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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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