WALLENPAUPACK LAKE ESTATES

PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

Board of Directors Meeting

November 12, 2005

 

The November 12, 2005 meeting of the Board of Directors was opened at 9:00. In attendance were President Jack Vetter, presiding, Vice President Anne Marie Madison, Secretary, Paul Cuskley, Treasurer, Ted Couillou and members, Jack McIntyre and Steve Sollenne. Ed Weidler was absent with excuse. Also in attendance were General Manager John Carney, for the Advisory Board, George McMullen and from Reily Associates our accounting firm Debbie Borger.

 

The membership has been invited to attend this meeting starting at 10:00 AM, so the routine business of the Board was attended to by the Board before 10:00AM.

 

 

The minutes of the October 15, 2005 Board meeting were reviewed.

 

A motion was made by Anne Marie Madison, and seconded by Steve Sollenne to accept the minutes as written. The motion passed unanimously.

 

Routine committee reports, presented in writing, were reviewed

 

John Carney reported that a group of property owners wanted to hold a New Years party at the Adult Lodge, in addition to the Recreation organized party at the Main Clubhouse. No adult property owner will be excluded from this party.

 

John reported that some property owners have asked to use the kitchen at Beaver for their parties. We currently collect a deposit of $100 from property owners using Beaver for a party. It was agreed that they could use the kitchen, but then the deposit would be $200.

 

 

The “open” part of the meeting was called to order by President Jack Vetter at 10:05

 

The meeting started with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. There were over 150 property owners in attendance

 

The minutes of the November 2004 open meeting were approved by the Board at the December 2004 meeting. The secretary offered to read and review these minutes to the assembly, the reading was waived.

 

The meeting was turned over to John Carney, our General Manager. John introduced Debbie Borger from Reily Associates, our accounting firm.

 

John reported that due to a population increase our community is dealing with new issues. There were at least two meetings during the summer dealing with security issues. At a meeting held with the Pennsylvania State Police here at WLE, there were only 17 property owners in attendance to bring our concerns to the PSP.

The purchase of Section 7 has been completed - the deeds recorded - it has been designated as a WLE Green Area, therefore the property is not taxed. The one time assessment of $150,approved at the 2005 annual meeting will be collected the first quarter of 2006 to replenish the Reserve Fund.

New house numbers must be in place and it will be enforced by Paupack Township. Old WLE lot numbers must be removed, so as to avoid confusion. There will be enforcement. The U.S. Post Office has been changing to the new addresses. The Post Office has also advised us that mail boxes that are not "cleaned out" regularly, the box will be cleaned out by the post office. If your do not retrieve your mail within 10 days mail will be returned to the sender.

It is suggested that if you go away for any length of time, you file a change of address, or place a hold on your mail with the Post Office.

 

The WLE Emergency telephone is going to be handled by a commercial answering service when the WLE office is closed. The answering service has direct contact with our security patrols through our private FM radios

 

John reviewed a few budget items:

RV registrations, which used to be combined with other items, is now its own line item. Miscellaneous income includes citation fines.

John also advised that the Marina fees have been raised to $350.00 per season.

Security will have 1 new full time employee.

Utilities, fuel for vehicles, electricity and propane for heating has increased drastically.

 

John outlined the improvements to Rockledge pool. The pool has been lined with fiberglass which has a 25 year warrantee. John and several Board members, researched this process, they traveled to a communities that used this method, and were impressed with its performance there.

 

Treasurer’s Report- Ted Couillou

Ted introduced Debbie Borger. Debbie is with Riley Associates, our auditors. They review our finances and make recommendations to ensure we run smoothly. She asserted that WLE is well managed, conservative and responsive to advice given by Riley. Our Capital Funding/ Reserve is at 65% of the optimum level, which is acceptable.

 

A property owner asked how the Marina dues are spent.

John answered that the money is spent for Maintenance, Security, Administration and PP&L fees. Maintenance builds repairs and installs the docks. We provide security guard for the Marina during the season. The office has one who devotes a portion of their time to administration of the marina.

 

When a property owner asked about what the miscellaneous fines are, she was advised that they are building fines.

 

Debbie explained a little about our Capital Improvement fee that we will start collecting in January 2006. Debbie stated that that Act 180 allows us to charge a fee when a property is sold. The fee can not exceed the cost of the previous year’s dues for a house and ½ the amount of unimproved dues for a lot. This money is collected from the buyer.

 

The motion to authorize the transfer of funds from the reserve fund to the reserve fund was made.

 

A motion was made by Paul Cuskley, seconded by Jack Vetter:

Approve the amount of replacement reserve funding of $136,676.00, to be transferred from the operating funds under the guideline established in the 2006 budget.

All members present, except one voted in favor of the motion.

 

The floor was now opened to the membership to ask questions.

President Jack Vetter instructed that we would discuss one issue at a time.

The comments and questions of each individual property owners were not recorded in detail, as we did not employ a stenographer, or record the meeting.

 

Issue number one:

Proposed Recreation Center:  The Board has advised that a resolution will be submitted at the June 2006 annual meeting, asking the membership for approval to construct a recreation center, and pay for it with an assessment not to exceed $225.00 per lot. The recreation center will be large enough to allow indoor sports, basket ball, volley ball etc. It will also include other rooms for pool/billiards, ping pong etc. It has been suggested  that there would be one large space 100’ by 60’ by 25’ high, a sort of gym, and a side building 40’ by up to 100’.

Kasper Lodge will be closed.

 

It was suggested by a property owner that we be able to pay the assessment over two years. The Board would consider that. It was also stressed that the assessment would be per lot, improved or unimproved, the same amount.

One property owner suggested that we enclose the basket ball and tennis courts in section 4. It was pointed that would be far more expensive that a new building, as it would be much larger than currently planned.

Terry Cuccinello, who is involved with many of the young people in WLE, in her capacity of swim team coordinator, stressed the need to make the recreation center a “family center” available for use by all ages, She was advised that is the intention of the Board.

 

Another property owner asked why we didn’t present a detailed plan first, including proposed cost, and then propose the resolution for membership approval. The reply was that we do not want to spend a lot of money on detailed architect plans etc, and then have the project not approved. We will have more detailed information available in preparation for the annual meeting.

 

Bill Faro asked if the maintenance of this building will cost us more. The response as yes, but, as Kasper will be closed, there will be an offset.

 

Mick Henry suggested that there appears to be mixed feelings about this project, He stated, “So let’s vote in June.”

 

End discussion on recreation.

 

New issue:

Jim Clark, indicated that he is not getting the WLE bulletin in the winter. He files a change of address with the Post Office for the winter when he’s in Florida, but since the WLE Bulletin is sent 3^rd class, it is not forwarded. It was pointed out that sending the WLE Bulletin by 1^st class mail would triple the cost of the mailing. It was suggested that he file a change of address with the WLE Administration office.

 

Next issue: Security.

It has been observed that there has been more graffiti and vandalism; many property owners have asked that we institute a curfew for young people.

 

Mick Henry produced pictures of some graffiti and vandalism that occurred around the Halloween time. The pictures were made available for review.

 

It was suggested that we clean graffiti as quickly as possible.   Fran Raimo, who works for our maintenance department advised that maintenance does remove graffiti, but it can take up to a week, as they can’t delay other vital projects.

 

George McMullen, president of the Advisory Board, asked why we don’t issue more citations. Rocky Kizer replied that 209 citations were issued this year. Yes, many warning were issued. There were 41 RV associated citations issued. Only warnings were issued at the skate park, but now citations will be issued. There were 30 disorderly conduct citations issued.

 

Mike Henry asked why citations were not issued for dumping unauthorized items into and at the dumpster area. Rocky indicated that problem would be corrected.

 

Paula Whitney advised that there would be a meeting of the Wallenpaupack Area School District Drug and Alcohol Task Force at the high school on Tuesday night, November 15, 2005, 7:00PM at the High School Library. Drug use among young people is a problem in our area, something is being done, but the participation by more people in working for solutions is needed.

 

John Rechinda asked why we don’t impose a curfew. The issue has been discussed at every Board meeting for the past year or more. The Board is reluctant to impose this severe restriction, it restricts the good people to restrict the bad, and it is difficult to enforce.

By a show of hands, approximately 90% of the people attending this meeting were in favor of a curfew.

Rocky Kizer informed us that the break and entry incidents took place early, but the graffiti incidents were usually after midnight

 

Jerry Bradley suggested that we should increase neighborhood watch presence, by employing the original intent of the nation wide Neighborhood Watch program. Having neighbors watch out for their neighbors, from their home, and reporting suspicious activity.

 

 

Next issues:

 

The Advisory Board asked if we could install lights in the Main Club House parking lot.

 

Joe Mongalieri raised the issue of a new location for the Fitness Center. It has outgrown its home in Beaver. It may be included in the Family Recreation Center although a suggestion was made to place it elsewhere. Joe stressed that we should do something soon.

 

A motion to adjourn at 12:35 was made by Jack Vetter and seconded by Paul Cuskley.

The next Board meeting will be on December 17, 2005 at 8:00AM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Paul Cuskley

Secretary