Sunday, June 24, 2012

Board of Directors meeting June 24, 2012


Stannard Beach Association, Westbrook, CT

Board of Directors meeting June 24, 2012

Meeting convened 9:05 a.m. by Assn President George Dallas

Treasurer’s Report: (also attached) The budget will be of the same dollar amount as last year, more money will be directed to major projects. There will be no legal costs budgeted.

Property values are down by 13%; there will be no decrease in the Town Of Westbrook mil rate. Our Assn will go from a mil rate of 1.3 to 1.67 to maintain the same income for the Assn as last year. 

There is just over $50,000 total as of June 24, 2012 in checking and savings

Roads: We will have approximately $75,000 for next year to fix the road, after this year’s Assn taxes are collected.

Motion to accept Treasurer’s report made by Steve Mason and seconded by Merle Katzman. All voted in favor to accept.

Sand: Waiting for DEP letter finalizing COP and no longer requiring the Assn to move sand.
Assn has spent $15,000 in bills for engineers, lawyers, etc. to end the 1992 agreement that came with a permit to build jetty.

2nd Ave road repair: Mid price is $250,000 for paving and drainage plan with bins to collect and strain water through  sand. Includes Maple Ave, Ave B and Stannard court.  All the water rushes down 2nd Ave towards the creek .It is against DEP regulations to push the water out to sea – need holding tanks first with sand to filter the water. So we need an engineering assessment.

John Abella obtained a paving proposal from JLS Paving, his brother in law, for $3/foot to grade, put process 1&1/2” asphalt, sealant.  Is $90,000 in paving from Water’s Edge to Lincoln Tedeschi’s house only.  Need more specs.

Steve Mason said that for years the Town of Westbrook only oiled the roads at the creek. That end floods as the water drainage backs up. Need to look at the drain pipe that takes all the water from Ripley Hill Rd. and dumps it into a pipe in beach and down to ocean.  Where and when does Ripley Hill Rd water become public water and require town help to properly drain. The current drains are grandfathered in.  Do we need a curtain drain at the bottom of Ripley Hill Rd? Majority of BOD members felt that we do not. Cannot put in drains similar to what is there now as those drains are grandfathered in.
Paving at the corner of Avenue C also has a drainage tank. It does overflow in heavy rains but does drain down.

Mark Madnick said 3 or 4 times per year large puddles by his end of 2nd Ave. Drains fill up with mud, then it seeps out and dissipates.
The elbow in front of Adam Schwartz’s house is broken – it is to carry 2nd Ave water down to the creek. Need to fix the elbow and have rotor rooted out annually.
How can we drain the water and also protect the houses by the creek end of 2nd Ave?

Are we fixing/paving 2nd Ave, with drainage, or are we addressing drainage issues specifically, or are we not dealing with drainage and strictly just paving?

If the Assn undertakes a full project it will cost each household $672/yr. for 10 years.

Just fix the broken drain for $5000.

The Town of Westbrook will not come in and oil and sand any more as it is no longer considered environmentally appropriate.

Need to obtain an estimate to clear out drains and egress for water.

To simply patch is $4/square ft., $3128 total, per proposal obtained by John Abella from his brother in law, JLS Paving.  Proposal attached to this report. Includes one 8x5 area by Fedorko residence and repairs by Abella/Webber, Caslin, Brown, Fishman, Mason, Katz, Hersch and Webber properties.  $782 sq. ft. total.

Motion to approve $9500 to repair 2nd Ave patching and drainage elbow. Vote passed.

Much of the drainage is from the Water’s Edge project?

Mark Miller will investigate weight limits of trucks that may and may not be reasonable on our roads. Mark is a civil engineer.  All the pivoting of heavy machinery tears up the roads.

Security: Fireworks at Water’s Edge is scheduled for Monday, July 2 with a rain date of Tuesday, July 3. Cars must check in at the top of Cedar Lane.  Residents and guests must register by giving their names and the address of house they are going to.

Overcrowding: A family had 30 visitors at one time and overwhelmed the access way of the beach. Does the Assn make a policy about this? The bigger question is what to do about boats, dinghies, chairs, coolers, etc. How to make a fair policy?  Legally, private ownership of the beach begins at the mean high tide line in front of waterfront owners' homes.  Where do all the other, non waterfront owner people put their boats and stuff? When Bellsky owned the Fishman house a judge said everyone could use the beach in front of all the houses but before and after that no one put boats or chairs on waterfront property owners’ property.  Some Board members disagreed with that recollection.

Need to send an announcement asking all folks to be good neighbors, and if you are having a larger party let the assn. and your neighbors know. Remind folks that no dogs are allowed on the beach.

The By-laws do not allow food on the beach. Security guard must tell these folks to take food off of the beach. It is public beach below the mean high tide line, regarding parties, dogs, etc. George Dallas will   go over this with the security guard and send out a notice with that section of the By-laws that apply to this.

There are lots of chairs and other things on beach from folks who have access to specific rights of way to the beach.

Picnic/Ice Cream Social/Regatta: Sunday, August 5, starting noon to 1 p.m. will include grilling dogs and burgers, ice cream. Make Stannard Beach t-shirts? No.  We may create a design and put it on the web so folks can do what they want with it.

Dog droppings: Motion was made to install stands with dog poop bag dispensers. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned 10 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon Bender, Assn Secretary

Saturday, June 2, 2012

General Meeting notice July 1, 2012

THE STANNARD BEACH ASSOCIATION WESTBROOK, CONNECTICUT 06498 June 1, 2012 NOTICE OF OUR GENERAL MEETING SUNDAY July 1, 2012 9:00 AM in the JOAN CONNELL COMMUNITY HOUSE COFFEE and....will be served from 8:30 prior to the meeting Respectfully submitted, Sharon Bender Slbender16@gmail.com 203 397-9026 203 530-2920 cell Please contact me with any email address or contact information updates regarding meeting notices.