Dover Shores News - May
DOVER SHORES NEWS, MAY 1, 2021
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all our Dover Shores’ mothers and grandmothers! Here is the latest update from the Dover Shores HOA Board about what is going on in our community:
May Board Meeting:
The May board meeting of the Dover Shores Community Association will be conducted via Zoom on Tuesday, May 18. The general session with homeowner participation begins at 5PM.
Join Zoom Meeting with your browser
Meeting ID: 828 0901 2541
Passcode: 731704
PLEASE ZOOM IN! Our last HOA meeting was very well attended by our community, and we hope this will be a growing trend. Remember – any homeowner can bring any matter to the Board’s attention during the Homeowner Forum at the start of the meeting. The Zoom link also has a “Chat” feature that allows you to type a question anytime. So please participate with any questions or comments you might have. We need you there.
Some potential Agenda Items for the May meeting include:
- We will be electing 2 new Board members.
- New Beach Rules for Larry’s and North Star Beaches and New Beach Rules for Fisherman’s Beach will be formally adopted.
- The Board will be discussing changing the Covid Beach Usage Rules to reflect the current State protocols on gatherings. The discussion will include when to bring back reservations for private groups and whether to limit the number of people permitted.
- The Board will discuss whether to bring back our Tuesday Night Beach Barbeques, including how many to have, and whether they will be subject to a size limit. However, restarting the barbeques will be conditional on finding one or more people to volunteer as Social Chairs to organize these events.
- New Picnic Table replacements will also be on the Agenda.
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO NEEDS A SUMMER JOB?
WE NEED LIFEGUARD/BEACH ATTENDANTS IN ORDER TO FULLY OPEN OUR BEACHES FOR NORMAL ACTIVITIES. PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO MEETS THE QUALIFICATIONS AND MIGHT BE INTERESTED:
Lifeguard / Beach Attendant for Dover Shores Community Association, Newport Beach CA
The Dover Shores Community Association is looking for two part-time lifeguards/beach attendants to monitor and protect all the users of our private beaches in Dover Shores. Lifeguards will also help setup and conduct Tuesday night barbeques and movies on the beach.
JOB TITLE:
Professional Lifeguard/Beach Attendant
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Current certifications in the following:
- American Red Cross Lifeguard Training/First Aid.
- American Red Cross CPR for the Professional Rescuer.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:
- Thorough knowledge and application of Lifeguard and rescue techniques, patron surveillance and emergency preparation.
- An understanding of the facility characteristics, rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
- Leadership, communication and public relation skills.
COMPENSATION
The pay rate (subject to experience) varies from $15 to $22 per hour - paid Bi-monthly (with standard payroll deduction).
If you, or someone you know may be interested in the positions please contact:
Dan Converse
509 Evening Star Lane
Newport Beach 92660
Email: dan.converse@verizon.net
Cell: 626-641-9027
WE NEED SOCIAL COMMITTEE CHAIRS: PLEASE HELP!
We all love our Tuesday Night Beach Barbeques – certainly one of our favorite Dover Shores traditions, and where so many of us have connected with our neighbors and made lasting friendships. We have missed them. But we can’t bring them back without one or two people raising their hands to help out. The job is easy and just needs a little organization – reaching out to find host families to sign up; purchasing some supplies; and getting the word out. AND now Dover Shores News can certainly help with that. We anticipate having fewer barbeques this year, with possibly a limited number of residents, and safety protocols in place for food service. And Julie Patterson has an incredible notebook to guide you through it. This is just a temporary job too – two months, and then it’s done. So please let us know if you can help out by replying to this Newsletter.
A MESSAGE FROM SHERRY BILBEISI, HOA PRESIDENT:
Is it May already?!? We are all so ready for normalcy, getting together with friends and family, and now it all seems to be getting closer and closer. We also are very lucky to get back to normalcy in a great place like Dover Shores. Last month I talked about our community beaches and reminded everyone that they are collectively the most valuable asset Dover Shores has. However, there is another valuable asset in Dover Shores we take for granted, and that is our landscaped slopes. They complement our beaches and are part of what gives us our own distinctive look from other communities in Newport Beach. But to keep them looking good, it seems some clarification may be needed on how they are to be maintained.
Many of our neighbors have these landscaped slopes below their backyards extending down to the curb on the street below. These neighbors live on Santiago, Antiqua, Pescador, Westwind, and parts of Polaris. Although most of the homeowners with slopes in their backyard technically own the property down to the curb, the CC&Rs - the written agreement every homeowner agrees to follow and abide by at the time they purchase their home - governs the landscaping and building of any structures on those slopes.
For example, the CC&Rs at Article VI, section 4(e) states no building, garage or storage structures of any kind are allowed to be built on the slope areas below any homes except decks, and these are subject to specific size requirements.
Further, Article VIII Easements, sec. 4 specifically gives the Association an easement over specific slopes “for landscaping and maintenance of the landscaping by the Association and hereby convey(s) to said Association reasonable rights of access hereto.” In other words, a homeowner may only landscape or fence that part of its slope above the area where the Association’s easement begins.
The last thing the Association and homeowners in this HOA need are expenses related to disputes about landscaping and use of the slopes over which the Association has an easement. This causes everyone’s HOA dues to go up. So let’s avoid that – please. Be sure you know where the Association’s easement begins from a title map of your property before you begin any work on the slope below your backyard to remove, replace or add any plants or fencing. Even though you may believe you could do a better job landscaping than the Association’s landscapers, that’s not the way the CC&Rs are intended to work.
There is an ongoing effort by our Landscape Committee and Landscape Maintenance Company to keep the slopes attractively landscaped according to a plan. Anything that might destabilize the slope could cause great damage and expense to our community.
The bigger plan, of course, is that we all try to be reasonable and work together to keep our HOA dues down, to keep our neighborhood beautiful and to enjoy being part of this community. I’m sure you all feel the same. Thank you!
A NOTE FROM BHE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION:
May brings so many wonderful things!! – Warm weather, baby ducklings, Mother’s Day…it is a wonderful time of year and we hope that you are all enjoying getting out to see nature, family, and friends!
And while we are on the subject of Slopes, hopefully, this will answer some additional questions you might have about how it works in a situation like Dover Shores where the Association retains an easement over the slopes for planting and maintenance, and homeowners are not permitted to plant on the slopes within the easement.
Q: Hold on a minute, we have seen several homes where the owners planted on the slope! That’s not allowed?
A: Great question if I say so myself. Over the years, some owners have approached the Association to request permission to add plantings to the Association maintained slope area; and over the years, some have been approved by the Association. Unfortunately, some of the areas planted by owners within the easement were NOT approved by the Association – and that is definitely not allowed.
Q: So if I plant it without permission, what’s the worst thing that can happen?
A: The Association is empowered to have the slope restored to its previous condition, at the cost of the owner who altered the slope without permission – but the worst thing that can happen would probably be a slope failure inadvertently caused by the Owner – remember, that could affect more than one home.
Q: Okay, I get it…but I have been thinking about that myself because the slope near my
home isn’t attractive – what is the right way to go about this?
A: Contact Management to let us know what your concerns are, and we will review with the volunteer Landscape Committee members and the landscapers on our next monthly walk – and go from there!!
Thank you and have an excellent May!!
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
CERT – NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH UPDATES:
Crime Trends
The latest crime trends from the NBPD include:
- Garage burglaries continue to be a problem. Lock it up!
- Burglaries/thefts from motor vehicles - specifically related to trails. NBPD has seen thieves targeting vehicles in parking areas such as Back Bay and Coastal Peak Park.
- Catalytic converter thefts: supply chain issues related to COVID have made the metals in catalytic converters even more valuable so thefts are occurring all over Newport. See this Nixle Alert for details.
Take Inventory
For both disaster and burglary protection it is important to periodically record an inventory of your home:
- If you have a fire, flood or other disaster in your home, it can be useful for insurance purposes to have some photos of your home & record your valuables prior to the event.
- If you are ever a victim of a burglary, having an inventory can help you easily identify what was taken. Being able to provide police with a list of items taken, the values of those items, the serial numbers and even photos can be helpful for the investigation. Helpful tip: Having your valuables engraved or serialized gives police a better chance of possibly locating your property, confirming it’s yours & getting it returned to you.
The idea of recording all your possessions may feel like a daunting task, but we encourage you to just get started - even if you just tackle it little by little. Going through a burglary or disaster can be traumatic and stressful. Taking time in advance to do this inventory process can help relieve some of the burden in an already difficult situation.
This article from Insurance Information Institute has some helpful guidance for doing a home inventory.
COVID Vaccines
OCHealth reports same day appointments are currently available at County of Orange point-of-dispensing (POD) sites. Visit www.Othena.com to register and schedule an appointment today. Ralphs has appointments available within a few days. For more choices, visit VaccineFinder.
2020 FINANCIAL REPORT
From Tony Khoury, 2020 Board President & Treasurer:
Dover Shores’ financial results for the 12 months ending January 31, 2021 were exceptional. We ended our fiscal year with an increase of $75,300 in income and a savings of $51,300 due to unspent budget allocations.
The excellent results in income were generated from Settlements of 4 potential lawsuits that generated over $100,000 of income to the association. The funds collected from the above settlements were allocated to several categories: $67,600 to miscellaneous income including dredging, $16,000 to legal fees, $7,500 to landscape, $5,000 to beach and the balance $5,000 to various accounts.
We also had a loss of income due to decreases in late fees and interest, pre liens and liens and collection fees since the greater part of our homeowners paid their assessments in a timely manner.
The major savings in expenses were derived from the following: * A saving of $85,000 in unexpended discretionary funds. * A reduction of $5,700 in lower taxes due to drop of interest income from our CD investments. * Additional decrease of $9,000 was generated from the cancellation of social expenses for all the events at the beach due to Covid.
Categories to watch going into 2021 are we had increases in 2020: • Water usage increased $12,900 over plan. • Legal was over plan by $32,000.
The 2020 Audited Financial Report will be mailed to all our homeowners within the next 60 days.
Finally
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
- Beach: Sherry Bilbeisi, David Price, Dan Converse, Jacquelyn Beauregard Dillman, Jodi Cassutt
- Cert: 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: We are looking for volunteers to be part of this committee
- Welcome: Sue Ashwill, Mayssoun Khoury