Dear Neighbors:
The FMB held its October meeting on the 26th - a beautiful fall Saturday at Sea Pines. The weather is so changeable - a week or so later, a Nor'easter hit the bay and removed much of the beach sea grass and the bottom of our stairs to the beach, which have since been repaired. Damage to the rest of Sea Pines was minimal.
Damage from Hurricane Bob has been mostly repaired. We received $17,950 in insurance payments and have expended $13,058 as of October 26. It is estimated an additional $2,000 will be needed to finish repairs.
The preliminary budget review started with Mercantile Property Management and the Chairs of the various Sea Pines committees presenting their needs for 1992. First pass figures are as follows:
| Approved 1991 | Estimated 1991 | Maintenance Fees - 1992 |
Reserve 1992 | Prop. Budget 1992 |
| $433,230 | $439,201 | $349,372 | $87,085 | $436,457 |
Fine tuning the budget will occur at the December 7 meeting and we'll pass the budget for the year.
In closed session, the Board discussed Mercantile's performance to date. The Board was generally very pleased with our property management group and provided some constructive criticisms that will help the Mercantile/Sea Pines relationship become better. Your chairman will pass these on to them.
The motion regarding Rules and Regulations changes as to pets was again postponed until December when hopefully more members will be present. Enclosed is a position paper by Bob Leone and there is a motion still outstanding on the floor. The motion is as follows:
5. PETS - Permissible are one dog and one cat per unit. Outdoors, all dogs and cats must be leashed at all times. The Town of Brewster Dog Officer will be permitted access to all Sea Pines common areas to respond to calls for the removal of unleashed dogs and cats. For the protection of the health of Sea Pines residents and guests (especially small children) no dogs or cats are allowed on the beach from June 1 to September 30. Dogs and cats are not allowed in the Clubhouse or pool area at any time, nor in grass areas and garden plots.All pets must be registered with the Sea Pines Homeowners Association.
All pets must wear an official Sea Pines identification tag while in common areas.
No pets may be left unattended in common areas.
Amendments to the motion to delete registration and to delete leashing of cats were defeated 6 to 2, 1 to 7 respectively.
Shortly after the meeting, the sign which the Beach committee posts annually on the stairs to the beach was removed. However, a home owner talked to Robert Mant of the Board of Health who said Brewster law states "for sanitary reasons and in order to protect the public health - horses, dogs, and cats are prohibited from all public beaches from Memorial Day to Labor Day."
Public beach is defined as any beach that is not private. With our private-only extending to "mean high tide", it means we currently have a beach approximately 15 feet from our grass line and getting smaller each year. Mr. Mant noted that he has chased dogs over the Brewster flats many times. So if a dog or cat strayed over the 15 ft. line, the animal could be impounded and the owner fined. For these reasons, the "no dogs allowed on the beach from Memorial Day to Labor Day" was adopted 10 years ago by the FMB and included in the Rules and Regulations.
It is my recommendation that we continue to observe this rule and that the Beach committee replace the sign.
In the meantime, if you have any input into what should be our position on pets at Sea Pines, please write or call me.
I would also like your input on our process of revising the current procedures of electing officers to the various Phase boards. Enclosed is a proposal to the FMB from a Phase Election Committee formed in 1987. This report can be the basis for discussion and if so decided by the FMB it can be a starting point for a new committee. There is a strong feeling among many of the homeowners that by appropriately changing the phase process of elections we can revitalize and broaden participation in Sea Pines. We have an extensive base of talents amongst our 151 families and need to tap into this reserve.
In closing, I'd like to wish everyone the happiest of holidays!
Regards,
Jim Fowler
Chairman, FMB