West Rehoboth Community Land Trust, Inc.
Post Office Box 633
Bethany Beach, Delaware 19971
To:Members of the West Rehoboth Community Land Trust, Inc. (WRCLT)
Re:Notice of WRCLT 2017 Annual Meeting and Annual Activity Report
From:Beth Doty, Board President
Meeting Notice
The WRCLT will hold its 2017 Annual Meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday November 9, 2017 at All Saints Episcopal Church, 18 Olive Ave., Rehoboth Beach, DE. Please plan to attend.
The primary purpose of the Annual Meeting is to hold an election for seats on the board of directors. There are 15 board positions authorized by our by-laws. Four positionsare currently vacant, and others may become vacant before the election. The board elects officers after the new board is constituted.
WRCLT members may nominate persons, including themselves, to be members of the WRCLT board. If you wish to submit a nomination, please use the form on the last page of this letter, and mail it to the address above not later than Monday, October 31, 2017. Please only submit nominations for persons willing and able to serve on the board.
You also may use the form on the last page to provide a proxy to ensure that we have a quorum present to conduct business, including the election of board members.
Annual Activity Report
Phase IV Lot purchase:
On January 20, 2017 a lotwas purchased at 19741 Norwood St. for $91,380. Most of the funding for this projectwas raised from organizations, individual donations, foundations, and banks and the remainder was funded through a grant from the Federal Home Bank from a previous project. This means that we now have a total of four lots. This 4th lot was encumbered by liens and past loans so the process of clearing those so that we could go to settlement was very difficult and time consuming.
Now that that lot is secured we intend to do another partnership with Sussex Habitat for Humanity. The board voted to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Sussex Habitat similar to the one that we passed on our first project. According to the agreed upon timetableour partner Sussex Habitat is in the process of recruiting a homebuyer family and we submitted a joint application to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board in August. The FHLB announcement of grants will be in December. Also, In December 2017 we will jointly recruit volunteers to work on the project in West Rehoboth. Construction will begin then by Sussex Habitat and the home should be built and sold by June 2018.
We are also working with Milford Housing to replace a mobile home fora resident who is badly in need of a new home. The resident owns the lot and will carry a very small mortgage on a ZEMOD structure from Beracah Homes. This modular home is very energy efficient to include solar panels resulting in minimal electric bills.
We are having conversations withthe National Development Council (a national nonprofit). They have been working with the Board of Directors since July 2016. We are examining options that may allow us to purchase land more quickly and build affordable homes for more residents. Additional conversations are going on with the Diamond State Land Trust examining a possible partnership. The balance of community preservation and revitalization is a difficult one but more and more lots are being sold to investors which will certainly put more pressure on those left to sell out. If that happens, then the community will be dispersed throughout the county. Our mission still remains to keep this as an affordable housing community for those who have traditionally called West Rehoboth home.
You can see the challenges which remain before us. We need your continued support to keep us moving in the right direction. We thank you on behalf of the residents we have already served and for those we plan to serve in the future.
Public Relations: . Our web address is: We keep adding relevant data and updated information on our web site. Please check out our website and the addition of pictures and news stories on our successful partnership with Sussex Habitat.
Fundraising: Income raised in FY 2017was $36,129. We received $6,691 net from our four rental properties; $1,077 in church donations; $2,500 in corporate donations; $5,190 in individual donors and $2,500 in private foundations and $3,500 from Sussex County Council. In FY 2018 with our carry over money, plus Federal Home Loan grant and our continuing fund raising efforts we believe we will in a position to purchase a fifth lot.
Financial Status: attached is our Balance sheet and Profit & Loss statementas of June 30, 2017.
Budget for FY 2018: attached budget
WEST REHOBOTH COMMUNITY LAND TRUST, INC.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS NOMINATION FORM
Nomination submitted by:
______
(Printed Name)
______
(Mailing Address)
______
(Telephone/Email)
______
(Signature/Date)
Nominee:
______
(Printed Name)
______
(Mailing Address)
______
(Telephone/Email)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ANNUAL MEETING PROXY FORM
I am a member of the West Rehoboth Community Land Trust, Inc. (WRCLT). By my signature below, I give my proxy to the WRCLT Board of Directors for the purpose of establishing a quorum to conduct business at the WRCLT’s 2017 Annual Meeting, to take place at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday,November 10, 2017 at All Saints Episcopal Church. I authorize ______to vote on any matters properly brought before the WRCLT’s annual meeting on November, 2017.
______
(Printed Name)
______
(Signature/Date)
1