Lake Matinenda Cottage Owners Association Board Meeting
Nov. 4, 2011
Attending: Pres. Ed Pilon, Sec. Robin Z. Schellekens, Laure Olson and Jim Hamilton.
Voting by Proxy*: Caroline Bledsoe , Ron Servatius and Dave Hall
* At least five Board Members (and/or their proxy) must be present in order to vote on any proposed motion.
Meeting began 1:00 PM
I. Town Issues
A. Docks and Lake Matinenda Directional Sign
E. Pilon spoke with Councilor Ken Kennedy who reported that Dock Repairs were on the Town’s Work Roster and would be done following Deer Season.
Councilman Kennedy also stated that the “Sign Committee” would be meeting this week and that he would be bringing up the addition of a Lake Matinenda Directional Sign at that meeting.
B. Signs In General
Board Members agreed that a letter would be written to the Town to a) remind them of their agreement to obtain and post “Day Parking Only” and for each of the docks, a “Handicap and Loading Zone. No Parking” sign for the Handicapped dock and ” No Boat Trailer Parking” signs for specific portions of the Parking Lot area. We will also suggest that these and the existing “No Parking” signs in front of the dumpsters, be larger and more brightly colored.
C. Additional Items
The Board will:
- continue to send “Monthly Up-dates” to the Mayor and Council
- send pictures of the existing seawall, showing it’s deterioration, to the Mayor and Council
- pursue possible grants to help pay for repair/replacement of the seawall
- send copies of previous engineering plans for dock and seawall updates and replacement
- request a key to the Dock Attendant’s Hut. The Association has always had one up until recently. A key is needed so that the Treasurer can retrieve dues and the Secretary may obtain the Attendant’s Log even if the Dock attendants are not currently on duty.
- approach the Town about ordinances regarding advertising signs at the landing and if they can be moved away from the waterfront.
II. Informational Bulletin Board
Paul and Christine Lamarche have generously offered to purchase the Weather Proof, lockable Information Bulletin Board for the Welcome Hut. L. Olson will be getting in touch with them to arrange the details and the wording for the Memorial plaque that will be attached.
III. Membership
As noted in a prior meeting, the Association’s membership number is down this year. In response, the Board has requested that the Membership Committee focus on increasing Lake Residents membership, rather than those falling into the Associate Member category.
In keeping with this objective, L. Olson motioned that “Every Lake resident receive a paper copy of the 2012 Newsletter” R. Schellekens seconded. Motion was passed unanimously.
Pres. E. Pilon asked if there were some way to double check the membership addresses in hopes of reducing the number of “Return to sender” items that have occurred in the past. R. Schellekens stated she believed it was possible to Google each members name with address, but both she and L. Olson also thought that C. Bledsoe had obtained the up-dates from the Town’s most recent tax records which would assure their reliability. L. Olson will check this with C. Bledsoe before the news letter’s mailing date.
In order to simplify and maintain accurate records, E. Pilon motioned that “Only the President and the Treasurer may collect membership dues from the Dock Attendants.” R. Schellekens seconded. Motion was passed.
R. Schellekens made a motion to “Include a Membership Information Up-date Form in the 2012 Association Newsletter.” L. Olson seconded. The Motion was passed unanimously.
L. Olson made the motion that “In recognition of the Wallace Family’s generosity and support of the Association over the years, that they be granted a Lifetime Membership.” J. Hamilton seconded. Motion was passed unanimously.
E. Pilon also motioned that “Membership dues will only be solicited and/or collected by the Treasurer and Dock Attendants.” J. Hamilton seconded. Motion was passed.
IV. Proposed Directory of Members
The Board expressed their recognition and gratitude of Board Member C. Bledsoe hard work in updating both members contact information and in creating an updated color-coded version of a lake map showing member’s location by name.
By proxy, C. Bledsoe motioned that “the Board approve the sending of a letter to all members, in which members are asked if they would like to be included in a “Member’s Directory” and in which they would indicate what if any contact information they would wish to have included. The letter would also stipulate that this proposed Directory would only be made available to Active Association Members for their use only and would not to be sold or distributed otherwise.” This motion was seconded by R. Servatius by proxy. After much discussion a vote was taken and the Motion did not pass.
J. Hamilton motioned that “The Association would not publish and distribute a Member Directory at this time.” L. Olson seconded. Motion was passed.
V. Family Day
There was a discussion regarding the presence of “vendors” at the 2011 Family Fun Day. There were some concerns and questions as to if these individual were donating their profits to the Association and/or invited by the Family Day Committee. It was decided that a discussion regarding this issue would be had at the Spring Board Meeting when more Board Members were physically present.
VI. The Association Cookbook
After some enthusiastic discussion regarding the up-coming printing of the 2012 Association Cookbook, the Board noted that they had some questions regarding how the Cookbook will be order, purchased and distributed. Sec. R. Schellekens was asked to write a letter to the Cookbook Chairman regarding these issues.
VII. Wi-Fi Committee
During the discussion of the Wi-Fi project initiated by Sam Bledsoe, it was recognized that there was some confusion regarding the Association’s role. Pres. E. Pilon requested that D. Brennen and R. Servatius report in more depth and that the Board revisit this topic at the Spring Board Meeting.
In the meantime, Pres. Pilon requested that Sec. R. Schellekens write a response to Ray Scholberg’s (on whose property a signal tower would possibly be erected) request for a “Hold Harmless letter” from the Association. The Board would like this letter to clarify that the Association is unable to provide such a letter as this is not an official Association project.
VIII. Charitable Donations
Sec. R. Schellekens is to write letters to the Timber Village Museum, The Blind River Food Bank and the Blind River Child Safety Organization to be attached to this year’s Association donations.
IX. Adjournment
J. Hamilton motioned the meeting be adjourned. R. Schellekens seconded. Meeting was adjourned at 2:50PM
These minutes respectfully submitted and emailed to all Board Members by Sec. R. Schellekens 4 Nov. 2012