CBCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

August 16, 2010

Submitted by Chris Savage

 

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Doug Crow, President

Chris Savage, Vice-President

Charlie Anderson, Treasurer

Bettyjane Middleton, Director

Maria Buehler, Director

 

COMMUNITY MEMBERS:

Guest Speaker, Honorable Jerry Clark

Pat McKnett

Bill Miller

Chris Rogers

Phil Yates

Tim Grover representing the St. Leonard Vision Group

 

PRESIDENT’S OPENING REMARKS:  Doug Crow thanked everyone for their attendance and opened the meeting with the pledge and introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Commissioner Jerry Clark. 

 

Highlights of Commissioner Clark’s presentation:

 

Jerry began with a recap of the last year’s activities surrounding the cliff erosion primarily in the Chesapeake Ranch Estates (CRE).

 

The outcome of the meetings is that there is now a joint task force of Federal, State and Local officials.  Greg Bowen, Director of Planning and Zoning is the County’s representative.  This group is charged with doing the following:

 

a.        Getting an inventory of what’s going on now with the properties by mapping of the shoreline using GPS.

b.      Locating where the tiger beetles actually are in the cliffs and getting proper counts.

c.       Researching methods of stopping erosion of the cliffs at the toe or base of the cliff.

d.      Investigating financing options for home owners affected by the erosion of the cliffs.

e.       Some people in CRE will probably have to be relocated from their homes with assistance from FEMA. 

f.        One problem with relocations is that some people signed waivers accepting the existing conditions of their property and they may be exempt from assistance.

g.      Investigating how to prioritize which properties need assistance first.

 

Tony O’Donnell and the MD Sec. of Agriculture both have links on this process that are linked to the County Government’s web site as well.  Jerry stated that this will not be a quick process.

 

Doug Crow and Pat McKnett had questions of the Commissioner concerning recent and extensive erosion at an adjoining property to Doug’s (Lydia’s Property) that poses a public safety hazard as neighborhood thrill seekers are both climbing the deteriorating cliff and jumping off the top of the cliff.  Jerry said he would send County staff out to investigate the matter.

 

There was also discussion regarding funding sources to assist with erosion control.  CBCA may need to investigate both public and private funding sources and Jerry suggested a possible tax district.  He did point out that this authority would be new for CBCA as we are different from Drum Point, CRE and White Sands where they have taxing districts set up to maintain their own roads.

 

Pat McNett pointed out problems she has had with ground water erosion following construction in her area within the last few years and that she doesn’t feel that the county is properly enforcing the rules on run-off or building on steep slopes.  Jerry stated that problems like that should go to Planning and Zoning’s Board of Appeals.

 

Phil Yates expressed concern to Commissioner Clark regarding the increases in property taxes.  He pointed out a specific example where he has been trying to sell a property that is assessed at $350,000 and he can’t get any interested purchasers at $325,000.  Jerry pointed out that assessments are done on a 3 year cycle and until the next reassessment his home value will continue to go up because home values were increasing the last time this district was re-assessed.  Jerry explained that he had the right to file an appeal with the State Tax Assessor’s Office in Prince Frederick.

 

Phil Yates also wanted to know why the local trash drop-off points would not accept paint cans?  There are only quarterly times to drop off hazardous waste and it circulates to different locations in the county.  Phil felt that this only encourages people to dispose of the cans in their regular household waste posing a potential landfill hazard.  Jerry stated that the State sets the policy and the County must follow.  If there is a legitimate demand for increasing this service the county would be doing it more frequently.

 

Pat McKnett also wanted to know what was being done with the currently vacant Patuxent Business Bark in Lusby.  It seemed like it was a waste of taxpayer’s dollars for the infrastructure to be improved with no one in the park to help pay the way.  Jerry said he’d have to investigate the expenditure but he felt that most of the funding had come from the State of Maryland and that it was beneficial for the County to take advantage of the funding as this property will eventually have tenants as we get out of the recession and it’s easier to get tenants with the infrastructure in place.

 

Tim Grover stated that there is a proposal to have a text amendment on Development Agreements to increase density on a property.  This proposal would make it possible to change zoning on contiguous properties to rezone for higher density on commercial property.  Jerry said he would be opposed to the proposal.  Jerry feels like there should be a trade-off.  In order to achieve the higher density the developer should provide a road, an amenity, etc.  He stated that a 3-2 vote currently won’t satisfy the requirement and that it should go to a public hearing and a development agreement should be written.

 

Jerry wanted to brief the group on the very controversial power line situation in the Bowie Shop Rd area of Huntingtown.  In 2000, SMECO backed away from a proposal to put the lines and power station in the town center as the county didn’t think this was a good use of town center property.  SMECO then re-routed to the Bowie Shop Rd. are with the power station along Rt. 4.  No one knew about the size of the polls that were planned by SMECO or the unattractive nature of the polls.  SMECO is currently reducing the amount of the larger polls along Rt. 4.  This project is part of an overall improvement of the grid throughout Southern Maryland that will benefit us all in the future.

 

In summary, Jerry felt the current Commissioners were doing a good job with the county’s finances with growth rates in the population now under 1%, $104 Million going to the school board and approx. $17 Million coming from the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant.

 

Tim Grover asked Commissioner Clark if he had seen a trend among Senior citizens selling their larger homes for smaller homes in the Town Centers.  Jerry stated that he had not seen that trend.

 

Charlie Anderson asked Jerry if there was a particular reason why he didn’t participate in the Helen Creek Oyster restoration project.  Jerry stated that he knew those involved in the project, certainly supported the project and felt it was a good cause but felt he should keep at arm’s length regarding his personal participation.

 

That concluded the Guest Speaker portion of the meeting.

 

 

REGULAR MEETING

 

 

MINUTES:  The minutes of the last meeting, July 19, 2010, were approved by the Board. 

 

TREASURER'S REPORT:

 

06/01/10 Balance =        $ 10,022.70      

Total Deposits =           $      540.00

Total Disbursements =   $      736.28      

05/31/10 Balance =        $   9,826.91

 

Charlie Anderson reported that dues levels were slightly below levels at this same point last year with 129 members.  Major bills paid for the month included $400 for security, $126 to Bay Area Trash, $210.28 in reimbursements to Terrye Zaremba and him. The board voted to approve the Treasurer's report.

 

COMMITTEES:

 

Community Watch –  No Report as County team doesn’t meet in August.  Will have report at next meeting.

 

Security - Doug Crow stated that the security patrol officer’s reports have been routed to everyone and that it has been a relatively quiet summer. 

 

OLD BUSINESS:

 

Fossil Day – Doug Crow reported that this joint event between LBCA and CBCA will be held on September 25th @ 9:30 a.m. and will begin in the parking lot at Long Beach with fossil identification by experts later in the day.  LBCA will be looking for volunteer and financial support. Details to follow on CBCA participation.

 

National Night Out – Doug Crow thanked Chris Savage as the NNO representative and all who participated in making this worthwhile community event for both CBCA and LBCA.  Bettejane Middleton had some great ideas for making the event even better next year so we will get her involved in the planning portion of NNO next year.

  

Boat Ramp Key Update – 19 keys are currently left and should get us through the year.  Charlie Anderson will follow up with Jim Powell regarding extra keys made.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

 

Landscaping Problem at the neighborhoods entrance sign - Charlie Anderson previously reported that some of the plants at entrance sign had died due to this summer’s drought.  The owner of the house next to the sign has previously allowed community members to use his water faucet to water the plants but his faucet is currently broken.  The board agreed that we would look into covering the expense of repairing the faucet in return for the continued use of his water.  Charlie has since been up to look at the faucet and it the situation may be more difficult than just a washer replacement and may require a plumber.  The board agreed to proceed with that if necessary.

 

St. Leonard Vision Group – After extensive discussion, the Board voted to remain as a member of the St. Leonard Vision Group.  In addition, Maria Buehler will investigate the possibility of getting Steve Weems, President of the St. Leonard Business Association to come and speak at a future meeting.  The board also approved Bill Miller to attend the meetings on behalf of CBCA contingent upon his payment of dues.

 

 

 

Boat Ramp Towing Policy/Fire Lane Signs – Pat McKnett noted that parking around the entrance to the boat ramp was still a problem.  Charlie Anderson had investigated whether the County would place fire lane signs in front of the boat ramp as the County has a vested interest in keeping that area clear in case the fire dept. has to use the ramp for fire and rescue boats but the County said the property was private and we would have to pay the cost of the signs on our own.  They would however like to see us put up fire lane signs as they do see this as a safety issue.  The board approved $120 for the purchase of signs which Charlie will purchase.

 

General CBCA Items:

Focus Issues –

 

a.       Erosion – No further discussion, as this was discussed during Commissioner Clark’s presentation.

b.      Meeting Attendance – The idea of using Mail Chimp to send monthly agenda’s was agreed up.

c.       Annual Calendar – still needs to be prepared but could be placed on the Calvert Beach Civic Association FaceBook page that Charlie recently created.  This led to further discussion on including meeting reminders on the FaceBook page and the possibility of including a link to the Facebook page in the Mail Chimp notices to increase the community’s use of the community Facebook page. Charlie may talk to Bill Miller about the logistics of doing this.

 

 

NEXT MEETING:   September 20, 2010 @ 7:00 PM in the LBCA Community Center.