October 28, 2013
Dear Neighbors,
Sea Pines is buttoning down for the winter. Irrigation systems have been blown out and shut down, the beach kayak racks have been disassembled, all boats are gone from the beach and clubhouse parking lot, the beach path shed cleaning is underway, winter maintenance is starting and the Outer Cape Naked Tennis Club starts their annual two week tournament using our courts (tune in to your local cable station to watch the live action and see who looks good [or not] this year. 1 ) Those who have installed propane gas fireplaces are now starting to reap the benefit of the lower-cost warmth and enhanced ambiance. Sports is big right now, with the Red Sox battling the Cardinals in the World Series, the Patriots winning games despite lackluster offensive output, while the Bruins and Celtics seasons are just underway. Wide-screen TVs and DVRs are being exercised mercilessly to capture all the action!
Congratulations to us all for cleaning out the beach path shed by the October 15 deadline! It was remarkably nearly empty a week in advance, meaning much less work this for Jeff and Kenny to clean it out this year. Thank you!
The siding contract has been awarded to Mark Schaeffer who was also the contractor for the siding projects on the Bluff and Landing Lane and whose work has been very satisfactory. Next step is to secure bank financing (banks require an awarded contract prior to being willing to commit to any financing) with an anticipated work start date of December 2. I heard a comment at the October 26 FMB that Mark may start with Knoll followed by Overlook, subject to change of course.
Once financing has been secured, the actual additional condo fees described in the September newsletter and in a mailing from Mercantile will be finalized and communicated to everyone by Mercantile. The FMB is working to see if an option can be created which would allow owners to prepay the entire additional condo fee if they so choose instead of paying it over a 4 year period starting July 2015. If this option becomes available, the more owners who take advantage of it, the lower our borrowing costs will be for the financing package, helping to reduce the overall cost of the siding project and all the other reserve items which this financing will make possible.
The 2014 budget was approved at the October 26 FMB. Normal condo fees for 2014 will rise just a tiny 1%. This is the second year in a row that the next year's budget has been approved in October instead of previously typical December (or January) approval! Barring much snowplowing before the end of this year, the FMB treasurer expects we'll end the 2013 year pretty much on budget.
Anyone who is a fan of the terrific lobster rolls (and fries!!) at the Sesuit Harbor Cafe in Dennis should know that an effort is underway by the neighboring homeowner associations to shut it down. There will be an open hearing held by the town of Dennis on the zoning issue on Monday November 4 at 6pm at the Wixon School auditorium in Dennis. It has already been rescheduled twice because the number of people who wanted to attend exceeded the legal capacity of the previous meeting spaces. The Wixon School auditorium can accommodate up to 500 people. Sounds like it might be an evening to remember...
The approved minutes of the previous FMB meeting are always posted on the Clubhouse bulletin board. Please note that minutes are approved at the next month's FMB meeting, so October's minutes will not be posted until after the December meeting, etc. If you would like these minutes emailed to you, please email me your name, Sea Pines address and email address. To be added to the minutes email list, your email address must be the same as the one published for you in the current Sea Pines homeowner directory. Remember to update your email with Mercantile if it changes!
Also know that you can arrange auto-debit from your bank account of your condo fees with Mercantile. This is an advantage if you sometimes forget to send in the payment coupon and check or are getting sticker shock from the cost of postage these days (which is going up again in January!) You can even set up and use auto-debit without a computer. I use auto-debit for almost all regular debits these days, so I never have to worry about being late with a payment or missing an emailed payment due notice which gets blocked by Comcast for some reason. Contact Mercantile for details of auto-debit. It is a simple process and saves Sea Pines money since we don't have to print and mail payment coupons to you.
The next FMB is Saturday, December 7 at 9am in the Clubhouse. After that, it's January 25, 2014 then March 29 (the February meeting is always scheduled but usually cancelled.) Click on the web site's "events" link to see the current schedule.
Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sincerely,
Christopher Wroten
19 Landing Lane