Oyster Harbor Citizens Association ~~~ Annapolis, Maryland ~~~ Our Association: President's Report

Our Association

President's Report

ian mackinnon Winter 2010 —I would like to thank the nominating committee and the community for having the confidence to elect me as President of OHCA one more time.

Due to all the hard work and preparation done by the previous and current Officers and Board members and, of course, Claire Dillon, I was able to really hit the ground running....

I feel like we have accomplished a good deal in the past couple of months. As of this date, we have replaced several pipes, resurfaced most of the roads and have begun the extension of the OHCA beach wall on Shore Drive. We have also begun the engineering and permitting work for the bulkhead replacement at the Oyster Creek inlet. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the bulkhead replacement will be completed before boating season begins.

I would like to thank Jo Burkholder for her great leadership of the Community Property Committee. Jo's team put in the new playground at the Harbor/Creek Park and there have already been several parties and I see children enjoying it on a daily basis. What a great contribution!

I also want to thank Kim Boris for working so hard to transplant grasses and other plants with the preparation of the beach wall area. And for planning the Family Gardening Day at the beach. What a fun way to get everyone involved!

I would like to welcome Eric Epstein as a new Committee Chair of Piers and Harbors. Eric and Bonnie are soon to close on the purchase of 1413 Ellis and have had a second home on Fishing Creek for several years.

I am excited to share that we are showing our appreciation this holiday season to our local fireman at Station 8, Annapolis Neck. On behalf of the OHCA community, $200 groceries were hand delivered the day before Thanksgiving and we will be providing a Christmas dinner from the Fresh Market along with a honey baked ham. You can find more information and how you can participate in the newsletter.

Thank you to all of the community members for their patience during all the recent work. There are always "unintended consequences" in most everything... and we are certainly discovering them as we go. Please keep calling and emailing and I will do everything I can to get things right.

I hope everyone has a safe and joyous holiday season!

Best to all,
Brooke

Chair's Report

Winter 2010 —I'd like to extend a big thank you to Ian MacKinnon, last year's President, for all of his efforts, dedication, and time. Ian laid the foundation for and got the ball rolling on many much-needed capital projects, including the bulkhead replacement and community-wide re-paving. We'll miss his leadership, sense of humor, and his perspectives. But, I'd like to welcome back new president, Brooke Doswell. She has hit the ground running with several projects: finishing up the paving (unforeseen circumstances led to the hiring of a new contractor to complete the project); beginning work on permitting for the bulkhead; day to day supervision of the roads engineer to get the drainage plans rolling again; extending the Shore Drive retaining wall to protect OHCA right of way...to name a few.

In addition to all of this, it's also budget-planning time. Brooke and I together, with committee input, are working on the 2011-2012 budget and we will be presenting our recommendation to the Board at its December meeting on 12/9/10. If you have ideas for future projects or something else that you'd like us to consider as we develop the budget, please feel free to contact either Brooke or myself. You should receive your copy of the recommended budget via U.S. mail the last week of December. The community will meet on Tuesday, 1/25/11 to vote on the budget--please plan to attend this important meeting.

As we've had for the past 2 years, we've got a great leadership team in place--with active committee leaders, particularly Beach--Dan Craig, Community Property--Jo Burkholder, Environmental/Green--Kim Boris, Security--Winston Knight, a strong, "get-it-done" president, and a collaborative board of directors. I'm looking forward to 2011 in Oyster Harbor!

Kathy Burk
Chairman of the Board