Sunday, April 28, 2013

Stannard Beach Assn BOD mtg April 28, 2013


Stannard Beach Association Board of Directors meeting April 28, 2013

George Dallas, Assn President, called the meeting to order at 9:35 a.m.

Beach Court: All the emails on the subject have been shared. The BOD is waiting for beach court residents to say what they want done to Groin #2, and we have removed our conditions.  Lincoln Tedeschi will mediate.  The DEEP deal with the Stannard Beach Association allows the beach court residents to say what they want . Lou Florio made the original complaint but DEEP does not deal with individuals, only associations.
Board members want the SBA BOD to come up with an alternative plan since removal of the groin effects the entire beachfront.  Beach Court residents would have to approve a plan, and then the SBA submits it to DEEP. Stannard Beach Assn BOD says accept the first part of the Beach Court’s plan, but without the conditions, and give them a certain number of days to respond or it goes into effect without the conditions.

Playground:  Motion by Jeff Morris, 2nd by Harvey Robbins, to spend $8500 on playground landscaping, digging it all out 18”, installing a frame, plastic lining and mulch. 2 in favor, all others against. Vote defeated. Mulch needed for safety. Motion by John Abella, 2nd by Dennis Hersh, to include the playground in annual spring-cleaning. Take the dollar limitation out and include it in grounds beautification existing budget of $2500.  Approved.

First Ave right of way: Steve Mason’s bay window technically transitions from one parcel to another. This is a Town violation. The sidewalk is an “implied easement”, which separates the First Avenue parcel from the Second Avenue parcel. Sidewalk does not exist on paper but does in history.  Does the overhanging bay window violate the sidewalk?  No because the sidewalk does not legally exist as a boundary as far as the Town is concerned. How can the BOD allow one family to encroach but no one else? By-laws change, ordinance?  In condo associations there are common area laws so does everyone who buys at Stannard Beach need to accept the by-laws? What about existing owners?  It already exists. Previously established Building Committee cannot over-rule the Town. It would be difficult to implement a denial by our Association when a property owner already has permission from the town.  The by-laws do refer to no obstructions of line-of-site. Is there an easement that says if the right of way exists, but if not used for 40 years the easement ends?  Suggest hiring a condo association type of attorney to research our by-laws and suggest language to protect us going forward.  What do you do where there is no sidewalk? What if someone builds anyway – historically folks have built into the rights-of-way and it was expensive to try and stop it.  Ask Michael Cronin what the rights are regarding all of First Ave/First Ave sidewalk. Include a review of the existing by-laws.  Steve Mason said he had no knowledge of it when this issue happened, but yes, his house is 6.5” over the sidewalk. He researched the history and by-laws and there is nothing regarding a right-of-way, easement, or anything about the sidewalk.  All waterfront owners do own 2 pieces of land, in front of the sidewalk and behind the sidewalk.  The BOD directed the president to have the rights of First Ave investigated.  Why didn’t Steve remove the bay window and put in a flat window when the overhang was discovered? Steve said he did not do anything legally wrong. By legally joining the 2 parcels, there is no Town violation. Anyone can join their 2 parcels. Everyone should have the same rights and privileges as the Mason family, so changes to the by-laws must be fair going forward. The Masons put in their foundation at edge of sidewalk, not set back in line with the original.

Right-of-way between Brown and Lyman: George Dallas spoke with 6 landscape contractors before hiring Michael Lange, engineer, to do an engineering study. Landscape estimates are $8000-$12,000, so since that was expensive, got a proposal from Mike Spazzarini combined with Wrang’s engineering study. Must fill in the “bowl” created by construction on both sides of the right of way. To fix, dig out all of the bad material and fill in with good, percolating material. Cost $8000 including the report. Lou Brown pays $1600 splitting the remaining in to 3 pots of equal dollar amount
Stannard Beach owns the land in the right –of – way (Ave B).
Is this the best solution? How to break up costs? Cannot put in underground drains. (Lymans put in 2 underground infiltrators and the right of way was dry for 4 years until Brown built). Lyman explained his drainage chambers and how he angled his land and pavers to his own property. Passed around a video made in March showing large ponding in the right of way.  The front yard properties are mounded over the years due to sand influx (McDonald-Sharp engineers). That mounding impedes water flow. Lymans suggest doing pre and post construction surveys of topography so drainage is not inadvertently affected. Requested pre construction survey before repairs done, and topographical plan and proposed plan. Dave Caslin said Lou Brown said he wants the BOD to tell him what he needs to do. That’s why it’s back to the SBA board, but the Stannard Beach Assn did not create the problem!  Right of way did not flood before Lou Brown built. The BOD directed George Dallas to obtain a current topo survey, a plan to fix it, and a bond. Since Lou Brown has not fixed it the SBA needs to? Need a written scope of work. Have Lyman’s engineer tell George Dallas the scope of work and have insurance on the job so that if it doesn’t work we are covered.  The BOD suggested Lou Brown pay for the total cost of the project since it did not exist for 4 years since the Lymans’ house was built.

Security guards: Do we need them between Memorial Day and July 4th?Costs $3000 for that time period. No.

Kollmeyer Study from1988 regarding beach erosion: All predictions in the study have come to pass to a greater degree than even predicted. Kollmeyer proposed a stone jetty/breakwater to break the power of the waves.  Mike Rottblatt and John Petchler discussed the study and how to finance any further efforts. Suggest updating the study to see what to do going forward. Need to make a capital investment to update the study and make recommendations to stabilize the beach. What can be permitted? M. Rottblatt spoke about the seawall having no footing or foundation at his house. He cannot rebuild his seawall because if he does he will not be part of a contiguous wall so it will have no structural integrity. The cost is $40,000 to $50,000 to rebuild the Rottblatt’s wall, times all of the properties along the water.  Mike Rottblatt chose to reinforce his wall rather than rebuild. Rebuilding would compromise the structural integrity of his neighbors’ walls. Therefore the engineering recommendation is to maintain a contiguous wall. As it is personal property, Rottblatt will bear the cost. It should be noted that two marine engineers recommended by FEMA gave opinions that other walls are at near term risk of failure hence the growing evidence steps must be taken to mitigate erosion. As per the engineer retained, Frank Bohlen, "doing nothing is not an option. Failure to act puts our neighborhood at continued risk.
Need to update the study and move forward with plan. In Clinton they used the recommendations and built huge cement jetties. We need to plan how to protect our community.  Storms come out of the southeast. As they come around money point they attack our beach. Houses like Mason and Katz are protected by the rock outcropping that breaks the waves. Can fund a project with a long term loan like a mortgage. Charges would be assessed like town taxes – more assessed to waterfront owners as is fair.  Or can put up a bond secured by several members’ private funds.  Can also defer interest on the loan incurred by any property owner until the house is sold.
A barrier could be build of dumbbell shaped stones or cement, shaped that way so they interlock.
Since FEMA has been decimated by payouts over the last 2 years they have given us a window of opportunity to potentially mitigate the erosion problem. Motion by Dennis Hersh, 2nd by Bill Wrang, to contact the engineer and make a proposal to update the study. Mike Rottblatt is already in the permitting process to drive steel sheathing 12 feet down in front of his seawall and pour concrete footings.
We need a knowledgeable person to look into the funding as in other communities, the town, state and U S government, to see where funds may be contributed from. The cost to FEMA to help us is much less than paying many flood claims.
Meeting adjourned at 11:25 a.m.