Important Fall 2020 OBSC1 Community Updates

OBSC1 Members:

Monday, September 7th marked the formal close of our 2020 season. Our beach is officially closed and the lifeguards have returned to school, jobs etc. Given the events of 2020 and anticipated Fall 2020 occupancy, we considered keeping the beach open through the end of September, or at least on weekends, but unfortunately like most neighboring beaches, this was not possible primarily because of lifeguard availability and coverage.

2020 Season Recap

We had an excellent season in these most difficult of times. Each of you demonstrated a real sense of responsibility in this COVID environment; we thank you for your diligence with, and adherence to, state and local requirements. We had a number of compliments (and a few suggestions) on the following aspects of the 2020 season:Three lifeguard stands (instead of the usual two),Quality and attentiveness of our lifeguard team which kept our beach goers safe, Attentiveness to routine and daily COVID disinfectant application to surfaces throughout our ocean beach and bay,Badge checking team and their attentiveness to keeping our grounds clean, especially with the heavy use,Very successful sale of clothing, Social Committee with 30 events from movies to music to bingo to arts/crafts, and First class job that was done with communications using email, the website, Instagram and Facebook. Two areas of disappointment are our grounds and control of dogs. Many homeowners need to be more attentive to weed control, trimming shrubs, general neatness of their property, etc. Additionally, too many dogs were allowed to walk on neighbor's properties or on the beach, in violation of Club Rules. These matters will receive added attention immediately.

At our Sunday, September 6th morning Trustees meeting (we meet about every six weeks and talk/work almost daily), I thanked the Board of Trustees for their dedication and very hard work. I would guess that each member contributes about 150 to 200 hours a year; some even spend additional time, and it is a twelve month a year commitment to keep our community up and running.
 

Fall Owners Meeting

Our Fall 2020 Owners Meeting will be held on Saturday, October 24, 2020. Once again it will be a Zoom meeting. Details will be finalized shortly but we expect an early evening start time and will provide a secure method to vote for a slate of Trustee roles. We will also send a notice about how to get your name on the Trustees ballot; in the interim if you have an interest in running for the Board please send an email to obsurfclub1@gmail.com.
 

Club Roads

As we discussed at our Spring 2020 meeting, we own the roads and are responsible for maintenance. We are fortunate that NJ Natural Gas will pave all roads during Spring 2021, at their expense. Unless we take action now, the paving will basically follow the current pavement lines likely emphasizing the collage of patchwork along the road perimeter that has occurred over many, many years. This collage diminishes the value of our homes, the overall appeal of OBSC1 and causes water problems for you and/or your neighbors.

Your Trustees voted unanimously to require those homes which are deemed encroaching on Club property to move their planting beds, pavers, driveway, and/or other encroachments back to the owner's property. You can make the determination of your property lines by looking at your original or “as built” survey. We expect the work of eliminating encroachments to be completed by owners no later than December 31, 2020 and, to that aim, we will provide a list of contractors who can do this work; of course, you can hire anyone you want as well. We are also going to recommend three curb alternatives in an attempt to provide more uniformity as well as a definition as to the way your driveway, if being moved, needs to join the new paving. 

Each of your individual property's road curb line should only extend two feet from the cement foundation wall. Anything beyond two feet is on OBSC1 property and is therefore considered an encroachment e.g., if your driveway extends beyond your 2-foot curb line (even a few inches), it is encroaching on Club property. The Club will commission a survey and topography of our roads, completed by a professional company, in mid-October so we can validate your determination as to encroachments. We will share results with you at that time.

We ask your cooperation in eliminating the encroachments. Having NJ Natural Gas pay for the paving is an enormous savings and opportunity. If we had to pave OUR roads it would cost the association hundreds of thousands of dollars. We have a once in 40 year opportunity to get this right. Having said that, we know that this will not be popular with the about 50 to 75 homes (we guesstimate) who are encroaching, but the benefits to the 300 plus homeowners are: 

Reduced risk of insurance claims to the Club by clearly delineating our property,Significantly improved curb side appeal from a more uniform appearance, which should enhance the value of all properties. There have been a significant number of new homes built in the community and we will likely have 6 to 10 additional new homes this winter. Our roads and the overall appearance is not in keeping with your investments,Eliminate areas where encroachment has reduced the 20 foot roadway passage to 17 or 18 feet, making it dangerous for cars, delivery trucks, and emergency vehicles,Ability to require snowplowing curb to curb (once they are uniform), which is increasingly important as we continue to have more and more yearlong/winter residents, and Ability to have the paving contractors attempt to improve/eliminate puddling and pooling of rain water; water accumulation also freezes in the winter and is a hazard and insurance issue.On this latter point, the property line survey that will be done, will also address topography of our roads so the contractors and engineers can work to remediate water issues through paving, identify areas that cannot be improved because "it is the beach” and also, identify issues, if any, caused by Toms River or the state in their paving and storm drain work along Rt 35 North.

We recognize that this topic will likely raise many questions. Please be on the lookout for more information coming soon and we will certainly discuss at our Fall meeting too. 

Construction Updates

Effective September 8, 2020, the fee for new construction is $500.00. As a reminder, OBSC1 requires 60 days (as mentioned at our spring 2020 meeting) to review and approve plans. In addition, with the summer season coming to an end, construction in our community will be permitted again during the period from September 15, 2020 through June 15, 2021. Any interior or exterior construction that occurs outside this defined period will result in fines.

As to the 60 day requirement, we will do our best to expedite the review; clear final plans that properly address all rules will make the process smoother. Our website contains important information about the construction process. If you contact Craig Martin, our Trustee who manages Buildings & Grounds, during the plan drawing process he can answer questions and/or have our consulting engineer answer questions or help interpret the Rules.

Given the paving of our roads that will begin in the Spring of 2021, we expect homeowners building new homes to have their contractors complete all work in the street before the Spring 2021 paving begins. Additionally, any construction/building from this point forward will require a bond or guarantee from the contractor that the roads will be restored to “original” condition. This means that our new roads, once paved, will stay “new”, and free from improper repair or damage caused during construction.
 Thank you for another successful and enjoyable summer season. I look forward to "seeing you" on Zoom at our Fall Meeting.

Best regards,
Bill Parrett, President
On Behalf of The Board of Trustees:

Scott Flynn | Vice President
Karen Taylor | Treasurer
Jeff Mucha | Recording Secretary
Greg Gere | Lagoon
John Tedesco | Beach
Jeff Conger | Bay
Craig Martin | Building & Grounds
Dave Finter | Beach Badges
Barry Tetrault | Corresponding Secretary
*Sargent at Arms position is currently open

Ocean Beach Surf Club Unit 1
email | obsurfclub1@gmail.com
voicemail | +1.732.830.8100
website | https://www.obsc1.com/
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