers could operate the system that the owners overwhelmingly had supported at the Annual Meeting.  Mercantile would send owners an explanation of the system that the board instituted and the associated decals and guest passes.

 

Thank you to outgoing Phase board members. The next FMB meeting is scheduled for Saturday June 24th at 8:30am in the Club House.

*******

Richard Rose prepared these newsletters for the last several years, just as he did at any earlier time.  Thank you, Richard, for accurate information and clever inserts and especially for generating unreasonable expectations for your successor’s performance.  And I hope that all appreciate Christopher Wroten’s contributions to our web site, to which this letter will be appended.  Finally, I certainly welcome corrections and positive suggestions, but the first person whose criticism brings me to tears will succeed me immediately as the publisher of this “rag”.

 

Jim Dalton

For the FMB