minutes to 9/11/14 Board Meeting

BLERMA BOARD MEETING

9/11/2014   7:10pm

In attendance: Peter Aten, Marlene Sullivan, Jean Heath, Martha LaMarche

Jean Heath, Treasurer's Report
39 of 58 lots have paid, $975. Three additional payments have arrived today. $750 apx. outstanding. In another week will send a second notice. $ 24,439.69 in the treasury. No new expenses since last
meeting.

Road Conditions
SURFACE: Road is getting rough. Discussion. Eagle Cove was the only road graded b/c he came in after Wyman's. No other work was done. Fill was not added to Shorey Brook. He checked the road situation and says a good portion of the road should be resurfaced. Price? There was clear direction to complete trimming up to $4K. Marlene called Wyman's and spoke to Darren  who supervises road maintenance. They are very busy but in Oct we should give him a call. If we talk in Oct he will contact Dwayne Jordan.  More substantial equipment that takes down all and grinds up. Goes back to telephone poles. Jordan was instructed to alternate years or do both in one year but nothing was done this year.  No invoices. Jean estimates 3 years. Neil said stone dust is not great for a road like ours. The granite dust is also expensive and has to be redone b/c of grading and snowplowing. Best done in spring after mud season? Herb and the blueberry company may we need more material b/c it is down to big rocks in places. Herb Jordan is harder to get in touch with, good to work with, tells us when we really don't need requested work done. When we do at same time as town and West Side, the equipment move charge is split three ways. We should schedule Herb ahead of time and even if Wyman's comes in we still need more gravel laid down. Jean recommends getting an idea of price. Marlene says Herb just wants to come in and do the work.  Jean recommends getting a rough idea of price.

Consensus:  Grading should be early in the spring after mud season.... material added at same time.  Ask Herb for a quote. Marlene will call.

Brush Cutting
Neil Butler recommends contacting the company formerly called "Cabin Gardens".  We are doing
trimming this year. At the meeting everyone supported a budget up to $5K. Jean estimates 2006 was the last big trim. Neil thinks it's $1K per mile. Gardner & Sons says without seeing road he could not be sure. Our road = 7 miles to cut; cost depends upon difficulty of job. $ = mid 4s to 5s. Best if no cars on the road. If cars are on the road it takes longer b/c equipment throws rocks and must be shut down. We should call in October to Wymans to see if Dwayne Jordan . Marlene recommends going with who can accommodate. Either in Oct or after Mud season in going for a low traffic time of year. Would be helpful if we let lot owners know that maintenance is the next day and alert lot owners to exit through the barrens.Dirt on road and cutting is top priority. Both projects will total about $7K.  We will set limit at $5. We don't want to exceed amount approved by lot owners.

For the above:
Marlene will interface with contractors.  If it falls in our budget, Marlene can authorize.

Gardener needs to give us a ball park.... what do you think and when can you do it? Or we say  "cut til you get to $5K." Or spread over two years.

Ask Herb to give us $ idea this fall and he can just come in and do it this spring.  After we finish these large projects we can determine a reasonable annual budget.

Tell Herb we do not want the little cut back on the road; he does this in conjunction with surfacing.
Marlene will try to contact both tomorrow.

Other Business:
Marlene:  Jim Crowley cut Shorey Brook by himself.  
Peter: Marlene threw a hell of a party.
Marlene:  Dave Hazard built a 3 car garage and we can have our annual meeting in his garage. Everyone brings chairs. He may want to host next year's party...Consensus:  we'll add him to the list.

Meeting adjourned. Peter. Jean seconds.
8:10

Minutes to 8/2/2014 Annual Meeting

Beddington Lake East Road Maintenance Association
Annual Meeting
August 2, 2014 - 10am
Beddington Town Office, Beddington Maine

Board members present: Peter Aten, President; Marlene Sullivan, Vice-President; Jean Heath, Treasurer.  Not present: Martha LaMarche, Secretary.

Phil White, First Selectman/Town Administrator led off the gathering and provided updates on town business.  Topics included the following:

Dump stickers are available - they are green ones. One per camp owner only.

Taxes – No big increases in spending but there is no reserve account. Over the last three years they have drawn down about 30%. Washington County taxes have increased this year - 2009 they were around $49,000 - 2014 they are around $74,000 - this is a big increase. For school the town has to carry a contingency for 5-6 children. After county costs, school costs are the highest. The municipal budget includes the dump fees. In the last year the taxes have gone from $3.10 per thousand to $4.50 per thousand. Last year Beddington had the lowest tax rate in the state - this year it is 3rd or 4th. Beddington has never been higher than 7th lowest tax rate in Maine.

Once the fund is replenished, tax rates should remain steady.  There are no anticipated major expenses. The only thing that could impact the tax rate in a large way would be an influx of younger families with children. It costs on average $10,000/year per student - special needs children cost more. The town keeps funds set aside to cover 5 K-8 students and 2 9-12 graders.

The permanent year-round population is about 41-43 people.

Those in attendance thanked Phil for his time, and the Association portion of the meeting was called to order at approximately 10:20am.  The Board established that a quorum of lot owners or proxies was present.  Thanks to Marlene Sullivan for visiting a number of camps in person to gather the necessary proxies.

1) Approve minutes to prior meeting
Peter motioned to accept minutes of the prior annual meeting.  Seconded and passed unanimously without discussion.

2) Treasurer's report
Jean reported that the total bank balance was $24,301.75.  Peter motioned to accept the Treasurer’s report; seconded and passed unanimously.

Peter thanked Jean for her work to balance the books, send assessments, deposit checks and send follow-ups.  On behalf of the Board he also thanked all members who pay their dues on time and make Jean’s job easier.
   
3) Road conditions
Lots of rain this spring made for tough conditions.  Peter thanked Marlene Sullivan who took time to personally review the roads with our contractor, Herb Jordan.  They established that additional material needs to be added to the road in several areas.  A big thanks also to Mike Sullivan who filled in not only two washouts but EVERY pothole on the road making for an extremely smooth ride into camp this weekend.
The blueberry company graded the main road right before Herb Jordan brought his equipment into the area, and as a result he did not grade the road this spring.

4) Special maintenance needs for 2014/2015
The group agreed that additional fill was needed, and authorization of that work was within the purview of the Board.

Marlene Sullivan noted that brush on the side of the road was starting to obstruct vision around corners, and the equipment necessary to cut all brush well back was in the area.  Discussion followed regarding the annual trimming done to date with a brush-hog vs. more extensive work.  Summarizing the discussion, Peter motioned to authorize the Board to negotiate and spend up to $5000 on one-time brush cutting to resolve the issue; seconded and passed unanimously.

5) Annual Dues
On behalf of the Board, Peter motioned that the annual assessment for 2014 be set at $25 per lot.  The bank balance has not been reducing as quickly as anticipated, making this reduction feasible.  The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.  

In light of the relatively few members in attendance, the Board recommended that a default assessment of $50 per lot be set in the event that a quorum was not present at any future annual meeting.  Peter made the motion, which was seconded and passed unanimously.

6) Other business
Barbara Orton noted the hardship experienced by the host of the annual gathering, and motioned that the Association cover their costs.  The Board spoke in favor of this idea.  Extensive discussion noted an appreciation of the event and the effort that the host puts in.  The motion was amended to authorize the Association to repay the host up to $250 in party expenses, subject to review of receipts.  The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

Peter motioned that the Association donate $100 to the Beddington Volunteer Fire Department.  The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.


At the end of discussion, Peter motioned to adjourn the meeting.  Seconded and passed unanimously.

Submitted by Peter Aten, President