Amston Lake District
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
January 20th, 2010 7:00 p.m.
ALIA Clubhouse, 16 Wood Acres Road, Amston, 06231
A. Roll Call of Officers and Directors – Present: Dave O’Brien, President, Mark Paul, Vice President, Ray DeCormier, Treasurer, Sherri-Ann Martin, Clerk, Dave Martin, Scott Forgue, Dave Moorcroft and Laurel Hennebury, Directors
Absent: John Connor, Director
B. Call to Order at 7:00 pm by Dave O’Brien
C. Recognition of Guests, Residents and Property Owners’ Petitions –none present
D. Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Motion made to accept the December 2, 2009 minutes as presented by Mark Paul, second by Ray DeCormier,
D. Martin abstained, all others approved.
E. Receive and Act Upon Clerk’s Report
Parking ordinance in effect 1/1 /2010
F. Presentation of Correspondence and Communication
See attached
G. Receive President’s Report
Dave O’Brien had a 45 min conversation with Richard Smith- Robinson Cole – environmental attorney
Asked to understand legal process if Lebanon votes no on sewer installation, concerned if had to wait another year to revote on Lebanon budget issue, identify legal cost elements, identify risk assessment of us being successful v. not successful if sued Town of Lebanon – would want to recoup legal costs and potential damages; Pam Sawyer- state rep has been very helpful to D. O’Brien in providing information to him – he publicly thanked her for her attentiveness
H. Receive Treasurer’s Report
Per Ray DeCormier, easier to put together reports given the extra time provided by moving the meeting to the third Wednesday; page numbering has been added; note that tax collector software cost $3000 instead of budgeted $1400 – price increase out of our control
I. Receive Tax Collector’s Report
Sherri-Ann Martin read Eileen Curtin’s report- See attached
J. Consider and Act Upon Standing and Special Committees’ Reports
1. Main Dam – Dave Moorcroft – can’t figure out voids under dam and per Karl Acimovic, our dam engineer, the voids have been there for some time – they are not new; K. Acimovic suggests we wait a year and see what happens. Consider a new curtain drain but wait first; not sure what happened to cement that was pumped in to fill voids; not sure if same cement is voided or different cement; all dams leak, seep or do something, per K. Acimovic; not an issue unless the leaks are excessive.
Duck Pond Dam – K. Acimovic provided a plan and D. Moorcroft feels it is not useful as many points require “contacting the engineer” to discuss what is found at certain steps; not enough information to get a bid from a contractor; sand bags should protect substrate from washing away for now; restrictions from Town of Hebron on Duck Pond Dam if noted as a historical site or funding available? Is it really historical? S. Martin has agreed to check with Town of Hebron on historical site status
D.Moorcroft proposes cutting a sluiceway into Duck Pond Dam so we have some control over it; right now, it either overflows or has no flow; weir board system in the Duck Pond Dam would help with repairs. Need to cut brush; stumps too thick when cut to be mowed so need special cutting; we need to do incremental, inexpensive repairs to maintain the dam; if dredging cannot be done in the next week or two, we will need to allow the water to refill for the summer; can break through the ice and are still trying to get dredging completed; S. Forgue to supply pictures of gulley in Southeast cove due to lowered water level
2. Storm Drains - D. O’Brien working on next requirements for vortex drain with M. O’Leary/Hebron; $20,000 place holder in budget right now; looking for more specific information
3. Lebanon Wastewater Study – D. Martin – can call it the Sewer project now; old estimate was $4.8 million and got updated study at $5.9 million. Funding is issue; benefit assessment is set for each home as enhancement to your property – homeowner cannot be charged any more than benefit assessment; nets $3 million without funding; looking at various sources of funding; commissioning an income survey of year round residents to see if can meet income level requirements for USDA funding; get info to Lebanon residents; Consent Order has force of a superior court decree – not the same as the paperwork from years ago; DEP and State Attorney General’s office will go after the town if not enforced; state of CT has tiered penalty system; plan is to get ordinance overturned as soon as possible if Town of Lebanon does not approve sewer plan for Amston Lake (ordinance concerning yearly capital project vote > $1million cost in Lebanon); article on www.lebanontownhall.org regarding WPCA and summary of what has happened; L. Hennebury is curious as to who will write the referendum/vote info on the ballot to make sure that the language is crafted to let people know Lebanon will have to pay anyway but will not be eligible for funding – not sure who writes; need ideas on asking residents to assist with income study; flyers or door knocking – can print article on website; D. Martin should go ahead and pursue gathering this information; M. Paul volunteered to help deliver them
4. Drinking Water – nothing to report
5. Boats & Rafts – S. Forgue – likes Ray DeCormier’s Communications Letter Box idea for boat lottery purposes
6. Weeds – M. Paul - got ACT proposal for treatment in Sept 2010 - $4650: $2650 for treatment and $2000 for water testing for budget purposes
7. Communications - R. DeCormier –more people are using the internet and costs too much to mail; M. Paul – many are not going to be happy we are changing the method of getting information to them so we need to be sure we communicate to them before we stop the newsletter; residents approved funding for mailing so should do one this year – it is in the budget and expected; D. O’Brien is going to check into past vote info to see if mentioned; S. Forgue has discussed the newsletter box with other residents and people like it – put the newsletter in designated spots and people can pick it up
.
8. Ordinances – M. Paul – snowplowing ordinance published and paid for and effective as of 1/1/2010 for Town of Lebanon; need to consider adding an addendum to our handbook – S. Martin will put together an addendum for review and approval to be added to book; J. Connor was to be working with police to enforce our ordinances – D. O’Brien to follow up with him
9. Security – C. Wool – stopped ATV from going on ice; policing ice fishermen and hockey players with fires on ice and garbage but all cleaned up
K. Receive Lake Management Reports
1. Caretakers’ Report – takes a lot of time to watch the ice; needs more time; need 3 hours to clean cattails out of main dam; Ryan Terrace ROW is doing very well; are we buying barley straw and are we using metal cages? Netting did not work – muskrats tore them apart; when do we need to start this? How much time and how much material is needed? Wants to use chicken wire cages that can be reused year to year – should be in the water in March/April; C. Wool to build a prototype, perhaps? We should install bales but not sure what best way is to install bags; use metal rebar instead of wooden stakes so won’t break; will Andy be working with Carl in the spring? Per D. O’Brien, this is part of our discussion in our budget regarding labor costs; C. Wool wants direction on the outstanding task list he sent to the Board; boat rack was destroyed at Lollipop by wind; list to be reviewed by Board for budget purposes; need to make a decision on what is best method for installing barley straw in next meeting; onion bags v. nylon bags v. wooden stakes or metal rebar; consider safer ways of anchoring the onion bags and consider safety issues; use swim noodles or 2 liter soda bottles to help float them; add to agenda for February meeting
2. Lake Health Coordinator – D.O’Brien - went through Dr. Knocklein’s budget; came out with $7590 for lake visits and deepwater station testing; Dave O’Brien has reached out to Chatham Health Group regarding testing – beach monitoring is at no charge for Hebron (including Main Beach), Marlborough and East Hampton as part of their mission statement to make beaches safe, maybe they can add Lebanon and cover Lollipop Beach too; Dr.Knocklein has not made any suggestions regarding the algae issue; L. Hennebury is not having luck with Greg Bugbee but has some info from UCONN; L. Hennebury got algae training cards for free from CT Dept of Agriculture; D. Martin – should set up a Sunday and go around the lake pulling samples of plant and send them to Dept of Agriculture for review; there are “SWAT” teams that can be called in to help eradicate invasive weeds before they get out of control; 2007 Lake Monitoring Report has baseline; no testing support from the state universities/colleges; L. Hennebury–if certain parts of the lake more apt to having invasives, go out and dive down for samples at beaches, ROWs and boat launches (will save over $2000 per year if we do it ourselves)
L. Act on Remaining Items of Agenda….Old Business
1. Beach Closure Signs and Beach Closure Procedures- CIRMA has requested us to install signage, we need signage about invasive weeds, etc. much signage to determine; D.O’Brien to send estimated sizing and copy to Carl Wool for estimates; need fireworks signage too; and need to meet State Dept of Health requirements if close beach due to elevated e-coli counts – D. O’Brien
2. Define a standard bid procedure – RFPs have to start going out in February for bids; S. Martin - RFP documents should be posted on website and defined with website address in newspaper for bids like the towns are doing – R. DeCormier and D. O’Brien to define process
3. ALD Self Help Document – move to February agenda under old business
M. New Business……Discussion and Possible Action
M. Paul –
1. Discuss information and educational signage regarding invasive plants to be posted at all boat launch sites and tax district dock locations – discussed above
2. Ordering of Beach Passes: Procedures and Costs – move to February agenda and order after next meeting; C. Wool to get prices for next meeting – no pins on passes so no hand stamping needed for mailing
3. Discuss ACT Herbicide Proposal for reapplication – monies are in budget
4. Moved to #4 from #1 and others moved up . Review Draft Budget for 2010-2011 ($12,393 too high on costs right now – want flat budget again)
D. O’Brien passed out Draft Budget which was taken from email dated 1/11/2010; need to get Lebanon Road Committee together to determine what service levels are to be met by the road conditions on our unimproved roads;
Need to discuss labor and compensation – need to go into Executive Session so not discussing employee information in front of employees or public; M. Paul motioned to go into Executive Session and D. Moorcroft seconded. Motion passed unanimously. C. Wool and public left the meeting at 9:35 pm.
Summary of Executive Session: discussion regarding employment and labor costs and duties of C. Wool; session ended at 10:10 pm. Motion to end Exec Session made by S. Martin, second by M. Paul. Approved unanimously.
N. Prepare Agenda for Next Meeting – remove completed items
*Add Barley Straw “Best” Installation Discussion under New Business
*List ALD Self Help Document under Old Business
O. Adjournment - at 10:12 pm. Motion to adjourn made by M.Paul , second by D. Martin. Approved unanimously.
Respectfully submitted by,
Sherri-Ann Martin, Clerk
Amston Lake Tax District