Minutes: MPCA BOARD MEETING

Monday, June 11^th, 2007

7:30 PM

The Board of Directors of the MPCA met on Monday, June 11^th at Peter Roy’s home. Present were Fred England, Peter Roy, Russ Simon, Frank Sokol and Jim Fitzpatrick, presiding. Dimitri Chernyshov, Darby Johnson and Don MacKinnon were absent, as was Erin Surprenant of Great North Property Management.

The meeting was called to order at 7:32 PM.

1. Minutes of the May 7^th MPCA Board meeting:

• Motion to approve minutes was made by Peter Roy, seconded by Fred England - approved unanimously.

2. Treasurer’s Report

• Presented by Jim Fitzpatrick
• The Board reviewed the May YTD financials. Year-to-date expenses are as expected. Including the Special Assessment funds, we are under the year-to-date budget by about $15,000, due to numerous below budget expenses. Expenses are expected to pick up in late spring and summer, as usual, for overall repairs and maintenance with better weather. There are several planned projects in Water Systems and view maintenance that will start shortly.
• It was noted that the Operating Savings and Capital Reserves were mistakenly combined for reporting purposes in the May financials. This will be corrected, as the accounts are segregated and should be reported separately.

3. Committee Reports

Water Systems Committee

• Presented by Jim Fitzpatrick.
• The irrigation system has been turned on for the season.
• The WSC is currently focusing on three priority areas:

• Improving maintenance truck access to the pump station: Engineering plans have been developed for designing the paved road access to the pump station in order to have safe access for maintenance trucks that will be needed in the future. The next step will be to put out the designs for bid. Initial guesstimates suggest a cost in the $20,000 range. WSC expects to have recommendations ready for the July Board meeting.
• The WSC is exploring a proposal to have the day to day Water System operation and maintenance managed by Great North, who manages community water systems for several of their managed properties. This would shift the day to day responsibility from our resident volunteers to a professional manager. Annual cost is expected to be around $5000/annum.
• The problem we have with excess water inflow into our sewer system during heavy rain events continues to be a priority. WSC will be expanding its work with experts to locate the inflow areas and resolve the problem.

Environmental Committee:

• No formal report was presented. The next EC meeting will be July 30^th.
• The Board would like to thank the numerous volunteers (over 20 people) who built and deployed over 30 Greenhead Boxes along Lot #4 and Lubberland Creek and several new Kayak Racks near the dock over the past two Saturday’s. This community project was a great success and will improve the quality of life for all our members.
• The EC has begun planting a new wildflower garden in the circle at the end of Lubberland Drive.
• Earle Chase will training up to 10 volunteers on Saturday, June 16^th to start a long-term program of having trained residents be able to help with maintaining our common land, especially lot #4. The initial training will focus will on identifying and appropriately cutting and removing invasives. Based on the success of this important pilot project, we hope to be able to better maintain and enhance our common land going forward and at a significantly reduced cost.

 Community Life Committee:

•  No formal report was presented.
• The Summer Friday Night Happy Hours (5 PM to 7PM) began again at the Screenhouse on Friday, June 1^st. All members are invited to attend and enjoy the serenity and each others company.
• The next Quarterly Community Life Get Together is scheduled for June 16^th at the Ormrod’s (10 Eagle Drive), from 4 PM to 7 PM. A barbecue is planned.

4. MPCA Managers Report:

• No formal report was presented

• The floating dock was re-installed for the season.
• A new ladder was installed at the end of the floating dock. Thanks to Dimitri Chernyshov for getting this done.

5. Drainage Issue Report and Update

• Presented by Russ Simon.
• Jim Fitzpatrick and Russ Simon, along with our legal counsel and engineer, met with DES Commissioner Tom Burack and Ridge Mauck, of DES’s Land Resources Management Program on June 5^th, 2007. The purpose of the meeting was to bring the Commissioner up to date on the history surrounding the drainage problems at Moody Point and to discuss our concerns with what appeared to be DES’s slow progress on resolving the open Letter of Deficiency issued by DES to Walter Cheney and the Moody Point Company on September 7^th, 2006. We appreciated the time the Commissioner took to meet with us and understand our concerns.
• The Ridge Association is in the process of cleaning out the overgrown invasives and poison ivy in the long swale on their southern property line. They also plan on some re-grading of the swale to eliminate the standing water in the swale and improve the flow of water into the Fire Pond through the culvert located between 510 and 511 Cushing Road. As a result of this planned work, the MPCA drainage channel, leading from the culvert to the Lot #4 Fire Pond will have to be deepened/expanded to handle the expected increased in water flow. The MPCA will be coordinating with the Ridge on this project.

6. Other Business

• Budget: The preliminary budget should be ready for review at the July MPCA Board meeting. The Board will be discussing both ongoing and new operating and capital requirements, especially in light of the WSC’s required projects.
• View Maintenance Committee: The View Maintenance Committee Report has been sent to Earle Chase and this year’s view maintenance work should be completed within a month.
• MPCA Policy Update and Distribution: The MPCA’s Policy package has been updated and will be distributed to the members shortly. Many thanks to Jeanne Ormrod for updating the Policy package.
• Screenhouse Use: The MPCA Board received a request from a member to use the screenhouse to hold training classes for the benefit of MPCA members only. The Board requested the Community Life Committee to consider the request and to develop a use policy for training classes, if they felt that this was an appropriate use of the facility. The CLC considered the request and responded with a policy and set of guidelines/requirements that they felt could work and expand the use of the screenhouse for our members. The Board reviewed CLC’s recommended policy and guidelines and made a few changes and clarifications. A motion was made by Russ Simon, seconded by Peter Roy to approve the additional use policy for classes at the screenhouse for members only, on a 3 month trial basis. At the end of the 3 month trial the Board and the CLC would review the trial results and determine if the policy should be added permanently. The motion was approved unanimously.

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 9:12 PM.

The next regular MPCA Board Meeting will be held again at Darby Johnson’s home on Monday, July 9^th, 2007 at 7:30 PM. 

Respectfully submitted,

 Russ Simon

Secretary