Moving of President's Reports

Just an FYI, this site has moved to www.Oysterharbor.org.

Thanks,
Eric

President's Report - For December 12, 2013 Board Meeting

General

We have had a busy month preparing for the FY 2015 Budget.  We have also completed some of the initial work at Fishing Creek and did a survey of projects around the community.

The tax change associated with the homestead tax credit has increased the amount of funding that Oyster Harbor is to receive from the county.  As we on the budget planning committee believe the community does not need the entire increase in funding, I would like to ask that the tax rate be lowered.

Assuming we have enough voting members of the community at the meeting in January, we will vote on this.

Accomplishments this month

Since the last meeting, I have managed to get the following tasks accomplished:

• Survey the three piers, Harbor park, the beach and general community areas for major projects
• Work with Kathy and Claire on a budget
• Repair the docks at Fishing Creek pier
• Removed a dead tree on Harbor Rd

To dos for next Month

I submitted the following quotes for work to be started in December and completed by April:

• Three additional Kayak racks (large one at Fishing Creek, small ones at the beach and Booker
• A beach volleyball court put in at the beach
• Repairs to Washington avenue pier and boat ramp
• Repairs to the Washington Ave. parking area and slightly improved landscaping
• A beach trash corral for four trash cans
• Beach repairs to bench, gazebos, fence and landscaping
• New steps to enter the beach gate
• Booker pier repairs and new poles for the floating docks
• A fish cleaning station on the Fishing Creek pier
• Rubbish removed at Fishing creek

We also plan to gather quotes to have a community-wide tree and hedge trimming of plants that overhang roads and swales, or cause blind spots at intersections.  

I will also begin looking at swale drain options for Ellis and Fishing Creek to prepare for spring rains/flooding.  We learned a lot from Biohabitats and would like to experiment on creating water drain areas.

Board Approvals/Motions Needed

To accomplish these, we would need to Board to approve the following:

• Approve the FY 2015 Budget

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Agenda for Board Meeting, Thursday, December 12, 2013

Call to Order

Moment of Silence

Acceptance of Agenda

Acceptance of Board Meeting Minutes

•          Accept October 10, 2013 minutes

•          Accept November 14, 2013 minutes

Treasurer’s Report and Budget Update

FY 2015 Budget Review and Approval

  

President’s Report

Green Committee Report

Beach Committee Report

Old Business

New Business

Adjournment

President's Letter for December 2013 Newsletter

Autumn is in full swing and winter is very close behind.  Our community has had a wonderful autumn, free from hurricanes, and full of Rockfish and crisp mornings.  It’s certainly a beautiful time of year for Oyster Harbor.

This Autumn we have made some great headway in improvements to our community both virtually, and physically.

Our new website, with new online forms for reporting problems and giving suggestions, and lots of activity on our Facebook page have made communications within the community easier, open and more fun.

In October and November we concentrated heavily on a major clean up for the Fishing Creek pier and adjacent small beach area.  It’s had quite a facelift.  The beach is now a safer and cleaner place for dogs to play and to launch your kayak or dink.  The piers have had much needed maintenance to ensure they will last for many more years.

For this winter and spring we have many projects in the works. Here is a partial list:

• Enclosure for the Beach porta-potty
• Community water front property area cleanup
• Additional dinghy and kayak racks in the community
• A dog wash station at Fishing creek for both dogs and dinks
• A Beach volleyball court
• Trees trimmed over swales, and bushes cut back to enhance driver visibility
• Picnic table repairs
• More frequent trash and beach clean-ups
• One or more additional dog clean-up stations
• Our second Biohabitats Ecological Enhancement project

What is an Ecological Enhancement project you ask?  Well, it’s a project to reduce the rain runoff by managing the flow of rainwater on and near our roads.  Living close to the water as we do, with low and level land, we have problems with rain rolling into the Bay and carrying with it pollutants and fertilizers.  We also have rainwater pooling on (okay flooding) our roads and yards.  In 2012, at the Fishing Creek parking area and at the entrance to Oyster Harbor we built rain gardens to catch, and absorb water.  Building on this success, Harbor, Creek and Booker drives will be getting specially designed rain gardens and water containment areas that will better manage the rain runoff.  If these are successful, future projects in 2014 and 2015

will tackle even bigger problem areas on Fishing Creek, Ellis and other community roads.

These projects are aiding in making our community a model for other communities in the area, and an even better place to live.

While community improvements have been very successful, we do need some assistance from you, our residents.  We need input, ideas, and feedback.  So I’d like to ask for your help.  We have two links on the Oyster Harbor website, one for suggestions, and another to report maintenance needs.  I’d like to ask you to put in your suggestions for improvement to the community, or maintenance tasks you believe have been missed. Doing that will go a long way to helping to quality of life in our community.

Another thing you can do as a resident is to read and sign the petitions that were mailed out to each home in the community.  We have two petitions that, if approved, would give the community the ability to make major improvements that will benefit the community immensely.

We hope this winter is a gentle one, and that everyone has a safe and healthy winter season.

Presidents Report – For November 14, 2013

General

I started on the project list and am making good headway. The online tools have passed all the tests and our web develop and dock repair companies are using it.  We have also gotten most of our complaints and suggestions via the web site rather than emails.  This makes tracking easier and reduces stress on volunteers.

Accomplishments this month

Since the last meeting, I have managed to get the following tasks accomplished:

·        Verify that the cloud tools work for managing projects

·        Began getting violation reports, complaints, and suggestions in the system

·        Had sand put in at Fishing Creek and a general clean-up

·        Repaired the Fishing creek dock and removed the gate.

Goals for 2013/2014

This list is quite large, and although not all aspects will be doable, I think we should take these goals seriously and include as many of them in the Budget for 2014 as possible.

General

·        Eric and Kathy Burke to work on budget

·        Scanning files in OHCA office for long term retention

·        Do further research on the history of Oyster Harbor

·        Do video interviews of some of the older residents

Maintenance

·        Repair Fishing Creek Picnic tables

·        Trees trimmed along roads

·        Add a Dog clean-up stations

·        Replace boards and weak areas on Booker pier

·        Repair picnic tables at Fishing Creek and Beach

·        Clean up Beach trash area

·        Create a trash receptacle area and add to trash cans at beach

·        Increase trash collection in the summer at the Beach & Fishing Creek

·        Add a second dumpster weekend for the community

New Projects for 2014 budget or leftover 2013 budget

·        Add Cistern system at Fishing Creek for dog and dinghy Washington <$2000

·        Build enclosure for Porta-Potty at the Beach $800

·        A four slips to Fishing Creek $2200

·        Add a dog clean-up station to Washington boat ramp $150(?)

·        Add a fourth dinghy rack to Fishing Creek ~$1500

·        Add a dinghy rack at Washington Boat ramp ~$1500

·        Add a weather station and webcam to the Beach ~23,000

·        Build an electronic system to collect petition signatures ~$400

·        Build an Oyster Ring at Fishing Creek pier ~$3500

·        Add shells to Washington water’s edge

Board Approvals/Motions Needed

To accomplish these, we would need to Board to approve the following:

q No motions needed this meeting

Presidents Report – For October 10, 2013

General

My overarching mindset is to make information more readily available, and general living in Oyster Harbor easier on residents, by increasing the quality of our community’s infrastructure.

I think this can be accomplished by using Internet based tools, some targeted improvements to the community, and good project coordination.  Hopefully introducing better tools will make the work of the Board and Committee Chairs easier – reducing laborious tasks and allowing members to focus on managing projects and getting results.

Accomplishments this month

Since election, I have managed to get the following tasks accomplished:

·        Set of a Cloud based management tool for the Manger, President, Board and Committees to use

·        Created a series of web forms for Suggestions, Damage reports, and Rule violations reports – and had them put on the website

·        Created pointers for key email addresses (Thanks Kathy)

·        Ordered some sand for the beach at Fishing Creek

·        Listed a set of goals/projects we should consider doing for the community

·        Sent out a questionnaire to slip holders in Fishing Creek about their interest regarding the gate

·        Created a project management tool for Board and Committee chairs to track projects and retain data

Goals for Calendar Years 2013/2014

This list is quite large, and although not all aspects will be doable, I think we should take these goals seriously and include as many of them in the Budget for 2014 as possible.

General

·        Raise for Claire (to $50/hr, same current hours, will be a slight increase in budget each year, as she does not bill all the allotted hours).

·        New laptop for Claire

·        Scanning files in OHCA office for long term retention

·        Meet with our Insurance Agent - Kurt Carson (sp) to review coverage of piers and beach

·        Do further research on the history of Oyster Harbor

·        Do video interviews of some of the older residents

Maintenance

·        Repair Fishing Creek Picnic tables

·        Remove Fishing Creek Gate

·        Trees trimmed along roads

·        Review and possibly improve management of Dog clean-up stations

·        Replace boards and weak areas on docks

·        Increase trash collection in the summer at the Beach

·        Add a second dumpster weekend for the community

New Projects

·        Add Cistern system at Fishing Creek for dog and dinghy Washington <$2000

·        Build enclosure for Porta-Potty at the Beach $800

·        A four slips to Fishing Creek $2200

·        Add a dog clean-up station to Washington boat ramp $150(?)

·        Add a fourth dinghy rack to Fishing Creek ~$1500

·        Add a dinghy rack at Washington Boat ramp ~$1500

·        Add a weather station and webcam to the Beach ~23,000

·        Build an electronic system to collect petition signatures ~$400

·        Build an Oyster Ring at Fishing Creek pier ~$3500

Board Approvals/Motions

To accomplish these, we would need to Board to approve the following:

Motion to give Claire a raise

Motion to add these project to budget for 2014

·        Two dinghy racks $3000

·        Cistern system (mostly community volunteer made) <$2500

·        Porta-Potty Enclosure $800

·        Pilings at Fishing Creek $2200

·        Oyster ring $3500

Motion to approve $5000 for tree and hedge trimming

Motion to look into Weather station $23,000 (needs quote, discussion on cost vs. benefit, and detailed consideration)

Discussion on reviewing Insurance requirements