Preamble

• the board hosts a town hall to present the 2023/2024 budget; The acting tressurer, Jerry Kafka, opens the town hall by admonishing a number of property owners for questioning and being critical of a line item in the budget that addresses additional drainage ditch work for a third road in the community; Kafka's opening remarks effectively kick off a two-hour exchange of hostilities.
• Paul Bradley warns the community that should the 2023/2024 Assessment is voted down, the board will move forward with the 2022/2023 budget the community approved one year ago. That budget allocates 120,000.00 or thereabouts for drainage ditch work;
• Bradley, Thomas and Kafka lead an effort to develop the property at 31 Bridge Road as a combination, guard house, meeting facility and detention center.

My name is Gregory Pichler with the MXB Wire reporting on location at Studio Bethesda and you are watching my update for Friday, March 24, 2023.

the 2023/2024 budget

Jerry Kafka, the acting treasurer, presented the budget for FYE2024. However, prior to presenting the budget Kafka stated he was "troubled" to discover what he characterized as a "small" number of property owners who have been in conversation on social media and through e-mail about one line item in the budget that involves the development of additional drainage ditches. Kafka stated that it was inappropriate for the group of renegade property owners to circumvent what he called the process by which association budgets get approved. Kafka stated that in his mind the group of renegade property owners "clearly" arrived at their opinion under a "misunderstanding" and didn't have all of the facts.

Editor's note: In fact a group of eighteen, property owners did circulate an e-mail chain to discuss the proposion of spending an additional 120,000.00 dollars on a drainage ditch project on a third road in the community. When you combine the line item, proposition with a drainage ditch project on another road the funds to which have already been allocated as part of a previous budget to address the drainage ditches on another road, the total expenditure would amount to 1,000.00 per property or thereabouts over a two year span.

I was briefly included on the e-mail chain until the group thought the better of it. Kate Mounteer pleaded with me to not exercise my first amendment, speech rights and publish an article about the performance and voting record of each, incumbent board member in the weeks leading up to the next board election—effectively, a repeat of the article, Voter Compass, published on August 22, 2020. On the event that I did not make such assurances the renegade group of property owners promptly removed me from the e-mail chain. [1]

Kafka further stated that the group of renagade property owners did not follow the process established by Delaware statute and circumvented that process when arriving at and distributing an opinion contrary to the presentation of the assessment by the board prior to the community meeting now scheduled for Saturday, May 6, 2023. Kafka stated that the rationale for the process is to give all of the members "equal" access to the information for which the budget is to be approved. In Kafka's words, "for the board to do otherwise would violate the board's legal obligations". Kafka neglected to identify what the process he spoke of was or the statute which the process is set down.

Kafka urged the renegade property owners to read and to consider an article Paul Bradley provided a link to in his broadcast e-mail message, dated March 13, 2023. The article that Bradley recommended the community of property owners read is entitled Driving your Association into the Ditch. In following the thrust of the article, Kafka stated that the board must look out for the interests of the community for both the community's current needs as well as the commuity's future needs.

Editor's note: I must admit I did not read through the Delaware statute—presumably Kafka means the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act ("DUCIOA"), that Kafka references in his openning dialogue—nor the article that Bradley refers to prior to sending out my broadcast e-mail message, dated February 23, 2023. The broadcast e-mail message, dated February 23, 2023, reports that a number of former board members and other visible property owners question the cost effectiveness of past drainage ditch work and question whether more money should be spent on such projects at this time. I am puzzled what effect DUCIOA has on a discussion about the appropriateness of allocating funds to a drainage ditch project in advance of a community meeting now scheduled for May 6, 2023. The freedom of speech and first amendment speech rights is the mechanism by which democratic institutions arrive at public policy in general.

Kafka further stated that the 2023/2024 board did not cause the problem for which the one, 120,000.00 dollar, line item is set down to address. Rather Kafka intimated that previous boards neglected to properly maintain the assets of the community, which compel the community to address the drainage issues now and not simply kick the can down the road as it were. Specifically, Kafka cites a failure on the part of the 2016/2017 board to properly identify costs towards remediating a drainage matter that fell out of a prior study as the primary reason for the need for the current line item at issue.

Board president, Paul Bradley, weighed in to mention that members of the Association were actively in communication with Sussex county, surrounding the challenges posed by the drainage ditches. Bradley stated that the 2022/2023 board approved the drainage ditch work on Bayberry Road to signal to the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and DNREC that the Association takes water management seriously and to influence the two authority bodies into advancing the drainage ditch work along Kent Avenue. Bradley further stated that this was the primary rationale that the 2021/2022 board allocated the funds to address the drainage ditches on Bayberry Road in the 2022/2023 assessment. Apparently, these funds have been spent. Bradley further stated that the expert opinion from a man he trusts, a man he identifies as Linden, is in favor of extending the drainage ditch work, that has been performed on Bridge Road and Bayberry Road, across the other East / West Roads, Errett, Addy, and finally Evergreen.

Bradley warned the members on the conference call that if the membership votes down the assessment, the board will revert to and move forward with the 2022/2023 budget, which the community approved last year. The 2022/2023 assessment includes 120,000.00 for drainage ditch improvements.

Editor's note: I am curious as to why the town hall never heard from the four board members, who voted down the line item at issue.

Bradley turned the floor over to the community for comment. Geoff Sella was the first to weigh in.

Sella attempted to disspell the belief that a copy of the budget was leaked, presummably by a current member of the board. Sella stated he, personally, gleened the figure from listening to a discussion by the members of the board about a line item costing 120,000.00 dollars over the course of the board meeting on February 18, 2023. Sella further stated that the community is looking at upwards of one quarter to a half million dollars of drainage ditch work when the work across the entire community is complete. Sella further stated that the money that was allocated and spent on drainage ditch work on Bridge Road was done as a controlled "experiment" or test to see whether the project had an effect of moving water out of the community property. Sella further stated that over the course of the board meeting on February 18, 2023 no one could state equivocally that the project on Bridge Road had the desired effect. The project certainly moved money out of the community, following Sella's momentary, verbal gaff. Sella further stated that water naturally moves from the highest point in the community at 26 Short Road to the lowest point, that being the South West portion of the community. Sella maintains that the best the community can hope for is that water on his yard, Youniss' yard and Stoiber's yard will move to form a pond on points to the South West.

Sella stated that David Wiecking spent an enormous amount of his personal time and energy into remediating the drainage issues throughout his tenure as facilities chair. Sella further pointed out that there appears to be a rush to get the drainage ditch work complete throughout the community in the absence of any assurances that this approach works.

Margie Cyr then weighed in, stating that she has been meeting with representatives of DNREC for two years. Cyr stated that she included Bradley in her conversations with DNREC one year ago. Cyr further stated that DNREC referred the community to a point person within DelDOT to work with. Cyr further stated that the project to date has been successful and needs to continue.

Editor's note: How did DNREC arrive at the conclusion that the drainage ditch work on Bridge Road was effective? No one else seems to be aware of this accomplishment.

Cyr stated that Bradley is also currently in conversation with Sussex County Conservation District. Cyr advanced Bradley's point that the community's persistence in addressing the drainage ditch work signals the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) and DNREC that the Association takes water management seriously. Cyr cites the relationships as "positive".

Cyr further stated that the contractor has been in conversation with State Representative, Ronald Gray, about the ditches in the community as well as those along Kent Avenue. Gray is the representative for Delaware District 38.

Community Vice President, Ron Thomas, weighed in, stating that the drainage ditch work to date has been a success. Thomas stated that there has been an observable improvement to the ditches along Bayberry Road. Thomas stated that the measurement of success is whether you observe water in the ditches and not standing water on the various properties. Thomas further stated that the Winter season is the season you would otherwise see issues with standing water. Thomas explicitly stated that the water is clearly being retained in the ditches, while at the same time he did not observe standing water on the property along Bayberry Road this past Winter season. Thomas took great exception to Sella's characterization that the drainage ditch project on Bridge Road was an "experiment". Thomas explicitly stated that he never used the word, "experiment", to describe the drainage project on Bridge Road.

In support of Thomas' observations, Cyr stated that she observed water from the ditches within the community flowing into the ditches along Kent Avenue.

Community member, David Taylor, weighed in, cautioning the board not to accept the presence of water in the ditches as a measure of success. Taylor advocated that the community should wait until the ditches along Kent Avenue are addressed prior to pursuing more drainage ditch work in the community. Taylor further advocated that once the ditches along Kent Avenue are sufficiently low enough to draw water from the community, then the community should proceed with the drainage ditch work.

Former board member, Jim Dempsey, weighed in, following Taylor cautionary comments on objective measures of success. Dempsey advocated that the objective measure of success is seeing the ditches absent of any water. Dempsey advocated that the community should allocate the money that the board has ear marked for the drainage ditch project in the 2023/2024 assessment towards the capital reserve. Dempsey presumably advocated that the board refrain from further drainage ditch work.

Community member, Chris Powers weighed in, refuting much of what Ron Thomas had to say regarding the success of the drainage ditch project on Bridge Road. Powers, who owns the property at 3 Bridge Road, reported that the property has standing water year round. Powers further reported that in her discussions with the contractor that the contractor informed her that the culverts would need to be blown out on a yearly basis. This expense does not seem to appear on the assessment and is yet another hidden cost of effective water management.

Community member, Kate Mounteer, weighed in, cautioning the community to regard DNREC as the expert in drainage ditches.

Community member, Joe Woolman, weighed in, stating that he lifted the characterization of the drainage ditch project as a "test" from the minutes of the special board meeting held on January 31, 2023 and that the wording is not his own, but rather the wording is that of the board. As Paul Bradley cut Woolman off after his two minute time allotment, Woolman demanded that the board define an objective criteria to define success. Woolman also demanded the board commission a Drainage committee to study the issue.

Former board member, Geoff Sella, spoke a second time, admitting he does not have a water issue on his property at 25 Short Road. Sella questioned why the board is following an all or nothing approach to drainage ditches, further justifying the need for a committee.

Former board member, David Wiecking, weighed in, advocating for the installation of meters to measure water levels in the community. Wiecking also advocated for proctoring a survey to learn the wishes of the community regarding the contentious topic. Wiecking also advocated for raising the roads as South Bethany is in the process of doing.

analysis

The work put in to drafting these community budgets and assessments is not trivial and those volunteers who contribute to the effort should be commended.

Having said that, both Kafka and Bradley correctly point out that drainage ditches have been a topic of budget discussions for the past two decades. Both Kafka and Bradley also correctly point out that drainage has been an historical topic of budget discussions. However, both Kafka and Bradley understate the historical fact that the community has never realized a Spring thaw absent of drainage ditch issues coupled with standing water.

Again, David Wiecking spent an enormous amount of his personal time and energy into remediating the drainage issues throughout his tenure as facilities chair. Much of Wiecking's effort have had little effect on the underlying problem—that being the inescapable fact that the area West of US Route 1 is on average only five feet above sea level. A small number of property owners have raised the ground on their property by a half of a foot or a full foot. However, the cost of elevating the sea level of the area West of US Route 1, , e.g., adding millions of metric tons of sand is well beyond the financial means of the community. I would estimate that raising the elevation of the land West of US Route 1—a topic that was never raised—would be fifty times more expensive than that of dredging sand on the shore. It cost 2 million dollars or thereabouts to dredge the sand onto the beach, extending the beach by 100 feet along the property line. It would require an estimated 100 million dollars to raise the elevation one foot in the area West of US Route 1. That figure includes raising all the properties to match the height differential.

In fact the community West of US Route 1 has always been observed to be a swamp, dating back to 1959. I can personally attest to the fact that as a young child I recall standing water in the community West of US Route 1. I was born in 1960. My family has owned the property at 20 Dune Road since 1960. Members of my family built the building at 20 Dune Road in 1961 prior to the Easter Nor'ester storm of 1962 that ravaged the area. I do not think anyone, who spearheaded the budget this cycle, or who is in conversation with representatives of the county, can make that claim.

The other important point that Kafka understates is that little progress, if any, has been made to the ditches, following Kent Avenue. There is currently nowhere for excess water to migrate during the Spring thaw. The Spring thaw typically begins in mid February. This problem has never been properly addressed by DelDOT, DNREC nor the State of Delaware nor the county. Further, there is no plan to address this inescapable fact on the horizon. Without cooperation from the state any comprehensive plans will do little more than redistribute the standing water to a more even level.

Sometimes you need to trust your gut instinct in lieu of expert opinion. This happens to be one of those times. Save major changes to the drainage ditches on Kent Avenue to provide a channel whereby water can flow to the Assawoman Bay, I do not trust the experts.

I, also, would discount the opinions of the contractor, who performed the work on Bridge Road and Bayberry Road, given the obvious conflict of interest. For the same reason I would also discount the influence the contractor has with State Representative, Gray.

Since acquiring the family property in 2002 I have voted to affirm all of the assessments put forward by the board. This year, save a modification to the assessment, either excising the line item tied to the drainage ditches on the additional road or one that follows Jim Dempsey's suggestion to divert the monies to the capital reserve for future considerations, I will be voting No, not that a down vote will have any impact as explicitly stated above. None of these modifications will be forthcoming. Bradley stated as such. Bradley reported the board has voted for the one budget and the board will not consider any other assessment as the DUCIOA process would require the board to effectively start over.

Still if the 2023/2024 assessment is voted down, it will send a message to the existing board.

Bradley, Thomas and Kafka lead an effort to develop the property at 31 Bridge Road as a combination, guard house, meeting facility and detention center.

Paul Bradley, Ron Thomas and Jerry Kafka reportedly led an effort to acquire the property at 31 Bridge Road and development the property into a combination guard house, meeting facility and detention center. In addition to Bradley, Thomas and Kafka, up to fifteen other community members reportedly considered jointly acquiring the property at 31 Bridge Road. The listing price for the property was 1.4 million dollars. In fact a number of community members, who were in on the negotiations, pledged up to 100,000.00 dollars towards the acquistion.

Ultimately, the group headed by Bradley, Thomas and Kafka failed to effect the acquisition. The property sold on March 10, 2023 for 1.2 million dollars. (see property advertisement on realtor.com))

Had the acquisition gone through, the group had plans to name the facility the BTK combination guard house, meeting facility and detention center. (see illustration) The group reportedly had plans to lease a portion of the property to the Association where the group had plans to erect a separate guard house. The group reportedly had plans to lease the space to the Association for 240,000.00 per year which works out to 1,000.00 per residential property

Had the acquisition gone through the group also had plans to lease the meeting facilities of the property to the Association in exchange for 5,000.00 per meeting. The investment would have easily broken even in six years.

In the case of the detention center the group had plans to incarcerate a number of community members, who have repeatedly violated Association rules. Joseph Raskauskas was to be an inmate bearing the inmate number, M001. Raskauskas had flagrantly and delibrately recorded one of the board meetings in the Spring of 2019 in violation of a board motion. Apparently, recording a conversation is not against any laws in Delaware provided you are a party of the conversation. However, it is a violation of the current board protocol.

The group also had plans to name me as inmate number, M002, for not only illicitly recording a community meeting, but also for publishing the candidate speeches on the MXB Wire, which is also apparently a grave violation.

References