Harmony Hills and Lexington Square Civic Association
Minutes from April 10, 2024
President: Paul Piscarik 302-733-7547; Vice President: Joe Marvasi 302-442-8635;
Treasurer: Ray Bodnar 302-368-0177; Secretary: Jane Creswell 302-345-4684.
Treasurer’s Report from Ray Bodnar: Starting balance from last meeting $2,102.96 in checking account and $5,000 CD. Total income since the Dec. 6 meeting: $2,407 ($180 from Kentmere, $750 collected for Dues, $65 interest on CD, $1392.50 reimbursement from State for snow plowing and a $20 donation). Total expenses $3,232.92 (Delmarva $59.49, Donation to Millcreek Fire Company for Santa coming on the firetruck $100, Ad for Fall yard sale and office supplies $153.48,
Martin Foster for snow plowing $1,750, yearly post-office box fee $200, LEH Landscaping for Island clean-up and mulching $507, Delaware Franchise Tax $25, Easter Egg Hunt Expenses $437.95 leaving a balance in checking account as of 4/10/2024 of $987.57 and $5,000 CD. (An additional $129.46 for Easter Egg Hunt that will be included in the August meeting treasurer’s report brings the total expense for the Easter Egg Hunt to $567.41.)
Dues were collected from 71 homes in Harmony Hills so far for 2024 and 8 from Lexington Square. Dues for 2024 remain at $10, payable to Harmony Hills Civic Association, and can be mailed or dropped off to Ray Bodnar, 207 Tamara Cir. (corner of Tamara and Ellsworth).
Tim Sheldon, County Councilman reported there were 15 code violations in Harmony Hills and 13 have been cleared.. One home has failed 11 inspections so far and another inspection has been scheduled. He also reported that reassessment cards will be mailed out soon. The card will say how your home is currently assessed. If there are errors, you will need to make corrections and return the card.
Middletown and Greenville areas will definitely be getting an increase in property taxes since a lot of the homes were assessed around $150,000-$190,000 and are now worth over half million.
Current assessment is 57 cents per $100 but it will go down to about 16 cents per $100, so our area shouldn’t see much of an increase. Police Report (October - March): 14 Check on Wellfare, 3 death investigations, 6 theft, 15 domestic related incidents, 1 hit and run, 3 Fraud and a few miscellaneous incidents.
A resident asked about the problem with swales between yards that were put in by the original developers and have since been filled in by residents or have eroded over time causing some residents to have problems with flooding in their yards. Tim said to contact the Conservation District office and someone will come out and tell you how to fix the area to help with run-off.
Matt Bortinato (41 Sentry Lane) in Lexington Square gave updates on the Disc Golf Course. Joe Marvasi (43 Sentry Lane) and Matt plan to submit another grant application to New Castle Co. to help purchase 5 new baskets to set up a beginners course to bring new players. The current course is one of the most challenging in the State. The grant will include funds to help support the community fall picnic. The grant received last year is paying for signage for the course and the work is still in progress. The golf community does a lot of the maintenance on the course and they have had people with no affiliation to the golf community help out. He has seen an increase of walkers in the park now that the trails are better maintained. He reported they recently had a tournament with about 70 participants. Someone asked if participants are charged a fee. He said there have been sanctioned tournaments in the past, the last sanctioned event had a $40 entrance fee. Pros play for cash and amateurs play for prizes. They occasionally have an optional donation tab on the entry form so the golf community has some money in the account to help pay for things.
Paul Piscarik reported that the speed bumps for Harmony Hills are fully funded, and were tentatively scheduled to be installed in the spring. He will email DelDot to see if there is any update on time frame for installation. He also reported that New Castle Co. removed the fence at the entrance to the park at Kingsley and replaced it with posts to make it easier for walkers and bike riders to enter the park.
A.J. Ianozi at 425 Tamara Circle is developing a website for the civic association. The web site is up but we still have to buy the domain, which costs about $15/year. Until we own the domain, you can use the site by going to www.hhlex.blogspot.com. Once we have the domain, the web address will be www.hhlex.org. New email address for the civic association: harmonyhillsde@gmail.com.
The plan to set up a paypal/venmo account to pay dues is still in the works. Paul says we will need to buy a dedicated mobile phone to use to set up the account. He will probably just pick up a pre-paid phone and that way it can be transferred to someone else when the officers change.
Paul Piscarik also announced that Leh Landscaping will take care of the island again this year and Martin Foster will cut the grass on Ruthar Dr. again this year. Paul contacted DelDot about weed control on the cement island on Ruthar. He is not sure if they will take care of it. Paul has been pulling the weeds and taking care of it himself. Paul also thanked DelDot for putting the boulder back on the island at the entrance after a truck crashed into the island and pulled it into the roadway.
Jane Creswell reported on a successful Community Easter Egg Hunt with 69 children participating. Unfortunately it started to rain about half way through and everything was rushed at the end. A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers we had this year. Unfortunately, I forgot to write down everyone’s name, but we couldn’t have pulled it off without you!!!!
YARD SALE: The Community yard sale is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, with a rain date of Sunday, April 28. An ad will be placed in the News Journal.
COMMUNITY PICNIC: A fall picnic is being planned for sometime in September. Continuing to have events depends on collection of dues. If you haven’t paid your dues yet, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you!!!
NEXT MEETING: 7pm Wednesday, August 7th at Scalia’s Daycare
