The New Mark Commons Homes Association annual meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 12, with doors opening at 7 p.m. for refreshments and mingling with neighbors.  The updated agenda has been posted on the New Mark Commons website.

We urge residents to turn out for this meeting to vote; to hear about progress under our new management arrangement with Abaris Realty; and to receive updates from the Board and the various committees that keep our community running.  It’s also an opportunity to sign up as volunteers.

Each household has one vote in the elections, and has received its ballot in a mailing in February.  There are two full-term, three-year vacancies on the Board.  Only two self-nominated candidates came forward: Board President John Daroff, a resident of nearly seven years, and Board Member Ellen Stein, who has lived here since 1971.

At the candidate’s forum on March 1, John answered a resident’s question about his goals and objectives, saying that updating New Mark’s bylaws and covenants remained high on his agenda.

John noted that work on that issue was deferred in 2017 after Jim Denny retired as resident administrator. As no other individual applicant – neither resident nor nonresident – was qualified or suitable, John led the Board’s months-long efforts to find outside professional management.

Asked what he considered his greatest accomplishment as president, he said it was overseeing the “monumental shift … from self management to professional management.” His detailed statement, which also puts priority on developing a five-year Capital Project Plan, was included in the announcement of the March 12 meeting.

Landscape Committee chairwoman Ellen also emphasized the need for a five-year Capital Project Plan and noted the improved communications within New Mark, thanks to the quarterly printed newsletters and the monthly digital newsletters.

“Things have changed since 1967, we’re in a new technical world,” Ellen said. She noted the progress the Board has made since Abaris came on board, pointing to the many projects set forth for 2018 that are already underway. They include replacement of the timber replacement wall in the 800 block; the repair of doors, painting and new lighting in the pool changing rooms; the laying of new timbers around the gardens that surround the pool; and preparations to address a major erosion problem. Ellen’s statement was also available in the announcement of the March 12 meeting.

Ellen noted the increase in volunteers for the spring and fall cleanups that she organizes every year, and said she was excited to see so many new people joining in the effort.