Friends of Barnstable Harbor

FRIENDS OF BARNSTABLE HARBOR, INC.

PO Box 248

BARNSTABLE, MA 02630

www.friendsofbarnstableharbor.org

2009 ANNUAL REPORT

January 20, 2010

Dear Friends Directors, Advisors and Members:

I am very pleased to submit this Annual Report summarizing the activities of our organization during 2009, and celebrating our first birthday.

As you will recall, when we initially conceived and planned this new group in the first few weeks of 2009, we were immediately energized and unified in our passion for the welfare and enhancement of Barnstable Harbor. Because of your inspiration and commitment to our basic objectives, we were rapidly able to organize a very professional Board of Directors, and a Board of Advisors whose members include a wide variety of technical, business, commercial marine and legal expertise. In a very short time we had a Mission Statement, a list of Issues and Challenges, a modest website, and a rapidly growing list of Members.

Then, in early March 2009, a full year after the initial collapse of the basin’s old wooden bulkhead, we recognized the increasing urgency of the failed bulkhead condition and assigned Peter Jasin as our Project Coordinator to work with all involved Town organizations toward a long-term solution to this critical problem. Pete worked diligently with Town DPW officials on reviewing bulkhead replacement design alternatives, selecting and petitioning for a full-scale all-steel design, and assisting the Town in obtaining sufficient funding from all available funding resources. As you know, that fundraising effort finally succeeded just prior to Christmas, and we have now shifted our focus to collaborating with Town officials on the construction project and the preparation of a Harbor Business Management Plan.

Early in the year, we pledged to work constructively with Town Officials and Departments, and began a series of very productive meetings for the purpose of prioritizing and addressing the problems affecting the performance of Barnstable Harbor’s Town-owned marina. We were very pleased, and honored, that our fledgling new group was officially endorsed by Mr. John Klimm, Barnstable Town Manager, in a public statement issued on May 26, 2009. That important endorsement remains available for your review on our website, and we very much appreciate Mr. Klimm’s continued support and efforts.

As the year progressed, we met and discussed strategies, drafted By-Laws, elected Officers, formed committees, assigned tasks and responsibilities, filed for corporate status, opened a bank account and PO box, retained an accountant, filed for 501©3 non-profit status, and generally got ourselves organized. I am glad to report that we are now fully prepared to carry out our mission in 2010 and beyond.

And, we will be asking you all to help in any way that you can.

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS FOR 2010:

The following Officers and Directors will serve their first terms during 2010 in accordance with the By-Laws: Ted Theodores, President; David Ansel, Vice President; Aaron Perlmutter, Treasurer; James P. Connors, Clerk & Secretary; Jonathan Brink, Mike Harden, Jack Hill, Peter Hutton, Peter Jasin, Max Kumin, Joseph Nastasi, Avery Revere, Chris Van Duzer.

COMMITTEES:

Executive Committee:

Ted Theodores, David Ansel, Aaron Perlmutter, James Connors

Advisory Board:

Brian Ackell, Ann Canedy, Chip Cheney, Rich French, Charles Harden II, Eric Hesse, Ian Ives,

Scott Laurie, Marion McConnell, Ken Morton, George Muhlebach, Jeff Myers, Rick Pfautz, Alyson Pitts, Kate Plettner, Peter Richenburg, Scott Simard, Paul Venditti, Ron Wilcox

Communications and Public Relations:

Avery Revere, Chair; Ken Morton, Charles Harden, Scott Simard, Jeff Myers, Ron Wilcox

Environmental:

Jonathan Brink, Chair; George Muhlebach, Alison Pitts, Rich French, Ian Ives,

Note: Several additional committees are authorized in our By-Laws, and will be organized during the year as volunteers become available. We encourage Members to offer any special interests or skills and volunteer to work on any of these important tasks.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES:

We remain committed to the principle that our basic “Associate Membership” should be free, and should encourage participation by as many stakeholders and interested citizens as possible. For corporate organization purposes, we are required to provide for a dues-paying and voting category which we have termed “Sustaining Membership”. Therefore we have established two levels of membership with features described below:

Associate Member: receives all information, announcements, invitations, notices, Free. We currently have more than 240 names in our email contact list, most of whom have requested that we keep them informed of our activities, and are considered Associate Members.

Sustaining Member: entitled to all the above benefits, plus voting on corporate matters, such as appointment of Directors and amendment of By-Laws, $10 Annual Dues. Corporate matters as provided by the corporation By-Laws include particularly voting at the Annual Meeting and any Special Meetings to elect members of the Board of Directors and the Nominating Committee.

PRIMARY OPERATIONS AND ACTIVITIES:

During 2009, in addition to getting organized, our group aggressively addressed the highest priority Harbor issue by working closely with all Town officials and departments to justify and secure the funding necessary to replace our failed bulkhead. Town officials visited with federal officials in Washington DC, and several visits and communications with Governor Deval Patrick’s staff in Boston finally resulted in the commitment of $3.75 Million. An additional $1.25 Million was appropriated by the Town, totaling the $5 Million project estimate. The Town DPW began immediately to implement the project by distributing the Request for Proposals (RFP) design and information package and conducting the first Bidders’ Conference on January 12, which was attended by 16 contracting companies. We are communicating regularly with Town officials to offer whatever assistance may be helpful during the bid/award process.

In 2009 we also participated in the Town’s planning process for Barnstable Village, emphasizing that ‘what is good for the harbor is also good for the Village’, and included many harbor-related elements into the draft plan, which we expect will be completed in 2010.

Our focus in 2010 will be on the Town’s implementation of the bulkhead construction project toward completing this work as effectively and as soon as possible. In addition to this critical construction project, we are collaborating with Town officials on the development of a harbor management plan which will include enhancement of Town-provided services and encourage local participation in the management of the Harbor Enterprise Account.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY:

Although we have not yet actively pursued a membership drive or formally solicited donations, in our first year we received a total of $2,625 in cash donations and membership dues, and an additional $1,446 of “in-kind” donations.

Budget Summary	2009 Actual	2010 Budget
Membership Dues & Donations	2.625	5,600
In-Kind Donations	1,446	400
Total Income	4,071	6,000
Operating Expenses	1,768	4,600
Balance at year end (cash)	$857	$1,857

ORGANIZATION AND ACCOUNTING SERVICES:

During the summer of 2009, the office of Attorney Peter Hutton, a Director, made final revisions to our By-Laws drafts, prepared Articles of Organization, obtained Director signatures and on October 8, filed all necessary incorporation documents with the Massachusetts Secretary of State Corporations Division, subsequently receiving notice that our organization was formally incorporated. We are very grateful that Mr. Hutton performed these legal services as an in-kind donation.

In the fall of 2009, we retained Randy Hunt CPA PC of Sandwich, MA, to advise us on organization matters, assist in the filing for non-profit status and serve as our accountant. Mr. Hunt prepared the necessary applications and supporting documentation, and on November 19 was notified by the IRS that the filing had been received and was being reviewed. We anticipate that it will very soon be approved effective for the year 2009. Mr. Hunt’s services were billed at a preferred rate totaling $400.

I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year and look forward to working with you in 2010. Please stay in touch, check out the website occasionally, and let us know your opinions and ideas on how we may best carry out our mission on behalf of beautiful Barnstable Harbor.

Sincerely,

Ted Theodores

President