St. Martin's by the Bay

Lisa Smith, Lynne Partridge, Becky West,

Janie Stopford via GoogleMeet

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Call to Order: 1:00 pm Lynne Partridge, Chair

Good Afternoon Neighbors, My name is Lynne Partridge, and on behalf of the Board we’d like to welcome you to our Annual Meeting. Today’s agenda will focus on two major items; review and adoption of the 2023-24 budget, and the election of two Board of Directors. This past year began with the challenge of the sudden resignation of two officers, Jack Shook and Barry Keefer who served as Chair and Treasurer respectively. WIth two new Board members, we had to quickly reorganize to figure out how to best serve the community. Our primary goals were to use our bylaws and MD HOA laws as guides in how we operate, establish communication with residents, and create a shared responsibility for the operation of our community. This meant creating committees headed by Board members and welcoming resident volunteers. The function of our HOA Board is to manage our budget and ensure the operation of our shared facilities. In this voluntary role we see this as an extension of our responsibilities as homeowners. We hope to extend this mindset to more neighbors and encourage you to volunteer on a committee or two. There is much work to share! I’d like to acknowledge our Board of Directors: Treasurer, Keith Miller who although brand new to the Board, stepped up to take on the responsibility of managing our finances. Secretary and long time resident, Janie Stopford has proven herself invaluable to me as we navigated this first year. Craig Costantino, our webmaster, is another long time board member whose community history and perspective informs our decisions. Andrew Davis and Bill Custead are first term directors who lend their backgrounds in construction and utilities in a variety of ways. And a special thanks to Lisa Smith and Becky West for their willingness to serve as appointed Board of Directors this past year, Today’s election will serve to officially make them duly elected Board members. We welcome and appreciate their contributions. I also want to personally thank Bill and Jolene Killinger for not only their service today with the election, but also in contributing to the maintenance of our gardens and concern for wetland preservation. Thanks also to Brandon Ridout for help in overseeing our water system, and Robin Custead for leading our newly created Sunshine committee. On that note, I call this meeting to order!

MINUTES: Janie Stopford, Secretary

The minutes of January 10, 2023 Budget meeting were approved unamimously. COUNTY WATER PROJECT: Bill Custead is anticipating the USDA funding as either a loan or grant will be approved by spring 23. There was discussion concerning the water prices, process, completion and acquiring residents’ approval. Bill recommended a campaign of communication, awareness, and cooperation to garner community approval for this investment. ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW: Andrew Davis reports letters suggesting improvements to townhome owners will be mailed in the coming weeks. He also suggests improving curb appeal through a peer pressure, awareness and cooperation.

Communication

Minutes from each Board meeting will be approved via text and posted to the website 2-3 weeks after each meeting. This allows for faster posting of meeting minutes,

Dumpsters

Reminder: dumpsters are for approved trash (no large furniture/objects, brush, not-broken down cardboard boxes) and for residents’ use only.

Tennis Court

Discussion: Consider repurposing courts as a boatyard, basketball court, pickleball court or some combo. Attendees were asked to complete a survey for input and other ideas. Surveys will be emailed for other residents not in attendance to offer input. TREASURER’S REPORT: Keith Miller Budget 2023-24 The development of this year’s budget was a balance between rising costs & new legal requirements, with an awareness of our financial realities. To that end, we consulted our bylaws, our accountant, and attorney to create a budget that covers all operating costs and is fair to all. This final draft represents hours of work crunching numbers and finding ways to minimize costs. A comparison of last year’s budget vs actual items reflects our attempts to cut costs wherever we could which allowed us to absorb a few cost overruns. The balance from last year’s funds will be placed in an account designated for reserves. This will hopefully allow us to offset the recommended reserve funds required by the new MD House Reserve Fund Bill 107. This year, we will engage a company to conduct the required reserve study that will make recommendations which we will be required to follow. Keith explained the House Bill and answered questions. He reported the following financial totals: General Fund, 26,265.05 HOA Fund/ Reserve 14,041.92 Dock Fund 17,332.63 Motion to approve the 2023-24 budget, dues schedule and dock fees passed unanimously. monthly. Dues will be mailed March 1: due by March 15. Payment may be either yearly, quarterly or ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCED: Becky West and Lisa Smith were unanimously elected. Annual Meeting Adjourned 2:11 pm Board Re-organization Meeting 1. Election of Officers for 2023-2024: Motion to maintain officers approved unanimously: Lynne - Chair, Janie - Secretary, Keith -Treasurer 2. Assign Committee Chairs a. Architectural - Andrew and Lisa-co-chairs. b. Reserve Study Committee: Lynne, Andrew, Bill, Jeff Stopford c. Boat dock/yard - Craig d. Communication - Craig e. County Water Project - Bill, Lynne f. Driveway/Tennis Courts - Bill g. Finance - Keith, Becky h. Lawncare/ Burnpile/Pool - Janie, Criag (burnpile) i. Water /Septic Systems - Lynne, Brandon Ridout j. Sunshine - Robin Custead, Betty Young 3. Meeting dates for 2023/24 April 12 June 14 August 16 October 11 January 10

February 10

meeting room already reserved

Meeting Adjourned 2:47 pm