OLSBA 2023 Spring Meeting
Saturday 06/17/2023
Old Lyme Middle School Auditorium
53 Lyme Street
Old Lyme, CT
Board of Governors and Association officers in attendance: Bryan Even (BE), Joanne Gilland (JG), MaryKate Reynolds(MKR), Tom Annulli(TA), Al Roy (AR), John Mandracchia(JM), Norm Yester(NY), Kathi Stickley(KS)
Absent:Lou Ricelli
Member Guests: Approx. 80 including board
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Meeting Call to Order: 10:03 AM
Welcome
BE gave introductions and honored the OLS friends who passed in the past year.
- Motion made/seconded to approve minutes 9/24/23-TA/ JM
Officer Dominic Solaria and Ranger Supervisor Katie Funaro spoke to the attendees and stressed the need to lock their cars and homes. Rifling through unlocked cars and stealing contents is rampant in Old Lyme and surrounding communities. Also discussed local vandalism on Sea Spray which currently is an open investigation. Urged residents to call the department with any leads. Discussed the role of rangers who are able to enforce town ordinances (smoking, drinking, parking, etc.) and can be sent into private beaches as well. Rest area on 156 may be shut down on summer weekends to eliminate beach parking.
BE gave overview on water and sewer project; discussed history of project and recent challenges to the project. Problematic issues have to be unwound in a tough economic environment. Roads that are in rough shape need to be patched and/or repaired. Receiving water at no cost tore up the roads.
Financials: NY discussed the proposed budget vs actuals of 2022-2023, the balance sheet and the proposed budget of 2023-2024. Anticipates spending an additional $22,000 by the end of the current fiscal year due to efforts related to preparing/cleaning the beach and guard wages for Memorial Day Weekend and limited effort in June. New line item in the balance sheet for QuickBooks. Ending with $123,000 of equity. Proposed Budget includes beach cleaning, additional Sheffield Brook repairs, street patching, legal fees, accounting fees, engineering, hosting and IT and guard wages.
Audience Questions on 2023/2024 Budget Presentation:
Graml-Brightwater Rd- questioned high legal expenses and the process in place for the relationship and use of attorneys;
BE/TA discussed expenses, anticipates refinancing closing costs bill from attorneys.
Julia Nixon- Saltaire- wants to renegotiate with Fuss and O’Neill
AR– all direct expenditures for the project are on hold; only paying for legal obligations concerning the loan and protecting our interests, and not currently spending on engineering.
TA– would like to take money out of reserves for legal expenses;
Audience Member asked about how long will New London hold on to OLS’ agreement to receive and treat waste flow.
Dede DeRosa- Brightwater- asked about expenditures and budget.
Audience Member- questioned OLS’ responsibilities towards Sheffield Brook. TA stated the pipes still aren’t draining correctly and a new engineering firm has been identified by Old Colony.
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2023/2024 Budget Proposal VOTE- Majority voted in favor of budget.
Nominating Committee
BOG positions and Officers and Annual Appointments
Member raised question about the term dates which will be examined further and addressed during next BOG meeting.
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JG cast the vote for the officers as presented for the year 2023-2024.
Beach Maintenance
George Finley discussed the state of the beach. Winter storms brought forth much sand and debris and 34 dump trucks of sand was transported to other beaches which was paid for by those beaches. He is very satisfied with beach cleaners; swim lines recently came in and raft will be put in the water within the next two weeks. JM would like raft pulled at or right after Labor Day which should lessen liability for shorter period of time in the water.
Ledge Light Health Department started sampling water for bacteria levels (at Billow/ Brightwater beach).
Questions from audience members included asking about bench replacement and “Rules’ Sign” at Billow. BE said the language and consistency of the signs are being looked at and will be addressed.
DEEP identification stickers for kayaks, boat and paddleboards are available. Please fill out with indelible markers and attach to the vessel.
Beach Actions
BE-Actions identified during the Fall Meeting 2022 were discussed throughout the year at BOG meetings. Actions including the addition of a boat rack at Sea Spray, necessity of boat registration which can be done on the website; the request to affix the DEEP IDsticker to marine vessels, replacement of signage and post repair, insurance premiums, storm drains, and radar signs. Tax collection needs further emphasis due to estates or non-payment compliance.
Guards and Traffic Safety
JM-discussed guard locations and roles at OLS; hours will be full time from July 4 through Labor Day. Schedule to be posted on boards and website; 2 streets will be closed, and 2 streets will be open for July weekends and 1 street will be closed and 3 will be open for August weekends. Recreation activities will occur as well as Friday night movies. Guard will provide flyers with rules to guests as they enter the beach. They will also maintain a log of visitors and guests.
A few audience members asked about the ability to close three gates during the week even if the open gate is unguarded. BE indicated that this issue will be addressed by the BOG at an upcoming meeting
Iannone- Saltaire- mentioned how a few houses rented out parking spots last summer.
Member on Shore Rd said that cars have driven across his yard to enter the beach.
Julia Nixon thanked the BOG and community for support for the July 4thactivities. This year there will be a whiffle ball tournament on the Friday before the kids’ movie; On Saturday there will be the traditional activities plus 2 movies. On Sunday there will be a DJ and food trucks (free to community members). Guards will monitor entrance to the food truck area. August 12 will be carousel night from 6-645 PM.
Sewer Project Update
BE– OLS and Alliance partners met with DEEP on March 10 regarding additional grant money; DEEP announced possibility of increasing grant portion of the project as a forgivable loan. If approved, it will come with attached “rules” and unknown conditions. Also, it is unclear how funds will be distributed. Sen. Martha Marx is pursuing legislation for a fund to be established to support the project; however, no guarantees or commitments of approvals is given and final approval by Bond Commission and Governor. Actual cost of project is still uncertain and would require additional rounds of bid solicitations.
Discussed OLS’ desire to be released from the Unified Consent Order due to project not being economically feasible, etc. and the reissuing of a Modified Consent Order to address OLS individually and specifically.
DEEP immediately denied request but did agree that the economic environment is prohibitive.
We have met with members of the Cost Sharing Agreement (CSA) to discuss changes to the CSA. Board is trying to pursue funding to make this project affordable and to bring it below our voted on number and to put together a structural plan when it does happen.
If we no longer support the project and want to go in a different direction, DEEP said they can go from fining us to entering litigation.
Our Interim Funding Obligation will become a permanent loan obligation. Our “walk away” cost is approximately $4575 but we can’t necessarily walk away. OLS is bound by the Unified Consent Order to perform unless it is suspended, modified or withdrawn. We can vote as an association on a new Referendum or Resolution which will formally announce our support for or against the project.
Roads and Storm Drainage
We want to get out of a maintenance mode and complete some action items in the association such as road work and storm drainage. We have to do the storm drains first.
We have a design for the storm drainage system but it is years old; it will have to be looked at again and evaluated. This will need to an association vote.
We need as an association to consider the role of Sheffield Brook as the receiver of our storm drain discharge. We also have met with some bankers assuming we will move forward with the project to give additional options of multiple association members to be able to finance project.
Resident Comments:
Member- asked if sewer pipes should be installed and capped in advance when roads are repaired
Annulli- Saltaire- emphasized- all dogs must be on a leash
Zito- Saltaire had question on roads and how to separate our original money that was voted on for the roads portion of the project vs the money that would be used for road repair.
Member mentioned that there are a lot of silent people who contribute (maintaining flowerpots, etc.) and would like other people to step up and help.
Adjournment TA/ MKR 11:54 AM
Respectfully submitted by Joanne Gilland, Secretary of OLSBA