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Annual Meeting Minutes

August 31, 2007

Opening:

The annual meeting of the Oquaga Lake Improvement Association was called to order at 7:45 pm on August 31, 2007 at Scotts Family Resort by Vice President Koen G. Koen noted that President Jim B had back surgery on Wednesday of this week and a get-well card was available for all to sign.

Present: Thirty-one of [] paid association member properties being represented, constituting []% of the Association membership; therefore, a quorum was present. (By-Laws require twenty percent as a quorum.)

A. Opening Comments

Koen welcomed the attendees by saying the summer was over and much too quickly. He noted it was a fantastic summer, and the weekends were great, except Friday nights were almost always cool, rainy, and disappointments.

He thanked Doris and Ray for once again opening up their facility for the annual meeting.

Koen acknowledged the new members on the lake (who were not present); Ross and Lillian DeP recently purchased that McGuire cottage.

B. Approval of Minutes and Treasurer's Report

The minutes of the August 25, 2006 meeting were read by secretary Barbara Marko. With no corrections, Ferris A moved that the minutes be approved as read; second by Hans G.

Marie D presented the Treasurer’s report, noting that expenditures are within budget so far this 2007 year. Copies of the income statement and expense statement and summary of funds were distributes. Marie noted there was an anonymous donation to the fish stocking fund and Koen thanked the unknown contributor.

The list of paid/unpaid members was distributed. A second invoice has been sent to those who did not pay and members were encouraged to contact their non-paying neighbors. A third invoice will be sent to those who have not paid, as some of them may be oversights.

Motion to accept the Treasurer’s report by Peter V; second by Steve S.

C. Committee Reports

Fish Committee: Once again, stocking was done on Mother’s Day. Koen G reported that $1500 doesn’t buy the number of fish that it used to and we stocked less than 800 this year, mostly rainbow. It was asked from the floor if we should allocate more funds for fish stocking. The alternative suggestion was to solicit contributions from individual contributions. A humorous suggestion (we think) was to “put more in on our side of the lake.”

Regarding the J Elmer Crowley Fishing Derby, Koen commented that there were a disappointing number f participants in the contest, probably because it was the weekend before the fourth of July. The winners were Gunther O, and Skip K second.

Sewer: Barbara M, at the request of her absent husband and Sewer Board charirman Dick M, commented that the plant was operating normally and well, under the supervision of Brad Hubbard and his staff, who officially work for the Village of Deposit’s sewer board. We are receiving periodic reports from Brad regarding the operations and maintenance of the plant, as well as services being provided on local property. All reports from those around that lake who have had their red lights go on and who have received services have been that Brad and his crew are prompt, efficient, courteous and friendly.

Barbara also noted that when the sewer plant improvements were done, the bonding rate that the Town of Sanford had hoped for was not made available to us. Mark M, who – along with several Board members – had attended many of the meetings in advance of the improvements. Working with the Town and working on his own initiative, Mark re-filed the bonding application. She asked Mark to summarize the results.

Mark stated that on the original underwriting, we didn’t score very high based on need and water quality benefit to qualify for the lower interest rate. After re-filing, we now have a slightly lower interest rate .While over the long term, this is only a monetary savings of about $350,000 and appears to be insignificant in yearly sewer tax, we did secure a more secure long term loan.

Barbara commented that Mark had assumed the initiative to pursue this on his own, after e-mails with the President and the Secretary, and communications with the Town of Sanford. The attendees applauded Mark’s efforts on behalf of the Association.

NYSFOLA/Water Quality: Barbara noted that she and Dick had attended the NYSFOLA conference in May. The Water Quality report is produce by DEC in conjunction and NYSFOLA, of which we are members. DEC is late in getting the report out this year and we have nothing to report as yet. Results will be on the Oquaga.com website, once they are available.

It has been a number of years since anyone from the Lake attended that NYSFOLA conference, but Barbara and Dick found it very informative and Barbara noted that she is now on the NYSFOLA Board. The major issues are invasive species, which at this moment are not a matter of concern to Oquaga based on the non-productive water quality, but more importantly, dams. As read in the minutes from last year’s meeting, new New York State regulations are being proposed regarding dam safety, following the breech of a dam in the Adirondack, which did considerable damage to properties and land lands downstream.

Barbara reported that the new regulations, if passed, will have a financial impact us. As currently written but not yet in final form, the proposed regulation requires that we hire a professional engineer to draft a written plan for the dam and that we will be required to inspect the dam regularly.

Luckily for us, we are a Class A dam, which means dam breakage will impact very little: by DEC records, we just run into a creek that eventually ends up in Pennsylvania. That makes us very low on the list of lakes that will require inspection anytime soon and that inspection will only be required to be done, by a professional engineer, only once every ten years.

Zoning: the revised Zoning Law, making Oquaga Lake and overlay district in the Town of Sanford has been passed, in includes many of the changes requested to protect waterfront development on the lake.

D. New Business:

Nominating Committee: The following terms expire this year: Barbara M, Brenda L, and Ferris Al. All volunteered to remain. Dr. David S who volunteered last year to fill the unexpired term of Dr. Stephen S which expires this year also volunteered to continue Motion by Herb S, second by Dave S that the nominations be accepted. Passed unanimously.

Open Discussion:

• Photo Contest: The winners of the yearly Oquaga Lake News photo contest were posted an available at the meeting. Wendy Carey was thanked for her efforts.

• NYSFOLA Dam Project: It was suggested that those not paying dues should be required to pay their fair share to any dam improvements or repairs. Barbara noted that there are “tax districts” that can be applied to projects of this sort. Our sewer tax district is an example of a special tax district which is assessed and pays for special projects of this kind.

• Unpaid Dues: There was a suggestion from the floor that that it would be interesting to know who had not paid in previous years.

• Construction in the Summer: It was stated that there is a provision in the Local Law that prohibits building during the summer months, due to noise and other disruptions. Notably, there is one cottage under construction through most of the summer. [Secretary’s Note: here is s link to the Town of Sanford Local Law.]

• Noise in General/Police Protection/Ambulance Service: There are many reported incidents of noise. In some other incidents, there is a concern that the nearest police dispatch is in Binghamton (probably Kirkwood). It was noted that we were served by the State Police and the nearest barracks is in Kirkwood. Regarding noise: it was commented that the Town of Sanford does not have a noise ordinance.

Other noise related issues are the boating before 10am, lawn mowers at 7am.

The suggestion was made that if you have concerns, you should talk to you neighbors. The Lake Association is not equipped and is not in the position to enforce local laws: we are not policemen.

It was note that these are all risks we take when choosing to live here on the lake.

Koen suggested that many of these issues are “Polite Rules,” as we have done in the past with Boating Rules. But, again, compliance is only as good as the relationship you have with the neighbors.

• Water Quality

The question was asked about the 2005 Water Quality report: What does unproductive mean? Non-productive means that there is very little algae growing to feed other growth. This is a good thing because it discourages invasive species but is not exactly good for the fish as far as food. However, the fish caught this year continue to be big and healthy, as n the past.

Adjournment:

With thanks again to Doris Scott for the use of their facility and for the refreshments, VP Koen asked for a motion to adjourn, which was offered by several people (but officially noted as Brenda L) and seconded unanimously (but officially noted as Ferris Al). Accepted unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35.

Minutes respectfully submitted:

Barbara M

August 31, 2007

Board of Directors Meeting to Appoint Officers

Attending: Ferris A, Bill B, Marie D, Koen G, Dick H, Brenda L, Barbara M, Doris S, David S, Herb S.

As required for the By-Laws, the meeting of the newly appointed and existing Board members convened at 8:37 pm on August 31 to elect Officers. VP Koen G stated that Jim B had agreed to serve another year as president. Motion by Ferris A that all officers remain in place; second by Dick H. Passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned unanimously at 8:37pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted:

Barbara Marko

August 31, 2007

 

Annual Meeting Attendees (34 Properties)

Dinner Attendees (20)

 

Last modified: 05/27/12

 

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