Beacon’s Reach Master Association, Inc. (BRMA)
Board of Directors - Meeting Minutes
May 15, 2004
A meeting of the BRMA Board of Directors was held on Saturday, May 15, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. in the Beacon’s Reach Administrative Office. Those in attendance included:
Bruce
Carbrey - Maritime West
Bill
Duncan - Ocean Grove West
Ed
Erickson - Ocean Grove #1
Eric
Fearrington - Beacon’s Reach Single Family
Jim
Galloway - Westport I
Jim
Johnson - Westport II
Sue
Kirkpatrick - Fiddlers Walk
Charlie
Snipes - Maritime Place
George
White - Westport IV
Judi
Matzke - Representing The Breakers
Phil
Valentine - Representing Westport III
Grady
Fulcher - General Manager
Andy
Chused - Fiddlers Ridge
Mike
Ferneau - Forest Dunes
Rich
Kelly - Egret Lake
Marty
& Marilyn Langenohl - Egret Lake
Ken
Magel - Egret Lake
The meeting was called to
order by association President Erickson, who extended a warm welcome to those
in attendance. He asked that everyone
introduce themselves.
Minutes: Minutes of
the February 14, 2004 Board Meeting were reviewed. Fearrington noted that there are actually 2
homes about to start at Pelican Point, instead of the one mentioned in the
minutes. On a motion by Fearrington,
seconded by Duncan the minutes were approved as presented.
Discussion of BRSF
Representation: Erickson recognized Fearrington to discuss BRSF’s
request for additional representation on the BRMA Board. At the February BRMA Board meeting the Board
requested that Fearrington develop a written summary of the BRSF request. Fearrington had written a summary dated
February 20, 2004. Erickson sent the
Board a response to the Fearrington memo on April 16, 2004 outlining the dues
history of BRSF, including the initial double dues and the 1994 settlement
agreement and references to the applicable sections of the association documents
that govern Board representation.
Fearrington noted that BRSF
is not challenging the dues structure.
The 1.5x dues for BRSF can probably be justified based on the average
acreage for condominiums versus single family home sites. What BRSF wants is additional representation
commensurate with their payment of dues.
Specifically, Fearrington
requested that BRSF have 2 representatives on the BRMA Board. One representative would come from “BRSF
East” (Pelican Point, Egret Lake and Fiddlers Ridge) and one representative
would come from “BRSF West” (Coral Ridge, Westport Woods and Forest
Dunes). BRSF would not divide into 2
associations, but remain one.
Comments that followed
included:
Snipes: What is BRSF trying to accomplish
with additional representation if the dues situation is not an issue?
Fearrington: Representation
commensurate with their population or dues payments.
Johnson: Expressed a big thank you to Erickson
for preparing the memo concerning the BRSF representation/dues issue. Johnson noted that he had an approach
concerning the dues that was completely fair.
“Dues should be assessed based on their ad valorem tax basis. Thus a large ocean front home would pay more
than a 2-bedroom condominium.”
Carbrey: Expressed concern about the precedent
of allowing one association to have additional representation. What will stop the next largest association
to ask for 2 representatives and so on?
Johnson: No one has shown him the need for
additional representation. Has there
been discrimination?
Fearrington: Noted that he said early on in the process
that he had not seen any discrimination toward BRSF.
Carbrey: Noted that he might be more inclined
to support more representation if BRSF divided into 2 separate associations.
Erickson asked if those single family owners in the
audience would like to voice an opinion.
Chused: Where do you draw the line, as
Carbrey had noted? The BRMA Board has
always made the best decision for Beacon’s Reach as a whole, not a particular
association.
Kelly: Times have changed in the last 15
years. Single Family owners tend to live
here full time and need more representation.
He does feel short-changed.
Magel: The 1.5x dues structure is the real
“burr under the saddle.” The
representation issue is not a big deal to him.
Langenohl: More representation will make no
difference. He does feel though that
BRMA is not favorably inclined toward BRSF.
Ferneau: Noted that he had never felt
discriminated against. He noted that in
addition to the reduction in dues from 2x to 1.5x in 1994, BRMA also agreed to
immediately equalize any special assessments, which he felt was a significant
accomplishment.
Chused: Noted that most, if not all, of the
BRMA committees had a majority of BRSF owners on them. He felt that BRSF owners were thus well
represented via the committee make-ups.
Motion: Fearrington
made a motion that BRSF be granted one additional representative with one
representative from the eastern section of BRSF and one from the western areas
of BRSF. The motion was seconded by
Kirkpatrick. The motion failed on a vote
of 2 to 8.
BRMA Insurance
Consolidation: Fulcher noted that he was pleased to report that the
owners of all 10 condominium associations had voted to amend their condominium
declarations to allow their insurance to be written on a combined basis with
BRMA. The combined entity insurance had
been put in place on April 28, beating the significant increase in wind rates
on May 1. Total insurance premiums for
BRMA, the 10 condominium associations and the liability policies for BRSF and
Maritime Place will decrease from $586,000 +/- to approximately $403,000 with
about $4,000,000 in additional property coverage.
Erickson expressed a big
thank you to Kurt Fickling, our insurance consultant, former Board member
Warren Newman who recommended Fickling and Fulcher for staying on top of the
whole combination effort.
Fulcher noted that he hoped
that in the future the insurance market would soften and allow for the
inclusion of BRSF homes in the BRMA package or a similar package for just BRSF
homes.
Town of Pine Knoll
Shores (PKS) Update: Kelly noted that he and Langenohl were serving on an
ad-hoc PKS committee discussing the water system. While some of the details were not yet ready
for public review, they both felt that the odds of a PKS parallel water system
were slim.
Road Paving: Fulcher
noted that after the February Board Meeting he solicited bids for paving of
BRMA roadways, based on specifications developed by the Finance Committee in 1999-2000. There are 2 large paving contractors in
Carteret County and several small contractors.
The 2 contractors (Barrus and Mart Bell) that bid in 2000 and 2003 chose
not to bid this spring. BRMA received a
bid or $126,224 from S.T. Wooten, the large contractor presently doing the
major repaving of Arendell Street in Morehead City.
He noted that the Finance
Committee had reviewed the bid in comparison to the original budget in 1999 of
$110,000 and the bids received from Barrus and Bell in 2003 and deemed the bid
acceptable and approved same, based on the BRMA Board’s directive in February.
Fulcher has signed the
contract with S.T. Wooten and the project should begin in late May or early
June.
USACE 933 Project: Erickson
gave a brief update on the status of the proposed 2004-05 933 project,
including a one-page summary provided by “Rudi” Rudolph, the Carteret County
Shore Protection Officer. The bad news
is that the 933 project was not in the President’s federal budget, but it
wasn’t in the 2004 budget last year either.
However, through some intense lobbying the money was added by the US
House and Senate.
Funding from the state and
PKS appears to be in place.
Erickson noted that he is
optimistic that federal funding will be forthcoming in the fall. The 933 sand that was placed on the beaches
of Indian Beach and Salter Path this winter was of the highest quality.
Johnson asked if the recent
rumblings of the Atlantic Beach Town Council about the desire for more sand
than Pine Knoll Shores would have any impact on the 933 project. Erickson noted that the project manager in
the Corps’ Wilmington office had indicated that the Corps is not concerned with
the recent discussions of Atlantic Beach. The 933 sand will be placed on the
beach in quantities commensurate with the sand needs of each locale.
Committee Reports:
Landscape Committee: Ferneau presented as Appendix 2 the minutes of the
recent April meeting of the BRMA Landscape Committee. He noted that overall the landscape
conditions were good, but that Fulcher is concerned about some problems that
are creeping in. Fulcher and the
landscaper are working on these problems presently.
Marina Committee: Johnson noted the following projects of the
committee.
·
An inspection was
done of the marina docks in the fall, which noted some problems. The report was not detailed as the committee
had expected. The expenditure was minor
though.
·
The committee
hired a new dockmaster after Garrett Smith “retired again”. David Shapiro started work in early April as
the dockmaster and is doing an excellent job.
·
Johnson noted
that 7 slips changed hands this year.
·
Some maintenance
dredging of the marina channel will be necessary this year. Fulcher is working with CAMA to obtain a new
permit or activate the old one.
Finance Committee: Fulcher presented as Appendix 3, the minutes of the
recent BRMA Finance Committee meeting.
He covered the minutes in some detail.
Architectural Control
Committee: ACC Chairman Sue
McKeand is out of town, but it was noted that there is a bevy of building
activity presently. A home is under
construction at Forest Dunes, one at Coral Ridge, two at Fiddlers Ridge, one at
Egret Lake and one at Pelican Point with another to start soon.
Management Advisory
Committee: Kelly noted that the
committee met on May 3 and discussed many of the contemporary issues and
projects of Beacon’s Reach.
Manager’s Report: Fulcher presented as Appendix 5, a summary of
certain initiatives that management has undertaken in recent months, many of
which have already been discussed. His
topics included the insurance consolidation, beach nourishment initiatives,
road paving, wastewater treatment plant upgrades and work with the various
committees. He also noted that Carteret
Craven Electric Cooperative is running a loop electrical source to Westport III
to ensure better electrical service.
This work is being done underground.
Fulcher also noted that he is
working with the owner of Lot 11 Pelican Point on planting certain shrubs to
screen the boat storage area from the view of Pelican Point and Egret
Lake. Fulcher is to meet with the
builder at Lot 11 to coordinate the exact timing and placement of the shrubs.
Financial Report: Fulcher presented as Appendix 6, the April 30, 2004
Financial Statements of BRMA. His report
included the Comparative Balance Sheet, Budgetary Income Statement, Statement
of Cash Flows and reports of the Utility and Marina funds. He reviewed the statements in detail. He noted that the association’s cash position
would be reduced significantly when the paving project is completed.
Association Reports:
The Breakers: Matzke noted that The Breakers Board met recently on
May 7. Things are going well at The
Breakers. A few small landscape
improvement projects have recently been completed.
Coral Shores: No report
Westport III: Valentine noted that Westport III is undergoing a
major renovation project. The contract
is with BJ & Associates of Morehead City.
They are staffing the job mostly with subcontractors. The pace of the work on the first two
buildings has not been satisfactory, but the third building has progressed
fairly well.
BRSF: Fearrington noted that the Light Pole Replacement
project at Pelican Pointe has been put on hold since several of the residents
did not want it. BRSF director, Seth
Medlin is canvassing the owners at Forest Dunes to see if they would be
interested in being part of a test project.
Fearrington noted that the lights under consideration are provided by
Carteret Craven Electric Cooperative and are 20’ high and have an illumination
radius of 150’. One new light could
potentially replace 4-5 of the old lights.
Fearrington noted that he had been told that this same light is at Sea
Isle Plantation down the street.
There being no other
business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a.m.
Grady W. Fulcher
Treasurer
