December 1, 2021

Dover Shores News - December

DOVER SHORES NEWS, December 1, 2021

WISHING ALL OF OUR DOVER SHORES FAMILIES A WONDERFULLY DELIGHTFUL NORMAL HOLIDAY SEASON AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is the latest update from the Dover Shores HOA Board about what has been going on in our community:

ANNUAL MEEETING

Our postponed Annual Meeting was held on November 16, 2021. Approximately 40 residents attended in person at the Newport Rib Company – a great turnout! At that time, BHE Management informed us that, unfortunately, we still did not have a quorum, i.e. sufficient votes to declare winners for Board seats based on numbers of votes turned in. However, in order to avoid further delay and expense, management advised the Board it was now permitted for the board to vote to appoint to the Dover Shores Board of Directors those persons who were running in this year’s election, both as declared candidates and as write-in candidates, since we did not have more candidates than open seats.

CONGRATUATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING RESIDENTS VOTED TO THE BOARD:

STEVE BRIGGS
TATE LUESEBRINK
TIM HAWKE

NOVEMBER HOA MEETING

Prior to the postponed Annual Meeting beginning, our regular November HOA meeting was held. Here are some of the highlights:

• The Board voted to remove pickle ball from the North Star Beach Improvement Plans. Instead, it was suggested that we substitute another adult type of activity that would not present the noise problems pickle ball does. Bocce ball and shuffleboard were two ideas suggested during the Homeowners Forum. We would welcome any other ideas residents might have, and ask that you respond with your suggestions to this Newsletter by reply email, or at the next HOA meeting on January 18, 2020. To help with the planning process, we ask that you include any details on size of courts and equipment needed for your ideas.

• The Board voted to start an on-call security service to respond to noise, possible trespassing, or any other security issues occurring primarily on our beaches.

• The 2022 Budget was approved by the Board. There will be no increase in HOA dues for the coming year.

DOVER SHORES BOARD OPENING

Due to the unfortunate sad passing of Joan Lutz in October, there is one additional open seat on the HOA Board for the upcoming year. If you are interested in serving on the Dover Shores Board, please contact BHE Management Co. for a Candidacy Statement so it can be submitted for the Board’s consideration at the January 18 meeting. The statements must be returned by January 8 so the Board can fill this seat at the January meeting. We encourage everyone in our Dover Shores community to consider serving on the Board at some point in time. It’s a great way to have a say in what is happening in our neighborhood.

BHE Management Corporation
Lisa Parra, CCAM, Community Manager LParra@BHEManagement.com
Melissa Mora, Assistant Community Manager MMora@BHEManagement.com
www.BHEManagement.com (949)363-1963

A MESSAGE FROM SHERRY BILBEISI, HOA PRESIDENT:

At the Annual Meeting, I presented the annual “state of the neighborhood” address summarizing the work and accomplishments of the Board and its committees over the past year. Your HOA dues are hard at work in many tangible ways improving our community. PLEASE see the list of Committee Chairs and Committee Members at the bottom of this Newsletter. Thank you everyone for all the hard work! Here are some highlights of what has happened over the past year and reported at our Annual Meeting:

TREASURER’S REPORT from Gail Jones:

The annual HOA budget is only $468,000.00 and we spend that on everything from community functions, to beach, janitorial, and landscape maintenance, as well as all of our utilities, insurance, and administration for the whole community for an entire year! Your Board has been very responsible, conservative, and pro-active in their spending!

Our Fiscal Year ends in January, so this is the latest report:

• A couple of years ago, the HOA required necessary funding and therefore borrowed money from the dredging reserve. The great news is that by the end of this year we will have returned all the borrowed funds back to that account.

• The reserve studies have been completed. They encompass three categories: landscape, dredging and general reserves. These will assist us in our budgeting going forward. The Board will be reviewing the results and reporting on the findings. An initial look-see shows we are in a strong position at this time.

• We feel fortunate that we have been able to balance the budget thus far for this year!

• And the best news ever is… that we did not increase the HOA dues even though we have had a decline of interest income in our interest earning accounts due to the economy. This is great evidence of the hard work the Board is doing.

BEACH COMMITTEE:

Over the past year, the Beach Committee improved our beaches with new swim lines, buoys marking the swim areas at both beaches, a new safer anchoring system and ladder for our swim platform, new umbrellas, and new picnic tables, as well as new benches at North Star. The new swim lines at North Star provided definite swim boundaries for small children, and had the added benefit of preventing outside boats from beaching on the sand and using our beach.

Because of construction and material issues caused by Covid, we have been delayed in obtaining bids for the Improvement Plan at North Star, but we are continuing ongoing efforts to get this moving and finally make it happen.

At Fisherman’s Beach our plan is to install 5 new spaces for storage of new boats due to increased demand by our residents.

ARCHITECTURAL COMMITTEE:

The Number of architectural applications for 2021 were 34 and applications for 2020 were 30. The objectives of the Architectural Committee for 2022 are:

1. Clean up slope easement language so the CC&Rs and Architectural Guidelines are more consistent.
2. Streamline the process for submitting applications so ARC reviews are not required, but have more details and information provided so ARC can monitor the project and understand the development.
3. Develop a better definition of maximum building height and datum applied in each situation.
4. Re-write the ARC guidelines to incorporate current rules and codes.
5. Clean up the fee schedule.

LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE:

The Dover Shores Landscape Committee meets on a monthly basis and has been actively working to maintain and improve upon our community’s slopes and common areas in the following ways this past year:

1. The annual tree-trimming of all slopes to maintain view preservation was completed in August.
2. On-going maintenance of the slopes included removal of diseased or dying plants that out-lived their lifespans, and were replaced with a variety of HOA approved shrubs, trees or ground cover that are more drought tolerant.
3. The slope at the corner of Whitecliffs and Polaris across from North Star Beach was renovated to remove dying, over-trimmed pine trees that disturbed the view of residents on Santiago Drive. They were removed and replaced with olive trees and blooming ground cover plants. Irrigation was also updated in this area.
4. The slope at the corner of Galaxy and Holiday was also moderately renovated. It included removal of several overgrown shrubs that had outlived their useful lives, replanting of ice plant and other low-growing plant material.
5. The first installation of Smart controllers were installed on a slope on Galaxy Drive. This area was chosen because it had a non-functioning controller that needed to be fixed. Artistic Landscape will be monitoring the water readings for the next couple of months to determine if smart controllers should be purchased for the remainder of the community slopes. Studies have shown that smart controller systems can save homeowner associations thousands of dollars over time.
6. An area of the slope on Westwind was also cleaned up, old shrubs removed, and new plant material was added to fill in, as needed.
7. Several dying Queen palms were removed from North Star Lane, and the area was also treated for an infestation of white milk snails.
8. The Landscape Committee has an ongoing challenge dealing with property owners who are in violation of the CC&R’s because they choose not to apply for landscape approval before modifying their slopes or building non-compliant structures. This can result in the homeowner having to incur an added expense to remove and renovate the area if they are determined to be in violation. Additionally, any homeowner who destroys any irrigation lines or shrubbery as a result of construction on or near their slope will be required to bear the cost to restore damaged sprinklers and plants. Please do the right thing and contact BHE management if you are planning to make any modifications to your slope.

WELCOME COMMITTEE:

Since November 2020,15 new families have been welcomed into our community. So, if any of these new families are one of your neighbors, please reach out.

SOCIAL COMMITTEE:

Our traditional Tuesday Night Beach BBQs were revived this summer. We had great turnouts during the eight weeks of the BBQs in July and August, wonderful food thanks to our host families, and great camaraderie with friends and neighbors who hadn’t seen each other in 2 years.

Our summer ended with our traditional September Fiesta Party complete with mariachis, Mexican food, and margaritas.

COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE:

In April, 2020, Dover Shores News published by email its inaugural monthly Newsletter. The goal of the Committee is to communicate with all Dover Shores residents about what is going on in our community – when HOA meetings are scheduled, what is on the agenda, and afterwards, what took place at the meetings. The Newsletter also provides management reports from BHE Management, and CERT reports on matters of safety and health issues important to our community.

It is our goal to continue our Newsletter communication with Dover Shores homeowners. As was reported in last month’s newsletter, starting in January, we will send out a notice of the meeting and agenda items a few days before the meeting, which is always the third Tuesday of every other month. Then for the months following an HOA meeting, we will report what took place at the meeting and other matters of interest to our residents.

Our goal is to send our Newsletter to every resident of Dover Shores and to add everyone’s email address to our list, so we are always trying to find new Dover Shores subscribers. Please help us with that if you know anyone who is not receiving the Newsletter by email.

NEXT DOVER SHORES HOA GENERAL MEETING:

JANUARY 18, 2021

As noted above, our next regular Dover Shores’ bi-monthly HOA meeting will be held on Tuesday January 18, 2021. Details on Agenda items, time and place will be sent by Newsletter a few days prior to that date. Additionally, as always, all homeowners are welcome to bring up any issues they would like the Board to address during the Homeowners Forum.

CERT / Neighborhood Watch

NBPD crime prevention specialist Sara Verschueren reports that city-wide violent and property crime for the year so far is down 11% compared to last year and down 19% compared to the 5-year averages. However, there are still some issues:

• Catalytic Converter Theft - these are on the rise again, usually overnight but can occur in daytime. NBPD recommends etching your VIN number on the converter so they can link stolen converters to specific thefts. Use garages, lighting, cameras, vibration sensitive car alarms and welding the bolts to prevent CC thefts.

• Residential Burglaries - are down but creeping up. Use the NBPD home security checklist to improve your home security.

• Bike Thefts - October was up 60% compared to previous Octobers. Many involved unlocked bikes or bikes with locks cut. Be sure to use good-quality locks. Registering your bike at Project529/Newport increases the chance that a stolen bike will be returned.

• Burglaries / thefts from vehicles - shopping center parking lots are being targeted. Please don’t leave shopping bags or other valuables unattended. Neighborhoods are also being hit with multiple break-ins over short periods. Balboa Peninsula had 10 reports in one night. Please don’t leave iPads or other valuables visible in cars parked in the street.

• Package Thefts - ‘Tis the season. Doorbell cameras help. Use pick-up options like Amazon Locker if you can’t be home. Never leave a note telling delivery people you won’t be home.

NBPD has a new web site with good information. Check out What we do/Information/Crime Prevention and Safety. The page at: What we do/Calls for Service has recent crime statistics and an interactive map of recent events.

NBFD is accepting applications for in-person CERT classes starting in February. Apply on-line at the NBFD CERT Program page.

Finally:

If you would like to submit an article for publication in the Newsletter that you think might be of interest to Dover Shores, please let us know by responding to this Newsletter by email.

Please let your neighbors know how to contact us at board@dovershoreshoa.org if they are not part of our email list and would like to join. Or please forward this email to them. Our goal is to reach every Dover Shores neighbor.

Note that past newsletters are always available at our archives.

Thank you from your Dover Shores Board and Committee Members:

• Airport/Dredging: Tony Khoury
• Architecture: Mike Talbott, Darren Houck, Tim Hawke, Kristen Duntley
• Beach: Sherry Bilbeisi, David Price, Dan Converse, Jacquelyn Beauregard Dillman, Jodi Cassutt
• CERT/Neighborhood Watch: Jim Gula and the CERT team
• Communications: Sherry Bilbeisi, Jim Gula, Cindy Talbott, Esther Fine
• Landscape: Julie Patterson, Sue Ashwill, Allison Pence, Robin Wright
• Legal, CC&Rs: Steve Briggs, Sherry Bilbeisi, David Price
• Social: Tate Luesebrink
• Welcome: Sue Ashwill, Mayssoun Khoury