Minutes

These Minutes are APPROVED

Board Meeting Minutes

Meeting date: March 23, 2010

Present: Craig, Joan, Tricia, Erika

Guest Issues to be addressed at next meeting; first 30 minutes (maximum):

Fred Barnes; when Gary and Russell came to push the snow (from the February snow storm) off the roof (heavy wet snow), they pushed a large pile of snow off the edge and it hit the deck, smashing his glass table and ripping the grill cover.  Fred will be entering a claim against Gary.

Erika will draft a letter to Gary; out of professional courtesy we are letting him know that a homeowner will be contacting him about a claim, the job could have been handled more professionally – notice to the owners, warning to not come out while snow is falling off the roof, etc.  The Board encourages Fred to work through his insurance company to find out what steps he should take to make a claim/get reimbursed for the ruined table and grill cover.  Request that Gary communicates with someone from Woodbridge so that the neighbors can be notified.

Suggestion from Fred: do not build any more decks on top of top soil

Approve Minutes of last meeting; February

Motion to approve:

Tricia Chatary

Second:

Joan Stephens

Motion carried.

Minutes approved

Current Business:

  1. Treasurers Report
    1. 02/16/10; Phelps Engineering sent us a letter indicating that it is time for the five-year storm water review and assessment (“restatement of compliance”).  The fee is estimated to be $600 and the work will be done in the spring.  This is an unexpected expense that we will have to find a line item for.
      1. 03/23/10; let’s look for a line item; all Board members will review the budget and look for a place to take this money from
    2. 03/23/10; Cindy Dodd’s landscaping bid is for $2,340
      1. Motion to accept the bid: Erika.  Second: Tricia.  Motion carried.
      2. Erika will communicate the decision to Cindy D.
    3. 03/23/10; the Board thinks it would be wise for the Treasurer to have a list of first, second, and third notice recipients each month.  The Board would like to know when an owner is about to go to small claims court, but don’t need to see the details of who is at Letter One, Letter Two, etc.  Tricia will work with Jessica.

 

  1. State registration compliance
    1. 02/16/10; dissolve and re-register?  Consult with Mitch/attorney.  The next step will be for Tricia to interact with attorney/Mitch on this issue to resolve the compliance issue once and for all.
      1. 03/23/10; in consultation with Mitch it is determined that we will pay the fee and re-activate the current Association registration.  The check is already out.
  1. 02/16/10; Ledgewood needs a larger recycling dumpster (someone needs to contact Casella)
    1. Craig will be in touch with Casella to request larger recyclers and to see if they come in colors so that it is clear which dumpsters are for garbage and which are for recycling.
    2. 03/23/10; Craig rocks.  Done.

 

  1. 01/17/10; Mailbox safety (follow up from discussion at Annual Meeting)
    1. 02/16/10; Carolyn Gillis has expressed an interest in this topic (Thank you Carolyn!).  Erika will e-mail Carolyn to see if she is still interested in heading this up.
    2. 03/23/10; Erika e-mailed Carolyn, but hasn’t heard back anything.
    3. 03/24/10; Carolyn is still interested, but doesn’t feel that she can head up the committee.  The Board will support any efforts on this matter, but is unable to take on the leadership of it, given the current workload and staffing.  Issue closed.
  1. 01/17/10; The light on the corner of Pinewood and Ledgewood stays on all the time or during daylight hours. (Connie)
    1. 02/16/10; Craig is going to contact someone to work on this
    2. 03/23/10; Craig will talk to Cindy D. about Terry Blair and see if he can check it out

 

Note: Erika will send a vendor list to Craig

  1. The yard light in front 7 & 9 Ledgewood comes on and off all night. (Craig)
    1. 02/16/10; Craig will ask the same person (who fixes the light at the corner of Pinewood and Ledgewood) to fix this one
    2. 03/23/10; Craig will talk to Cindy D. about Terry Blair and see if he can check it out

 

  1. Unit 12 Woodbridge has had water in the basement three times over the past years and she would like to have it sealed (they have a sump pump) like we did for Amira and Fred, or do whatever it takes to resolve water in the basement. (Sunita)
    1. 02/16/10; Craig will go visit the unit.  After Craig sees the place then we can decide what the next steps are.
    2. 03/23/10; Craig checked it out.  It was completely dry at the time.  The owner had done some cement patching (done by a mason) and says that he hasn’t had water in the basement for five years.  Now, with the rain and snow melt, they have water in the basement.  Adem knows what he would like to do to fix the problem.  He’s going to get the name of the material and the price and volunteers to do the work if the Association pays for the materials.  Craig will work with him on this.
  1. Parking issues; Owners’ work vehicles in the parking lot; there are some owners and tenants who drive their company vehicles home and leave them in the parking lot.  These are often large vehicles and the drivers don’t always park in their own spots, usually parking in Visitor spots.  The worst offenders are at Jihad’s place (there is a tenant there) and Yvon with his Town truck.  It is less about the work vehicle and more about the use of Visitor parking spots.  Also, there is a lot of idling going on.  The village limit is 3 minutes for idling, although a call to the local police yielded that this is a RECOMMENDATION not an ordinance, and not a law.  They can’t issue tickets for idling.  Keeping the idle time down to three minutes is a matter of neighborly-behavior and environmental friendliness.
    1. 02/16/10; we should put out a reminder to people to NOT use Visitor Parking places for anything other than visitors.  Company vehicles have to be parked in your own spaces.  If you have too many vehicles you can talk to your neighbors about using their extra spot, if they have one.  Erika will put this on the web and perhaps post something on the bulletin board.
    2. 03/23/10; Erika created a flyer for the bulletin board and put something on the website and the blog.  The issue can be considered closed for now.

 

  1. Welcome packet for new owners/tenants?
    1. 02/16/10; this packet could be a small thing with a photo, modeled after the one Erika uses with tenants, directing people to the website for all documentation.  This would be a great project for a volunteer, and Joan and new neighbor Debbie Davidson have signed up to work on this.  Erika will send her “new tenant” pack to Joan.
    2. 03/23/10; Erika sent the welcome packet to Joan.  Joan will work with Deb and get that welcome packet going.
  1. 02/16/10; Propane tanks. Erika is in contact with Gary to have fences (just like the ones used along the train tracks) built around the tanks.  As they mentioned at the Annual Meeting, this is a project that Covered Bridge Apartments has volunteered to take on as a contribution to the community.  Erika will also be in contact with Amerigas to have the tanks painted.
    1. 03/23/10; no news yet, but Erika is still on the case.  Gary has been contacted for a price on the new fencing (including staining).  Erika will contact Amira about Mirzet staining.  Amerigas will put us on the summer work schedule for painting.

 

Note: before Gary can put in posts Dig Safe needs to flag the area

Ongoing Business:

  1. Create a schedule for the ongoing maintenance of decks
    1. 06/16/09; Erika will ask Cindy D. what she remembers about decks (building and sealing) and also about gutter repairs and replacements.
    2. 09/14/09; Erika’s working on this
    3. 10/20/09; Erika presented a rough draft document and will ask Board members to add their knowledge to the spreadsheet to help complete the data.
    4. 02/16/10; Erika is working on this in her free time.
    5. 03/23/10; It’s still in the works, but not on the critical path

 

Other/New Business:

  1. Dean Messner; he feels that the decision to wait and see how well the sidewalk weathered was done without him.  He is asking, again, that the sidewalk be replaced.
    1. 03/23/10; although Dean’s opinion was heard (he wanted it replaced), the Board (several people went out to look at it and found nothing) didn’t see anything wrong with the sidewalk and decided to wait.  When Dean contacted the Board this month we had an “agent” of the Board go out and look at it and take some pictures.  The pictures are helpful.  Further, her evaluation of the sidewalks is that “Dean’s is the worst, Fred’s is great, Glenn’s is so-so, and #12 Woodbridge isn't the greatest on the first block as you step from parking to sidewalk”.  Craig with contact Gary.  The hope is that Gary can meet with Craig and another Board Member if possible to look at the sidewalks and determine what, if anything, Gary can do to remedy the situation.  First he has to acknowledge the situation.

 

Note; Erika will send the home visit checklist to Craig

  1. Carolyn Gillis; recently learned that the water shut-off valve in her basement does not work making it impossible to shut down her water for plumbing work/repairs, or in the case of an emergency.  She would like to know who’s responsibility it is to fix/replace the valve.  As an aside, should the other valves be looked at as well lest we have other broken ones?
    1. 03/23/10; there are several pieces to this
      1. The board thinks it would be beneficial for each unit to have a sill cock at each unit where the water enters the unit.  This is an owner expense and not many will opt for it, but would make sense.
      2. The broken shut-off is the responsibility of the owner.  If any of the other valves are broken it would be the responsibility of the owner of that valve.
      3. The mushrooms outside are likely individual water mains to each unit
      4. Craig will contact the town to inspect the mushrooms.  Can we build a box around them?  Ask if the town has to shut the water off at these mushrooms or if a plumber can do it (has the right tool)?
  1. Carolyn Gillis; her basement houses the shut off valves for the whole row of units.  She has also  noticed a “little row of metal mushrooms” on her front lawn that look water-related.  She would like to know if these “mushrooms” are the outside shutoff valves.  If they are, she would like to know if a plumber can shut her outside valve off there or would the town need to do it?

 

  1. Carolyn Gillis has detached drain piece (in back by her deck).  Ladder required.  Craig is willing to take a stab at the repair.
  1. Joan suggests a Board retreat; a half day gathering to discuss things like what it looks like (particularly for new members) to be on the Board of a not-for-profit.  This could be a good opportunity to develop a mission statement, build/complete a great-big-book-of-everything of policies and protocols, job descriptions, directory of owners, property maintenance data, etc.

  
Tabled Items

  1. Mission Statement; Board
    1. 02/17/09; Tricia will send around the draft that we worked up and we’ll finalize it at the last meeting.
    2. 03/31/09; nothing has happened.  This is tabled for the month.
    3. 05/19/09; tabled for time
    4. 06/16/09; tabled
    5. 08/18/09; tabled until we have more time
    6. 09/14/09; tabled
    7. 10/20/09; tabled indefinitely

 

  1. 01/18/09; Woodbridge sign is looking aged; can we do something to spruce it up?
    1. 02/17/09; Tricia suggests that this would be a great project for a community.  Erika will post something in the newsletter.
    2. 03/31/09; Cindy looked at it with an artist friend. The frame of the sign is rotting and the poles are also.  This will require replacement and then we could just turn the sign around (the other side isn’t so aged looking).  Gary will take a look at it and come up with some ideas.  Cindy’s friend could paint it if it was down, but didn’t give a price estimate.
    3. 05/19/09; Gary is working on a proposal, Cindy will follow up with him.
    4. 06/16/09; Gary is going to turn the sign around and be done.
    5. 09/14/09; it’s on Gary’s list, but he hasn’t gotten to it yet.
    6. 10/20/09; no news, tabled until spring.
    7. 03/23/10; Craig will talk to Gary, and Debbie Davidson would like to be part of the project.

Next meeting: April 20, 2010 at the Police Station

 

 

Reminders

    Text of Reminders