STANNARD BEACH
ASSOCIATION
GENERAL MEETING
06/28/15
The Meeting was called to order by
President George Dallas at 9:04AM.
A moment of Silence was observed for
our Neighbors we lost over the last year:
William “Bill” Wrang, Jr., Warren
Katz, Dennis Hersh, Sis Palmer, Shirley Hoberman, Harvey Fishman and Emily
Fedorko.
Minutes from our last General meeting
held 08/31/14 were read by Marie Garabedian. There were no changes and all
approved the minutes as presented.
Treasurers Report:
Laura Petchler went over the Proposed
Budget (please see the copy attached) the projected tax revenue should be
$77,610.00. The Cash in the back as of 06/19/15 is $99,507.00 in checking and
$6,099.00 in savings. Merle Katzman made a motion to accept the Treasurers
report as presents, it was seconded by Steve Mason and all Approved.
General Business:
The Pizza Party is being planned
again for next year, once again this year, it was a huge success. Thanks go out
to Vy Kava, Mary Rottblatt, Laura Petcher and Marie Garabedian for all their
work in planning this fun social event.
As the minutes stated, The By-laws document
was updated by Sharon Bender and Laura Petchler. They spent countless hours
updating and replicating the original document – indicating where changes have
been previously voted/proposed. They have done a great job. George asks for
members to review the document and give their feedback, updates or changes to
Sharon and or Laura. George also mentioned a few things in the By-Laws are also
town ordinances. Such as Fireworks and Bon Fires on the Beach. There are Town
ordinances against both of these, as well as fire pits in yards can be
considered nuisances.
George went on to say he had
authorized Dan Medeiros Sr. to repair Joan Connell Pavilion, new plastic
chicken wire was installed on the ceiling as well as rotted boards and siding
replaced.
George stated that Mark Apter wants
to make a donation for a memorial for their Parents. George asked that two cast
aluminum benches be installed at the playground. These are to be mounted and
bolted to concrete slabs. Thanks to the Apter Family for their generous
donation.
Regarding the Beach conditions,
George said they are in good shape this year, thanks to Mother Nature. We’ll be
keeping an eye on things because the sand can come and go quickly.
George also said the discovered drain
off Route 1 and behind the Pavilion was sitting in a swamp. The Rip Rap chute
for the drain and the north side of the lot were all cleared by Dan Medeiros
Jr.
A reminder that Sandy Seidman is the
Nominating chair and should anyone have suggestions or is interested in
becoming a board member to contact Sandy.
The Sanzo house sold to Rick and Han
Suydam.
Steve and Barbara Mason are updating
the directory, please check the info and be certain that your e-mail address
are listed correctly.
George went on to read a two page
Statement from the Board to the members regarding the Right of Way repair (ROW
repair) and or possible legal action regarding the drainage between the Lyman
and Brown properties. (Please see the complete Statement attached to these
minutes.)
Motion A: We support adding a line item to the
2015-2016 Budget entitled “ROW repair” in the amount of $15,000 to be utilized
to secure a legal release of liability and complete the ROW drainage project in
accordance with the engineering specifications.
Motion B: We do not support moving forward with the
ROW drainage project. We support adding additional funds in the amount of
$25,000 to the “Professional Fees” line item on the 2015-2016 budget.
Discussion followed regarding if there were by-law
violations and the best way to proceed as well as a suggestion of tabling this and
forming a negotiation committee.
Michael Guinan was introduced and read the following condensed
history of events (which has been slightly edited from its original form):
- May 2011, Browns finished construction of their home,
and after the ROW was "put back together" there was a depression that
created an unsightly and muddy pooling "pond" of water in the middle
of the ROW that would last for days at a time. The shape of the ROW was like a
martini glass with the middle of the ROW the low point.
- April 28th, 2013, Board meeting: the Lyman's
presented the issue to the board and the Board members had an active
discussion, agreed this was an issue, and voted to obtain a current TOPO
(topology) survey, a reviewed a plan to fix it from an engineer Lyman
recommended – Dave Ziaks: who he disclosed he uses on projects - but this would
not be a cost to SBA (Stannard Beach Association). Also it should have a
bond, written scope of work, insurance, and the suggestion that Lou Brown pay
for the total cost of the project.
- This direction was not exactly taken, and instead
an alternative solution came to be:
- May 11th, 2013, a meeting occurred at the ROW with
neighbors, the SBA President, those Board members who could make it, and
some neighbors who have experience in this arena, including a certified
engineer. The engineer’s report concluded that non-porous construction
material had been left in the ROW, which prevented normal percolation of
surface water. A decision was made to move forward with a plan to address the
non-porous soil situation by excavating the “bad” soil, replacing it with
“good” porous soil, re-grading the area, re-sodding, and replacing the concrete
panels in the sidewalk that had been damaged.
- The work cost was outlined and the Brown's accepted the
responsibility for the construction-related damage to the ROW, and agreed to
pay for the work: $8,950.
We, the SBA Board, tried to do the right thing and
facilitate the fix with what appeared to be a reasonable, and also a less
costly solution. Note: the original engineer – Ziaks - sent the Board a
different recommendation that also included a “mechanical” drainage system of sorts
that was more costly.
- However, because the ROW was SBA property, the SBA
Board hired the contractor and paid for the work - not the Browns - with the agreement
that the Browns would reimburse the SBA.
Early June, approximately June 3-8th, 2013: The work was
subsequently done.
- June 7th, 2013, all of the ROW work was complete except
for sod. We experienced a huge amount of rain that day and night – estimated
between 2 and 4 inches. As a result, all of the surface water that would
normally be “filtered” by grass on the ROW, ran un-restricted over raw dirt for
several hours. The Lyman's reported that their electronic water sensor in their
basement/crawl space went off for the first time ever since its original
installation approximately 4 years previous. It has been noted to the committee
that during that four year time frame there was a hurricane and super storm
Sandy, neither of which triggered the water alarm according to the Lyman’s.
Sometime between June 9 and 12, 2013, the sod
installation was completed. Note: We have been unofficially (i.e. verbally –
not via e-mail) informed that the Lyman's electronic water sensor in the
basement was triggered approximately 3 more additional times since June 12th,
2013.
- June 14th, 2013, Lyman's attorney filed a Demand Letter
against the Brown's and the Association, calling for additional correction of
current and future flooding conditions in the right of way.
- June/July 2013: The Brown's informed the Board that
their reimbursement of $8950 to the SBA would not be paid until they had a
release from the Demand Letter, and from Lyman's past, present, and future
accusations and liabilities.
- Summer and Fall 2013: The Lyman's observed to the
sub-committee that the low point of the ROW appeared to have moved from the
middle of the ROW (Martini glass shape), to the Southeast corner of the ROW,
which is closest to their property line, house, porch and common sidewalk area
- potentially causing more water issues. Note: item 3 in the Demand letter
suggested the “installation of a yard drain near the Lymans’ front porch, which
will discharge to sea wall, and create an outlet for standing water other than
the Lymans’ walkway”. Several discussions between the President of the Board
and Dave Ziaks could not reach agreement on that recommendation.
- October 2013, the board decided, voted to hire David
Ziaks - who is the Lyman's engineer on other projects (fully disclosed to us) -
to design and propose a storm water mediation system for the right of way.
The “theory” here was that if Ziaks designed the plan and oversees the
execution of it, and signs off that it was done to spec, that all the parties
would be satisfied and it would trigger the release of the releases from escrow
as well as the Browns reimbursement funds to the association of approximately
$8950 less $550 in Browns legal expenses.
Spring and Fall 2014: Several bids for the work
were received, but all of the bids exceeded the Board's no-to-exceed $15,000
recommendation, so no work was done.
- Spring 2015: Mr. Ziaks presented a single bid for
the work to be done at $16,200, based on him representing a discount of his
services as part of the bid. The board voted several times to proceed
(not unanimously), but the President delayed final approval until proper
recommendations and credentials of the contractor were presented.
Additionally, there was sufficient concern that the release language remained restrictive
– even after the proposed work was to be completed.
May 24th, 2015: The board was presented with appropriate
credentials and recommendations of the contractor and voted to move forward
(not unanimously) with the proposed fix of the ROW, but now work was to be done
until the language of the release documents was “satisfactory”, that those
documents were signed and counter-signed, and placed in escrow, along with the
Brown’s check for $8950 less their legal expenses of $550 to date.
- June 20, 2015, the board was presented with
updates on the language of the release documents of which our attorney had
worked with the Lyman's attorney, and it was deemed to be “better” language,
and subject to final review within the SBA Board.
The Board voted again to move forward with the Row repair
proposal. However, examination of the By-Laws showed that this issue would
require a 2/3 approval of the general membership because the total net cost:
contractor + engineer + legal - Brown's reimbursement exceeds the $10,000 allowed
in the By-Laws for Board approval of capital projects.
Both Motions were tabled after extensive discussion –
primarily because our By-Laws (ARTICLE XIII) require preliminary notice of a
vote to be held that involves use of reserve funds, and that ARTICLE IX 2A
requires notice “well in advance” when an expenditure of greater than $10,000
is being considered.
A third motion was made to distribute the information
above to all members for their information and review, and that a special
meeting to re-consider and re-vote the motions above is to be convened on
Sunday, July 19 at the Pavilion at 9am. In the meantime, the Board is
continuing to work with our attorney to make sure that the release language is
as broad as possible so as to prevent any future conflict and/or litigation for
all parties in regards to this matter.
After Michael Guinian finished his overview, the
discussion continued.
Darcy Caslin commented how there was no water problems
from 2007 through 2011, prior to the Browns building their new house. John
Petchler made the suggestion of having a 30 Day notice to be better informed.
Joyce Bisberg suggested tabling this for now and schedule a special meeting.
Adam Schwartz questioned if the board was split or in agreement regarding this
issue. Then the discussion continued further with Michael Guinan and George
Dallas clarifying the history of this issue. There was more discussion about
getting this resolved, putting it behind us and making sure that we are all
protected.
Sandy Seidman made a motion to add a line item to the
budget to set aside $25,000.00 to cover rectifying this situation. After a
brief discussion of the motion, Mark Miller made a motion to accept the change
to the budget and that was seconded by Barbara Mason. It was then suggested to
amend the motion to leave the budget as is and use reserves to fill any gap. So
Michael Guinan then made a motion to amend the budget and David Caslin seconded
that motion. All voted in favor of the addend budget.
Dr. Brown extended his Thanks both Michael Guinan and
John Abella for all their efforts try to put this to rest.
Another motion was brought to the floor to schedule a
special meeting for Sunday July 19, 2015, to vote on how to handle the
Lyman/Brown ROW issue.
Merle Katzman made a motion to adjourn the meeting at
10:30 it was seconded by George Palmer.
Respectfully Submitted:
Marie Gallo-Garabedian
