Amston Lake District
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
October 7, 2009 7:00 P.M.
ALA Clubhouse, 16 Wood Acres Rd., Amston, Ct.
A. Roll Call of Officers and Directors – Present: Dave O’Brien-Pres., Mark Paul-VP, Ray DeCormier- Treasurer, Sherri-Ann Martin-Clerk, John Connor, Laurel Hennebury, David Moorcroft, Scott Forgue
Missing from roll call: Dave Martin – arrived at 7:13 pm as noted below
B. Call to Order at 7:00 pm
C. Recognition of Guests, Residents and Property Owners’ Petitions
*Donna Rockwell, 84 Cove Road, Lebanon
Need to fix Cove Road; has special needs grandchildren and bus will not go down the road to pick them up; dangerous for them to wait at end of road for bus
*Brett Harlow, 403 Deepwood Rd, Lebanon
Why wait until the end of the season to fix roads? Makes it harder for contractors to bid; harder to see what needs to be done due to the amount of leaves on the dirt roads
D. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes to include the following changes:
1. July 24, 2009 Special Meeting Minutes: Per the request of resident Janet Atkins in 9/26/09 email, the following changes apply:
* Major Atkins” should be replaced with “Adrian Atkins”; Adrian’s name was recorded incorrectly
*references to ALA should be replaced with ALIA
2. Verified that March 4 Meeting Minutes document C. Wool apology to BSA for incorrectly stating that we paid BSA for removal of beach signage boards; Brett and Ed Harlow thanked the Board for the correction
3. September 2, 2009 Meeting Minutes: Per the request of John Connor, Director, the following additions are requested:
*p. 1, C. Recognition of Guests, Kevin Connor, change …”2012 completion date” to “December 2011 completion date, with notices to residents by January 2012”
*Add to end of same section noted above: “K. Connor-Are you (Dave Martin) and the WPCA members committed to and in favor of implementing the sewers on the Lebanon side of Amston Lake? D. Martin- Absolutely, we are all in favor.”
Motion to accept, Ray DeCormier, Second, Mark Paul
Motion approved unanimously.
E. Receive and Act Upon Clerk’s Report
Nothing to report
(*Dave Martin arrived at 7:13 pm)
F. Presentation of Correspondence and Communication
See attached list
G. Receive President’s Report
See attached from D. O’Brien dated 10/2/2009 regarding Lebanon Sewers
H. Receive Treasurer’s Report
$124.47 discrepancy was a bounced check and is noted in report
Can we add page numbers to the report? R.DeCormier will investigate
See Amston Lake Financial Reports dated 9/30/2008 and attached
Reviewed Quarter to Date 2008-2009 sent to Board prior to meeting (see attached)
I. Receive Tax Collector’s Report
Not going to get definitive answer on legislation regarding Water Quality line item budget in the budget and needs to be divided by number of tax properties equally; will be an issue for people owning very small lots; per Eileen, should stay based on lot assessments to be fair
See attached report from Eileen Curtin
J. Consider and Act Upon Standing and Special Committees’ Reports
1. Dam
Contract signed with Knight Construction and Sons to start on Wed. Oct 14th
Reviewed plan for construction of concrete walls reinforced with rebar for $20,300 within our $23,000 budget
2. Storm Drains
Board is waiting for info from Hebron regarding vortex drains to add to budget for next year
3. Lebanon Wastewater Study
Dependent on funding; have 6 sources and need town approval at yearly budget meeting; Finance Committee this Thursday; Town of Lebanon posted RFP for feasibility study for costs; Brett – catch basin
is filled with silt and drainage pipe is at bottom of basin; Town of Lebanon added rocks and drop pool to brook next to Keegan’s house and is backing up septic systems in wetlands; D. Martin suggested Brett go to Lebanon Town Selectmen as the road and the basin belong to the Town
4. Drinking Water
See attached email from CT Water detailing new water pipe installation completed in Hebron and planned for 2011 in Lebanon
5. Boats & Rafts
Need to put lottery info in for docks in fall newsletter so timely placement in spring or find another mechanism; Scott Forgue volunteered to take this over from Lynn Mika
6. Weeds
Gerry Smith/Aquatic Control – do we have plans for treatment next year? Need to look at it now to decide where to treat; decided touch up not needed this year due to effectiveness; may be areas to touch up? Have them come and give estimate of areas to touch up, and we will review
7. Communications
Lebanon info regarding sewer installations; work with WPCA to provide info; post Engineering study on website; D. Martin to work with R. DeCormier; D.O’Brien – deliver consistent message so we are in concert with Town of Lebanon
Town of Lebanon Seasonal change: Mike Savino from Willimantic Chronicle asked Board’s opinion; only one person from Amston Lake went to Lebanon Special Town Meeting – we have no opinion.
Scott Forgue – can we add blog capabilities for committees? Mike Smith is reviewing how to do this; should send emails so employees have info from Board members and info is shared; D. O’Brien – we followed what was determined by the public at the Special Meeting regarding the dam and decisions are at committee level
Laurel Hennebury volunteered to help R. DeCormier with Communications
Dave Moorcroft will work with the Dam Committee per the request of D. O’Brien
8. Ordinances
Items to be reviewed in Oct 6 email from Mark Paul under New Business noted below
9. Security
No incidents to record
Questions from the Residents: (allowed by D. O’Brien as requested by residents at meeting)
Nancy Pufahl, 32 and 36 Lake View Heights: How did the reporter come to write the newspaper article? Not sure. Maybe from Attorney General Communications, website or info filed with towns from our meetings. Would like to work with Board to get correct info in newspapers.
D. Martin: can we post the water testing reports on the website? D. O’Brien: Yes.
K. Receive Lake Management Reports
1. Caretakers’ Report
Realtor is kayaking and fishing on our lake and he does not live here; Carl is trying to find him and stop him
Spillway face – hole filled and coated with water proofing; once bring water level up to six inches below spillway, will know if successful or not; can’t be checked until dredging is completed and water is refilled
Commended Brett Harlow/BSA for Ryan Terrace ROW
Still trying to clean out old barley straw stakes and barley straw; Scott Forgue volunteered to help
See attached Caretaker Report
Would like to build a grate at concrete drain opening on corner of West Island Beach and Andrews Road
Quotes for road repairs: BSA $16,000 (see attached quote)
Williams $10,500 (see attached quote)
D&W Excavation – time and materials (see attached quote)
C. Wool recommends we go with BSA due to amount of aggregate stone that BSA will supply
Quotes are not equal as they were not speced out prior to quote developed by each supplier; in future, need to do scope documents; D. Martin – pave up to water tank as requested by residents – put in apron on Katherine as proposed by Williams?; L. Hennebury - asphalt apron on Beech Rd. stopped water runoff issues when she lived there; form a Lebanon Road Committee; need to improve RFP processes
What would BSA do for Cove Rd.? make 4” crown for water runoff for 16 ft. road to keep road clean; Donna Rockwell - bus will not go down Cove Road unless it is repaired and maintained; bus used to go
down there and won’t anymore; Board will repair road as well as possible but road is private and belongs to us and does not meet standards of town owned roads
In BSA quote – what should we do? D. Martin suggested Cove Road, Wildwood, Katherine, West Woodland, Ryan Terrace bog area – 11 loads of stone seems to be enough; perhaps we should reallocate? Scott Forgue has experience – he volunteered to help; per C. Wool, we don’t have time to mess around – needs to be done before the first frost; D. Moorcroft – schedule to get it done ? C. Wool
will start it on October 24 after his vacation – Ed Harlow: will take 8 or 9 days or until about November 15; D. Martin and L. Hennebury- should leave flexibility to adjust stone amounts as needed
Motion to approve BSA bid dated October 1, 2009 – Dave Martin, Mark Paul second.
Motion approved unanimously.
Quotes for dredging: (one is missing so wait on decision) D&W Excavating $29,800
Town of Hebron will take dredged materials away at no cost to the Tax District
2. Lake Health Coordinator
Lake health begins in the watershed; R. Miles – Amston Lake is one of cleanest in CT; he has done 20 years of sampling – bacteria has not changed; D. O’Brien asked for water testing reports and R. Miles responded that he is not a employee anymore and left
L. Act on Remaining Items of Agenda….Old Business
1. Guidelines & Procedures for Ordinance Enforcement
Mark Paul reviewed – see attached (take from October 7. 2009 email from Mark Paul to Board of Directors); please read and send comments to M. Paul for next meeting; J. Connor – good idea to have policy and procedures to follow step by step; this is a draft document
First offense would be a ticket with ability to rectify without fines
2. Discuss & Act Upon Possible Change of Board Meeting Dates
R. DeCormier would prefer the second Wednesday of the month so can get financials done for each meeting; too difficult to get it done so close to the first of the month; need to check with ALIA for availability; contact Shauna to see if available
3. North East Cove Issue
Some suppliers suggested we build a ramp to the water’s edge; Charles Arnold is OK in theory but wants to approve final plans before work is done; will allow for equipment to get right up to edge of water – and then get removed materials out of watershed area immediately; waiting for more info from Knight – may bring price down; may need to cut down four trees but will not use a drag line; topsoil and plants would be put on top of ramp – it would not be removed; D. Martin is concerned that Town of Lebanon should be more involved because cannot fill wetland and this is a fill to the wetlands; have permit from DEP;
D. Martin wants to check on needing Lebanon Wetlands Permit; Town has 60 days and there is a 15 day public opinion window before Permit is approved; D. O’Brien wants George Knocklein to do post testing to verify dredging results in a smaller area first; experts don’t always agree on if dredging is good or bad for the lake
4. North End…..Possible Lake Development
Ames Road – end of it – proposal coming to connect two houses to the sewers – only allowing two 25 ft. driveways to two (2) acre lots; Hebron Zoning will not allow any more development; to stop future development, the Board should attend town zoning meetings to make sure we know what is going on with zoning in both towns
5. Fertilizer Ordinance – Discuss Adam Cohen’s Response
There are state and federal laws that preclude us from having the fertilizer ordinance; Adam Cohen strongly recommended that we revoke the ordinance and publicize it
Mark Paul motioned that we revoke the fertilizer ordinance; Dave Moorcraft seconded.
We need to send out communications to revoke the ordinance – put in least expensive newspapers.
Motion carried unanimously.
M. New Business……Discussion and Possible Action
1. Proposed By-Law Changes re: mill rate, newspapers and Treasurer’s report
Sherri-Ann Martin made a motion to accept changes to By-laws outlined in Sept 10 email, second by Ray
Motion carried unanimously.
Jack Girard, 237 Deepwood Drive, Hebron: asked that the Board “…treat Reggie with kinder and gentler hands. He is a good man.”
2. Review and Discuss George Knoecklein’s Scope/Price Document
Move to November Agenda
3. Relisting of the Fish Fund and appropriate dollars in the Treasury Budget Reports
There was a fish fund – where did it go? Was a donation by a resident; was there in 2006? Scott Forgue would like us to find it. Ray DeCormier will check with Dave Arnold to see where it went.
Len Matejick looking for Eagle Scout projects – Scott Forgue would like to work with him to install rain gardens; all agreed we should encourage the projects on Tax District property; Scott will investigate appropriate areas
Reggie Miles returned and apologized for leaving but reiterated that he was resigning as the Lake Health Manager; attach official confirmation letter dated 10/8/2009.
D. O’Brien – we need to be careful for legal reasons; trying to get water testing results and a report; we need reports of data from R. Miles; R. Miles said he has done testing in water 3 ft from the shoreline all around the lake and all came back >40 parts per 100/ml; there is a formula that allows us to aggregate three samples and come up with an average instead of using one sample result; D. O’Brien: need George Knocklein to do the testing so it is coming from a nonbaised individual; L. Hennebury stressed the need that stakes are high right now with legal issues and we need to be sure we only state facts and not personal opinions
4. Discuss creation and distribution of Fall/Winter Newsletter
We are running out of time to do this for the fall. The Communications Committee will consider options for delivering to the residents and we will discuss putting out a newsletter in February. R. DeCormier thinks we should abandon costs of mailings and find a less expensive way to get the information to the residents
5. Discuss Cove Road ROW Correspondence
Jimmy Speno’s email said that he would attend the meeting but he hoped that the Cove Road ROW would be cleaned up prior to the meeting. C. Wool wrote a response detailing all of the work he has performed on the ROW and J. Speno did not attend the meeting – we assume this means the email was an acceptable response.
Laurel Hennebury volunteered to investigate algae and trying to avoid its growth to determine if she can find other ideas besides barley straw; she will contact George Knocklein
N. Prepare Agenda for Next Meeting
Remove completed items and adjust New to Old Business from Oct 7 agenda, as necessary
O. Motion to adjourn made by M. Paul at 10:10 pm; Second by S. Martin.
Motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Sherri-Ann Martin
Amston Lake Tax Board
Clerk