05/30/2021 OLSBA BOG Meeting Minutes
Via Zoom
BOG in attendance:
- Matt Merritt (MM), Bryan Even (BE), MaryKate Reynolds (MKR), Tom Annulli (TA), Norm Yester (NY), Joe Halloran (JH), Joanne Gilland (JG), Al Roy (AR)
- Missing: Cliff Winkel (CW)
- Guests: up to 26 OLSBA Members via Zoom
MMcalled the meeting to order at 10:01 AM.
- Minutes from 05/06/21 OLS BOG Meeting were approved (TA/JH)
WPCA Update/Website– (JH/AL)
- Appoint Sue Mahoney to replace Pat Burns on WPCA board and additional 3-year term starting in June; reappointment of Bob Palazzo -approved and seconded- TA/NY
- CWC has withdrawn their support for having available to existing well owners the Clean Water State Revolving Funds.
- Disappointed in the results for the bid for shared infrastructure work and current 4 road are at a standstill; 2 bids were received and were very high and not acceptable; feels that the two bidders gave highly inflated estimates that ballooned the bids; per the DEEP, we cannot rebid the same project; however, we will be able to break up the projects and rebid for the component projects; post bid interviews revealed there were worries about rapid increase in pipes and the availability of materials; hesitancy about permit with Amtrak; longer lead time needed with 156 project.
- Currently there is an existing note/bond that has collectively borrowed over a million dollars for OLS; must be reviewed for further maturity rates and must extend the bond maturity date for the end of January; Goal is to review and analyze the pricing issues, have 2 separate contracts issued (digging and installing piping and pump station) -may cost more in interest and administrative fees but will be able to attract more bidders at more competitive prices for the individual projects- may occur at the end of the summer.
- Other beaches are in similar situations us- Old Colony increased their bonding; we are working in concert with the other beaches and the town of Old Lyme. MM-attended state meeting and spoke with state legislator about possibility of this being a town owned project- perhaps part of national proposed 3 trillion project.
- OLSBA cannot move forward with these estimated costs for the project which are well over the 9,700,000 dollars that was approved by the referendum. Project on hold means that we reframe and perhaps revote. Get to a more digestible number per household. New bids bring the expected costs to the owner 15000 greater than the projected 39600 per household (without counting connecting costs and abandonment of septic costs and bringing water to the house costs.)
- JH- encouraging members to go to the website where all info is posted including bids and line items
- MM- what if BOG votes on not proceeding, how does that affect the mandate to clean up the sound?JH- the mandate to clean up the sound and stop polluting the groundwater has not gone away, we would have to repay the loans about 5k per house. We would not be getting any new roads and we could be sued by the other members of the cost sharing agreement; our commitment was to participate at 21 percent of the agreement .
2021-2022 Budget– (NY)
- Proposing a 111,000 budget including the budget items-beach cleaning , security and insurance and 15,000 contribution to WPCA. TA wants to budget 45 k to WPCA for legal issues, new engineering costs, etc; Final notice will be sent out to owners with outstanding balance for 2900 fees owed (one year)-due Aug 21
Nominating Committee/New Board Members– (TA/BE)
- (See above re Sue Mahoney)- appointed to fill interim but full term to be voted on at spring meeting; 2 members (Jay Moynihan and Kathy Stickley) to be selected for BOG
Beach Cleaning – DEEP– (MM)
- Was stopped by DEEP who needed to see copy of permit allowing work on the beach; applied for another work permit regarding the CJL (coastal jurisdiction line which is a 1 foot elevation higher than the high water line; association can’t do any work below it from April 1- Sept 15 due to federally protected piping plovers and horseshoe crabs.
- 47 trucks (18 yards) of material removed during the beach work. Maybe less shells this spring but still in issue.
- Weekend cleaning of beach in June; daily cleaning in July through end of August; (cleaning of seaweed necessary to keep bacteria count down).
- George Finley- taking care of beach cleaning, coordination and repairing/ painting small fixtures from around the beach; raft, lines and buoys are being examined.
Spring Meeting – location, voting, rain-date (MM)
- Preferred venue would be inside Saturday, June 19 at 10 AM. (If outside venue necessary than the setting would be the sea wall on Saturday June 19 at 9 am (rain date if meeting is outside Sunday June 20- same time –
- Request to have Fuss and O’Neill and Bill McCoy present
- Next BOG meeting to prepare for the Spring meeting Sunday 06/06/21 at 9:30 am
Safety Committee- Speed Tables (BE)
- Speed Tables- Pursued 2 different options (removable and permanent) discussed with contractors to present to membership but now suggestion is to table discussion due to WPCA related issues projects and costs- makes sense to address at a later time- move to the fall 2021 or next spring 2022- BE feels it should be done at the end of the construction
2021 Guard Schedules (TA/BE)
- Head Guard Chris Bird put together a schedule- 2 guards at top gate in am and 1 at the beach; after lunch only 1 guard at the gate and 2 at the beach; kick off meeting with guards going over the rules and safety issues; will double up on Fourth of July weekend- recreation program hopefully 3x/week -looking for a few more guards to support program.
- No alcohol and drinks at the beach will be enforced as well as safety issues such as not using skim boards.
New Directory (MKR)
- Printed available (100 copies); available for the spring meeting on the 19thof June
Signage/Gates (MM)
- Brightwater gate is being repaired by VMS company;
Beach Issues – cleaning, shells, boats, raft,–(MM )
Miscellaneous
- 2021 beach activities (movies, raft, rec) – raft will go in the water and there will be Friday night movies and movies
- 4th of July Activities –will be held on the third of July
Resident Comments:
Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 11:45 AM (TA/JH)