Cumberland Harbour POA Annual Meeting on April 20

The Annual Meeting of the Cumberland Harbour Property Owners will be held Saturday, April 20, 2013 at the St Marys Middle School, St Marys, GA at 2 pm.
There will be a Pizza Party at the Spring House at Cumberland Harbour beginning at 6pm. Tea, water, and soft drinks will be provided, BYOB if you wish other beverages.

For those unable to attend, Heritage Property Management will be sending to all home and lot owners a proxy to be filed prior to the meeting.
Please RSVP for both the meeting and Pizza party by April 10, so we can have sufficient seats for the meeting and food for the party to:
Melodye Pitts, CMCA, AMS
Community Solutions Management, LLC
P.O. Box 6642
St. Marys, GA 31558
Office: 912-729-4336 (http://www.cumberlandharbour-poa.org/tel:912-729-4336)
Fax: 912-729-6077 (http://www.cumberlandharbour-poa.org/tel:912-729-6077)
Cell: 912-617-0679 (http://www.cumberlandharbour-poa.org/tel:912-617-0679)
www.communitysm.com (http://www.communitysm.com)

Thank you.
Helen Ownby, Secty, CHPOA

OCT 29, 2009

Letter from Interim CHPOA Board of Directors

Cumberland Harbour Property Owners,

The Cumberland Harbour Property Owners' Association (CHPOA) Interim Board will be mailing the following information in a letter to all property owners in Cumberland Harbour. Because we are excited to let everyone know the Interim Board's plans for the next few months, we decided to post the letter on Harbour Lights as well as on the Cumberland Harbour property owners’ forum on yahoo groups at and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CHLotOwners on the CHPOA website, at http://www.cumberlandharbour-poa.org/. The Board will have its first official meeting this Friday, Oct. 30th, by conference call. We will post the Minutes of that meeting on Harbour Lights as well as the websites listed above, as soon as possible after that meeting.


Dear Cumberland Harbour Property Owner,

An Interim Board of Directors for the Cumberland Harbour Property Owners' Association (CHPOA) has been appointed by S. Mark Rogers, the newly assigned Administrative Officer of Point Peter, LLLP. This Interim CHPOA Board ofDirectors will serve until there is a sale of Point Peter, LLLP's property to a new developer, or there is a dismissal of Point Peter's bankruptcy case. The Interim Board will aid in the transition of any sale of the property to a new developer. After any sale to a new developer, this Interim Board would only continue to serve at the new developer's discretion.

Following are the members of the Interim Board and their positions:

Paul Gommo, President
Paul and his wife Joni own Lot 1080. Paul Gommo is President of an Atlanta-based small business that sells and services mission critical powersystems. Paul has over 30 years of business management experience. He and hiswife Joni plan to begin building their home at Cumberland Harbour within threeto five years.

David Cohen, Vice President
David and his wife Judith own Lot 248. David is the business manager for ImageInterpretations, Inc., a medical practice. David is also the President of the River Terrace Homeowners' Association in Roswell, Georgia.

Bernard (Bernie) Huber, Treasurer
Bernie and his wife Mary own Lot 254. Cumberland Harbour has been their primary residence for the past three years. They are retired and volunteer much oftheir time with the National Park Service.

Michelle Deis, Secretary
Michelle and her husband Dave own Lot 69 and Lot 910. Michelle and Dave are in the planning process of building a home on Lot 69, where they plan to semi-retire. Michelle is an attorney specializing in copyright law and she and her husband live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.

Helen Ownby, Meeting Parliamentarian
Helen and her husband Dennis own Lot 28 and Lot 442. Helen and Dennis are in the finishing phases of building a home on Lot 442 where they plan to retire. Helen is a retired microbiologist who managed federal contracts at the AmericanRed Cross in Detroit. She and her husband live in Evans, Georgia.

The Interim Board will be meeting almost weekly over the next few months (either by conference call or in person) to aid in the transition to any new developer, to respond to property owners' submitted questions, and to put in action the following agenda.

1. Review CHPOA management, maintenance, landscaping, insurance, and other contracts and choose to either continue such contracts or research and enact alternative contracts with the same or new contractors.

2. Secure an independent Georgia licensed CPA to audit all CHPOA accounting records to gain an understanding of past accounting practices and to streamline and set forth a new budget for the CHPOA.

3. Once the audit has been completed and a new budget determined, then a CHPOA Annual Meeting date will be set. The Interim Board is planning this Annual Meeting to be within 90 days after the close of the CHPOA's fiscal year (endingDecember 31, 2009) per the CHPOA Bylaws. The Interim Board will open discussions with any new developer to initiate an election of a new CHPOA Boardof Directors at this Annual Meeting.

4. Audit the CHPOA lot owner assessment records to determine whether all property owners and builders owning lots are current in the payment of theirCHPOA assessments per the Bylaws. Action will be taken to collect overdue CHPOAassessments.

5. Review the usage policies for the common areas for social gatherings by both Cumberland Harbour property owners and outside entities, and revise these policies as necessary to maintain the facilities.

6. Maintain discussions with the City of St. Marys and work with any new developer regarding the enforcement of the bonds for the construction of the incomplete infrastructure (roads and utilities) to move such constructionforward.

7. Communicate frequently with the property owners through a community website and answer specific property owner questions by email or phone conversations. Minutes of all Interim Board meetings will be posted on this website, once thewebsite is established.

8. Provide all owners with a community directory of property owners' contact information for property owners who wish to be listed in the directory. (The Board will be mailing such a request for contact information with this letter to property owners, so that a directory will be available by the Annual Meeting date.)

The Interim Board is open to any suggestions by property owners for other agenda items. Property owner questions during this interim period will be answered by the Board each time the Board meets (which will be almost weekly over the nextfew months). The Board will then respond to the property owner by email orphone. Please email any questions to the interim Board at cumberlandharbourowners@yahoo.com .

Additionally, any property owner who has an area of expertise or interest and would like to volunteer for a CHPOA committee assignment or other work that needs to be completed by the CHPOA, please contact the Board at the email listedabove to discuss how you would like to help.

The Interim Board looks forward to serving the best interests and needs of the property owners. All Interim CHPOA Board members are Cumberland Harbour property owners who have no affiliation with the former Land Resource, LLC or Point Peter, LLLP. The Interim Board will be working hard over the next few months to make Cumberland Harbour a showplace community.

Thank you for your support,
The CHPOA Interim Board Members

This POA Bd. Report has been posted as a courtesy to lot owners.
Harbour Lights is not connected with the POA, the property manager, or any other entity. -Editor

Correction: 2nd sentence, 2nd para. of the Board Report, below:
The City gave no timeline to the Board. The 'end of the year' reference originated solely with the Board and represented the Board's estimate of when the preliminary engineering and development costing work might be completed. -Harbour Lights Editor.

POA Board Report
Printable version

CUMBERLAND HARBOUR PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
REPORT AS OF May 22, 2009

Dear Fellow Lot Owners;

We are pleased to report that the Board of Directors has been working diligently over the past several months on many issues facing the association. We acknowledge that this has been a difficult and frustrating time as we all have faced the uncertainty created by the bankruptcy of the developer, Land Resource. As we previously reported, the bank holding the main mortgage on the community took back the property and they have been marketing it to several development companies. At this time there is still no final determination on this issue however the Board will continue to monitor the status and provide an immediate update to everyone as soon as information is received.

The Board has been monitoring the status of the bond with the City of St. Mary’s and can report that the most recent update from the City is that they continue to work with the bond company and are still going through the process of reviewing work needed with various engineers as well as development cost estimates on having the work completed. When asked whether there was a timeline they could provide on when the work would be done, they declined to give anything specific, however estimated that the work would be completed before year’s end.

We also have received information regarding new legal activity related to the marinas to be built as part of the community. Information on this can be obtained at: http://www.cumberlandharbor.blogspot.com/
(Marina update: here. -Ed.). The recent ruling did not change the status of the marinas, but basically resulted in a ruling on several motions by the Administrative Law Judge.

With the state of the current economy we are all aware of the need to carefully control expenses, and to attempt to reduce those where possible, without having an adverse affect on the quality of the community. We believe that all owners purchased their lot with an anticipation of the type of community Cumberland Harbour was to become and the Board of Directors is committed to maintaining, as best possible, the concept conceived for the community. While we cannot control the effect of the economy on real estate values, we do want to ensure that the services and facilities of the community are not diminished in any way that could further affect those values. To this end, the Board has been keeping a careful watch on expenses and has placed a hold on spending any funds on items which are not crucial to maintain the facilities and services. This review included taking an in-depth look at all contracts and making determinations on what services are being provided. The Board has appointed a Building and Grounds Committee to assist them in reviewing the current landscape contract, developing a complete list of all services and making plans to obtain competitive bids for landscaping and other services. They are also working with a landscape designer to develop a landscape plan for the entire community.

The Board will continue to look at all services provided to the community and will obtain competitive proposals in anticipation of the preparation of the 2010 budget. We are also seeking out information from other communities on their fees and services so that we can make a comparison of the operating costs of our association and the level of fees paid by lot owners.

The upkeep of the community is extensive. The landscaping alone requires maintenance of 20 miles of roadways (of which 13 are paved), 25 acres of ponds, 30 miles of irrigation and 80 acres of grass which is mowed and maintained throughout the development.
The Association also maintains four pools (three swimming pools and one reflecting pool) which require daily cleaning, chemical balancing and inspection of operating pumps and controls. The swimming pools were recently required to be updated to comply with a federally mandated retrofit of the drains to install anti-entrapment drain covers. Additionally, we have six clay tennis courts of the highest caliber which require constant grooming and maintenance. There are five buildings in the community that need routine upkeep including cleaning, painting, HVAC maintenance, repair to the interiors and exteriors, annual fire extinguisher testing and tagging, routine pest control, and maintenance of the equipment. We are looking at ways to reduce the utility costs of these buildings and will install controls on lighting, heat and air conditioning, and other appliances to reduce electricity costs.

As part of the finances of the association, the Board must look at income in relation to expenses. Unfortunately, there are quite a number of owners who have outstanding balances on their association dues accounts. The Board is taking active steps to ensure that these balances are collected and have authorized the Association’s collection attorney to pursue every means available to reduce the balance of outstanding assessments. Such action may include placing liens and/or foreclosure on lots by the Association where unpaid dues are excessive. It is essential to have the funds available to effectively operate the community and, the Board has a legal duty to collect these fees and we will continue our efforts in this endeavor.

The Board has engaged an independent professional Certified Public Accountant to perform a review of the Association’s financial records and copies of the report will be available to lot owners once the review has been completed.

We will continue to keep everyone informed as we move forward with the future of the community. Updates are always available at the Cumberland Harbour website: http://www.cumberlandharbor.blogspot.com/; or at the AIM website: http://www.aim-services.net/.
You may also email the Board of Directors at: Boardchpoa@aol.com. To help save on mailing costs, we ask that you check the websites frequently for news and updates.

The work of the association requires the assistance and support of a great number of individuals and we would like to thank all the committees and their members for their hours of volunteer service to the community. The current committees include: Design Review Board – charged with oversight of home design in the association; Building and Grounds Committee – responsible for the oversight of the physical property and grounds; Social Committee – organizes social gatherings in the community to allow owners to have an opportunity to meet each other and welcome new residents to the community; Rules Committee – charged with assisting the Board in the development of rules for the use of the amenities and other areas. The volunteer members of these committees work with great effort to help ensure the quality of life in the community.

As you can see, the operation, maintenance and organization of Cumberland Harbour takes a great deal of time and effort. The future success of the Association will require the support and assistance of everyone to help to build Cumberland Harbour into the quality development that we all envisioned when we purchased here. We anticipate that a new developer will purchase the community and we look forward to working with the new company in a spirit of cooperation to bring the potential of Cumberland Harbour to fruition. We appreciate your interest and concern and ask for your support to help move the Association forward in a positive direction.

Sincerely,

Glenn Saare, President
Board of Directors
Cumberland Harbour POA

To Top

This POA Bd. Report has been posted as a courtesy. Harbour Lights has no connection to the POA, the property manager, or any other entity.
-Editor

Report from CH Property Owners Association Board
POA Bd. email established for addressing questions and concerns

Printable version

CUMBERLAND HARBOUR PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

REPORT AS OF Feb. 10, 2009

Dear Fellow Lot Owners:

As the newly appointed Board of Directors of the Cumberland Harbour Property Owners Association, we would like to give everyone a brief update on where the community stands at this time.

As most of you are aware, Land Resource filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy last October. The bankruptcy process has been ongoing and recent activity involved the liquidation of their assets. This liquidation resulted in the communities which were under development being offered at auction with a plan to sell them to the highest bidder. The bank holding the main mortgage on Cumberland Harbour did not accept the highest bid and ended up taking back the community itself with plans to continue to market and eventually sell the community for a price they feel is more equitable.

As part of the review of the current issue with the bankruptcy, the Board of Directors met with the association’s legal counsel to discuss filing a claim with the bankruptcy court to secure the common areas and facilities on behalf of the association and its members. The Board did authorize this filing and as further information becomes available, it will be communicated to you, the lot owners.

Also, as reported earlier, the Supreme Court of Georgia overturned the lower court ruling prohibiting the building of the marina so we are hopeful that once a new developer comes forward to purchase the community, we will also see plans for the marina to be built.

The City of St. Mary’s is pursuing the release of the bond money to finish the roads and infrastructure in the community. At this time the bond company has had their own engineer out to look at the community to determine his estimate of the work still needed to be done. The City will seek proposals from sound, responsible companies based on the engineer’s plan of work and, provide them to the Bond company. We hope to see work begin on this sometime in the next several months, but there has been no schedule set for the work at this time.

The Board has met to review the financial status of the association. A hard look was taken at the delinquencies in the payment of the homeowners assessments. The Board has instructed management to work with George Nowack, the association’s legal counsel, to take further action to collect the outstanding balances.

It was the decision of the Board to keep the 2008 budget in place with the fees at the same level for 2009. The Board will be working with management on keeping expenses down where possible while not affecting the quality of service provided. We feel that a renewed collection effort combined with a close eye on expenses should enable us to weather the current economy. (A copy of the budget is available here!)

Also, the Board has been working with our manager, Jeanette Jones, in having repairs done to the common area buildings where needed. The Pool House was in need of replacement of some exterior sheathing that water had penetrated, the Spring House required replacement of some rotted wood and, the Fitness Center had a leak in the roof.

Plans for the very near future include review of proposals for insurance coverage for the association as well as to perform the audit recommended by AIM Services as discussed at the annual meeting.

The Board would also like to report that the Design Review Board has been busy reviewing new submittals for home construction in the community and in the past few months, they have given approval for four new houses to be constructed. Several of these have already begun work and we should have new neighbors in these homes within the year.

We will try to keep everyone informed as we move forward with the future of the community. Updates are always available at the Cumberland Harbour Blog Site: http://www.cumberlandharbor.blogspot.com/;

or at the AIM website: http://www.aim-services.net/

.
We have also set up a separate email for individual concerns or questions for the Board of Directors at: Boardchpoa@aol.com. These concerns or questions will be addressed at each HOA Board meeting and upon a consensus of the board and a response will be made in person or via phone to each individual by a board member, manager, or future owner of the development.

Cumberland Harbour remains a wonderful community with a great group of folks living here. We encourage you to visit and hope that you will soon join us as a neighbor!

For the Board of Directors:

Glenn Saare, President


Editor's note: The lPOA Board Report and a copy of the 2009 budget will also be mailed to CH lot owners and posted at the AIM website: http://www.aim-services.net/ (Registration required)

Harbour Lights home

These links have been posted as a courtesy. Harbour Lights has no connection to the POA, the property manager, or any other entity. -Editor

POA Board Member Bill Bruce's Reports to Lot Owners

5th Report, dated 10/16/08

4th Report, dated 10/02/08

3rd Report, dated 09/17/08

2nd Report, dated 09/08/08

1st Report, dated 07/17/08