By the time you read this, the snow should be melted and the water will be draining, albeit slowly, into the earth and off of the streets. This winter was a little bit more than what we had expected. We planned for colder than normal temperatures, but did not expect so much snow and generally bad weather. We saw ice everywhere on streets and on the creeks and Bay. From that, we had only a little dock damage and no boats on our piers were damaged. Although we did watch a boat across Oyster creek sink into the icy water.
For our community, we had lots of ice and snow on the roads. Plowing proved a bit of a problem on some streets and we asked many people to move their cars to one of the community parking areas. This brought some complaints about parking, and of course complaints about flooding and the lack of drainage on the roads. Please note that after March 1, we will go back to not allowing long term parking at the marina or Harbor parking areas. They are for the use fo the facilities and for short overflow parking for residents.
We do have a couple projects going to address flooding and we put in an application for a permit during the winter for phase 1 of the Biohabitats project. I will post information as that progresses. My hope is that we will make some serious headway to handle flooding on Booker, the top of Harbor, the top of Creek drive, Ellis and Fishing Creek roads by summertime.
We had enough people at the last community meeting to approve the new community budget. My thanks to the 27 residents who came. Without you, we would not have gotten the budget approved. In that budget there was a slight reduction in the taxes for the community. A special thanks is owed to Kathy Burke for again, making the budget process a success and for our community wide tax decrease!
We have a lot of projects planned for this spring. From improvements to the beach, to road repairs and tree trimming. As always, if you know of a repair needed to community property, please fill out a damage report form on our website (https://www.oysterharbor.org/damage-report-form/).
The community is planning on having more community events this year, such as beach parties, happy hours, and perhaps even an oyster roast. Check our website and community events page, or our Facebook page for dates and times.
We hope the spring brings good weather and the beginning of a great season of fun and enjoyment for all of you. Please be safe, watch out for children and animals, and drive with care; on the roads and on the water.
Happy Spring,
Eric
