Minutes:  MPCA BOARD MEETING

Monday, January 10th, 2005

7:00 PM

 

The Board of Directors of the MPCA met on Monday, January 10, 2005 at the Jeanne Ormrod’s home.  Present were Judi Carr, Jeanne Ormrod, Val Shelton, Darby Johnson, Russ Simon and Jim Fitzpatrick, presiding.  Fern Bouthot was absent due to a work conflict.  Guests included MJ Searfoorce of Great North Property Management and Chuck Dennehy, representing the Water Systems Committee.

.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM.

 

1.  Minutes of the November 8th, 2004 MPCA Board meeting:

             

·        Motion to approve minutes as written was made by Jeanne Ormrod, seconded by Val Shelton - approved unanimously.

 

2.       Water System Committee Report

 

·         Report provided by Chuck Dennehy & Jim Fitzpatrick

·         Water testing by the State will be increasingly significantly in 2005 (from 6 times to 14 times).  This additional testing is due to general increased requirements by the State for 2005 and is not due to the previous minor contamination issues.  This additional testing was not budgeted for.

·         A float will be added to the Lift Tank to prevent flooding for $260.  Additional Lift Station repairs and enhancements are under review by the Water Systems Committee with a potential cost of up to $3500.  These should be covered by the WSC’s maintenance budget assuming there are no new surprises for the remainder of the fiscal year.  WSC will prioritize the list for implementation.

·         The big news:  the Board was presented with the initial report from Eckman Engineering, the company that was hired to study our water capacity needs and develop plans and alternatives to expand our water capacity to meet all our current and future needs. The report was discussed in detail.  One of the alternatives presented appears to solve our capacity problems, be environmentally and State regulation friendly and is estimated to be comparatively low cost (construction costs estimated at around $60,000 vs. other alternatives in the $160,000 to $200,000 range).  This alternative would basically build a non-potable underground storage tank, just west of the fire pond, which would be filled from existing underground springs and runoff.  This would be completely separate from the fire pond.  The only visible portion of the tank would be an above ground manhole cover.  The Board was excited about this creative and low cost proposal and authorized the study to continue with a few questions to be answered and additional testing to be done to further validate the feasibility of this alternative and to develop construction plans, as required – hopefully by the end of March.  If this alternative proves viable and is approved, it may be possible to implement this solution by early summer.  Though much additional work needs to be done and questions answered before we can finalize any recommendation, the Board wanted to share the progress to date with the members.

·         Many thanks to the WSC and Eckman for the good work to date.

 

 

3.       Treasurer’s Report :

 

·         Jim Fitzpatrick reported that he had a candidate for the open MPCA Treasurer position, Don Mackinnon.

·         After a brief discussion, a motion was made by Judi Carr, seconded by Russ Simon to elect Don Mackinnon the MPCA Treasurer.  The motion passed unanimously.  Many thanks to Don for taking on this important position.

·         MJ reported that the monthly financials were not yet ready, but would be distributed shortly.

 

 

4.       Committee Reports:

 

 

Environmental Committee:

 

·         Nothing new to report currently.  No meeting was scheduled over the holidays.  The next meeting in February 7th.

 

 

Community Life Committee:

 

·         Report provided by Jeanne Ormrod.

·         Monthly “Timely Talks” are scheduled for January 30th on Islam, facilitated by Jerry Goddard and February 27th on Polio Eradication, facilitated by Dr. Drew Remignanti.

·         Members are urged to check the Community Bulletin Board (located at the entrance to the dumpster area) and the Moody Point Website  www.moodypoint.org  for more information on these topics, as well as other Moody Point goings-on.

 

 

By-Laws Review Committee

 

·         Val Shelton reported that Hank Billeter has joined the Committee.  Still looking for additional members.

 

 

5.       MPCA Managers Report:

 

·         Report provided by MJ Searfoorce.

·         MJ & Jim Fitzpatrick will review the legal expense details for the next meeting.

·         All basic MPCA fees have been paid except one.  And a few late charges are still delinquent.

·         The Board and Great North reviewed and re-confirmed the MPCA By-laws’ requirements and process related to payment delinquencies for all members.  Going forward, the process will be that a delinquency notice will be sent and a charge of $25 will be assessed on all payments initially 10 days past due.  If the payment in not received within 30 days, including late charges, interest on the unpaid balance will be charged at 18% per annum and a notice of lien will be filed on the member’s property.  For any members who currently have any outstanding MPCA fee balances and/or late charges, there will be an amnesty on the paying of interest until March 1st, 2005.  All balances that are paid in full (including unresolved late charges) by February 28th, 2005 will not incur any interest charges.  From March 1st, 2005 on, interest will be charged on delinquent balances as per the MPCA By-laws.

·         Admin expenses were reviewed.  Other than Management fees, the cost of copying and physically mailing MPCA information is the largest cost item.  Other than those items which are required to be delivered by physical mail, the Board will use email and the Moody Point website to communicate with the membership and urges our members to do so as well.

·         The review of how our bank accounts are organized and operate is still underway.

 

 

6.       MPCA Priorities Questionnaire

 

·         The MPCA Priorities Questionnaire has been mailed to all members as of January 11th, 2005.

·         A survey should be completed by each member and member responses will be due back by January 31st, 2005.  Completed surveys (responses) must be submitted to a MPCA Board Member.

 

 

7.       Other Business

 

Moody Point Sign

·         A new sign has been added by the town to the Cushing Road/Bay Road entrance sign post reading “Moody point Community”.

 

Archive Docs

 

·         Any documents will be archived by Great North upon request.  The Board will determine what additional documents will need to be archived on going forward basis.

 

Kayak/Canoe Storage Racks

 

·         An additional kayak rack has been constructed and will be put in place shortly.  This was done by volunteers and at no cost to the MPCA.  Many thanks to Val Shelton, Micky Lightfoot and Dimitri Chernyshov for making this happen.

 

 

 

 

The Meeting was adjourned at 9:15PM.

 

The Next Board Meeting will be on 2/14/05 at Val Shelton’s home.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Russ Simon

Secretary