Old Lyme Shores BOG Meeting
May 20, 2017 at 15 Billow Road Old Lyme, CT 06371
Paul Yellen, President, called meeting to order @ 9:05AM
Attendees: Paul Yellen, Joe Halloran, Matt Merritt, Polly Merritt-Maglio, Maura Graml, Pat Burns, Tom Annulli, John Cunningham
Absent: Sheila DeLutrie, Jay Moynihan
Guests: Julia Nixon, George Finley
Welcome to members and guests from Paul Yellen.
Public Input (This is reserved for association members who attend the BOG meeting). No OLSBA members other than the invited guests attended.
Committee Reports
Summer Activities– Please see website and bulletin boards for details.
Julia Nixon will be selling caps/hats as this year’s fundraiser.
Beach Condition – George Finley
This was a tough winter with many logs and much debris on the beach. The logs were cut down and removed to the dump. The town of Old Lyme did not charge the OLSBA for disposing of them at the dump. The OLSBA received a permit from DEEP free of charge. This general permit allows OLSBA to bull doze the sand down to the mean low tide.
Al Bond has done the grading of the beach. The sand at the end of Sea Spray Road has been filtered. Several loads of shells and pebbles were removed. The excess sand from the end of Billow Road will be brought over to the end of Sea Spray. The rope lines will be going in shortly. There are some that need to be replaced, etc. The raft will be going in in the middle of June.
Sheffield Brook – Pat Burns
Pat addressed the Floodplain Restoration Project. The stream is getting deeper and wider. Old Colony donated the lot for the floodplain. OLS paid $50K of the 2M needed to fix the pipe which is $261 per household. 32 homes were located in floodplain for both beaches. When this project is done, there will be only 3 located in the floodplain. This is a huge undertaking which involved the installation of the twin 36 inch pipes which will carry us for over 100 years. There is a maintenance agreement in place for the Sheffield Brook Floodplain Restoration Project which will require 2K to 3K per year per beach (OLS and Old Colony) and will be kept as a separate line item. The engineers kept the 24 inch pipe in place as an emergency solution to flooding from Nor’easters. It will require maintenance going forward. The pipes located on the beach will need to be maintained as well.
Snow Plowing – Paul Yellen
Despite a few significant storms, there was not one complaint. OLSBA w need to and plans to negotiate a contract with Harry Plaut for 2017-2018. A new budget of $7200 has been set for the coming season.
WPCA – Joe Halloran
This project still needs several approvals from the State of CT. One being an Environmental Impact Protection Evaluation. For example, if a pump station is built in Old Colony, can it withstand the impact of a Category 2 or 3 hurricane from an environmental standpoint?
Town of Old Lyme came to us with a proposal that if they allow a pump station to be located on Soundview property, would the three beaches of the WPCA be willing to build them a bath house? We said we would not. We then developed a contract to lease the land from the town of Old Lyme for 99 years for $200K. They sent back a counter offer. The WPCA then sent the town another contract/proposal which they have had for over a month. There has been no movement on this latest contract thus far. The town of Old Lyme is the catalyst for delaying this project for 3 to 4 years because they want to have control over the project.
The city of New London wants language put into their contract with the WPCA which would attempt to control who is using the pump station and what is going into it. The WPCA hopes to have a contract back to New London for May after much discussion with our lawyers and engineers. In order to build the pump station which would accommodate the rest of Old Lyme using it (the three beaches-OLSBA, Old Colony and Miami Beach as well as Soundview and Hawks Nest) we would need a design which could accommodate 300K gallons a day. $1.45 M gives us 120K gallons per day. We would then possibly need to purchase more capacity in increments of 45K. The hope is the flow is less than 120K and we would not need to purchase anything additional.
The town of East Lyme has informed us that they will not pay to write the contract with the WPCA due to budget limitations. The WPCA has agreed to reimburse the town of East Lyme for production of this contract. We do feel we are in agreement with the town and will be able to move forward.
We need these 3 agreements in place in order to start the work and we do not have them at this time.
We still need an easement with 73 and 75 Sea Spray. There is currently a water easement going under #75. There will be a second meeting with the owners to go over a preliminary drawing of the new pipe/easement to alleviate concerns.
Once we get the three above mentioned agreements, we will still need approximately 12 months for design work as well as 18 months for construction
Tom Annulli made a motion from the floor to authorize that Joe Halloran, Chairman of the WPCA as well as the WPCA, not only continue with all the necessary agreements and contracts but also be granted the authority to sign said agreements and documents to move the Waste Water Treatment Project forward. Pat Burns seconded. The vote was taken. Motion carried.
Website/Social Media – John Cunningham
The website has been updated for meetings, minutes, announcements, etc. Paul Yellen has started a blog for the beach and it will continue to appear on the home page. It is titled “From My Beach Chair”.
BOG members will now be able to update their reports online for the OLS community.
Annual updates, movies, recreation schedules as well as the beach calendar will all be found at www.oldlymeshores.org
Recreation Polly – Merritt Maglio
There will be 7 young adults coming back and as well as one new guard. Polly still has the uniforms, name tags, etc.
Guards will be working from the last weekend in June until the 3rd weekend in August.
The recreation program will continue in the morning from 9 to 10 am and in the evening from 5 to 6 pm.
The gates will not be closed on Memorial Day weekend. All four will be open.
Traffic Safety – Tom Annulli
There will be a hand-out given at the gates to all visitors concerning the road rules of OLSBA.
There will be new road signs in use this year in addition to the barriers.
Another new addition to the roads will be the words Stop Ahead stenciled onto them.
Golf Cart Status – Matt Merritt
There is a ban on golf carts in OLS.
A letter will go out to all owners stating that OLS does not allow golf carts.
Security/Recreation Position Change – Polly Merritt Maglio
Polly explained all of the responsibilities that come with being in charge of both Security and the Recreation Program. This position demands between 20 and 30 hours a week, 7 days a week for all 12 weeks.
Paul Yellen proposed that a hybrid position of Director be created which would encompass both Security and Recreation. This would be a paid position occupied by Polly. The BOG will be holding a vote to waive the by-law which prohibits a BOG member from holding a paid position of the Association. This would allow Polly to fill this Director position while serving on the BOG. This vote will be held on June 17, 2017 prior to the Annual Meeting.
Financial Audit Required – Paul Yellen
This will be done before the June 17, 2017 meeting
2017 to 2018 Budget Proposals
No significant changes are needed now on the 2017 – 2018 budget. The Treasurer is gathering input from BOG members to develop a budget in advance of the Annual Meeting to be held on June 17, 2017.
Nominating Committee
Tom Annulli, VP and two volunteers to be named will form the nominating committee.
Appointed vs. Elected Position Revisions
Right now, the Tax Collector and the Treasurer are elected positions. It has been proposed that the Tax Collector be appointed and the Treasurer be elected.
A motion was made to agree to this change from Joe Halloran and seconded by Matt Merritt. A vote was taken and the motion carried.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Maura Graml