Stannard Beach
Association, Annual Meeting, Saturday, September 10, 2011
The meeting was called to order by George Dallas, President
of the Association.
Minutes of the prior meeting dated July 3, 2011 were read.
Motion to accept minutes made by Dennis Hersh and seconded by Trudy Brown.
Minutes voted to be accepted as presented.
Treasurer’s report: John Kava, Treasurer, gave the report,
which is attached to these minutes. John reported an amount of $67,900 in the
bank accounts. Motion to accept the Treasurer’s report made by Merle Katz and
seconded by Clark Harris. Treasurer’s report accepted as presented.
DEP: a 1992 agreement allowed for jetty #3 to be built. It
included provisions to protect the base of the seawall between jetty #2 and
jetty #3, provide a sandy beach in that area and the association would maintain
a level of sand within 10 feet of the seawall to allow the jetties to be
traversed. But there is not enough sand
to move and moving what is there will destroy a lot of sea life if the sand bar
is moved. After many emails and phone calls an engineer was hired to make a
survey of the area. Sid Holbrook, who was previously with the DEP, was also
hired to help. The recommendations: 1. cannot move sand and 2., put in Armour Stone (used to be called
rip rap) at base of seawall. Sue Bailey at DEP will plead our case to her
bosses as she feels we made a very good case and have done a thorough study.
Sue Bailey knows we can amend the 1992 agreement and agrees that what was true
19 years ago is probably not true today. She suggests we amend the agreement
such that if we cannot get enough sand up to where we need it we put in a set
of stairs, but she agrees we do not need a set of stairs as folks can walk
around the jetty at low tide.
Lou Brown thanked George Dallas for his 5 years of work on
this issue. Jackie Zwallinger thought the agreement was to provide sand, not
riprap. Sara Lee Black wondered how far the rip rap will go and George said 20
feet. Can the agreement be annulled? Maybe, after the
Armour Stone is done.
Lots of discussion ensued. When the association asked DEP for permission
to build jetty #3, the permit came with the 1992 agreement. The agreement says
a level of sand is to be maintained in the area on the insides of jetty #3 to
inside of jetty #2.
Irene Nichols asked why does one property get something and
she does not. George Dallas responded that the agreement states the area
between jetty #2 and jetty #3.
If the Armour Stone is destroyed by nature whose
responsibility is it to replace it? If
the Association decides to amend or annul the agreement after this situation is
resolved, then it is not the association’s problem. George Dallas is waiting
for communication from DEP that is permission to install Armour Stone. Then the
association needs to appropriate funds but we do not know how much it will
cost. Jim Kiely was president at the
time the 1992 agreement was done. Newton Brenner and Irv Bernstein worked on it
for a year and a half. DEP would only let us rebuild jetty #3 with these
agreements, since we had not repaired or maintained it regularly. DEP may ask
us to lower jetty #2 so sand can move more readily over it. The location of the
area of discussion was delineated as down to the Old Saybrook end of Stannard
Beach.
Ripley Hill resident Jerry Skolnick said he pays taxes to an
association for a beach he cannot use as there are only 2 dedicated rights of
way, with very little actual beach area he is free and welcome to use. Harvey
Robbins agreed there is very limited beach access and beach area for non
waterfront owners.
Second Avenue paving/drainage: Second Avenue needs to be
repaved but first drainage issues must be addressed as the change in elevation
is 10 – 15 feet from Water’s Edge to Beach Court. Jim Kiely is working on it.
Trash: pick up will be on Thursdays as of October first.
Recycling pick up remains the same – Wednesdays.
Mr. and Mrs. John and Diane Wolf were introduced as the
buyers of the Reed house.
Security Guards: Do we need security guards? Break ins are
less now, though they did occur previously off season. The guard works Friday
6-10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at a cost
of about $15,000 in 2011. Jackie Zwallinger made a motion to eliminate the
guard, seconded by Jerry Skolnick. The motion was amended to include
holidays. David Caslin said it was not
fair to vote on any discussion when the meeting is occurring on a different
than regular date from prior Annual meetings due to the storm, and many folks
are absent. Dennis Hersh said he was the last president before security was
brought in and there were a myriad of issues including lots of strangers coming
to the beach, strangers using the parking lot and using the swing sets, all of
which we are liable for. Strangers on the beach need to be asked to leave.
Dennis then said there were lots of folks with security issues not at the
meeting due to storm damage to their homes, and a motion to table the motion
was made by Dennis Hersh, seconded by Dave Caslin. 19 voted in favor of tabling
the motion, 12 against tabling the motion. Motion tabled 19 to 12. John Kava suggested cutting back the hours,
which we increased this past year, or not have him carry a gun, which costs
more per hour. Discussion ensued about how the hours were used. Early hours
were to keep trespassers out of Stannard Beach. Late night hours as kids come
from Water’s edge, and there are bottles and breakage on the tennis courts and
seawalls.
Mary Rosenblatt said someone put a hammock up on her
property.
Barbara Mason made a motion that the guard not carry a gun
as he only needed to carry a gun to earn the extra money per hour. Motion
seconded by Lynn Nathan. Steve Mason suggested voting on the annual guard
question and maximum amount to be spent on security be voted on now as we do
not meet again until next July 2012. Mark Miller said he never heard any
discussion about the gun being an extra message for Brian, security. He has
heard many passionate reasons why the gun was wanted and needed. Motion to
table the “carry gun or not” issue made by Dennis Hersh and seconded by Dave
Caslin. Motion to table defeated 13 to 10. Discussion ensued. What is meant by
“armed”? There was a motion on the floor
for the guard not to carry a gun or taser. 19 voted in favor of no gun or taser,
7 in favor of a gun, therefore if we have security next year he will not be
armed with a legal “weapon”.
George Dallas made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded
by Dennis Hersh. Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon Bender, secretary.
