Amston Lake District
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
December 2, 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, R. DeCormier, Treasurer, Sherri-Ann Martin, Clerk, John Connor, Dave Moorcroft, Scott Forgue, Laurel Hennebury
Absent: David Martin.
B. Call to Order 7:04
C. Recognition of Guests, Residents and Property Owners’ Petitions - none
D. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Per D. O’Brien: Edit/replace Dr. Portman on p. 3 with Dr. Kortmann – name is misspelled
S. Forgue motioned to accept the minutes with the correction to Dr. Kortmann’s name, seconded by
R. DeCormier, unanimously approved.
E. Receive and Act Upon Clerk’s Report
The 2010 meeting dates are filed with Towns of Hebron and Lebanon
Repeal of Fertilizer Ordinance legal notices were printed in The Rivereast on November 6 and Lebanon Life in the December issue.
F. Presentation of Correspondence and Communication
Letter from DPH and Lebanon Septic failures to come from D. O’Brien to Board members via email tomorrow
G. Receive President’s Report
Copy of the letter from CT Attorney General Blumenthal regarding the Lebanon Sewers was shared and a copy is attached.
H. Receive Treasurer’s Report
Revenues and Expenses are now also illustrated by each fiscal month in the paper report copy
The Dam Fund is a bit low after the necessary repairs
See attached report
I. Receive Tax Collector’s Report
E. Curtin absent – report was dropped off for her
See attached report
J. Consider and Act Upon Standing and Special Committees’ Reports
1. Dam – D. Moorcroft: found voids under spillway cement with Carl Wool, @ 15-20% of surface has voids as proven by hammer testing; no idea how deep they are but are discussing methods of filling them and methods are very expensive; looking for best solution; not sure when voids occurred – would like to drill/site test holes to see how thin the cement really is; water starts seeping thru cement when lake raises more than 14” below the spillway (seen during last heavy rain last week); need to investigate while the water level is down so can plan ahead for permits if work is needed again; small cycles/drill holes are reparable – the key is to stop water from eroding thru the cement and into the dirt; investigating underwater sealants and membranes which are installed by divers; need to make test holes so can work with data and not with guesses; C. Wool thought good idea to get someone with a camera that can be fed down into the test hole (like septic companies do) to see what is under the spillway; may want to remove broken down cement and resurface – won’t know until do test holes; S. Forgue will contact source he knows who may be able to provide camera
M. Paul Motion made to approve up to $1500 to analyze the current status of the dam spillway; second by Laurel Hennebury; R. DeCormier abstained and all others approved
2. Storm Drains – D. O’Brien: nothing to report
3. Lebanon Wastewater Study – Per S. Martin, Dave Martin is working on obtaining fund sources for the Lebanon sewer costs
4. Drinking Water – S. Martin: nothing to report
5. Boats & Rafts – S. Forgue: nothing to report but curious about newsletter status;
R. DeCormier: can’t justify spending $1000 so can get raft rental info out to residents; Scott wants to raise to $90 or $100; many feel that is too much; M. Paul is concerned that we need to have the lottery again as promised – should we just tie together the boat passes, raft rentals¸ ALIA dues in one newsletter and ask for residents opinions at annual meeting regarding electronic versus mailed newsletters?; D. O’Brien agreed that we need to do the lottery; need to decide on this next meeting; S. Forgue will speak to current renters regarding pricing for next season
6. Weeds and Algae – L. Hennebury: contacted UCONN for assistance; have an outreach and education group which may be able to assist us; trying universities¸ have not been very responsive to her; awaiting response from CCSU and will try ECSU; S. Martin to send CT Dept of Agriculture/Greg Bugbee’s contact info to L. Hennebury – he was in charge of the plant survey performed here and the weed education some residents and Board members attended
7. Communications –
*Discuss information and educational signage regarding invasive plants to be posted at all boat launch sites and tax district dock locations
D. O’Brien: we need to put up signs to minimize costs that we would incur if invasive species were in lake so we could eliminate right away if possible – L. Hennebury to ask Greg Bugbee about suggested invasive weed information signs
8. Ordinances – Snow Plowing ordinance is under New Business
9. Security – J. Connor: budget looks good
10. Lebanon Roads – S. Martin: thinks C. Wool should go and review the Lebanon roads to decide if BSA needs to make any more changes to correct road drainage issues in the contract; none of us on the Lebanon Road Committee has any knowledge of road construction; should be about two hours worth of work so worth it for C. Wool to review and decide; L. Hennebury and M. Paul agreed this makes sense; cost $36; D. O’Brien approved C. Wool to review results of BSA road work during next heavy rain fall and charge to Lebanon Road account
K. Receive Lake Management Reports
1. Caretakers’ Report – C. Wool asked for clarification of hours versus tasks required; M. Paul will sit down with C. Wool and define budget categories/buckets and the hours that are included in each; L. Hennebury has asked to sit in on meeting too; meeting will be coordinated between the three
2. Lake Health Coordinator – D. O’Brien: please read over the 2008 Lake Monitoring Report from George Knoecklein so we all understand what items need to be addressed on the lake; D. O’Brien is going to come up with a budget list of items from the 2008 report for the next meeting for all to review and amend; D. O’Brien passed out a copy of the Summary and Recommendations from the Lake Monitoring Report from 2008 from George Knoecklein as reference to what we need to consider doing to improve the lake’s health
S. Forgue: we should consider sending letters to lawn service companies to ask them not to put phosphorous on properties
L. Act on Remaining Items of Agenda….Old Business…
1. Guidelines & Procedures for Ordinance Enforcement
M. Paul: no one sent him any questions; enforcement is up to whomever is authorized to provide Security enforcement; Lake Security people, local police, state police, DEP, other authorized government authorities; handed over to J. Connor
3. Review and Discuss George Knoecklein’s Scope/Price Document
ECS thought G. Knoecklein’s study was well done; D. O’Brien feels we have not been a good client to George and we do not execute on his recommendations
4. Beach Closure Signs and Beach Closure Procedures (keep on J agenda)
D. O’Brien to give C. Wool the language to print, C. Wool will have them made; make sure they are bright colors and sized to fit the necessary verbiage
M. New Business……Discussion and Possible Action
1. Define a standard bid procedure – S. Forgue: will find some info and share with Board to select one
2. Discuss status of calendar for Board activities – R. DeCormier: would like a spot on website to post tasks in four quarters and list what needs to be done – include begin and end milestones for tasks; set up schedules for tasks; M. Paul: tie to budget process; J. Connor thinks we should have policies and procedures in place so we can operate like a business; R. DeCormier agreed
3. “Snow – No Parking” Ordinance wording – need to get it published so is effective 15 days after the publication date; S. Martin needs to get ads in newspapers; Rivereast will print within 10 days and Lebanon Life prints once per month with January issue due during last week of December. C. Wool plans to put “ticket” on offending cars the first time it happens so it won’t happen again; L. Hennebury wants to be sure the ordinance is well communicated to residents; S. Martin motioned that we accept the “Snow - No Parking Ordinance” for Lebanon, J. Connor seconded
4. ALD Self Help Document for residents-discuss and move forward – tabled to January meeting; put in under Old Business
5. Formulate a plan of action for “if invasive weeds are identified in the lake”
D. O’Brien – We need a plan in place so we know what to do if an invasive weed is found so we can get rid of it right away; L. Hennebury will handle as part of the rest of dealing with the plant life in the lake; S. Martin – Greg Bugbee at CT Dept of Agriculture covered this in the invasive weeds class in New Haven a few years ago and has remediation plans he will share
N. Prepare Agenda for Next Meeting
Add “Ordering of Beach Passes: Procedures and Costs” to New Business
NOTE THAT NEXT MEETING IS ON JANUARY 20, 2010 – we have changed to the third Wednesday of the month for our meetings in 2010 to allow our Treasurer time to closed the financials for the prior month.
O. Adjournment at 9:22 pm
Motion to adjourn made by Mark Paul, second by Laurel Hennebury
Respectfully submitted by,
Sherri-Ann Martin, Clerk
Amston Lake Tax District