Winter 2006

Deck, Stairs Replacement Possible This Year

Contractors who examined the deck and beach stairs this fall expressed concerns about the structure’s safety and encouraged us to replace it this year.

Thanks to regular maintenance over the years paid for by your dues, the current deck and stairs have stood for more than 25 years. But now the ground supports have begun to rot, and the entire structure has shifted somewhat.

Bids for replacing the structure are not yet official, but the early estimates are less than your NHERA Board had feared.

A committee chaired by Vice President Joe McNarland continues to explore options, including the use of alternative building materials, changing the design of the stairs to make them less steep, and even moving the stairs slightly to the south – which, among other possible benefits, could allow continuous access to the beach during construction.

The Hathaway Court Recreation Association, which shares ownership of the deck and stairs with NHERA, will help approve the design and is expected to pay a share of the reconstruction costs proportional to the numbers of homes in the two associations; that works out to about 9 percent.

Using that same formula, the Hathaway Court association is expected to pay NHERA just over $200 to cover its share of maintenance expenses from 2002-2005; we spent about $2,250 on the deck and stairs during that period.

2006 NHERA Dues

It’s time to pay your annual dues for 2006. Statements and directory update forms were mailed to all homeowners on Jan. 27.

If you have not yet paid your $10 special assessment for 2005, your mailing included a reminder about that. If you owned your home on Nov. 1, 2005, you are responsible for that fee.

We’ve held the dues steady at $50 again this year. If you owned your home on Feb. 1, 2006, you are responsible for the entire amount.

Your dues help pay for maintenance, improvements, taxes and insurance on common property; for the annual dinner; and for other neighborhood activities.

The special assessment will help pay for replace-ment of the beach deck and stairs; see related story above.

Please pay your dues promptly to avoid late fees and save your volunteer board members the time, trouble and expense of following up.

Bidding Opens Jan. 28 on City-owned lots

There’s so much interest in the city-owned lots at the corner of Dunes Parkway and Norcrest Drive that the city will put them up for competitive bid starting Jan. 28.

Bids will be accepted through 5 p.m. Feb. 28, said Dick Maher, community development director for the City of Norton Shores.

The minimum bid for the 13,600-square-foot lot at 2364 Norcrest is $45,000. For the 24,318-square-foot lot at 2378 Norcrest, the minimum bid is $49,000. And for 3702 Dunes, which has 14,393 square feet, the minimum bid is $45,000. The city will pay NHERA $250 from the sale of each lot.

All lots are in a critical dune area and will require permitting for construction. Also, $5,050 per lot must be paid to the city for sewer hookups.

Interested parties can obtain bid forms from Mr. Maher’s office in the City Building, 4814 Henry St.

Development on the three lots is restricted by the same covenants that governed the neighborhood when the first homes were constructed. Only single-family homes are allowed; houses must be no more than two stories from street level and must meet other criteria for size, setbacks and more. The complete covenants are available at www.nhera.org/docs.

2006 Block Party Aims to Repeat Last Year’s Success

Last year’s resurrection of the traditional neighbor-hood block party was such a success that we’re going to do it again this year.

A bike parade, games, a magician and a bounce house drew almost half of the neighborhood children 15 and under, and food and conversation lured a good crowd of adults, too.

Planning is already under way for the 2006 party, led this year by Bloomfield Court block chair Rachael Ernvall. If you have ideas for this year’s party or want to help, please contact her at ChairBloomfield@nhera.org or 780-0207. And watch for more details in the next newsletter.

Single Trash Hauler Depends on You

With rising fuel prices, only one trash hauler would offer a discount to become our only hauler. To get that discount, NHERA would have to pay everyone’s fees, which residents voted against at the annual meeting.

The table below shows the companies offering service in the neighborhood, annual costs for trash and yard waste (with cart), limits on yard waste, recycling fee, and pickup day.

Co.	Trash	Yard	Yd. Limit	Recycle	Day
Allied	$2041	$76	5 Bags	$602	Mon.
Ames	$174	$653	None	Free	Fri.
Kuerth	$186	$70	10 Bags4	Free	Fri.
RMS	$186	$75	None	Free2	Weds.
1 Includes variable “fuel recovery fee” currently $6/mo. 2 Picked up every two weeks; others haulers weekly 3 Available for $50 a year without a cart. 4 Limit waived in the fall.

If you’d like one hauler for your block, please contact your block chair. If there’s a clear choice on your block, we’ll work with your neighbors to consolidate service.

• Bellaire: Brent McCarthy, 780-0476.
• Blissfield: LeeAnn White, 780-2200.
• Bloomfield: Rachael Ernvall, 780-0207.
• Dunecrest: Barb Miesch, 780-4099.
• Dunes: Sue Schuiteman, 780-5427.
• Lower Norcrest: Herm Zuidema, 780-2012.
• Upper Norcrest: Patty Robinson, 780-3328.
• North Hilltop: Fern Anderegg, 780-5101.
• Pleasant Hill: Ken Taylor, 780-9482.
• South Hilltop: Deb Minner, 780-1182.

Final 2005 Finances Income Association Dues* 7,685.00 Special Assessment 1,190.00 Directory Ad Sales 130.00 Interest Income 261.17 Total Income 9,266.17 Expenses Advertising $ 30.00 Activities 1,959.91 Bank Charges 42.10 Depreciation 1,140.00 Filing Fees 220.00 Improvements 190.79 Insurance 756.00 Maintenance 1,602.44 Office Supplies 168.23 Post Office Box 38.00 Postage & Delivery 283.20 Printing & Reprod. 305.07 Professional Fees 462.50 Taxes 486.90 Web site 144.14 Total Expenses $7,829.28 Net Income $1,436.89 * Includes $210 in 2004 dues collected in 2005

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