October 27^th Open Board of Directors Meeting

     “Party House” Major Focus of Board Meeting

By Buz Whelan

Although the discussion didn’t begin until over an hour into the meeting, the grievances over a short-term rental house on West Emerald Lake produced the most passionate remarks during the October meeting. Beginning with Mark Davis’ opening statement, which was comprehensive, residents from the general area of the house spoke, one after the other, on the rental’s damaging effect on quality of life. Speaker after speaker cited littering, garbage dumping, loud parties, fireworks far into the night, and a septic system that is overtaxed and sure to fail at some point in the near future. The discussion went on for about 45 minutes and showed evidence of the strain on affected members’ nerves. Board President Al Leslie assured the distressed group that the association attorney is working to resolve the situation, but it was unclear what form that resolution would take.

The meeting began with President Leslie announcing the resignation of Director John Cress and the appointment of Margaret Fitzgerald to fill out his term, which expires in August of 2013. Mr. Cress cited work conflicts in his resignation stating that he would not be able to give the position what he felt it merited. Ms. Fitzgerald was the next highest vote-getter at the most recent Annual Meeting.

During the treasurer’s report, Earl Frank noted that revenues are approximately $89,000 higher than budgeted.

GM Allen Roth reported on the repair and replacement of leaking, decaying or otherwise inadequate drainage pipes around the community as part of the road improvement project. He cautioned that the weather is slowing and even stalling paving, but that cannot be helped. He also reported that lakes are being lowered pre-storm. Also regarding the storm, he said that as long as the Community Center was able to maintain power it would be open for shelter and showers, should widespread outages occur. He also said that the center does not have auxiliary power.

On Rules and Regulations, the board passed two new rules (or were they regulations?). The first is a ban on loitering in common areas between dusk and dawn with a fine of $50 for violators. They also formalized the wording in the Rules and Regulations about private signs, stating, “No unauthorized signs shall be permitted on common or private property. Unauthorized signs will be removed by the owner and the property owner will be subject to the fine listed in schedule of fines. The schedule of fines will be changed to the following: Unauthorized posting of signs – 1^st offense a warning. If the sign is not removed within 10 days a fine of $100.00 will be issued.” They also passed a moderation of the boat register rule, limiting the requirement to register to a single initial fee of $10 per watercraft rather than an annual one. Failure to register or display “sticker” (it’s actually a tag) will result in a $25 fine.

One other meeting highlight was a plea by the bylaw committee that those who were most opposed to the recently offered revisions and amendments join the committee and work to find a consensus. President Leslie added that all should be working toward the same goal, the good of the community. Joe Olall said that he and many others voted against the revisions because of their association with a certain individual whom he declined to name. Mr. Leslie chided him for putting personal feelings ahead of association welfare and repeated his request that Mr. Olall work with the committee. It was announced by new Chairperson Paul Capozzoli that the committee would meet on Nov. 20^th at 7pm to see if an evening meet time would bring in fresh members.

Related articles

• “Party House” Causing Problems (emeraldlakesfreepress.com)
• September Monthly Board Meeting: A Summary (emeraldlakesfreepress.com)
• On HOA’s and Talking to the Media (emeraldlakesfreepress.com)