May 10, 2021
 

Dear Seascape Neighbors,
 

We hope that you and your family are well and beginning to recover from hibernation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The spring has sprung here in Seascape and we are getting everything ready for the summer.  With the good progress made in Massachusetts to combat the virus, the Seascape Board has voted to conduct this year’s annual membership meeting in a group, outdoor venue rather than virtual. We normally have it the last Saturday in June. Please plan on attending our Annual Meeting on June 26, 2021, 9:00 am, at 9 Seascape Lane, (backyard). It is important that you attend the meeting. This is your opportunity to hear updates from our committees and express any concerns you may have.  Remember to bring a chair.
 

 I have enclosed a few documents for your review prior to the meeting.

∙         2021 Meeting Agenda

∙         2021 Results of the Mail-in Voting

∙         2021 Seascape Association Dues Slip

∙         2021 Seascape Association Budget 

Committee Updates and Recommendations

 

1.                   Minutes of the 2020 Annual Meeting – Ellen Clark:  The annual in-person meeting was cancelled last year due to the Mass guidelines around COVID-19. We conducted the Association business via email and letters. Per the By-laws, there were four required approvals necessary to conduct the Association business.  They were sent to the membership and the majority of the households responded. The results of the questions were reported back to the membership on July 12. I submit that that communication represents the business of the annual meeting and be approved by the membership. The Secretary can read the letter with the results if requested. The Board recommends approval.

 

2.                   Administration Committee – Joan Boyer: There was no activity during the year.

 

3.                   Finance and Budgets – Marianne Beardsley: We have reformatted the financial documents this year to not only include the budgets and expenses for the last year and this year but included the cash position of our operating funds and the Road and Tennis funds. This gives us a complete view of our finances on one page. We hope you find this an improvement.

 We want to thank everyone for contributing their membership dues last year.  We matched our record high of 114 paid members. Membership revenue was $39,800 against a budget of $38,500. Additionally, we drew out $35,000 from the road fund and spent $45,972 on road repairs and repaving.  Tennis membership brought in $2,000 but we had to true-up two years of cost into the Tennis Fund totaling $3,700.  We also paid $10,000 into the road fund. Total expenses were $86,684.75. 

Expenses exceed revenue last year by $9,834 due to the large expenses for road repairs, landscaping, night security and ramp and dock improvements. We used our cash reserves to cover the overage. Last year the membership agreed to increase the annual membership fee in 2021 from $350 per year to $400 per year to cover the increased expenses. This is the first increase in over 10 years. The complete 2020 finances are included with this letter along with the 2021 Budget.

The proposed 2021 budget is $41,347. Are there any questions regarding the 2020 expenses or the 2021 budget? The Board recommends approval.

 

4.                   Tennis – John Honey: The tennis courts remain in good shape after the improvements last year. One of the courts was lined as a pickle ball court last year and this year we have purchased a new pickle ball net.

 

5.                   Docks and Ramp – John Honey: We had the docks examined to see if we needed any repairs this year. Right now, in light of the work done on the boardwalk, we decided that the docks and ramp can go another year before needing improvements.

 

6.                   Roads – Mike Shea: Since 2009, we have spent $196,263 on maintaining the roads. This was funded through normal association dues without raising a special capital improvement fund. We did three improvements last year on the roads. In order to fix the drainage problem on Waterside Drive, we installed a 1,000-gallon drain tank along with two drains. Although this was done in the late fall of 2019, the costs hit the 2020 expenses. We also resurfaced Waterside Drive from the speed bump by A beach down past B beach and to the speed bump around the corner of Waterside Drive. We cleaned out all the drains. This year we will do crack sealing while we build back up the Road Fund. There has been a historic problem with road drainage at 36 Seascape Lane after heavy rains. We looked at this over the winter and determined that the dip in the road is a natural collection point. We have two drains at that point now. We also noticed that stones and crushed shells from landscaping are running into the drains. We agreed to clean out the drains again and watch the effect.

 

 Landscaping in Seascape has been brought under the Road Committee and has been put out for bids.

 

7.                   Beaches – Greg Strakosch: We renewed the FCC permit on A beach. Both beach permits are up to date. We had to replace the two mitigation trees to the left of the A beach boardwalk as they died over the winter. We had the vista pruning done on A beach, however the trees in the center of A beach also died. We are not obliged to replace them. We had the lot next to B beach pruned and had snow fences erected on B beach during the winter. We used beach monitors at both beaches during the summer and had no problems. We will again issue beach tags and have beach monitors this summer.  We had night security during the summer, three nights a week. We started last summer with a problem requiring us to call the police. After that we had a quiet season. We have agreed with New Silver Beach to share the night security person between us, keeping the same coverage but lowering the cost per hour to each group. 

 

This spring the membership approved replacing the boardwalk on A beach. A group of volunteers: Art Schick, Bernie Loughran, John Beigel, Joe Gray, Rob Hardy, Bruce Beardsley, Warren Fish, Roger Cicchini, Mike Shea, Brian Murphy and Tim Gallagher did a great job widening and replacing it. Marianne Beardsley and Terry Gallagher supplied refreshments, Hal Leeds supplied his generator and Chris Donovan let us use her electricity. 

                                                       

8.                   Hospitality – Terry Gallagher:  The annual cocktail party in 2020 was cancelled due to COVID restrictions. The committee decided to have the first annual July 4th Craziness parade. The turnout was great with people decorating their golf carts and bikes while the other half cheered them on. With the restrictions being lifted, we plan to have the cocktail party again this year. The committee also wants to do the July 4th parade again.

 

With the approval of the Board, Erin McEvoy established a Seascape Facebook page for members only. This is addition to the Seascape Web site. Please contact her if you want to add any content or learn more about it.

 

9.                   Nominations for Officers and Directors – Russ Hazelton:  Per the By-laws, the Nomination Committee is to present to the Board a list of candidates for openings by March 15th.  In addition, members are able to present candidates of their own at the annual meeting. Where there are multiple candidates for a position, the membership will vote on who they approve. The Board approves the following slate of candidates and recommends that you approve them:

Officers:

        President: Art Schick – new - last year 1st V.P.

        1st Vice President:  Bernie Loughran - new

        2nd Vice President: Joan Boyer - new

        Treasurer: Marianne Beardsley - Renewed

        Secretary: Ellen Clark - Renewed

Board Members by Classes

        John Beigel 2022 

        Russ Hazelton 2022 

 Warren Fish 2023

        Brian Murphy 2023

        John Honey 2024 Renewed

        Michelle Sax 2024 Renewed

 

10.               New Business: Does anyone have any new business they want to discuss?

 

Have a great summer and the rest of the year, 

Tim  

Tim Gallagher,

President, Seascape Association, Inc.

603 738-0627 Cell

508 563-1715 Office