Dover Shores News - October
DOVER SHORES NEWS, August 1, 2023
Fall is here! We may lack colorful leaves but it's hard to complain about (usually) sunny weather and cooler temperatures.
Here is the latest update from the Dover Shores HOA Board about what is going on in our community:
Dover Shores HOA General Meeting September 19, 2023:
Here is a brief overview of what took place at our Board Meeting:
- Beach Reminder - Again, we want to remind all residents to clean up after themselves at the beaches. This includes closing all umbrellas, and bagging trash prior to leaving. Party remnants like confetti from pinatas and glass can add up to big problems for all of us, so please do your part to take care of our beaches!
- Fisherman’s beach – The Board approved a survey from Apex Land Surveying for $3500 to determine the elevation of the high tide line on the shore to deal with some Coastal Commission issues.
- Dredging – The board approved a proposal from Anchor QEA to perform an updated bathymetric survey on our back bay channels with the goal of determining an estimate of when dredging of our waters should be carried out.
- Landscaping – The Board discussed existing landscaping contracts and will conduct a thorough review of the existing irrigation system with help of Arroyo Irrigation Consulting.
- Social – We did not have time for a discussion of our Tuesday BBQ’s or other social events but plan to address this in future meetings. If you have feedback, ideas, or want to help please reach out to Tate Luesebrink(tate.luesebrink@gmail.com) or Emily Leach(leach.emilym@gmail.com).
- Parking - Homeowners have raised concerns about the lack of street parking, particularly on North Star, Evening Star and Morning Star. These are public streets and thus outside the jurisdiction of the HOA to regulate but we ask homeowners to be courteous and limit the spaces they consume to leave spaces for others. Homes undergoing construction are encouraged to ask contractors to park on Polaris to leave space for residents.
Annual Election
BHE confirmed that ballots were mailed to homeowners on September 14, so please mail those back to ensure your vote is counted! If you did not receive a ballot or need help please contact BHE at (949)363-1963.
The Election of Directors meeting will take place Tuesday, October 17 at 2 PM at the office of:
Accurate Voting Services
18 Technology DR
Suite 142
Irvine, CA 92618
If you did not have a chance to mail your ballot, you can deliver your ballot in person to the election meeting in Irvine. Note that voting will be complete by the time of our Annual Meeting at the Bungalow so ballots will not be accepted there.
You are are welcome to attend the election meeting via Zoom:
Meeting ID: 881 3593 5381
Passcode: 718200
Annual Meeting
You are cordially invited to the Dover Shores Annual Meeting and Election Results on Tuesday, October 17, at 6PM:
The Bungalow Restaurant, Outdoor Patio
2441 East Coast Hwy
Corona del Mar, CA 92626
All homeowners are welcome to attend. No-host bar, and $7.00 valet parking. Dinner is included with a limited capacity.
A Note from Association President Tim Hawke:
On behalf of myself and all of the Board Members, we want to let everyone know that Gail Jones, Kristen Duntley, and Michael Talbott, are retiring from the board this year.
After several years serving as the Association's treasurer and more recently serving as the Chair of the Landscape Committee, Gail Jones will be stepping down at the end of this year. She contributed many hours reviewing the HOA budgets and always provided insight and ideas to keep the budget under control. She chaired the landscape committee this year, as well. This position involves several areas of responsibility including monthly walking tours of the landscaped areas and constant analysis on how to reduce landscape costs while still enhancing our landscaped areas. We will miss her expertise and cheerful willfulness to help and provide advice.
We also want to give Kristen Duntley a shout out. She took over a vacated board position and kept the board apprised of various view points from our other homeowners as she served and contributed to our community as chair of the Welcome Committee.
After years of service to the community as Treasurer and chair of the Architecture Committee, Michael Talbott retired from the board this year. He brought pertinent real-life experience to the board and the various committees that he served on over the past many years. He worked on improving the board and committees every year, and did a great job.
We greatly appreciate the dedication and volunteerism of Gail, Kristen, and Mike. Thank you.
A Message From BHE Management Corporation:
Falling Back and Moving Forward!
Welcome to the Fall season! Fall is a good time for some home maintenance including:
- Trimming your trees
- Cleaning your gutters
- Turning down your irrigation
- Checking for needed caulking at windows
- Checking for needed weather stripping replacement!
This is also the time of year that the Association “moves forward” to its Election, Annual Meeting of the Members, and planning of the budget for our 2024 Fiscal Year.
We want to take this time to thank our outgoing Board members who are not re-running this year for all of their volunteer hours for the community, and to wish them well!
We look forward to seeing you on October 17th for the election results and Annual Meeting.
BHE Management Corporation
Marla Hemmel, Managing Agent, MarlaH@bhemanagement.com
Lisa Parra, Community Manager, LParra@BHEManagement.com
Melissa Mora, Assistant Community Manager, MMora@BHEManagement.com
www.BHEManagement.com
PO Box 7736, Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-7736
(949)363-1963
Next Dover Shores HOA General Meeting: November 21, 5:00 PM
The board is continuing to offer Zoom access to board meetings. All meetings will use the same credentials listed below. The general session for homeowner participation for these meetings begins at 5PM.
Join Zoom Meeting with your browser
Meeting ID: 880 4927 2107
Passcode: 940601
One tap mobile: (669)900-6833
For the foreseeable future, those wishing to attend in person can attend at the principal office of the Association which has been designated by the Board as the place of business of BHE Management, located at 30011 Ivy Glen Dr., Ste.118, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. BHE Management will be present.
CERT – Neighborhood Watch Updates:
Home Burglaries
So far this year (1/1 to 9/25) there have been 6 residential burglaries or attempted burglaries in Dover Shores. NBPD tracks crime by reporting districts (RDs). Our district, RD-29, represents 1715 homes in Dover Shores, Baycrest and other homes in our area. So far there have been 11 home burglaries in RD-29 including the 6 in Dover Shores. For some historical perspective, here are the total home burglaries in RD-29 for the last several years:
The following chart shows a comparison of burglaries in Dover Shores (RD-29) versus other neighborhoods in Newport. Since these neighborhoods have widely varying numbers of homes, the chart shows the rate of burglaries, that is, total burglaries / number of homes. Our area is not good but there are worse places.
Neighborhood Patrols
In an effort to reduce the burglaries and address some issues on the beaches, the Association has engaged a patrol service to drive through the neighborhood once per day in the early evenings when burglaries are most common. The patrols will start October 1. The patrol vehicles will be marked "Patrol Masters." Signs announcing the use of patrols will be installed around the neighborhood.
These patrols will observe and report only and are not a substitute for the NBPD. If you see something suspicious you should call the NBPD non-emergency number 949-644-3717, or if you see a crime in progress, call 911.
Protecting Your Home
Many people don't think much about burglary until it happens to them. When it does, there is a natural tendency to look for someone to blame. The reality is that agencies like the NBPD and the Association can only do so much. Even gated, guarded communities like Big Canyon can still have high rates of burglary. The most important way to reduce your risk is to take prudent actions to protect your own home.
To avoid becoming a burglary victim, there are two issues to consider:
- Preventing break-ins
- Preventing loss if a break-in occurs
Preventing Break-Ins
The burglary crews operating in our area try to avoid encountering residents so the best way to prevent a break-in is to make your home look occupied. You should have timer-operated lights in rooms the burglars cannot easily see into either by curtains or in a 2nd story. Leaving a TV on loudly is a good practice if you leave for brief periods or use a fake TV (or real TV) on a timer to create flickering lights if you go away for extended periods. You should, of course, avoid obvious giveaways like piled up newspapers or mail and trash cans left on the street on days other than Mondays.
NBPD suggests layers of defense. Besides interior lights, you should keep the exterior of your house well illuminated and vegetation trimmed. Installing cameras around your property also helps, especially the motion sensitive cameras that will alert your phone if they detect activity. If you detect an intruder, call the NBPD immediately. The NBPD were recently able to make a burglary arrest in Dover Shores because they got a timely call from residents.
Preventing Loss in a Break-In
To prevent loss, you should install an alarm system. Older systems using magnetic switches on doors and windows are of limited benefit because the preferred MO is to smash a window or sliding door into a master bedroom to avoid triggering such switches. To make the alarm system useful, you need internal motion sensors, at a minimum in the master bedroom but preferably also in other areas. You need to arm your system every time you leave the house. Burglaries are most common in the early evening but can occur at any time.
If you have pets that might trigger a motion sensor, we suggest asking the alarm company to program the "stay" mode to arm the master bedroom motion sensor but not the others and close the door to keep pets out of the bedroom. The "stay" mode is normally used when you are in the house to arm doors and windows but configuring it this way gives you some motion detector coverage when you leave with pets in the house. If you don't have pets or leave for extended periods with the pets out of the house, enable all motion sensors with "away" mode.
To reduce the chance of loss, we suggest hiding valuables in someplace other than the master bedroom whenever you leave for extended periods. You can use a safe but only if it is securely bolted to the slab because burglars will sometimes go to determined lengths to steal the safe.
More Resources
The NBPD has more good advice on preventing burglaries and loss on their web site here. You can also request a home security inspection via a form on their web site here or by calling 949-644-3699.
If you are interested in participating in a committee to improve neighborhood security, please reply to the newsletter.
Thank you from your Dover Shores Board and Committee Members:
Architecture: Tim Hawke, Tate Luesebrink, Peggy Pugh
Beach: Sherry Bilbeisi, Emily Leach, Dan Converse, Jacquelyn Beauregard Dillman, Jodi Cassutt
Cert: Jim Gula and the CERT team
Communications: Sherry Bilbeisi, Jim Gula, Cindy Talbott, Esther Fine, Emily Leach
Dredging: Tim Hawke, Anne Michaelsen Yahn
Landscape: Gail Jones, Sue Ashwill, Robin Wright, Julie Patterson
Legal, CC&Rs: Steve Briggs, Sherry Bilbeisi
Social: Tate Luesebrink, Emily Leach
Welcome: Kristen Duntley
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.