Director Cruea – March 2006

Wow! I have to begin by thanking all of the residents who have contacted me since my last article. I am humbled and overwhelmed by the kindness, good wishes and most of all, the sheer amount of ideas and interest that were passed along to me. If you haven’t yet contacted me with your thoughts, concerns, ideas, please do so. I would really like to hear from residents who have not voiced themselves in the past. I can’t represent you if you don’t introduce yourself and make yourself heard.

One of my goals as Director is to find ways to bring in revenue for the Harbour to fund some of the items we would like, but that may not fit into the budget due to larger projects and priorities. At the last Board meeting, I made a motion to raise the “new construction” builders fee from 3k to 10k. This means that whenever a builder wants to build a new home, they have to pay the Harbour 10k. Granted, there are not hundreds of buildable lots left and this isn’t going to bring in a huge amount of money. However, for example, one lot will now bring in an extra 7k and that would fund a small dog park or a new swing set. They are small things, but I think they would add to the enjoyment of the Harbour. So, I am thrilled that this small step was supported by the majority of the Board and will take effect April 1. I feel that we should look at all areas where we can bring in additional revenue without charging the residents, even if it is in small amounts. Little steps can make a big difference.

As one of the Directors on the Communications Committee I attended the first meeting of the year on Tuesday, Feb. 7^th, along with my fellow friends and colleagues, President Dave Humphrey and Director John Reinboldt. With lots of encouragement and friendly nagging…several residents agreed to enthusiastically serve on the committee and they are going to play a very active role in improving communications within the Harbour. I would like to welcome new members, Paula McCrory, Anne Spevacek, Greg Stocksdale, Carla Hatch and Wendy Desmond. Two former members of the Committee also attended the meeting, current Chairman Mark Larsen and Secretary Gene Stahl. Mark, who spent countless hours re-designing the entire Aquia website was more than thrilled that our new webmaster Wildon Terrell was in attendance! Mark, dusted off his files filled with fantastic new ideas and once again presented them to the Committee. Everyone in attendance contributed to the meeting with their ideas for a new improved website. The Board has approved of and hired a new webmaster. Soon, you will be able to get a plethora of relevant information from the website. It will be user friendly and…pause for effect here……..UP TO DATE! Most importantly, I would like the new website to include ways for residents to communicate with one another, advertise, get help, offer help, volunteer and ask the Board questions or make comments. If you have any ideas for the website, please let me know.

Thanks so much and please keep the ideas coming. Please contact me anytime via email R.Cruea@verizon.net or by cell 703-408-2293.