ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES
Amston Lake District
May 15, 2010 7:00 P.M.
ALA
Clubhouse
Wood Acres Road, Amston, CT
06231
www.amstonlake.org
A.
Role call of Officers and
Directors
Present: D. O’Brien, President, S.Martin, Clerk, R Decormier, Treasurer, D.
Martin, D. Moorcroft,
L. Hennebury
Absent: S. Forgue
B.
Call to Order 7:00 pm
Review of agenda and procedures with residents by D. O’Brien; thanked all
volunteers and listed Dave and Sherri-Ann Martin and Paul Oliver for work in
Lebanon with WPCA and the town boards regarding installing the Lebanon sewers on
Amston Lake, volunteers from ALA who assist the Board with mailings and other
tasks and our Security volunteers
C.
Approve 5-16-09 Annual Meeting
Minutes
Motion to approve the 5-16-09 minutes as
presented, by Leo Foxwell Second: Eileen Curtin Vote:
Unanimous
D.
Board of Directors Report of
Activities for the 2009 – 2010 Year – See attached presentation
E.
Treasurer’s Report - See attached
report
R. Decormier: trying to be more efficient and
more transparent with budget
F.
Tax Collector’s Report - See
attached report
Up to date thru 5/15/10 so differs from Treasurer’s Report; surge in payments
for those who forgot their second payment and got their notice with their
newsletter; first year we did tax sales
which were handled by our attorney; surprised to find that sending passes
without taxes paid did not affect tax payments from coming in; needs to keep
costs down and keep collections high; eventually, we do collect the back taxes
which are outstanding even if it takes years and years and we get 18% interest
per year; currently about $51,000 outstanding
for all years
G.
Elect Directors for the ALD Board
of Directors
D. O’Brien motioned to elect D. Moorcroft to the Board as Directors – second by
D. Martin
Vote: Unanimous in favor
R. Decormier motioned to elect S. Forgue to the Board of Directors – second by
S. Martin
Vote: Unanimous in favor
R. Decormier motioned to elect L. Lenti to the Board of Directors – second by J.
Connor
Vote: Unanimous in favor
H.
Elect Officers for the ALD
Board of Directors – D. O’Brien
listed the following officers:
D. O’Brien – President
L. Hennebury – VP
R. Decormier - Treasurer
S. Martin – Clerk
L. Foxwell moved to approve officers as listed above; Lou Lenti, seconded,
Vote: one resident abstained, approved by all others
I.
Consider and act upon the proposed
budget for FY 2010 – 2011
Dave O’Brien discussed:
·
Lake Health Management
·
Dredging the Northeast Cove is
priority
·
Tweaking list of tasks for Dr.
Knoecklein – lake health and resident safety are of most importance
L. Foxwell made a motion to approve budget as presented
B. Lederer seconded – discussion followed
Vortex drain conversation - $20,000 budgeted for Hebron side for lake health;
cost to be shared with town of Hebron for H11; centrifugal force filter –
rainwater is dirty, pet waste and contamination does not sink into ground but
runs into lake; need to keep it out of the lake and vortex drain does this to
stop feeding the algae; working with Hebron to determine where should be
located; this is area that Dr. K suggested we start at – worst entry point for
contamination; resident who owns property next to H11 will not allow the Board
access to dredge so drain is solution; Northeast Cove to be dredged with
resident approval which has been obtained – this is to be done in the fall of
2010 and cost is $15,000; D. Arnold suggested also looking at drag line approach
since he had cost this out in the past
Lebanon Roads – are we comfortable with spending $30,000? How do the residents
want the Board to proceed? E. Curtin – since sewers are being installed it
seems silly to spend money on road improvements – the roads are going to be dug
up
Irma Mandaville/Lebanon – no lights in parking lot is dangerous; Town of Lebanon
removed the lights, not the Amston Lake Board of Directors
M. Rubler/Hebron – how come no curbs? D. Martin - Need to direct water across
lawns and not directly into storm drains as is much healthier for the lake
W. Snell/Hebron and Lebanon: are we confident in budget with resignation of
Caretaker? D. O’Brien: yes, we are comfortable that budget is set
appropriately
L. Foxwell/Lebanon – motioned to withdraw his original motion, B. Lederer agreed
D. Martin – motioned to reduce Lebanon Road fund from $30,000 to $25,000; Second
by L. Hennebury
E. Curtin would like to reduce even more
D. Martin – amended motion to reduce line 8501 to $13,000 so that we have funds
to cover an emergency; L. Hennebury seconded
Unanimous approval by Lebanon residents holding yellow tickets
L. Foxwell motion to approve budget of $201,240 for fiscal period of July 1 2010
to June 30 2011. Second by B. Lederer.
B. Lederer – line 6200 for Payroll Taxes seems high; D. O’Brien this was due to
planning for caretaker prior to resignation – will move to 1099 or other
contractors as part of payroll
L. Zimmerman:
Discussion of line items; wants to reduce some of the line items
Paul Oliver/Lebanon – Legal Fees – How much
spent on attorney in case Lebanon did not install sewers? $3000; D. O’Brien –
need monies in Legal to meet unforeseen circumstances
Vote: L. Zimmerman opposed; all other residents
approved
J.
Establish Date for the 2011
District Annual Meeting
S. Martin – motion to hold next district meeting on May 12, 2011 at 7:00 pm at
the ALA Clubhouse.
Second by J. Connor – unanimous approval
K.
Consider and act upon any business
that may come before the District
·
Presentation by ALA: S.
Benedict-Baier was past president, M. Rubler new president, brochures to share;
thanked Shauna for her 5 years of service and thanked tax board for their work;
reviewed expenses and services provided to the community to support the $5640
provided by the residents to support the clubhouse and ALA
·
Requested changes to bylaws
explained by Sherri-Ann Martin, Clerk
(1)
Article IV, Meetings, 1. Annual District Meetings
Change to read, “The Annual Meeting of the District will be
held during the month of May on a date determined at the previous Annual
Meeting. The business conducted at the Annual Meeting shall include adopting a
budget, identifying the split of the budget between the residents of the towns
of Hebron and Lebanon, laying the tax, and electing directors and officers of
the board.”
Currently states:
The Annual Meeting of the District will be held during the
month of May on a date determined at the previous Annual Meeting. The business
conducted at the Annual Meeting shall include adopting a budget, fixing the tax
(mill) rate, laying the tax, and electing directors and officers of the board.
Reason for request:
The tax (mill) rate is set by using the tax payor information
for the Hebron and Lebanon sides of the lake individually. It came to our
attention this past year that we, the Amston Lake Tax District, cannot set a
mill rate. The rate is a mathematical calculation using the District approved
budget and town specific tax payor information. Since we do not control the tax
payor information, we cannot set the mill rate. We can only approve the budget
and identify which amounts are to be taxed to each town under the existing tax
laws.
(2)
Article
V, Rules of Procedure and Order of Business, 3. Agendas
Change to read,
“District Meeting Agendas will be established by the Board of Directors prior to
the District Meeting. Notice of the meeting including its agenda shall be filed
with the Hebron and Lebanon Town Clerks, and on Lake bulletin boards. Notice of
the Annual and Special District meetings shall also be announced by a legal
notice in local news publication(s), as necessary, to include distribution in
the towns of Hebron and Lebanon, no later than (10) days prior to the District
Meeting.”
Currently states:
District Meeting Agendas
will be established by the Board of Directors prior to the District Meeting.
Notice of the meeting
including its agenda shall be filed with the Hebron and Lebanon Town Clerks,
and on Lake bulletin
boards. Notice of the Annual and Special District meetings shall also be
announced by a legal
notice in the Rivereast News Bulletin and the Norwich Bulletin no later than
(10) days prior to the
District Meeting.
Reason for request:
Newspapers are going out
of business and costs for printing legal notices are high. Changing the
wording will give us the
flexibility needed to choose low cost options while providing the information
in
one or more publications
to reach both towns of Hebron and Lebanon.
(3)
Article V, Rules of Procedure and Order of Business, 4. Order of
Business
Change to h. to read, “Receive Treasurer’s report.”
Currently states:
Receive and Act on the Treasurer’s Report.
Reason for request:
If read Roberts’ Rules of Order, just like the Tax
Collector’s Report, the Treasurer’s Report can only be received by the Board.
The Board cannot vote to accept financial reports until they are audited by a
professional.
S. Martin made a motion to change the three by-laws as
outlined above.
W. Snell and others felt the Treasurer’s Report should still continue to be
“Received and Acted Upon”; also, change word “distribution” to “circulation” in
(2)
S. Martin revised the motion to approve (1) and (2), with the word
“distribution” changed to “circulation”, B. Lederer second, unanimous approval
L.
Adjournment 8:30 pm
Motion made to adjourn by L. Foxwell, Lou Lenti seconded
Vote: Unanimous approval
Respectfully Submitted,
Sherri-Ann Martin
Amston Lake Tax District
Clerk
