Minutes: MPCA BOARD MEETING

Monday, February 6^th, 2006

7:30 PM

 

The Board of Directors of the MPCA met on Monday, February 6^th, 2006 at Jim Fitzpatrick’s home. Present were Ann Adams, Judi Carr, Darby Johnson, Jeanne Ormrod, Peter Roy, Russ Simon and Jim Fitzpatrick, presiding. Dimitri Chernyshov and Don MacKinnon were absent. Guests included Erin Surprenant of Great North Property Management, our new property manager.

 

The meeting was called to order at 7:34 PM.

 

1.     Minutes of the January 9^th MPCA Board meeting:

 

·      Motion to approve minutes was made by Jeanne Ormrod, seconded by Judi Carr - approved unanimously.

 

2.     Treasurer’s Report :

 

• Presented by Jim Fitzpatrick
• Updated financials through 1/31/06 were reviewed. Overall, Year-to Date MPCA Operating Expenses and Water System Operating Expenses are continuing to run under budget by around $3000.
• The Treasurer recommended that the Board, as part of its regular money management, move $20,000 from our Operating Savings to our Operating Checking Account to cover normal expenses over the next two months. The Board concurred.
• Great North will be working with the Moody Point Company and AMB Custom Structures to clear-up potential billing problems and delinquencies.
• The MPCA paid several Days Irrigation bills for shutting off the Irrigation System that should have been billed directly to the Local Associations or individual members. This will be corrected during the coming month.

 

 

3.     Committee Reports

 

Water Systems Committee

 

• Presented by Jim Fitzpatrick.
• The investigation to date has determined that the significantly higher (50% to 100%) electric expenses are being generated at the Well Pump House. Great North and the WSC, assisted by Micky Lightfoot are working to identify the reasons for the higher usage, some or all of which may be due to the increased maintenance work being done on the Well Pump House equipment.
• Several valves still need to be replaced in the Well Pump House. This will require the Water System to be shut down for three to five hours at some future date. We will try to schedule this shut down at the least inconvenient time and inform the membership in advance.
• WSC renewed the contract with Pump Systems for inspections and maintenance of the Sewer Lift House.

 

Environmental Committee:

 

• Presented by Jeanne Ormrod.

• There will be a shoreline clean-up day scheduled for the Spring. As always, members will be asked to volunteer. This will include the planting of new native blueberry plants in several sections of Lot #4. These plants provide excellent ground cover without growing high enough to negatively impact the view.
• As is being done on Lot #4, the Environmental Committee is recommending to all the Local Associations to replace their Russian Olives (an invasive) with other plantings (e.g., native blueberries, etc) over time.
• The removal and control of Poison Ivy, as well as the removal of dead Red Pines, will also be focused on in the Spring.
• A leak in the Screen House has been fixed.
• The EC will be reviewing the boat storage policies and boat rack numbers and locations. The goal will be to implement a “boat free” storage zone around the entrance to the dock to improve safety and esthetics.

 

 

Community Life Committee:

 

• Presented by Darby Johnson.
• The Board asked the CLC to consider asking for food donations at all the Quarterly events.
• The next Quarterly event is scheduled for April 1^st from 5 to 7 PM, at the home of Paul Ossenbruggen & Cathy Burns. Stay tuned for more info.
• Peg Goddard is planning a “Ladies Night Out” at her home on 2/15/06 starting at 6 PM.
• The first Timely Topic session on Global Warming was held on January 22^nd at Anna-Lisa Gotschlich’s home. Many thanks to the presenters and the host for this successful event.
• The remaining Timely Topic sessions are:

 

* All sessions will begin at 7:00 pm.

 

February 26, 06 Topics: “Understanding Memory and Aging”

Speaker: Dr. Spencer Amesbury, North Shore geriatrician/family

practitioner specializing in Alzheimer/dementia.

Host: Lorelei and Dimitri Chernyshov – 117 Cushing Rd.

 

March 26, 06 Topics: “The History of Newmarket”

Speaker: Sylvia Getchell, Curator, Newmarket Historical Society

Host: Kay McTigue – 15 Osprey Lane

 

April 30, 06 Topic: “The 60’s – How They Changed Us”

Speaker: Harvard Sitkoff, UNH Professor of History, Moody Point

resident, published author

Host: Val Shelton and Diane Morin – 124 Cushing Rd.

 

 

 

4.     MPCA Managers Report:

 

• Presented by Erin Surprenant.
• No significant items to report.
• There has been a price increase on use of Great North’s handyman.

 

 

 

5.     MPCA By-Laws – Review of Revised Draft

 

• Board members Jeanne Ormrod, Jim Fitzpatrick and Russ Simon met with Val Shelton and Roger Salava of the By-Laws Revision Committee on January 29^th to review the Board’s comments on the Committee’s draft and to finalize a recommended version for legal review. The meeting was a success and all agreed on a working final version.
• The Board reviewed the working final version of the By-Laws revisions. A motion was made by Jeanne Ormrod, seconded by Judi Carr to authorize the legal review of the proposed revisions. The motion was approved unanimously.
• Once the legal review is completed, a final draft of the proposed Revised By-Laws will be developed.
• Plans are to then have a series of neighborhood meetings to present the proposed Revised By-Laws to the membership to get feedback and answer questions. Once these sessions are completed and the revisions are finalized, a Special Meeting of the membership will be held in the late Spring to vote on the proposed new By-Laws. A 2/3rds vote of all the membership is required to adopt By-Laws changes.

 

 

6.     MPCA Fineable Violations

 

• The Board reviewed a number of other association’s fineable violations policies, supplied by Erin, to determine what, if any, policies should be adopted by the MPCA. Some of the samples we reviewed were one to two pages long; some were upwards of ten+ pages.
• After much discussion the Board decided the following:
• Initially keep the list of fines short and simple.
• Notify the membership on the fineable offences prior to implementation.
• Update and distribute a revised MPCA Policy Manual to include a section on fineable violations.

• A motion was made by Russ Simon, seconded by Jim Fitzpatrick to:
• Adopt three fineable violations on the leash law for pets, illegal use of the dumpster and littering (including pet waste removal).
• Have members report violations to the MPCA property manager, Great North. Great North will then notify the violator of the violation and the fine, if appropriate, keeping the anonymity of the person reporting the violation.
• The fine policy would be to issue a warning for the 1^st offence, charge a fine of $25 for the 2^nd offence, $50 for the 3^rd, $100 for the 4^th and $100 thereafter.
• Unpaid Fines would be subject to the same MPCA late charges and delinquency interest policies currently in place for all MPCA billings.
• The violation could be appealed to the Board only after the fine was paid.
• After additional discussion on the above motion, the Board members decided to think about the motion further and vote on it at the next Board meeting.

 

 

 

7. Other Business

 

• Mailboxes: A request was made to by a member to improve the access to the mailboxes on the north side of the Ridge. All mailboxes are the responsibility of the MPCA to maintain. The Board agreed to get an estimate for the repair/improvement and that implementation would be at the MPCA’s expense. The vote was 5 in favor and 1 opposed.
• As Built Plans for Condos: Based on information provided by Great North, the Board wants to notify each Condo Association that in order to better secure their replacement policy insurance, each Condo Association should have a copy of their As Built Plans for all their units.
• Use of the Membership’s Broadcast Email Address List: The Board began discussions on developing a policy and procedure for the use of the Membership’s Broadcast Email Address List. The discussion centered on who should have access to the list and for what purpose. Initial thoughts were that no individual should be able to use the Email Address List on their own. The Board could use the list for Board approved notices (e.g. – repair & maintenance issues, community events, association meetings and town and state meetings & votes on issues that affect Moody Point). In addition, that the Community Life Committee, could be the clearing house for determining the use of the List or Website posting for other local issue, items of interest or events. The Board will continue these discussions with the goal of developing a policy as soon as possible. Until this is complete, any requests to use the Broadcast list must be approved by the MPCA President or the Board.

 

8. Status and Discussion on the Drainage Issues and Wetlands Permit Applications

 

• Jim Fitzpatrick notified the Board prior to the meeting that two letters had just been sent to the Town of Newmarket related to drainage and the wetlands building applications on behalf of the MPCA and that we were waiting for responses from the Town. One letter went to the Town’s Code Enforcement Officer raising a number of questions and asking for decisions by the Code Enforcement Officer, copies of which went to the Town Council, Administrator and Planner. The second letter went to the Town Council requesting to be put on the next available Town Council’s Meeting Agenda to discuss drainage issues at Moody Point and the process to address these issues. Copies of both letters are attached to the minutes. Jim informed the Board that we were waiting for the responses to the two letters.
• At this point in the meeting, Ann Adams asked to address the Board and shared the following (this statement was supplied by Ann after the meeting at the request of the Board so it wouldn’t be misquoted):

 

• “As the representative of the Meadows Homeowners Association on the MPCA BOD, yet having been asked to recuse myself from the discussion and actions that have resulted in the attempts to address the drainage issue at Moody Point, I wanted to share my concerns that: 1) the scope of the letters submitted by Scott E. Hogan (counsel to the MPCA) went far beyond the MPCA’s simply asking for help in fixing the drainage issue at Moody Point; and 2) that the letters submitted make several assumptions and/or statements that appear to be untrue, including the implication that the final approved drainage plan has been found. The sending of these letters and content therein might expose the MPCA and the BOD to potential liabilities. In the absence of accepting the offer made by the Moody Point Company to address the drainage issue, the efforts of the MPCA BOD have been directed at the Town, despite the fact that the Town’s attorney has already stated that prior commitments to review the plans and construction for compliance were made “without regard to our ability to enforce to see what, if anything, could be done to correct deficiencies”. In other words, even if the Town does what the MPCA BOD is asking them to do, it appears that it may not have the ability to present any solution to the drainage issue. The Town has also informed MPCA (according to Russ Simons) that “neither the Town Administrator nor any of the Town staff could speak to anyone at Moody Point regarding drainage issue going forward”. This is certainly not a good indication that the Town wants to deal with this issue beyond what it has already done. While I share the desire of the MPCA BOD to address the drainage issue at Moody Point, I feel that we should begin looking at other options and take a closer look at how we can more efficiently utilize community association funds, and, in the process put the matter more directly in our control.”

 

• The Board thanked Ann for her statement and said that they would include her statement in the Board minutes.
• Much discussion ensued on Ann’s statement, with her present. As part of the discussion, several factual discrepancies in Ann’s statement were raised by various other Board members:
• That the approved drainage plan that was uncovered and given to the Town may not be the final plan, but it was an approved plan and one that was referred to in the Town’s Planning Board minutes. And that if there is a superseding, approved drainage plan, it has yet to be provided by anyone, including the State, the Town, the Moody Point Company or Kimball Chase, the engineering firm who developed the drainage plan.
• That the wetlands building permits and other issues raised in the letters were part of the overall drainage problems.
• That all attempts to date to work with the Moody Point Company, AMB Custom Design and the Town have failed to generate any adequate solution.
• That the Town has reneged on their promised process to address drainage issues once a copy of the drainage plan was found.
• And that the Board would listen to any other options to resolve the drainage issues, but none had yet been proposed by Ann, the Moody Point Company or the Town since the drainage plan was uncovered.

 

 

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 10:50 PM.

 

The Next Regular MPCA Board Meeting will be held at Dimitri Chernyshov’s home on Monday, March 6^th at 7:30 PM.

 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Russ Simon

Secretary