DRAFT Minutes
Bethany Beach Landowners’ Association
Board
of Directors’ Meeting
Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 1:00 p.m.
Town
Hall
Council’s Meeting Room
Attendees:
- Board Members Present:,
Cal Baldwin, Dave Evans, Jane Fowler, Frances Gravatte, Jerry Hardiman, John Himmelberg, Michael Horne, Janet Kennedy, Laura
Marriott, Tracy Mulligan, Steve Trodden, Steve Wode, Margaret Young
- Members and Guests:
Dean Phillips
· Approval of Minutes of Board Meeting of July 26, 2008 – motion
made and approved
· Treasurer’s Report – Tracy Mulligan:
(See Attachment 1 for entire report). $24K in bank, John Himmelberg noted that the balance compares to approximately
$28k in November 2007: Expenditures this FY (June 1 2007- May 31, 2008) were approximately $19K; estimated
revenue with current 800 members is approximately $12k – John mentioned that newsletter requesting 2009 dues will be
issued soon – We will need to review contribution level and newsletter expenses for next year.
·
Historically we have not paid above the $600 required
to issue a 1099 to bookkeeper; Tracy proposed that we consider increasing rate from $19 to $24 per hour for next year (to
be considered at future meeting). We may need to issue a 1099 this year.
·
The status of BBLA as a 501(c)(3) organization was
discussed. Tracy would like others to review the IRS regulations. Steve Trodden, Michael Horne and John Himmelberg agreed
to help out. Mike Loftus was nominated by John Himmelberg in absentia to participate in this effort.
· Tracy asked if someone would agree to a “backup” role for Treasury duties. John
Himmelberg will contact Sally Phillips to see if she’d be willing as she has a background in accounting for non-profit
organizations.
· Newsletter Report – John Himmelberg requested Board members to provide
topics for the newsletter, to be sent to him and Dan Costello. John Himmelberg will write an article on
what we’ve accomplished with dues this year. He also reported that Dan Costello will consult a real estate expert to
get information on Bethany Beach real estate market to include the Newsletter (either for attribution or anonymously).
The Newsletter will also include a request for comments as well as dues in the newsletter – John Himmelberg is
looking for ideas on how to collate and disseminate the comments.
· Beach Erosion:
John described letter from Dean Phillips regarding Beach Re-nourishment and replenishment history and concerns about
the current state of the recreational beach and dune. The letter will be sent again to the Board members
as some did not receive it. Some or all of Mr. Phillips’ letter may be appropriate for inclusion
in the upcoming Newsletter.
· Communications: Tracy Mulligan and Steve Wode
presented information and challenges that the communications committee is reviewing
·
There are a lot of “communicators” around
town, including Town of Bethany, BBLA, Tony McClenny, HOA’s, News Papers, etc.
a) Tracy presented a chart showing communications steps: communications are
sent out, responses received, sender may or may not acknowledge receipt of response, sender gathers, summarizes and transmits
to others.
b)
Right now, all BBLA members’ written comments and membership dues come to
the same P.O. box and are received by BBLA bookkeeper Claudia McClenny – any comments are then sent to John Himmelberg
for sorting and dissemination.
c) It was suggested that Mrs. McClenny could
enter information from responses into a database in addition to depositing and recording the checks. Some
members do not have access to email or the web, therefore soliciting comments via USPS is necessary to reach all members.
d) In discussions of current membership point of contact maintenance issues, Steve Wode would like to
establish a 2nd database to develop email list of 2009 members rather than relying on Mrs. McClenny to update the
current database.
e) Our email provider service has a 100
name limit for sending emails, which is not ideal.
f) John Himmelberg suggested BBLA hire someone specifically to enter member identification information, email and other
contact information and comments into the database, and possibly to operate the BBLA website.
g) The communications committee requests a volunteer (board or member) to help move forward to address the communications
issues.
· Community Outreach committee report
– Laura Marriott reported on recent meeting of ACTION, (a group comprising Homeowner Associations in the area, primarily
in Ocean View). The group has many responsibilities and concerns that are different from BBLA – such
as onerous quorum regulations due to by-laws that were written by and for developers, lack of State law protecting homeowners,
etc. The group discussed the need to lobby Dover to help them overcome legal obstacles so that they could
accomplish needed improvements in their communities.
o Laura also reported that each member group of ACTION is required to host a meeting. She
then suggested BBLA offer to host a meeting this Spring and invite Tony Banez, DelDOT Project Manager for
the Route 26 widening project (Mr. Banez briefed the Ocean View Town Council on Oct 28, 2008 as reported in Coastal Point).
It was suggested to expand the event to include other HOA’s in the area as well. The Board
agreed to move forward without formal motion.
§ John Himmelberg will write to Tony Banez inviting him to come talk to us and establishing a date for
the event.
§ Laura Marriott will propose the topic and “expansion” idea to ACTION
§ Venue choices were discussed, as well as the need to provide refreshments.
o
John Himmelberg also suggested that BBLA offer to
share our analysis of the 501 –(c) 3 regulations with the ACTION group.
Issues:
· Mandatory recycling was discussed including concerns about convenience,
transient population and folks who are not here to take bins in and out as required. The topic was then
deferred to future meeting with no BBLA position determined.
· Conflict of Interest:
John Himmelberg reported that the DE State Public Integrity Commission had rejected a complaint charging that it was
a conflict of interest for BBLA to allow current Town Council members to serve on the BBLA Board of Directors because the
Commission has no jurisdiction over BBLA. The Town Council may consider whether it is a conflict for the
Council to allow its members to simultaneously serve on the BBLA Board. Tracy noted that the Aug 2008 Town Council agenda
included a revision of Town Council Conflict of Interest policy but that no one wanted to discuss reforming it.
·
Boardwalk widening: Margaret Young reported that there will be a public meeting on the issue, but that one has not
been scheduled yet. The feeling of urgency seems to be diminished. DNREC has told individual council members
that they can apply for extension of the permit to widen the boardwalk (with justification for extension and proposed schedule)
or the town can apply for permit again later. Bids were solicited but nothing had been formally presented
to the Town Council as of the BBLA meeting
· Jane Fowler reported that the Town Manager said that bids did come in lower than expected – and
he’s concerned that new head of DNREC expected with new Governor may not be disposed to permit the widening.
·
Margaret young reported that no considerations or
cost estimates have been made for design options such as raised section at bandstand. Jerry Hardiman noted that the StreetScape
design process was a good example of how the Town should address the boardwalk, dune/sand and other capital project issues
presented to the citizens. Much discussion of reasons for and against (mostly against) widening the boardwalk,
particularly out of context of other project spending options.
· Tracy Mulligan reported that he had obtained public information on the
Capital Project workshop upstairs at Town Hall; that there were 6 bidders on the boardwalk project, and that the bid amounts
were included. Tracy suggested upcoming BBLA newsletter list all the capital projects from the public information.
The information is provided as Attachment 2 to these minutes.
·
Apparently Town Council prioritization of projects
will be done later. Dean Phillips noted that there is no longer a Bethany Beach Capital Improvements Committee.
A Long Term Plan used to guide the improvements. The boardwalk is in disrepair now.
·
Steve Trodden noted that at candidates’ night
by show of hands most were opposed to the Boardwalk widening, candidates took note, but still bid requests went out subsequently.
Much discussion occurred regarding the reasons to oppose the widening project such as the substantial expense in these times
of financial uncertainty, the priority of other capital projects such as sidewalks and drainage that could be addressed instead,
the wisdom of expending the boardwalk repair reserves when the long term efficacy of the dune is still unknown, the desire
of many to influence the design of any boardwalk improvement project, etc.
·
Steve Wode reported that responses from membership
to BBLA email request for comments on the boardwalk resulted in 28 against (eliminating multiple responses from the same members)
and only 5 for widening the boardwalk.
· Steve Trodden made a motion for taking a position on the project; BBLA is not in favor of widening the Bethany Beach Boardwalk by 8 feet. The motion
was seconded and passed – 10 in favor, 2 opposed, Margaret Young recused herself.
·
Steve Trodden agreed to draft a follow-up request
for membership response to the Board of Director’s position. The proposed membership communiqué
will be circulated to board members for approval and then sent to membership via email and via newsletter.
·
Candidates’ Night: John Himmelberg thanked Steve Trodden and Dan Costello in particular for
all the work on the Candidate’s Night – by and large all comments were very positive. He suggested
that next year we publish the agenda early – perhaps in June. The subject should be included in agenda
for late Spring BBLA meeting.
· John further suggested we try to have candidates’ night earlier next year – any time subsequent
to filing deadline. Michael Horne suggested adding this notion to the BBLA News letter.
·
The meeting was then adjourned.
