Shadow Lake Village

Minutes for the Workshop Meeting

November 10, 2005

Call to order 9:00 am

Roll Call:

 

Trustees:

Ø     Roger Nicholson

Ø     Cathleen Sullivan (Excused)

Ø     David Anderson

Ø     Margaret Mary Bambury

Ø     Jane Beckett (Excused)

Ø     Kevin Byrne (Excused)

Ø     Walter Lohmann

Ø     Warren Van Nosdall

Ø     Angela Vullo

Resident Attendance:

FINAL COPY WILL INCLUDE ATTENDANCE

Review of Minutes:

 

A review of the minutes for the October 20, 2005 Workshop Meeting, the October 27, 2005 Business Meeting and the October 27, 2005 Executive Session Meeting was completed.  They will be prepared for acceptance at the November 17, 2005 Business Meeting.

Treasurer’s Report:

By Warren Van Nosdall:

Ø     Warren Van Nosdall reported that the complete financial report, will be presented next week at the Business Meeting.

Ø     He presented each trustee with a spreadsheet for the committees for which they are the liaison.  He explained that the numbers on the right are the approved budget line item numbers.  He requested that each Trustee put in the numbers, by month, that their Committee will spend and return the sheets to him by early December.  If they would like a copy of the actuals for the last ten months, and/or for the twelve months of last year, please let him know and he will place them in their mailbox by next Tuesday.

Ø     Warren Van Nosdall advised the Board that he and fellow Board members had met with Falcon Engineering concerning the Reserve Study. He related the story of calling them to ask a question and being charged at a rate of $125.00 per hour.  After he had given them a bit of a hard time, they had issued a credit adjustment for the phone call and there was no charge for Tuesday’s meeting.  He felt that the meeting had been beneficial, as topics such as sealing the streets had been discussed.

Ø     Warren advised everyone that he has been working diligently to get the letter to the accounting firm regarding the replacement plan prepared.  It is now complete and awaiting signatures.

Ø     The 2006 assessment calculations were sent to Wentworth one week early so that the coupon books could be prepared and sent out to the residents.

Ø     A letter to the residents, concerning the 2006 budget, has been prepared and will be delivered to the residents via the Chatterbox, prior to the December 13, 2005 budget meeting.  Roger Nicholson commended Warren on his hard work.

 

Unfinished Business:

 

 

Ø     David Anderson will be making a motion at the Business Meeting to approve the recommendations of the Golf Committee concerning the 2006 Golf Cart Policy and Golf Fees.

Ø     Roger Nicholson discussed his communications with Comcast. He reviewed the past history with them, discussing the blank contract the Board had received, his efforts to get a completed contract and the assignment of a new accounts manager.  He explained that the best deal they were able to offer was $33.00 per customer if the Association paid the bill.  This would include an expanded service beyond the basic service currently received.  When asked to compare this to the cost per individual customer, Roger was told that it would cost $12.50 for basic and $19.99 for the added expanded service. Roger pointed out to the representative that the cost per individual resident was $0.51 less expensive then if the Association agreed to pay the bill which meant there was no savings whatsoever to the so called “bulk rate service.”  He further advised the Board that currently there are 844 homeowners out of 952 who pay for the expanded service, but some of them have it disconnected when they leave the Village for the winter. Also, this would mean a 10 -year contract, and a $300,000 budget line item (an increase of $160,000).  It must also be noted that this information was not received in time for inclusion in the 2006 budget. Therefore, everything will stay “as is,” and the potential for a 5% increase, as per the current contract, has been built into the budget.  He would like to convene a committee next year to investigate alternatives to Comcast, such as satellite dishes, Verizon, etc.

Ø     Roger Nicholson presented a Loch Arbor update stating that the Board had received a letter from the State noting that there was no need for the permits thought to be needed, but there is a need for a stream encroachment permit.  The new permit required is being pursued by the proper officials.

Ø     Roger Nicholson will contact the Board’s attorney concerning the creation of the contract for bus services.

Ø     Roger Nicholson advised the Board that the paving project would have started today had the weather been cooperative. It is now scheduled to begin tomorrow or Monday. This is the first phase of the paving program, which will continue for the next six years at a cost of $1,000,000. The funding for the program has been provided. At the end of this program, the entire Village will have been paved.

Ø     Concerning the problems with the “vacant unit”, Roger Nicholson advised that he spoke to the owner’s daughter. She was in receipt of a letter from the Board’s attorney. Roger advised her to communicate with the attorney.

Ø     Roger Nicholson advised the Board that he felt the presentation last month by the Wentworth Group had been well received. Currently he is awaiting receipt of the new contract and the three job descriptions, which will be an addendum to the contract.  The new person to be hired will be responsible for coordinating the work in the administration office and maintenance.  Margaret Mary Bambury stated that she will not approve a contract without job descriptions.

 

 

New Business:

 

Ø     Margaret Mary Bambury asked the Board to consider the problems some smaller vendors may have meeting the Village’s current insurance requirements especially the $1,000,000 excess liability. She questioned whether $500,000 would be sufficient.  Two vendors, Two River Tree and Road Runner have not provided the office with the required certificates to date possibly due to this requirement. Roger Nicholson advised that he had spoken with Henry Vullo concerning the requirements and explained that the $1,000,000 general liability per occurrence covered person per, per event. The required aggregate in the amount of $2,000,000 applies to multiple people in the same event. The umbrella is the additional over the two policies. He therefore advised that we keep the requirements we have, except on an emergency basis, and address smaller vendors, who perform limited work on the property or with whom we have small contracts, on a case-by-case basis.

Ø     Walter Lohmann advised that the ACC procedures have changed. The daily handling of Modification Requests and Tree and Shrub Removal has been shifted to the Administration Manager.  the Committee will continue to recommend rules and regulations to the board.

Ø     Roger Nicholson stated that he had asked Cathleen Sullivan, liaison to the Violations Committee, to review the current process and report to the Board. As she was not in attendance he advised that they were considering assigning the task of sending cease and desist letters to residents not conforming to the rules and regulations, and other letters of violation to the Administration Manager. He believes the current process needs to be streamlined. Margaret Mary Bambury stated that she thought these changes were occurring too quickly and asked that the Board stop rushing into these things and go slowly.  Roger noted that as Cathleen will need time to meet with the Committee, determine changes, discuss the changes, publicize the changes, and convert the current Violations Committee to a Covenants Committee, a considerable amount of time will have passed, so things are not being rushed into, but will be instituted within a few months.

Ø     Roger Nicholson asked Warren Van Nosdall about preparations for the 2006 Annual Budget Meeting scheduled for December 13, 2005. Warren stated that the budget is complete but he will discuss the impact the new budget will have on assessments, the fact that it is the lower than the last four years, that the funding for the Replacement Plan is included in this budget and though the increase is a total of 6.7%, this is a one time hit for the Replacement Plan which should not be seen in future years. The Replacement Plan funding has started but there is a lot of “catching-up” to do in two years. At the meeting, Roger will present an overview of the role of the treasurer and the Board members, then Warren will give an overview presentation and the liaisons will answer any questions posed to them by the residents. Roger Nicholson will also present the highlights of 2005 as an introduction to the 2006 budget.

Ø     Kate Barrett discussed the reinstitution of the Restrictive Covenants. Homeowners now doing their own work sign a waiver, but it must be the owner that does the work, not a family member. Also, they will be required to show a certificate of their liability insurance. Otherwise, the work done must be by a licensed contractor.  Modifications to the current ACC form and the new Restrictive Covenants form will be presented at the next meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trustees Reports:

 

Ø     Walter Lohmann reported to the Board that he and fellow residents had attended the Veteran’s Day celebration at the River Plaza School.  There were more than 30 Veteran’s in attendance and they were impressed with the students’ essays. He quoted statistics from WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnamese War, and the Persian Gulf War and asked everyone to reflect on the number of people who had served in the Armed Forces and those who had lost their lives for their country.

Ø     David Anderson advised the Board that The Lakers will be hosting their Holiday Dinner Dance on December 10, 2005 at 6:30 P.M. Tickets cost $27.00 per person.

Ø     Warren Van Nosdall reported that the sewer expenses were, “out of this world”. They are in excess of $7,000 for October alone, with most of the money going to Roto Rooter.  He asked that Jane Beckett or Jim Sullivan write an article for the Chatterbox as to disposing of grease down the drain with lots of water. Roger Nicholson asked that maintenance determine what is being flushed down drains and toilets and if it can be determined how far they had to go to clear the drain. If any incidents can be traced to a particular homeowner, that person will be billed.  Maintenance will be responsible for doing a follow-up on what Roto Rooter or whichever contractor is used to find out how far out the clog was and if it can be traced to one unit. He will speak to Kevin Byrne about this issue.  Warren thanked the two residents who had attended the Workshop Meeting. He further stated that sales of units, and the pricing of units, was quite high this month, which was good for the Capital Equity Fund.  He will be making a motion at the next meeting to transfer water line replacements from the budget, which is currently $25,000 of which we have spent $78,000 as of this date, to the Capital Equity Fund.

Ø     Angela Vullo stated that Colonial Nursery and Deep Cut Park will be coming to inspect the greenhouse to see if they want it. She has explained to them that they must incur all costs of taking the greenhouse. She also stated that Cathleen Sullivan, Kevin Byrne, Kate Barrett and she, had met with Robin Krippa from Meridian Health who was in charge of an Active Adult Community Initiative. Through this program Shadow Lake will be eligible for seminars, Health Fairs, and other appropriate services. A seminar on Medicare Part D has been scheduled for December 7, 2005 at 1:30 in the SLV ballroom.  A Health Fair will be scheduled for sometime in March, when more residents are on the property.  Those responsible for this program will be Angel Vullo, Cathleen Sullivan and Kate Barrett.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting adjourned

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kate Barrett                                                                   David Anderson

Administration Manager                                       Board Secretary