Minutes: MPCA BOARD MEETING

Monday, August 13^th, 2007

7:30 PM

The Board of Directors of the MPCA met on Monday, August 13^th at Jim Fitzpatrick’s home. Present were Dimitri Chernyshov, Fred England, Don MacKinnon, Cari Moorhead, the new Ridge MPCA Board representative – replacing Frank Sokol, Peter Roy, Russ Simon, and Jim Fitzpatrick, presiding. Dick Ormrod, who will be replacing Darby Johnson as the Hill’s new MPCA Board representative was unable to attend. Guests included Erin Surprenant of Great North Property Management and Lynn Badger and Trish Simon from the Ad Hoc View Maintenance Committee.

Many thanks to Frank Sokol for his service this past year on the Board and to Darby Johnson for her many years of service and contributions to the MPCA, both as a member-at-large and the Hill representative.

The meeting was called to order at 7:31 PM.

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

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

2. Report of the Ad Hoc View Maintenance Committee

• Presented by Lynn Badger
• Lynn reviewed:
• The Committee’s purpose – to canvass the membership for their input on specific view maintenance requests for the current year, organize the requests and to review with Earle Chase, our View Maintenance consultant, for implementation and to provide a “report card” to the Board on the satisfaction levels this year on view maintenance.
• The Committee’s membership - represented all the Moody Point Associations and the Environmental Committee. All Ad Hoc Committee members then canvassed their Association members for specific view maintenance requests.
• The process used - All view maintenance requests (19 in total) were documented in a binder, including pictures and comments, and reviewed in detail with Earle Chase, prior to any work being done. Earle approved both the content and the process.
• The evaluation - After the completion of the view maintenance work, the Committee surveyed the participating members’ satisfaction level (report card) of the work done vs. the plan.
• The results - Of the 19 responses requested, 13 rated the results a failure, 4 rated the results as a passing grade and 2 did not rate with a passing or failing grade.
• The Committee’s recommendations – Continue with the Ad Hoc Committee going forward, have the Committee make recommendations to the Board on how to improve the process and results by January 2008 and to have the Committee have both the responsibility and the authority to oversee next year’s view maintenance work.
• The Board discussed the report and the dissatisfaction with the results vs. the expectations. The Board shared the implementation concerns and the high level of dissatisfaction. The Board has asked the Environmental Committee to review both the law (Shoreline Protection Act) and the MPCA’s Environmental Plan and to educate the Board with facts, as well as recommended policies and guidelines for view maintenance by year end 2007. The Board will then make decisions based on the facts and recommendations by the EC and expects to reactivate the Ad Hoc Committee in early 2008.
• The Board thanks all the members of the Ad Hoc Committee for their active participation, their evaluation of the process and recommendations. And an additional thank you to Lynn Badger, Ad Hoc Chairperson, for her leadership and dedication in getting this new Committee formed and operating.

3. Treasurer’s Report

• Presented by Don MacKinnon
• The Board reviewed the July fiscal-year-end financials. Overall full year Operating expenses were about $7,600 — 6.9% under budget. Revenues were about $2000 better than planned due to the higher interest we are now earning on our Operating cash balances. The June 2006 Special Assessment of $23,250 for drainage improvement activities has been fully spent on both engineering and legal expenses related to resolving our drainage issues with the Moody Point Company and the Department of Environmental Services.

4. Committee Reports

Water Systems Committee

• Presented by Jim Fitzpatrick.
• We have contracted with a professional sewer operator to assist us managing our sewer system. He has already had an impact by locating two existing, but previously hidden manholes and will be inspecting all the manholes for required repairs and maintenance.
• The leak was fixed in the pressurized system in the Pump House.
• The WSC continues to focus on:
• The excess water inflow into our sewer system during heavy rain events continues to be a priority. WSC is expanding its work with experts to locate the inflow areas and resolve the problem.
• As a result of repairing various valves in the pump house, red water was discovered in the pressurized tank and this will require the tank to be drained and checked for rust.

Environmental Committee:

• Presented by Dimitri Chernyshov
• The EC met on July 30^th and is a committee in transition. Dave Thomas has resigned as EC Chair and Jim Fitzpatrick has temporarily appointed Trish Simon to Chair the Committee until a new Chairperson can be elected at their August meeting. Additional new members will also be joining the EC in August from the Hill, Meadow and Ridge. The Board thanks Dave Thomas for his stewardship of the EC for the past 2 years.
• Greenhead Boxes will be collected for storage and locations mapped on Saturday, September 1^st. Volunteers who would like to assist on this project should meet at Dimitri’s house at 9 AM on September 1^st.
• The semi-annual Shoreline Cleanup has been scheduled for Saturday, October 13^th at 9 AM at the Screenhouse. Volunteers are always welcome. More information will distributed shortly.

 Community Life Committee:

• No formal report was presented.
• As a result of Darby Johnson’s resignation from the Board, the CLC liaison position is currently open. Cari Moorhead has been asked to consider taking on this additional responsibility.
• The Summer Friday Night Happy Hours (5 PM to 7PM) continue at the Screenhouse every Friday. Weekly attendance has been great – usually ranging between 10 and 30 people. All members are invited to attend and enjoy the serenity and each others company.

Drainage Issue Report and Update

• Presented by Russ Simon.
• Moody Point Company’s engineers have provided DES in July with the additional drainage plan calculations they had originally requested by June.
• We have been frustrated with the DES delay in finalizing the drainage improvement plan for Moody Point. We have followed up at several levels in DES, including the Commissioner’s office and have been told we should get an update by the last week in August.

5. MPCA Managers Report:

• Presented by Erin Surprenant
• Urban Tree has treated Poison Ivy on Trail.
• Annual Meeting Notification Packages have been sent and Budget information should be distributed by the 3^rd week in August to all members, as the budget will be finalized at this Board meeting.

6. Budget

• Presented by Don MacKinnon
• The final changes to the Operating Budget and increased Capital Reserve Contributions were presented to the Board and discussed. A motion was made by Jim Fitzpatrick, seconded by Fred England to approve the final #’s for the 2007-2008 Operating Budget and Capital Reserve Contributions. The motion was unanimously approved.
• A lengthy discussion then occurred on the list of Capital project priorities and expenses to be budgeted for 2007-2008. This was a new budget requirement of our revised By-Laws, approved in June 2006. In addition to a number of Water System projects, the condition and capacity of the Fire Pond has become an increasing concern (The Fire Pond was created over 20 years ago and silt buildup from construction and annual increased vegetation growth was never addressed on a regular maintenance basis). Up to 3 years ago, there were few if any Water Lilies growing in the Fire Pond (Water Lilies usually can only grow in water levels of 4 feet or less). Over the past 3 years, there has been an increasing population of Water Lilies throughout the Fire Pond and this year it is now almost 50% covered with Water Lilies – strongly suggesting that we need to address the overall maintenance and capacity of the Fire Pond as a high priority. A motion was made by Don Mackinnon, seconded by Jim Fitzpatrick, to have the Fire Pond dredging as the only budgeted Capital Expense project for 2007-2008 and based on very preliminary guesstimates, budget the expense for $15,000. The motion was approved by a vote of 5 for and 1 against.
• As a result of the Ridge Association’s clearing and re-grading of the swale on their southerly border, additional swale work will be required to handle the increased water flow through the culvert from the Ridge to the Fire Pond between 510 and 511 Cushing Road. A motion was made by Jim Fitzpatrick, seconded by Cari Moorhead to authorize up to $3000 of MPCA Capital funds for any required modifications to the culvert and swale leading towards the Fire Pond - approved unanimously.

7. Other Business

• Goals for Common Property Management: The Board has asked the Environmental Committee to begin to review and make recommendations to update the Environmental Plan initially established for the common land owned/managed by the MPCA. The first step in this process is to review/update the guiding mission statement and goals for the Overall Management of our Common Property. The Board has requested that the Environmental Committee complete this task and make recommendations to the Board by December 2007.

• Ad Hoc Committee for Fire Pond Maintenance: Based the high priority of Fire Pond capacity, a motion was made by Jim Fitzpatrick, seconded by Fred England to immediately form an Ad Hoc Committee to addresses the Fire Pond capacity issue and finalize recommendations for dredging, including completing all permits required, vendor bids and selection and all required coordination with the Newmarket Fire Department and any other governmental agencies by 9/30/07. The motion passed unanimously. Peter Roy was appointed as Board liaison to this new Ad Hoc Committee.

• Dumpster Abuse: It has been verified that our dumpster is being used by non-members and this outside abuse is costing us money today and may cost us more in the future, if we have to expand dumpster capacity or pick up frequency. The problem is that in order to have the Newmarket Police assist us in tracking down or catching abusers, they require immediate notification of the abuse – not a few days later. We are not asking any members to confront the abusers directly, but we are asking any members who think they see someone illegally using our dumpsters to immediately call the Newmarket Police ASAP with the license plate number of the vehicle and any other pertinent information. Notifying an MPCA Board member first does not do anything and delays the process. The only way we can stop this illegal dumping is to have our members directly call the Newmarket Police immediately. After calling the Police, a member should then notify an MPCA Board member so we can be aware and follow-up with the Police. We need your help to reduce illegal use of our dumpsters.

• Mark Your Calendars – the MPCA Annual Meeting will be on Saturday, September 8^th, 2007. Location: Newmarket Town Hall basement auditorium. Start Time: 9 AM. Coffee will be available starting at 8:30 AM.

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 10:50 PM.

The next regular MPCA Board Meeting will be held immediately after the close of the Annual Meeting on September 8^th at Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Russ Simon

Secretary