CRE Board

[msqtech]

New CRE Board in place but what happened to old Board Members.

The one who didn't stand for election has resigned and taken a job in the office. Amazingly this is the position which she was integral in vacating in the first place. The board fired the manager and accounting person last year to save money. Now a board member has one of the positions. Doesn't this sound fishy? This was all done at the transition time so I am really wondering who is watching the shop.

 

[punchbuggy]

No one is minding the shop and that has been the problem for the past several years. It blows me away what is going on and that they're getting away with it. Everyone is "getting there's" at our expense. Wonder how the GM house is coming and how much money we've dumped into that project. I've noticed the yellow lines in the roads are so faded in a lot of areas and many speed limit signs have tree growth covering them. Who IS minding the shop? What are we paying for?

 

[CREResident]

Communication from President Eney about the Lake

Othan Mr. Eney, none of the board members are new. One director position was vacated at the time of voting. That was filled by someone named Dan Hammer. I don't know anything about him. The person answering the phone seemed hesitant to tell me the name - as if they had to go check with someone first.

I did have a short email conversation with President Eney eneyair@olg.com about serving on the board. I declined because I am organizing lakefront property owners to press for some action on the lake's problems and the lack of funding dedicated by the board to fix the broken dam and other things.

Mr. Eney said the County Health Dept is putting up new signs with a photo of the algae that is a problem and will advise swimmers to swim at their own risk and that the Health Dept. was assuming responsibility for this. CRE needs to stop tossing the responsibility on others. Not only is it unsafe for humans to swim in the lake, I cannot let me dog go in the water either to practice retrieves because of the danger to his health.

I asked Mr. Eney several days ago to please tell me what action the board is taking on the lake so I could include that response in a letter to all lakefront property owners. I have yet to receive a response. I hope this is not a sign that this board will continue to (1) refuse to communicate with members and (2) act in secrecy, then (3) make their own decisions without involving members claiming that members don't care (when they really don't know they should care because the board refuses to communicate with members).

 

[RoadKill]

Nothing will happen without a massive increase in fees. But time to get real... no one in CRE will support a massive increase in fees.

The roads need to be repaved. Yep. Some bright bulb said get rid of the security service and apply the $150k that will be saved for this purpose. Good idea. At current rates for paving the $150k saved will cover approximately 1900 feet of road; around 1/3 of a mile. What about the additional MILES of paving that needs to be done? (And this just ain't topcoating the existing road... some roadbed improvement is required). Please start listing the additional cuts that should be made. (This question is to nobody in particular, but is posed to indicate that there are limited options in the absence of a significant funding source).

The lake needs to be cleaned up. Yep. How much for this? 50k? 100k? Where's the money going to come from? The homeowners won't go for an increase in fees, but it's got to come from somewhere!

The present community cannot be run and FUNDED like the summer enclave it was originally intended to be. Time to turn the mess over to the county and have all CC residents pitch in, through bond obligations, to clean up the shortsightedness of the community.

Want a model? Look at Wildwood in St. Mary's. Their community is set up such that the county has responsibility for the roads and the HOA is only responsible for some limited recreation facilities, like some ball fields and a pool I think.

If a transfer to the county were to be considered, the CC BoCC will probably levy a special assessment on CRE to cover the cost of the remediation that is required, and this is the only way that they will be able to sell it to their non-CRE constituents. The special assessement would be like a bond that would have to be paid off over time, a long time, like 20 years. And the value would probably be in the neighborhood of 250 a month per residence - on top of the fees necessasry to maintain the amenities. Yikes.

It's a no-win situation, and until a funding source is identified I have no expectation that much progress will be made. In my opinion, CRE residents will oppose a county take-over until the situation becomes untenable. The CC BoCC will not move until they have some CRE resident support because they will get slammed by residents in other parts of CC. Impass. No action. Total and unequivacable doom.

This hand has been dealt because of the choices people have made over decades, and much of the postings here and on the POACRE.org site merely obfuscate the significant funding problem that the community faces. It makes me angry that people are not facing up to reality, and what CRE is going through is a microcosm of the problems that our state and country faces with infrastructure improvements.

 

[DirtGirl788]

Roadkill,

That is a very succinct description of the situation. I was on the last Board as a Director and then as the Secretary and I know I felt a sense of helplessness because we didn't have the funding to improve our infrastructure. We've nibbled around the edges and tightened the budget as much as we could, but the money just isn't there. For example, we cancelled the replacement for the boat ramp that was destroyed in a storm, we reduced publishing the RUT to every other month to save on postage, and have been replacing/fixing only essential items. I suspect the new Board will face even more financial difficulties because the cost of everything is going through the roof and even more members are not paying their fees.

DirtGirl788

 

[CREResident]

Roadkill,

That is a very succinct description of the situation. I was on the last Board as a Director and then as the Secretary and I know I felt a sense of helplessness because we didn't have the funding to improve our infrastructure. We've nibbled around the edges and tightened the budget as much as we could, but the money just isn't there. For example, we cancelled the replacement for the boat ramp that was destroyed in a storm, we reduced publishing the RUT to every other month to save on postage, and have been replacing/fixing only essential items. I suspect the new Board will face even more financial difficulties because the cost of everything is going through the roof and even more members are not paying their fees.

DirtGirl788

Sorry, that's just a bunch of B.S. More money is not always the answer. I've looked over the budget in detail. Money is not being spent on the right things. For example, why do we need security staff with full salaries and benefits. It should be cheaper to contractually hire (without benefits) some off-duty cops to do whatever little things are needed. Since security has no legal authority (e.g., to detain or arrest someone), I don't see how they offer anything much. The CORRECT ANSWERN IS NOT TO DECREASE COMMUNICATION with the membership because of postage costs when plenty of money is wasted by CRE. Just look at the budget. WHY HAVE PAST BOARDS REFUSED TO COMMUNICATE the budget in detail in writing to the membership? I've tried to get simple answers from the current board and past boards on even simple things and it takes FOREVER to get an answer. Many times, I've received no reply.

It's a big joke. And a LOT of irresponsibility.

 

[CREResident]

Roadkill,

....I was on the last Board as a Director and then as the Secretary... We've ....tightened the budget as much as we could, but the money just isn't there. For example, ... we reduced publishing the RUT to every other month to save on postage, and have been replacing/fixing only essential items....

DirtGirl788

I appreciate your service on the board. I'd like to be a board member myself and I'm sure many other people would too... but how does the membership know that there is a board vacancy if the newsletter only comes out every other month? Why does this board and past boards think they have the right to secrecy by refusing to communicate with members via the newsletter and refusing to return phone calls and refusing to answer letters and emails?

Volunteers maintain a free web site for CRE at Property Owners Association of Chesapeake Ranch Estates but I never have seen a board member directly address any of the issues posted there. The new board member, Danny Hammer, or any of the current board members are not even shown on the web site.

Why does the current board (most of whom were on the last board) think that it is OK to cut back on communication with members (no newsletter) to save a few dollars during a time when there are several crises such as the lake, the roads,and even the legal validity of poacre itself?

Out of a budget that is over $1,000,000 one million dollars.... why is it a problem to allocate money for postage to mail a newsletter every month? Out of almost $400 a year I pay to CRE, I'd think it is fair for CRE to spend 42 cents a month on sending me a newsletter.

If the board had any integrity.... you might have considered keeping the monthly newsletter and trimming the budget by eliminating one of the following.

$2500 staff incentives
$2500 professional memberships
$500 board miscellaneous expense (what's that for?)

Or how about getting rid of one of the 11 full-time employees (not counting 7 part time employees) who eat up $400,000. What do the 5 full-time employees do? As a dues paying member, I have a right to know where my money is going. In addition to salaries, I'm also paying the health and life insurance, contributing to their retirement fund (401k), paying a cost of living increase and $2,000 for "employee recognition and incentives". Couldn't we just hire some part time employees (to do what?), If this is for roads maintenance people, couldn't we contract for those services without paying benefits.

It simply does not add up.... and if the current board thinks it does add up, then the membership certainly deserves a more adequate explanation about where there dues money is going.... and why we cannot get a newsletter every month for 42 cents postage.......

 

[exnodak]

Othan Mr. Eney, none of the board members are new. One director position was vacated at the time of voting. That was filled by someone named Dan Hammer. I don't know anything about him. The person answering the phone seemed hesitant to tell me the name - as if they had to go check with someone first.

Mr. Hammer is an aviator and is another airport director. He was on the last Board and resigned some months before the election in a tantrum. His resignation now appears to have been a tactical move to adjust personalities on the Board. I don't think it worked.

 

[CREResident]

CRE Board Turnover

Seems like board members don't stick around long. I wonder if it's just people volunteer when they really don't have the time to spare or if the job is so miserable that no one wants to do it. I was told that if someone wants to serve on the board, there's little competition and board vacancies often become available.

Some people suggest dissolving CRE but I've witnessed in many different areas that a community organization is critical. With one, there is a lot more leverage that can be put on the County to help with things. Just because we are a private community, I don't know why CRE does not ask for more.... we all pay taxes, and hopefully we all vote. Legislators and councilmen and the Sherrif and others need our votes and they should be willing to recognize our voting power. That's another example where regular communication with members could help.......if the board would put some money in the budget to the newsletter and share some meaningful details with members.

Saying there is no money to help fix the lake and to send out newsletters is ridiculous. CRE has a budget of more than 1 million dollars. And it's not all being spent on fixing the roads.

 

[punchbuggy]

AMEN! I couldn't agree more on places to cut the budget. It's time to look at who is doing what and reorganize (staff and board assignments). As simple as it sounds to put on paper the question remains: Who's in charge and how can we implement change effectively? Who will implement the changes? "We the People" (Membership)? the Board? Both should. Now is a great time to draft ballot issues for October! Do we have a business plan?? Any plan????????????????

 

[jedi2814]

Some people suggest dissolving CRE but I've witnessed in many different areas that a community organization is critical. With one, there is a lot more leverage that can be put on the County to help with things. Just because we are a private community, I don't know why CRE does not ask for more.... we all pay taxes, and hopefully we all vote. Legislators and councilmen and the Sherrif and others need our votes and they should be willing to recognize our voting power. That's another example where regular communication with members could help.......if the board would put some money in the budget to the newsletter and share some meaningful details with members.

Being a private community is part of the problem. There were lots of private beach communities years ago that maintained their own roads and their own water systems, etc. A lot of bad blood between the county government and these organizations built up through the years mostly because these communities were summer homes for out of county residents or wealthier county residents and those civic associations were able to raise, what was then, a lot of money. It burned county government officials up that they couldn't get their hands on it. This was at a time before Calvert Cliffs and Dominion and when there were far less people living here so the county government had a lot less money. The attitude became - "fine you're on your own" and the county turned a deaf ear when things started going badly for these communities.

As the county and the beach communities grew infrastructure issues became too big for the civic associations to handle so they started looking to the county for help. The county played the part of the adult with the "oh so you want my help now" attitude and many places payed dearly. The $1,000,000 budget is something the county would love to get a piece of. My grandparents and one of my aunt and uncles went through this in two different beach communities. It wasn't pretty in either case.

Yes, it seems like these things might have happened years ago, but there are long memories in the county government and a lot of those people are not elected officials.

As someone said a real "no win" situation.

 

[exnodak]

Being a private community is part of the problem. There were lots of private beach communities years ago that maintained their own roads and their own water systems, etc. A lot of bad blood between the county government and these organizations built up through the years mostly because these communities were summer homes for out of county residents or wealthier county residents and those civic associations were able to raise, what was then, a lot of money. It burned county government officials up that they couldn't get their hands on it. This was at a time before Calvert Cliffs and Dominion and when there were far less people living here so the county government had a lot less money. The attitude became - "fine you're on your own" and the county turned a deaf ear when things started going badly for these communities.

As the county and the beach communities grew infrastructure issues became too big for the civic associations to handle so they started looking to the county for help. The county played the part of the adult with the "oh so you want my help now" attitude and many places payed dearly. The $1,000,000,000 budget is something the county would love to get a piece of. My grandparents and one of my aunt and uncles went through this in to different beach communities. It wasn't pretty in either case.

Yes, it seems like these things might have happened years ago, but there are long memories in the county government and a lot of those people are not elected officials.

As someone said a real "no win" situation.

That is why trying to get the County to cooperate will never work.

And, that is why we need to aggressively pursue a municipality.

 

[CREResident]

How would a municipality work? Do you mean CRE would be its own town, with its own budget, or own police force? I know in Harford County and some others in MD, there are some towns that have their own mini-government. Is that what Chesapeake Beach is?

If CRE were a municipality, I don't understand how that would be help and it doesn't seem like CRE can responsibly manage a budget now or be responsive to its members.

 

[exnodak]

How would a municipality work? Do you mean CRE would be its own town, with its own budget, or own police force? I know in Harford County and some others in MD, there are some towns that have their own mini-government. Is that what Chesapeake Beach is?

If CRE were a municipality, I don't understand how that would be help and it doesn't seem like CRE can responsibly manage a budget now or be responsive to its members.

Once the community has established a municipal government, the POACRE could transfer owership of the roads (AND ONLY THE ROADS) to the town. Once that is done, the town is eligible to recieve 100% of the State shared revenue for 100% of the roads. That is about $3,000,000/year more than we are getting now and our taxes would not have to go up one red cent.

Besides the above, the community would be eligible for State and Federal conservation and storm water management grants and low interest bond funding for infrastructure.

After 3 years, the town would have complete control of planning and zoning within its boundary.

The municipality would have the option of NO POLICE, Contract policing from the County Sherrif, or have its own Andy and Barney.

The municipality would have code enforcement authority, so that we wouldn't have to take people to civil court to enforce codes.

We would be directly eligible for FEMA and MEMA if the occasion should call for it.

We would be eligible for Community Development Block Grants for neighborhood improvements.

We would be eligible for direct funding of our aviation services area.

We would be eligible for cleamup funding for our Lake

All of the above may/would require a tax system, but it would never be one that the community wouldn't have approval of and control over. Most of it comes without having any additional net tax because most of our fees/dues/std money would simply go away.

Start your homework at the Maryland Municipal League website.

 

[punchbuggy]

So, the town would have control over a lot it seems. Who will be the people managing the $$$ and applying for grants and $$$? It sounds like we'll have a lot of funding to work with but won't that mean hiring people to get the work done? Do we contract it out? If we have a hard enough time getting people to run for the board now, how can we get other folks to run for town council or whatever their position would be? Are they paid or volunteers? How much of our funding under this program goes to overhead?

I guess what I'm getting at is the funding would be there for what we want but other than more $$$, who will manage it and who will do the work? (Just asking because I don't know). I agree with CREResident's questions.

 

[exnodak]

So, the town would have control over a lot it seems. Who will be the people managing the $$$ and applying for grants and $$$? It sounds like we'll have a lot of funding to work with but won't that mean hiring people to get the work done? Do we contract it out? If we have a hard enough time getting people to run for the board now, how can we get other folks to run for town council or whatever their position would be? Are they paid or volunteers? How much of our funding under this program goes to overhead?

I guess what I'm getting at is the funding would be there for what we want but other than more $$$, who will manage it and who will do the work? (Just asking because I don't know). I agree with CREResident's questions.

This isn't a very good place to solicit the answers to your questions.

You might start with the Maryland Municipal League website. Then start asking questions of some of the municipal leaders that can be accessed from around the state.

The reason POACRE can't govern properly is because the governing docs were corrupted from the very beginning. Besides, they have no constitutional credibility or value. You need to find out why being governed by a private corporation takes away nearly all of your constitutional rights as a property owner. Do your own homework. Don't ask anyone else to feed you the answers.

 

[punchbuggy]

This isn't a very good place to solicit the answers to your questions.

You might start with the Maryland Municipal League website. Then start asking questions of some of the municipal leaders that can be accessed from around the state.

The reason POACRE can't govern properly is because the governing docs were corrupted from the very beginning. Besides, they have no constitutional credibility or value. You need to find out why being governed by a private corporation takes away nearly all of your constitutional rights as a property owner. Do your own homework. Don't ask anyone else to feed you the answers.

Thank you for the source. Excellent way to get the answers I'm looking for. Time to start reading! Thanks!!

 

[DanceMom]

I wish the board would just take the keys to the office and hand them over to the county and let them take care of it all. As an HOA we can no longer afford or deal with all pending issues. Not to mention, one of these days a monster just might come crawling out of that gosh awful lake - and then who is going to deal with it. HAHAHHAaa...

 

[punchbuggy]

I wish the board would just take the keys to the office and hand them over to the county and let them take care of it all. As an HOA we can no longer afford or deal with all pending issues. Not to mention, one of these days a monster just might come crawling out of that gosh awful lake - and then who is going to deal with it. HAHAHHAaa...

You know, someone discovered BIG FOOT and I wonder if he got a bad taste of the algae bloom!

 

[vince77]

The only way you'll ever clean up that $hithole is to have a special assessment for 100K to each homeowner and hire professionals to manage it.

Face it, aside for a few nice streets, it's a ghetto.....