Stannard Beach Assn Board of Directors mtg May 28, 2016

Stannard Beach Association Board of Directors meeting, May 28, 2016 

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m by Assn president, George Dallas.

Treasurer’s report by Laura Petchler: The Town of Westbrook mil rate has increased from 22.51 to 23.14. What shall our Assn mil rate be? 

The average cost/year to run the beach Assn is approximately $75,000 to $85,000.

Bank balance is $116,383.56 and a CD of $6119.88. The SBA insurance bill, to be paid, was about $5600 last year and the new increased cost bill will be here by end of June.

We need a buffer to save and grow as a capital account for our drainage project. 

Hopefully DEEP will allow us to improve drainage by the creek and 2^nd Avenue drains as it is a hotbed of mosquitoes.

DEEP will come in and clean out the ditches in about 2 weeks, at DEEP’s expense. They are aware that the 2 drains need additional attention (removal of street water to creek). The problem is not paving, the problem is water drainage, which must be addressed first. The biggest problem is any construction or excavation within 60 feet of a septic system.

Connie Tosto requested confirmation that the drainage and then paving projects will include 2^nd Avenue and Beach Court. George Dallas confirmed yes they will.

Capital reserve account: How much money should be added to the reserve on a yearly basis? Is it a flat amount or a percentage? Decisions from the Board meeting dated 6.30.13 are not clear.

Annual Pizza Party will be held on the baseball field Friday, July 1, 2016.

General meeting of the Assn will be held at the Pavilion on Sunday July 3.

Nominating Committee: Steve Mason will chair the committee.

Several residents have passed away over the winter, including Mackey Barron, George and Sis Palmer, Sally Shea and Jody Chozick.

Security: Fred Camarra will be our security guard one more year, at the same rate. Hours are Friday 6-10, Sat noon-10 and Sun 10-6. Also Monday holidays and special holidays.

Playground to be weeded, cleaned up and remulched.

Tennis Court roller – one is broken and Paul Shlien will get us a price on a new one.

By Laws regarding outdoor work/construction/noise: Starting May 27 no outdoor

work on weekends and as of June 30 no outdoor construction at all.  If an extension is sought get permission from neighbors and the Board. The Board has never extended permission beyond a few days.

Council of Beaches: There is no Stannard Beach representation so Steve Mason will be our representative. The Council meets on the first Monday of the month at 7. Noel Bishop attends as town representative. They are discussing the cost of continuing to have a State Trooper vs a local police officer. Of note is that the number of children in town has gone down from 1100 to 800.

Moorings: A new Town of Westbrook regulation is that any mushroom with a chain and buoy needs to be registered with the Town. There is no cost for this. The form is attached.

Annual beach cleaning will consist of removal of any large tree trunks at the beginning of the season.

Groin/Jetty maintenance – shall be an ongoing and annual maintenance item.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:30.

Submitted by Sharon Bender, Secretary.

Stannard Beach Association, Annual Meeting, August 28, 2016 DRAFT

Stannard Beach Association, Annual Meeting, August 28, 2016  DRAFT

Assn President, George Dallas, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a m.

A moment of silence was held in memory of Julian Eligator.

The minutes of the General meeting from July 3, 2016 were read and a motion to accept made by Barbara Berkowitz, 2nd by Jackie Zwallinger. All voted to accept the minutes as presented.

Treasurer’s Report: Laura Petchler presented the Treasurer’s report. Report is attached. This is the time to pay Association dues. Bills are going out now and fees/fines are assessed on accounts not paid, after September 1st.

There is $147,729.71 in checking

                  $6,126.74     in savings

Motion to approve by Sandy Seidman, 2nd by Merle Katzman. All voted to approve.

Old Business:  Playground repairs. New decking and nails to be installed this fall.

Water’s Edge: November 12 Remember Bill Hahn day. All are welcome.

T-shirts: Look at website for t-shirts, ½ zip ups, sweatshirts, etc. www.stannardbeachstore.com 

Stuart and Heidi Katz are now officially Mr. and Mrs. Katz. Congratulations!

Reminders: No coolers are allowed on the beach

All rentals must be for a minimum of one month – no weekly rentals please!

Security Guard: Fred Camarra is retiring after the weekend of September 10th to a cabin in Maine with his wife. Fred thanked the Assn for a wonderful job and the Assn thanked Fred for a job well done.

Construction: The Morris family is rebuilding, Jeff and Robin Katz are bringing in gas, and the Palmers are bringing in gas.

Council of Beaches: Steve Mason reported that the Town of Westbrook does not have to put in sewers. DEEP is cooperating and allowing folks to upgrade and put in new septic systems.

Please donate nonperishable food items to the Shoreline Soup Kitchen to help the less fortunate.

Nominating Committee: Steve Mason, chair, reported that the Nominating Committee consisted of Steve Mason, Harvey Robin, and Richard Glassman, board members, and Myra Fishman, and Richard Rottblatt, non board members. Steve presented the proposed slate of officers for 2016-2017:  

President – John Abella

1st VP – Mike Grennan

2nd VP – Steve Powers

Secretary – Sharon Bender

Treasurer – Laura Petchler

3 Year – Paul Schlien, Lincoln Tedeschi, Allison Adams

2 Year – Peter Black, E J Greenspan, John Wolf

1 Year – Rich Glassman, Maureen Keegan, Jerry Skolnick

Motion to accept proposed slate as presented by Edward Pinn, 2nd by Peter Black, all voted to accept.

John Abella recognized all of the past presidents he has worked with since moving to Stannard Beach 20 years ago; Sandy Seidman, Steve Mason, Dennis Hersh, Lou Brown and George Dallas.

George Dallas was recognized for serving 4, two-year terms! George was awarded a plaque and a gift certificate to Fish Restaurant in Stamford, CT. A Stannard Beach shirt is on order as well.

George thanked everyone, saying, “You’re all family”.

John Abella spoke about the Board’s priority to protect the quiet enjoyment and preservation of peace, safety and serenity.  The Board of Director’s actions should seek to protect everyone’s investment here.

John has previously been chair of the Rules Committee, and 95% of the time issues can be cleared up by talking to your neighbor.

Motion to adjourn by George Dallas, 2nd by Sandy Seidman, all voted to adjourn.

Stannard Beach Association General Mtg DRAFT notes July 3, 2016

Stannard Beach Association General Mtg July 3, 2016

The meeting was called to order by Assn President, George Dallas, at 9:05 am.

A moment of silence was observed in memory of Sally Shea, George and Sis Palmer and Mackey Barron.

Minutes from the meeting dated 8.30.2015 were read.

Motion to accept the minutes by Peter Langlois, 2^nd by Merle Katzman, all present voted to accept the minutes as corrected – change E J Robbins last name to Greenspan and reference to Allison Schlein should be to Allison Adams.

Treasurer’s Report: Please see attached report from Laura Petchler, Treasurer, including proposed budget.

Motion to pass the budget made by Merle Katzman, 2^nd by Peter Langlois, all voted to pass the budget.

It was noted that the breakfast costs $872 with food and the rental costs for chairs.

The pizza party costs $2600+ for the pizza truck, gelato, cappuccino and band, plus more for guests.  Thank you to Allison Schlein for organizing.

The Board recommended no change in the mil rate.

Welcome new Assn members Jim and Patty Sansone who purchased the Colangelo cottage at 26 Stannard Drive.

Speed buoys: After approximately 20 years, Steve Mason and Harvey Robbins are passing on the task of storing, taking out, placing and pulling in the speed buoy markers to a new group of capable volunteers. Thank you Steve and Harvey!

Council of Beaches: Steve Mason reported that the Council of Beaches meets on the first Monday of every month at 7 pm at Town Hall.  Everyone is invited and encouraged to sit in on the informative meetings.

All buoys need a permit from the Town of Westbrook starting this year. There is no charge and Steve Mason has the forms. Anyone needing a buoy installed or serviced can try contacting Scott Mitchell, Harbormaster in Old Saybrook, or BB Marine as a couple of places.

The Zoning laws for Westbrook are being updated so watch for changes.

Project Limulus – investigating horseshoe crabs. Mtg will be held at town hall on July 7.

For more info on the Council of Beaches please see their website: WestbrookcouncilofBeaches.org

Directory: Please contact Steve Mason with any changes to your contact information for the Stannard Beach Assn directory. He can be reached at shm992000@yahoo.com.  The directory is only shared with police, fire, state police and the security guard.  We will ask Lou Brown if Max can build us a website with security and a password so that our published business/meeting notes stays within our community.

Nominating Committee:  Steve Mason is chairing the committee. A slate will be presented in August at the Annual mtg.

Thank you to Mike Rottblatt for contacting DEEP regarding mosquitos from standing water at the end of 2^nd Avenue. DEEP sent a crew and did some cleaning out of a drain. More is needed.  A much deeper trench was expected to allow for outflow from the drains to be more, smooth and greatly improved, but even though much debris was pulled out it is not nearly enough.

We would like to repave 2^nd Avenue but that will only allow water to flow even more easily down the street, with no clear drains o go through, to get it off the street, so we need to fix the drainage before doing any paving. DEEP says they need a bigger license from the Army Corp of Engineers to clear out our mosquito ditches.

The digging out was on Adam Schwartz’s land, which was impacted as the water moved from the catch basin to Adam’s yard. The catch basin needs to be graded so it is lower than Adam’s property.  Adam requested being kept informed as to further plans since so much of the work is on hi property.

It was clarified and agreed that drainage remediation and paving would include the full length of 2^nd Avenue and Beach Court.

New Business: The Stannard Beach Assn by-laws were written to protect seasonal enjoyment. An exception was made to allow the Caslins to finish their home. Specifically most of this time limited work will be inside except for outside work on Tuesday-Thursday of next week. This exception is not a precedent, it is only an exception.

The Association tax bills will be generated now, as the budget passed today, so please let Laura Petchler know if there is a different address you would like the bill to go to, such as if the house is in someone else’s name. Please be sure she has full, clear information.

Road repair:  all of Stannard Beach needs repair. This is very expensive, as we own the roads. Zoning rules do not allow drainage put in within 50 feet of septic system, so this is a huge challenge, as we need to have drainage in place before doing any paving.

Speeding:  Please slow down – there are too many cars going too fast.

There is no parking allowed on the pavement of 2^nd Avenue during the summer, so that an emergency vehicle can always get through in the event of an emergency, and because there is no room for folks to walk down the street, and children run out from between the cars.  Please respect this rule and do not park on the pavement.

Fireworks:  There are no fireworks allowed within Stannard Beach, for the safety of our families, guests and our homes. People get hurt and smoke and sparks are carried on the wind onto rooftops.

Motion to adjourn made by Merle Katzman, 2^nd by Ed Pinn. All voted to adjourn at 9:45 am.

Submitted by Sharon Bender, Secretary

Attached: Treasurers Report

                    Council of Beaches report