HERCC
The HERCC Board of Management met at the home of President Mary Blank. Present were: President Mary Blank, Treasurer Rita Amaio and Board Members Bill Bussman, Tom Connor, Bob Cika, Ken Finkle, Deb Paduda, and Paul Teich. Sandy Podesta, to her great embarrassment, was absent and gratefully thanks Rita Amaio for taking the minutes for her.
The following topics were discussed:
The first Board Meeting following the Annual Meeting and Election of new Members was held at President Mary Blank's home. Once again, Mary graciously served a lovely dinner and dessert to the Board, after which the meeting began. The following topics were discussed:
Acceptance of Minutes: A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes from the previous meeting. All members voted in favor.
Acknowledgements: Mary gratefully acknowledged the contributions of Deb Paduda, Kim Ruggiero, Jennifer Eisele, and Jim O'Brien in their execution of a successful Annual Picnic. Mary spoke on behalf of everyone when she said, "We are grateful that we have Association members who give of their time to make these events successful true teamwork!"
Welcome New Board Members: Mary and the Board welcomed our three new members: Bill Bussman, Ken Finkle, and Rita Amaio, each of whom will serve two-year terms.
Member Responsibilities: Mary then provided an overview
of each Board Member's assignments, thanking each for fulfilling
his or her responsibilities, as outlined below:
Secretary Sandy Podesta Bylaws, Policies, Association Directory
Treasurer Rita Amaio Finances, Audit
Bill Bussman - Placement of winter reflectors to designate speed
bumps for snowplowing, next year's picnic with Deb Paduda
Bob Cika Jetty maintenance, annual beach cleanup
Tom Connor Association insurance coverage
Ken Finkle Boat rack, storage shed
Deb Paduda Hospitality, parties, summer picnic and parade
Paul Teich Roads, speed bumps
Speed Bumps: Mary thanked Paul and Shelby Teich for
the wonderful job they did painting the speed bumps, particularly
in light of our growing need for volunteers for job such as this.
Snowplowing: Mary will check with Aronson's to determine
whether they still offer snowplowing services in light of their
recent merger with another firm. If so, she will find out about
their fees for plowing for 2004/05 and report back to the Board
and will investigate a new plowing service from the Madison Flower
Shop who is now offering a plowing service.
Beach Jetty: Mary thanked all who worked on the repairing the jetty. Ken Finkle reported that some of the newly installed bolts need to be retightened but that it appears to be in good shape overall as a result of the work that was done.
Beach Storage Shed: Mary mentioned that the storage shed is not being used in the way that was intended. A lot of chairs, floats, and umbrellas are not properly placed in the storage cubicles. This results in more space being taken up than is necessary with less space available to others. Therefore, the Board asks that those families who pay for use of the shed have no more than four chairs in the shed and that they limit their "space" to one cubicle so that other spaces will be available to other families.
Boat Rack: The boat rack is now being handled by Ken Finkle, who will ensure that boats are in the spaces assigned last year and that they are removed or secured for the winter. Bob Cika has made numbers and will attach them to delineate the spaces.
Winter Gathering: As head of Hospitality, Deb Paduda will come up with a date and place for our annual winter get-together, which typically takes place in January after the holidays. Further information will be sent out to the membership as soon as it becomes available. Ken Finkle was kind enough to express an interest in offering his home this year for the party.
Old Business: Mary raised Jon Morrow's proposal made at the Annual Meeting to dispense from the Treasury $500 to each Association household. Jon's recommendation was based on the current value in the Fidelity short-term investment account ($50,695) which could be perceived as a "surplus." At the Annual Meeting, Mary mentioned to the members that she would defer further discussion due to time constraints, and would take up the proposal with the Board of Management, which she then did. A discussion by the Board ensued.
During the discussion, members agreed that the disbursement would constitute a nice gesture on behalf of the membership. However, members also agreed that $50,000 is not an unusually large surplus to have in the Treasury for an Association of HERCC's size and that there could be major unforeseen expenditures such as jetty maintenance/replacement, road repair, beach fence and/or bench replacement, just to cite a few examples. One suggestion was to provide the picnic free of charge to the membership next year with the possibility of having it catered. A motion was made, seconded, and accepted to leave the current balance as is.
Swim Float: The purchase of the swim float, which was voted on by the membership, was approved by a majority: With one abstention, 22 voted in favor and 14 opposed with a total of 36 out of 56 ballots returned. Mary expressed the importance of having someone be responsible for launch and maintenance and well as winter storage and taking in the mooring. Michael Eisele generously offered to be in charge of the swim float and assume all the responsibility that goes with it. The Board approved moving forward with the project at a cost $3,000 with full insurance coverage at approximately $780. The float should be completed in time for spring/summer 2005.
Refuse Collection: A suggestion made by a Member at this summer's Annual Meeting to explore the possibility of hiring a single Refuse Collector for the entire Association should this provide a means for reducing the cost charged to each family. A discussion followed. After the discussion, the consensus was that this should be an individual decision left up to the homeowners. However, Sandy Podesta volunteered to investigate whether a discount might be available should a number of members show an interest.
HERCC History: Mary thanked Paul Teich for the speech he so eloquently delivered at the dedication of the bench in memory of Grace Cross that was donated by Ellen and Bob Cika.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sandy Podesta
Sandy Podesta, Secretary
With the able assistance of Rita Amaio