February 13, 2010 Meeting Minutes

 
The February 13, 2010 meeting of the South Bethany Property 0wners Association (SBPOA) was held at the South Bethany Town Hall. Kathy Jankowski called the meeting to order at 10:10a.m. The following officers or Executive
Committee members were present: Kathy Jankowski, President; George Junkin, 1^st Vice President, Ann Shanks, Treasurer and Al Rae, Past President. Sue Callaway, 2nd Vice President; Mary Suazo, Secretary were absent.
Kathy Jankowski requested that George Junkin keep the minutes since Mary Suazo was “Snowed in.”
Ten other SBPOA members were present; Dan Cowell, Bonnie Rae, Gene & Rose Hendrix, Barbara Junkin, Jim Gross, Ed & Diann Nazarian, Rob Youngs and Carolyn Marcello. South Bethany Councilman, Tim Saxton was also present.
1. Minutes: Kathy Jankowski read the minutes of the August 26, 2009 Membership Meeting, since Mary Suazo was “snowed in” in her Virginia home. Highlights from the minutes were the discussion on the Park Committee Report and the resulting motion that was passed by a 23 to 21 vote for the SBPOA to stop further work on the park; approval to spend $2,500 for a handicap beach access wheel chair; the planning and SBPOA funding support for the Town of South Bethany 40^th Anniversary Celebration; and a demonstration of the SBPOA Web Site by Kathy Jankowski. One correction was made to the minutes to add an “s” to correct Rob Youngs name. George Junkin made a motion that we accept the minutes as amended. Jim Gross seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2. Treasurer’s Report: Ann Shanks presented the Treasurer’s Report. She reported that we have about 780 paid members to date. The balance on 12/8/2009 was $28,361.75. Since that date there has been little income ($86.80) and expenditures of $901.60 for the volunteer luncheon and $689.22 for the newsletter, leaving a balance of $26857.73 as of 2/12/2010. Jim Gross made a motion that we accept the Treasurer’s Report. Barbara Junkin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Dan Cowell questioned why the SBPOA was not getting more return on investment. Ann Shanks responded that we currently have the majority of the SBPOA funds in a Wilmington Trust Money Market account. The Executive Committee took an action item to investigate and evaluate potential sources for additional interest. This was made into a motion by Diann Nazarian, seconded by Dan Cowell. The motion passed unanimously. Ann agreed to be responsible for this action.

3. Executive Committee Report on Holiday Lights: Kathy Jankowski reported that a number of SBPOA members were concerned that there would be no holiday lights in South Bethany due to cuts in the town budget. In response to this, a call was sent to the members for donations to fund the lights. $1,310 was received in donations and the SBPOA Executive Committee voted to supply $190 from the SBPOA treasury to bring the total to $1,500. The lights were then installed and many people commented on how they appreciated SBPOA’s efforts. Kathy acknowledged each by name on the SBPOA website. Kathy reported that the current draft for the Town’s 2011 budget includes $2,500 to cover holiday lighting for next year. There was a question as to why $2,500 was required versus $1,500. The answer was that the lights need a significant amount of repair.

4. Neighborhood Watch Report: George Junkin, Chairman of the Neighborhood Watch, reported that there had been a few reported frozen pipes due to homeowners who had not properly winterized their home. He also reported that the recent snow storms had caused some trees to be overloaded with snow that caused them to lean into some homes. Also, at least one home did not have its door securely latched resulting in the door blowing open and a snow drift inside the home. All observations were reported to the homeowners. Dan Cowell has volunteered as a new walker for
Henlopen Drive
. This will cut Anita Dayton’s work in half and each can be the other’s substitute on Henlopen. George reported that the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner is scheduled for May 5, 2010 and that he must “get on the ball” and reserve a facility. Dan Cowell asked what steps homeowners can take if they see something wrong in the town. The response was, depending on the circumstances, call the police, the town hall or George Junkin, the chairman of the neighborhood watch.

5. Information Committee Report: Kathy Jankowski reported that SBPOA uses three main sources for communication; the SBPOA Web Site, e-mails and the Shore Line newsletter. She also reported on some beach repair work that is planned by DNREC for our beaches. Tony Pratt, from the Shoreline and Waterway Management Section of DNREC, reported at the South Bethany Town Council Meeting, 2/12/2010, that DNREC would move as much sand back to the dune as possible by March 20, 2010. This is to meet the schedule for planting dune grass by volunteers on March 20. Before Memorial Day DNREC will repair all the dune crossings and rebuild the fences that were destroyed by the November 2009 Nor’easter, “Nor’Ida.”
6. Telephone Book Committee Report: Deferred to April meeting.

7. Social and Program Committee Report: George Junkin reported for Mary Suazo on the Town of South Bethany 40^th Anniversary Celebration. Co-leaders for the celebration were Mary Suazo and Carolyn Marcello. SBPOA contributed $500 toward the event. Over 150 residents attended. Six previous South Bethany mayors spoke about their remembrances of South Bethany. Proclamations were read and many brought memorabilia from the “olden days.” Barbara Junkin reported for Mary that the SBPOA also sponsors a bridge club that meets on two Fridays a month at the town hall. It is very informal and there have been usually two or three tables of players. It was suspended during the winter but the plan is to resume again in the spring.

8. Bull Roast Committee Report: The report is deferred to the April meeting. A comment was made by Al Rae that we should not wait too long to select a vendor. Kathy Jankowski reported that Walt Laderer, the Bull Roast Chairman, was working on the issue. She also reported that we should be looking for a replacement for Walt since he has a desire to retire from being the chairman.

9. Park Committee Report: Kathy Jankowski reported that the SBPOA no longer sponsors or is involved in the Park. Individual citizens have formed a committee, separate from the SBPOA, to further development of the park. Councilman Rob Youngs reported some new park information from the 2/12/2010 Town Council Meeting. At that meeting a motion was made that the town spend no money on behalf of park development until after Town of South Bethany sponsors a referendum to find out if the citizens are in favor of a park. That town motion passed by a vote of 5 to 2. The resolution proposing the referendum will be introduced at the Town Council workshop on Thursday, February 25. If the resolution is approved, there will be a non-binding referendum in the May 28 election.

10. Unfinished Business – SBPOA Bylaws regarding voting: Kathy Jankowski presented a candidate revision to the SBPOA Bylaws that would change the allowed votes per SBPOA membership from one to two. The purpose of the proposed change is to align the SBPOA Bylaws to the past accepted practices for voting, where both husband and wife were permitted to vote without question. There was significant discussion on the changes. One topic was how many should be allowed to vote. The Town of South Bethany allows everyone whose name is on the deed, including their spouses and full-time residents (i.e. renters) who are not owners; however, not to exceed 8 votes per property. A poll was taken of members present at the meeting and found that: two wanted to allow only one person to vote per SBPOA membership; ten wanted to allow only two votes per SBPOA membership; and no one wanted to allow more than two to vote per SBPOA membership. There was considerable discussion as to how the SBPOA would determine who is eligible (i.e. names on the ballot or names on the SBPOA application). The Executive Committee determined that they had more work to do on proposed changes to the SBPOA Bylaws.

11. New Business - Dues: The Executive Committee recommended that the dues stay at $20 even though the $20 does not cover all of the SBPOA expenses. However the rest of the expenses are easily covered by telephone book advertisements. Jim Gross moved that we establish the 2010/2011 dues to be $20. Barbara Junkin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

12. New Business – Nominating Committee: Al Rae volunteered to lead the nominating committee. Carolyn Marcello and Barbara Junkin volunteered to be on the committee. Positions up for election are 1^st VP and Secretary. Another position that is available is Association Membership Manager.

13. New Business – Beautification Committee: Kathy Jankowski reported that the Town of South Bethany has a Beautification Committee led by Council Member Diane Matera. Diane Matera is working with the town to get funds to support the beautification effort. Diane is also working with the town water quality committee to select plantings that are not only beautiful but also support water quality initiatives. Kathy suggested that we have an SBPOA Beautification Committee to support the town committee. Diann Nazarian volunteered to lead the SBPOA Beatification Committee. The town has purchased seeds/planting. Volunteers will be needed for an upcoming spring planting to assist in planting. It was also suggested that homeowners who are getting rid of good plants should see if the town could use them.

14. New Business – Commendation to Town Employees Who Helped With Snow Removal: Kathy Jankowski suggested that SBPOA recognize the outstanding job that Don Chrobot did in clearing snow from South Bethany’s street during the past three snow storms. Discussions involved whether it was OK for a town employee to receive remuneration from homeowners for doing his job and whether there were other employees who assisted Don who should also be recognized. Al Rae made a motion that Kathy Jankowski should get the answers to the above questions and then if was OK, the SBPOA should give a $50 gift certificate to each employee who should get it. The motion was seconded by Diann Nazarian. The motion passed unanimously.
15. New Business – Recognition of the work that the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Department does For South Bethany Residents: Dan Cowell made a motion that the SBPOA arrange for a formal presentation of its annual donation to the fire department at our Bull Roast. Barbara Junkin seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

16. Adjournment: Jim Gross made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Kathy Jankowski adjourned the meeting at 11:15.

Respectfully submitted,

George Junkin II, 1^st VP for
Mary Suazo, Secretary