October 19, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Execs move on with business under backdrop of Bowman brouhaha
by Pete Mazzaccaro

The executive committee of the Chestnut Hill Community Association held it’s October meeting last Thursday with most of the neighborhood and many of its members still buzzing from the recent move by Bowman Properties to erect dozens of red and white real estate signs soliciting cash checking establishments and discount retailers.

The challenge for the executive committee moving forward appears to be convincing Bowman’s managing partner, Richard Snowden, to take the signs down and back away from his threats to force out some of his retail tenants with higher rents.

The committee discussed the matter for some time and agreed that it wanted to keep the public apprised of every step it took in the future (for more on Bowman, see editorial, page 4).

Fund Raising

Bowman’s signs were certainly the most controversial matter broached by the committee, but perhaps not the most important. The annual fund drive, which has lagged in recent years, is a priority for the new CHCA administration.

Board president Ron Recko reported that the Association’s fund drive has begun and that he believes that the board should be off to a good start with $20,000 already donated, $10,000 by board members and another $10,000 from a pledge to match board donations by Chestnut Hill Health Systems, owners of Chestnut Hill Hospital.

The fund drive is an annual effort undertaken by the CHCA to raise money for the Chestnut Hill Community Fund, the non-profit funding arm of the organization. All money raised is given out in grants to a number of Community organizations in the form of grants. Last year’s fund drive netted approximately $31,000, a much smaller amount than what the association was able to raise in past years.

Tom Flemming, chair of the fund drive effort and an executive committee member, echoed Recko’s sentiments that the drive was off to a good start on its way to a goal of $100,000. “We’re expecting the membership to kick in $40,000 and we’ll try to get another $40,000 from the big hitters,” he said. “I think we’ll reach that goal by March 1.”

Recko added that the Tavern on the Hill would donate gift certificates for free beer and food to anyone who donates more than $100.

Bygone Bylaws

Executive committee member Anne Spaeth has been trying to organize the association’s bylaws committee since she was voted onto the board in April, but, she says, putting the committee’s composition together has been confused by several years of not keeping track of appointees and terms.

The bylaws committee is a committee of 10 people who serve 5-year terms and are charged with reviewing bylaws changes and other bylaw reviews. Each year the president is supposed to appoint two new members and two, whose terms have expired, are to rotate off.

Spaeth and former board secretary Dina Hitchcock were charged with establishing the current committee but the two have not reached an agreement. Former board president Janine Dwyer was appointed to help Spaeth and Hitchcock reach an agreement.

Building a case to sell the building

Interim Community Manager Ed Budnick presented a report of his findings that outline the financial state of the building at 8431 Germantown Ave. that many on the board have argued should be sold to improve the organization’s finances.

Budnick’s report found that the selling the building would dramatically benefit the cash flow of the Chestnut Hill Community Fund, which owns the building. Using a conservative sale price of $700,000, Budnick found that the fund could earn $15,684.64 annually (from a CD at 5.25 percent interest) and save $27,611 in annual expenses after all outstanding loans and mortgages on the property are paid off. He said he has not finished looking at numbers but that his report would be completed before the board meeting on Oct. 26.

Flemming made a motion to recommend to the board that it sell the house. The motion was seconded with amendments to consider placing restrictions on the sale to make sure any new owners don’t dramatically alter the building or its appearance. The motion passed.