October 1, 2022

Dover Shores News - October

DOVER SHORES NEWS, October 1, 2022

After a wonderful summer, fall has arrived with Halloween around the corner. Your Dover Shores HOA Board has had a busy, productive year trying our best to make Dover Shores a beautiful community, and also one where neighbors have opportunities to get to know their neighbors. So here is the latest update about what is going on in our community.

PLEASE VOTE AND RETURN YOUR BALLOTS

A few weeks ago, all Dover Shores owners were mailed ballots with candidate statements for 3 open Board seats. Each year it seems we have trouble reaching a quorum as a majority of homeowners do not return their ballots. The problem was so chronic that a few years ago we had another vote to change our by-laws so that only 34% was needed for a Board election quorum. And last year we still could not reach a quorum.

This is your community. The Board members are all volunteers who spend a lot of their free time making Dover Shores a community we are all happy to be part of. The Board cannot continue to do that unless they are elected by residents returning their ballots. This year there are 4 candidates for the 3 open seats: Sherry Bilbeisi, Mike Talbott, Jim Rosenquist, and Ann Yahn. Again, please vote and return your ballots on or before noon, October 18, 2022.

If you misplaced your ballot, or no longer have it, please contact BHE for another ballot:

Lisa Parra, Community Manager, LParra@BHEManagement.com
Melissa Mora, Assistant Community Manager, MMora@BHEManagement.com

THANK YOU.

ANNUAL MEETING:

The ballots will be counted and winners announced at the Dover Shores Community Association Annual Election and Meeting on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 6:00 p.m., at:

The Bungalow Restaurant, 2441 East Coast Hwy, Corona del Mar, CA 92626.

All Dover Shores homeowners are welcome to attend. Dinner is provided, with no-host bar, and valet parking not included. We will be in the covered heated outdoor patio, so a jacket may be needed.

DOVER SHORES HOA GENERAL MEETING SEPTEMBER 20 , 2022:

The Dover Shores bi-monthly HOA meeting was held September 20, 2022, again via Zoom. Here is a brief overview of the main discussions and actions taken at our most recent Dover Shores Board Meeting:

• Security - The Board once again discussed security issues, and what options are available to our community to address increasing burglaries. The Board decided against hiring security companies to drive around one time a day, as very likely this would not be a deterrence. Also, to have someone full time would be cost prohibitive and still might not deter burglars. We also discussed security cameras at some locations, which need to be coordinated with the City, but also raise privacy concerns. We are also looking into installing license plate readers at various locations. This discussion will continue at the next Board meeting, and hopefully some acceptable solution can be found to make our neighborhood safer.

• Rekeying locks at Larry’s and North Star Beaches – The Board voted to rekey the beach locks due the fact that so many beach keys have been distributed, replaced, and also have not been returned when homes have changed hands. The keys will be high security keys and will not be able to be duplicated. Homeowners will receive notice by mail when keys will be distributed.

• Architecture – the Architectural Guidelines will be revised by our HOA architect, David George to ensure they are in compliance with any changes in City Codes and are consistent with CC&R requirements. Hopefully, the revised guidelines will make the application process easier.

• North Star Beach – The plans for improvement of North Star Beach have also been revised with a final draft ready reflecting additional changes made by the Beach Committee and David George. It was decided to eliminate a bocce ball court as it would be aesthetically out of place due to its size, not have universal appeal, and also add significantly to improvement costs. Instead, the Beach Committee decided to add a few corn hole boards to appeal to more age groups and beach users.

We anticipate that our next HOA meeting on November 15, 2022 will take place in person at St. Andrews Church in one of their meeting rooms. The general session with homeowner participation begins at 5 PM. We will also be sharing the meeting via Zoom for anyone that cannot attend in person:

Join Zoom Meeting via your browser
Meeting ID: 889 9686 7244
Passcode: 344155
Join by phone: (669) 900-6833

Halloween Children's Party

Dover Shores is bringing back children’s parties beginning with a Halloween Party on Friday, October 28 from 4-6pm at Larry's Beach. The festivities will include a face painter, food, treats, and more! You can RSVP here, but an RSVP is not required to attend!

Additionally, save the date for a children’s holiday party on December 17.

BEACH UPDATES:

• Tuesday Night Summer Beach BBQs - they were a big success this year and very well attended. Thank you to all of our host families for providing amazing food, and thank you also to Tate Luesebrink for organizing this Dover Shores tradition again this year. If any of our host families have not yet requested reimbursement for food costs, please contact:

Melissa Mora, Assistant Community Manager, MMora@BHEManagement.com

• Fiesta Party – Another Dover Shores tradition took place again this year on September 11 with mariachis, Mexican food and margaritas. Many thanks to Esther Fine for organizing the event and making it happen once again.

• Beach Reservations – It’s great that so many of our residents have made beach reservations this year for groups over 16 and been able to enjoy our beach facilities. That’s what they are for – our Dover Shores community. We make every effort to keep them clean with professional cleaning crews coming in every week. Even so, sometimes they cannot keep up with all the beach groups. So to help us out, this is just a short reminder to please clean up after your party, and put any party leftovers in the trash before you leave so the next group comes to a clean beach. Thank you! And another short reminder - homeowners close to the beach would appreciate if everyone remembers that no amplified music is allowed. Everyone helping with these few things goes a long way to making a smoother and happier time at the beach for everyone.

NEWPORT BEACH PODCAST

After our last Newsletter a resident emailed us about a historical podcast about Newport Beach called “Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror.” It starts with a killer whale that accidentally found itself in Newport Bay in 1961 and goes on in 24 episodes to tell listeners everything they never knew about Newport Beach. If you like podcasts for those long car trips or long walks, this might be something you would enjoy.

Here is the link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1429225/10838766

CERT – NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH UPDATES:

Neighborhood Watch

In light of the recent surge of home burglaries, people have asked about a Neighborhood Watch program for Dover Shores. We have had such a program for several years. We used to have monthly meetings but these were stopped due to lack of attendance. Experience has shown that it is hard to sustain interest in activities like these. The leaders do continue to meet with NBPD on a quarterly basis. If you would like to become involved either as a participating member or in a leadership role, please reply to this newsletter.

We can all participate in Neighborhood Watch with a few basic actions:

• Learn the best practices for home security and lead by example - make sure your home is secure. Share your knowledge with your neighbors. The NBPD has a good Home Security Page on their web site.

• Get out, walk your neighborhood, and learn its rhythms so you can distinguish what is suspicious and what is normal. Keep an eye out for people sitting in parked cars for extended periods and people looking into the interior of parked cars. Home burglaries can occur at any time but recently the most likely times have been the dinner hours 6-10 PM. If you see a crime in progress, report it via 911 but also, if you see something suspicious, don't be afraid to call the NBPD non-emergency number at ‭(949) 644-3717‬. A citizen reporting suspicious behavior enables the police to question someone they would not normally be allowed to stop.

• Burglars prefer to avoid encountering residents as that is a much more serious crime. They are looking for unoccupied houses, especially people on vacation. Piled up newspapers or overflowing mail boxes are an invitation to burglars. Make sure you stop newspapers and mail whenever you will be away from your house for more than a day. Buddy up with a neighbor who will keep an eye on your house and stash newspapers or mail if mistakes happen. The NBPD offers a free vacation check service but a neighbor who knows you is honestly much more effective. Note that the NBPD citizen volunteers who perform the vacation checks will usually ring your door bell which can be annoying if you have Ring alerts enabled and you are someplace in a very different time zone.

Hurricane Ian

The mess that Ian has left is a reminder that disasters happen and we should all be prepared with supplies and a plan to either shelter in place or evacuate in a hurry. Did you know that Orange County emergency preparedness authorities consider a flood rather than an earthquake as the highest risk in terms of its likelihood and damage impact?

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:

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