MINUTES

LAE ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING

Camp Morgan Lodge, Washington NH

July 14, 2007

President Don Damm called the meeting to order at 9:23 AM. Sixty-nine members were in attendance and fifteen members voted by mail. Don introduced LAE Officers and Directors and explained the procedures that would be followed during the meeting, reminding members that when a vote is called only one member of the household should vote. He thanked all the volunteers for their hard work and asked that they all stand.

KC Hayes made a MOTION to accept the minutes of the July 8, 2006 Annual Meeting as written. Wayne Sandford seconded the motion. All approved

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Nominations & Elections: Carolyn Russell reviewed the history and process for nominations to the Board and reminded members that they should vote for 6 of the 8 nominees for director. It was also explained that ballots are mailed with the notification of the Annual Meeting. To be fair nominations will not be accepted from the floor. Carolyn asked for the collection of paper ballots and Pat Liotta turned over the mailed in ballots for counting.

Budget & Finance: Pat Liotta briefly went over the LAE statistics and reported that sales have slowed down considerably. Referring to the handout of the 2006-07 budget she said it was self-explanatory and asked if anyone had questions. Wayne Sandford asked if the budget contained money to purchase larger items such as a truck. Pat responded that reserve accounts contain money for larger ticket items. A member asked how much we had in reserves and asked if the report could be mailed with the minutes. Pat will include a list of the reserve accounts and the dollar value in each with the minutes mailing.

Main Gate: Marcellus Liotta said that this year there has been a new effort to add more perennials and some potted annuals to add color for all seasons. Ants are a real problem and he asked if anyone had any suggestion on how to get rid of them. Unfortunately one flowerpot display with 2 American flags was stolen.

Marina:  Jim MacDougall reported that all the docks have been taken for this season. Recreational vehicles have been driving on the peninsula and causing problems. A sign and chain has been installed to deal with this. He also reported that a chained kayak was reported stolen.

Tennis: Nancy Damm reporting for Peter Chin said the net has been repaired for this year, but most likely will need a new one next year. The combination for the lock at the tennis court is 40-40.

LAE Activities: Nancy Damm reported the 2006 summer activities were well attended. The 1^st Annual Golf get together was a big success. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped with the activities. The Ashuelot Woman’s Group coffees were very successful with new members attending. If anyone is willing to host a coffee please see one of the committee members. The committee has made a few changes in the summer’s activities. The picnic which had been held after the annual meeting is being replaced with a social today from 4-6. Hors d’oeuvres and soda will be provided.  There will be a flea market and Nancy asked if anyone objected to this being advertised at the post office or general store? No one objected. A sign-up sheet for the Flea Market event and the Golf get-together are located on the back table. 

Security:  Chief Steve Marshall was introduced. Chief Marshall asked LAE members to remember to contact the police if a problem arises, when it happens, not days or weeks later. Police problems are not exclusively LAE, but town wide. The Police do check on houses in LAE during the winter months and reminded everyone to contact the office if you are going to be away for an extended period of time. All in all he felt LAE was relatively safe and most of the problems were motor vehicle in nature. Jim Russell said that most of his budget is used for signage and asked if you see any areas which need attention to contact him. Jim reported that so far this year 29 LAE OHRV licenses (stickers) have been granted and reminded everyone that a new sticker is only necessary when a new vehicle is purchased and never been registered in LAE before. Stickers are issued by appointment only.

Insurance: Pat Liotta reported for Barbara Quinn that no new is good news. No claims were filled this year and the quotes for the next fiscal show little increase. 

Beach Area/Beach House: Joe Gentile thanked all the volunteers who help in any way this year at the Beach/Beach House. General painting and maintenance repairs were done and he asked for volunteers to help him paint the Beach House floor later on in the season.

Legal:  Steve Boucher said APDVD reported that the dam property ownership is in question.

Roads and Grounds: Don Damm reported the new hydraulic sander installed on the International truck heated body was completed and worked well. We applied over 71 loads of material on the roads in the fall and spring and approximately 50 loads of sand. The increase of road material has increased by 65% since 2004 and for sand the increase has been 44%. We had some minor washouts in the spring and all the roads were repaired with stored materials. All roads were passable during the heavy rains in the spring. The 1989 1 ton Dodge truck drivers side frame was broken and repaired in June. The adaptation of the York rake for road grooming and the purchase of parts and repairs to the back-hoe, grader, Dodge 1 ton truck and the International truck along with normal service to the equipment caused the overrun to the Equipment Repair line in the budget. All of our equipment is working and the Road Manager performed satisfactorily. The 2007 Newsletter contained a list of commonly asked questions about the Roads and Grounds Operations with answers. The grass cutting, trash removal and beach house bathroom contractors performed in a satisfactory manner.

Water Resources: Don Damm reported on the results for 2006. The results were comparable to previous years. The channel markers were installed in June by the State. We need to thank Karen Hunihan for all her work to have the markers installed by the Marine Patrol. DES denied the deep draw down request due to a severe weed problem for the fall of 2006, because the Lake Level determination Report was not finalized. The Town of Washington is forming a Town wide support group to combat milfoil infestations. Although, there are no reported milfoil infestations in the lakes and ponds in Washington, this group should help to ensure that milfoil does not enter Washington lakes and ponds. LAE should actively support his proactive effort by the Town. This will involve participation or adapting parts of the “Lake Host Program” to monitor boat ramps and conducting voluntary boat and trailer inspections.

Scholarship Award: Nancy Damm announced that a $500.00 scholarship was awarded to a graduating Washington Senior Ryan Eccard.

LAE Website - laeinc.org: KC Hayes reviewed the purpose and content of the website. Since new owners are being asked to access LAE information on the website unless they don’t have access and upon notifying the LAE office a paper copy will be mailed.

OLD BUSINESS:

Lake Level DES Decision/Process DES Project Study with the Final Report planned for 2007: Don Damm reported the report still isn’t out, but when it is it will be posted on the DES website and there will be a public meeting following the report.

Ashuelot Pond Watershed District and Proposed Ordinances: Don Damm briefly explained what is happening in this area and pointed to a map on the wall and invited everyone to look at it. 

Community Coordinator: John Pasieka said he has noticed construction in LAE is at a lower level this year. On drive through many members will stop him to ask questions and that on the whole when approaching a problem most people are receptive. John asked if anyone had any questions. Questions from the floor covered a wide area. Larry L’Hommedieu stating he was still confused as to what the coordinator actually did? Don Damm responded by saying many of the phone calls (questions/complaints) normally received by Board members has been cut considerably because John and Nora have become a visible sight in LAE. They respond to questions/ complaints and while driving through note things that might become a potential problem for the association.

Potential Maintenance Garage Re-Location: Steve Boucher explained the proposed trade of property to relocate the maintenance garage. The owner has become reluctant to spend money so Steve representing the Board will try a new approach.

NEW BUSINESS:

Review and approval of the Operating Budget for FY 2007: Pat Liotta explained the proposed budget saying that most of the increase was due to the rise in cost for materials, fuel and utilities. Bets Tuttle questioned the increase in line 7 Administrative Services and it was explained that due to the increase in work to implement the fine policy and procedure for Land & Building Restriction violators Pat Liotta would receive the additional money. Karen Carroll asked if LAE accepted bids for the roads and grounds contract. Don explained that Roger Bedard’s contract for five year was extended for three years and that other contractors had approached him. Pat said the surplus for the 2006-2007 fiscal year would be $2,500. Pat Liotta made a MOTION to accept the proposed operating budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Joe Gentile seconded the motion. Approved

Disposition of Surplus Funds from FY 2006: Steve Boucher made a MOTION to allocated $1,500 of the 06-07 surplus to R4 – Equipment Replacement Reserve and $1,000 to R6 – Infrastructure Reserve. Gene Curtis seconded the motion. Darwin Moore suggested the surplus be used for fixing the raft on the public beach saying it was dangerous because children jump on, rock and try to move the raft. Don Damm said Bob Thompson did extensive research before purchasing the existing dock and asked Bob if he thought weights would help. It was then suggested operating budget money be spent to fix the problem and Joe Gentile and his committee will work on the problem. Gene Curtis strongly suggested it was the parent’s responsibility to make sure their children were not doing anything wrong while at the public beach. After the discussion the motion was approved.

Deep Draw Down of the Lake for the fall of 2007: Don Damm explained that DES denied a deep draw down last year and so made a MOTION that the LAE President contact the State of New Hampshire (DES) to obtain permission for a deep draw down of Ashuelot Pond starting the last week in September 2007. At the same time the President shall notify the APDVD and the Town of Washington Selectmen of this request for a deep draw down. The primary, but not the only reason for this request is for weed control. Seconded by Dearborn. Approved.

Increase of the APDVD Boundaries: Don Damm briefly explained the area increase referring to a map. APDVD boundaries must be initiated via a petition of voters to the selectmen. This will be attempted.

Implementation & Compliance with Land & Building Restrictions and Fines:  Carolyn Russell described how this policy evolved through first changing the by-laws to allow fines, setting up and fine-tuning the fine policy and finally bringing it to an approved membership vote at last years Annual Meeting, which from beginning to end took two years. January’s Winter Newsletter informed the membership the Board would begin implementing fines in June of 2007. Mr. Michael Reopel made a MOTION to place in abeyance for one year the imposition of fines on LAE members having real estate signs of standard size and/or presentable decorative signs of reasonable size on their properties. The Board of Directors will seek legal advice on this subject and report back to the membership at the 2008 Annual Meeting with a recommended course of action. Steve Boucher seconded the motion. After a lengthy debate with many comments, amendments made and withdrawn and feelings that ran in both directions a vote was called for. Approved

OTHER BUSINESS:

Mary Ann Turner expressed her concern about “speeding on the lake”.

Election Results: KC Hayes and Carolyn Russell announced that the four officers Don Damm, Steve Boucher, Pat and Marcellus Liotta were elected. And that the race for 6 of the 8 Board of Directors was very close and the following were elected: Eugene Curtis, Nancy Damm, Joe Gentile, KC Hayes, Jim MacDougall and Don Turner.

Don Damm invited LAE members and their guests to a Social at 4:00 PM at the LAE Beach House.

Mary Ann Turner made a MOTION to adjourn at 12:17 PM. The motion was second by Steve Boucher. Approved

Revised and approved for distribution by Don Damm, President.

Respectfully submitted by,

Patricia A. Liotta

Secretary/Treasurer