by Kathy Leslie-Whelan

The meeting was called to order at 9:34 am. Six board members were present.  Al Leslie was absent. Following the pledge of allegiance, Buz Whelan started his President’s message by addressing the Call-to Meeting for the special meeting which was delivered past the 30 day notification that is required in the bylaws. He stated that the vendor that handled the printing and mailing originally informed us that they needed two days to complete the printing which meant that if they received the material on Monday morning they would have it at post office on Tuesday afternoon.  ELA forwarded the document to the vendor on Saturday which gave them ample time to meet our needs.  When the Call to Meeting was not delivered to the membership, Nicole Clemens followed up with the vendor and was told that it went out on Wednesday morning.  Clemens followed up again on Friday and was told that it went out on Thursday.  They ran out of paper and due to the weather, a paper shipment was delayed. Some of the membership did receive their notice on the following Tuesday, however, it was not postmarked.  The vendor apparently sent the mailing out via bulk mail instead of first class. The board took responsibility for the lateness and promised that it would not happen again. A cancellation letter will be going out to the membership.  The replacement date for the special meeting is May 11th, which is the available date that the high school has.  All future mailings for special and annual meeting will be handled in-house so there is more control over the process.  During discussion Bob Leon recommended for streamlining and simplifying purposes that payments for the annual dues be moved to May 22nd.  This included members paying in full and quarterly.  The members paying quarterly would be responsible for the other payments on August 1st and November 1st of this year and February 1st of 2020.  Leon made a motion to accept his recommendation.  Kavanagh seconded it and it passed unanimously.

Under the Treasure’s report, Kavanagh stated that on a whole, we are under budget $12,955 for January and $208K year-to-date. Maintenance is over budget by $12K due to $6K in vehicle repairs and supplies for snow removal.  The bar and grill is $3,500 over budget but had income of $2,700.  Collection for delinquent accounts are at $88K with $61,567 coming in for January. Leon made the motion to accept the treasurer’s report.  Borsos seconded it.  It was approved unanimously.

Whelan called for a motion to accept January’s minutes. Bob Leon made the motion which was seconded by Dave Borsos.  After a correction from the F&P chair, Earl Frank, the motion passed unanimously with the adjustment to the collection for delinquent accounts for the month of December.  It was changed from $37,128 to $11,470.

Gamble addressed the following items under Old Business. If there was no change the item was marked pending with no schedule change:

• Work at the outdoor pool is pending. Gamble wants to get a contract and deposit to Strand pool so that we can get on their calendar to ensure that the pool will open on time.  A contract for approximately $38K was presented to the board. Chris Claude made a motion to accept the contract. It was seconded by Leon.  It passed unanimously.
• The work on the roof of the Community Center has had all the rotted wood and shingles replaced. Bulk heads have been repaired. Work so far has been excellent and drone pictures were taken. The flat rubber roof still needs to be replaced so we held back $19K for that portion of the contract.  An additional $15K was needed for the rotted overhang. $5K for materials and $10K in labor.
• HT Lyon is working on the new dehumidification system for the indoor pool. We paid a down payment so the new system has been ordered. The unit will take 9 to 14 weeks to manufacture.  4 to 5 weeks have passed since the contract was signed and the unit ordered.
• ServPro is under contract for $109K for mold remediation and work is pending.
• Gate House Badging System is now at $13K, down from $40K. The original system had features that are not required at this time.  The new systems will have 4 scanners. One will be at the compactor, one at the community center and 2 mobile units which will be used to check the membership’s badges at the outdoor pools and lakes.  This system will also be able to report traffic patterns. Everyone will be getting a new badge. On January 30th a call is set up with the vendor to go over detail and it will take approximately 4 to 6 weeks to get the units in.  The system should be operational at the end of March.
• The Grill is food in food out. Gamble is still monitoring that expense.  We are not buying more food than we are selling.
• There is a skeleton crew at the Community Center. Currently the Association cannot afford to have staff idly standing at the front desk to check in visitors. The person attending bar will check IDs as well as proof of age if warranted.
• Roads are pending. Waiting on cost estimate for dirt and water damaged roads.
• We are understaffed and sometimes they work through the night for snow removal. We do not want drivers over fatigued. We are on top of the mountain and should expect snow as well as freeze and thaw cycles. Salt does not work when the temperature is 15 degrees or below.  In addition, it needs sun as well as traffic to work.  The membership is advised to drive cautiously.
• The truck is a work in progress. Gamble is working with Chris Claude on this procurement.
• Work on the bridges and dams are pending.
• Joe Gallagher has a proposed schedule for work on the lakes. He will be submitting a yearly manager’s report on lakes.  Gamble is currently waiting on a proposal from Joe Gallagher on water testing. The fishing club is currently assisting with gathering information on our lakes to be used as an educational tool.

Under New Business Claude described the used back hoe that was procured. It came from Cleveland brothers/Caterpillar and was delivered on Friday, February 22nd. The vehicle is a 2013 and is currently garaged on site.  It was a rental unit so has low hour usage. The unit cost approx $63K and came with a 3 year/2,000 hours maintenance contract which can be renewed.  We also got free delivery and 1 day training from Caterpillar.   Our old unit will be used in the yard only.

Committee Reports

Earl Frank of Finance and Planning stated that our minutes from last Saturday’s meeting contained a few questions which he is already receiving responses to. Our total cash on hand is $556K and when you add in insurance we are at $685K. We have $501K in reserves and $36K in delinquent collections for January. The bar and grill expenses were $4,700 with receipts at $2,700. Year-to-date we are operating at a $15K loss/cost.  Frank stated that the Pocono Record ran an article for Air B&B rentals in Monroe County.  Emerald Lakes was mentioned as one of the top three developments where this service is available.  Currently Frank is working with Nicole Clemens, Darryl Gamble and our accountant Tom Mugan on the budget for our next fiscal year.

Dave Borsos stated that the next Real Estate committee meeting is scheduled for March 16th.  The January meeting was cancelled due to bad weather.

The maintenance committee did not meet due to bad weather.

Linda Shuey stated that the Rules and Regulations committee has not met for the last three months.  They are waiting for the board to approve their submitted changes of the document.  Since the board is waiting for a redlined version of the document so that they can see where changes are being made, Shuey made those changes based on her notes and gave to Clemens to distribute to the board. In addition, Shuey submitted recommended changes to the document pertaining to burning in the community.

Director’s Comments

Dave Borsos complimented the maintenance staff on ice and snow removal and urged the membership to be patient.

Ange Noonan complimented Claude and Gamble on the maintenance plan.  She is pleased with the response for restarting the Women’s Club and would like anyone interested to reach out to her at ange.noonan@gmail.com.  She hopes to have this club started in the Spring.

Public Comments

Linda Shuey recommended changes to the Call to Meeting that was sent out.

Louise Leon stated that Preferred Management was not preferred by her.

Mary Kavanagh asked if there was damage to a snow plow since it hit and damaged a lip in the road at her home. Gamble made note of her issue.

10 new members were welcomed to the Community.

Bob Leon made a motion to adjourn. It was seconded by Steve Kavanagh.  Meeting adjourned at 10:53 PM.

Reporters Note: I write these reports based on notes taken during the meeting.  I get no special consideration or cooperation from the board.  I try my best to report accurately, but occasionally mistakes will be made.  I invite correction and have no desire to intentionally mischaracterize any comments or actions.