Minutes from the LMCOA Board Meeting, August 13, 2012.
LMCOA
Board Meeting
Aug 13,
2012
Called to order: 1:03PM Adjourned:
3:50PM
Attending: Caroline Bledsoe, Rick
Bryant, Linda Hamilton, Ed Pilon, Robin Z. Schellekens, Ron Servatius
Unable to Attend: Dave Hall, Laure
Olsen, Tom Scott
- Welcome and Call to Order
The Meeting was called to order at
1:03PM.
Ed Pilon welcomed New Board Members Rick Bryant, and in absence Tom Scott, to the Association Board. Robin Z. Schellekens collected the addresses and citizenship information from each Board member for Government Corporate update. This information must be refiled after each Board election.
II. Membership
Linda Hamilton stated that the membership as of July 20, 2012 stands at 121 paid/active members.
III. Treasurer’s Report
Linda Hamilton made a verbal Treasurer’s Report to the Board. She will submit a written version to Robin for attachment to this document as soon as possible.
Board discussion resulted in the following:
- A monthly Bank Statement must be submitted for filing each month. Linda will contact that bank about attaining same. A copy of said bank statement will be given to Robin for the permanent records as well.
- Ron made a motion that “a written financial report will be included in every Board Meeting Minutes”. Robin seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
- More on this in Section VI.
IV. 2012 Annual
General Meeting.
Robin Z. Schellekens
sent out a tentative copy of the 2012 Annual Meeting Minutes to each
of the Board Members prior to the meeting. Some spelling corrections
were submitted and made.
Ron Servatius motioned that the
Minutes be Accepted. Linda Hamilton seconded. The motion was
carried unanimously. Robin will now email the Minutes to Jeff Rice
for posting on the Web site.
In reviewing the conversation
regarding a By-Law addressing the issue/problem of long term parking
of boats at the dock, it was again noted that had such a By-Law been
written and passed in 2001 when it was first requested, it would be
in force by now. Rick Bryant reiterated that no “policing” of
the issue could legally by done without a By-Law and all of the Board
shared their frustration with the issue. It was decided that one
more letter to the town requesting said By-Law would be sent and that
if necessary, the Board President would attend a Town Council Meeting
to address the issue.
There was some discussion about the
problem on meeting location. A number of people were disturbed by
the lack of shade and asked why the tent was not erected for the
meeting. Ed explained that the change of the location for the
meeting had been changed from the top of the hill to the Dock Shop at
the last minute in order to accommodate the need for power for the
coffee pot and to reduce the walk. There had not been enough time to
erect the tent. The Board will look into a way to better provide
power, shade and ease of location for next year’s meeting.
- Election of Board Officers
There was some
discussion regarding the history and the process for the election of
Board Officers. Ed explained that in the past, he had suggested that
the members chose the officers at the Annual Meeting, but that this
was voted down. Ron Servatius and Rick Bryant both commented that
electing from within the Board was general business practice. As our
incorporation By-Laws require that Officers are elected by the Board,
we will continue to do so.
Caroline Bledsoe requested that
Robin read the job description for each of the three description
before the voting. Although there may be some tweaking resulting
from the proposed By-law changes, Robin read the description as
defined by Incorporation. Caroline thought that a Vice Presidential
position was a good idea might provide opportunity for the training
of a new President, even though we could not be sure that the VP
would be elected as President in the future. Ed agreed and there
seemed to be positive feeling to this effect across the Board. Ron
Servatius asked if the current By-laws provided for a Vice President.
Robin said that she would have to check .
I have since checked into this. In
both the Incorporation By Law #1 and in the 2011 ratified version of
our Constitution 4.3:
“Executive Officers of the Board
shall be elected at the first meeting of the newly elected Board of
Directors and shall consist of:
- a President,
- a Vice President,
- a Secretary,
- a Treasurer.
At the Board’s discretion the office of
Secretary and Treasurer may be combined.”
Thus, we will need to
elect a Vice President at our next Board Meeting.
There was some misunderstanding about
the term of the office. Robin explained that according to the By
Laws, the officers had to be elected each time new members joined the
Board, or more simply after each Annual General Meeting. Linda
expressed concern that a one year term didn’t provide for much of a
learning curve. Ron stated that although the positions were elected
each year, that did not mean an officer only served one year, but
merely that it was opened up in case one of the new members was
interested. Thus, although the officers were elected each term, the
length of time a Board member could potentially fill a position was
actually defined by the future proposed Board member term limits of
six consecutive years.
Acting Secretary then asked who might
be interested in being elected in each of the current three officer
positions. Only the following were willing to fill these positions:
President, Ed Pilon. Treasurer, Linda Hamilton. Secretary, Robin
Z. Schellekens (Cowards!!)
Ron motioned that Ed Pilon be
elected President. Linda seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
Ed motioned for Robin Z.
Schellekens to be elected Secretary. Caroline seconded. Motion
passed unanimously.
Robin Z. Schellekens motioned for
Linda Hamilton to be elected Treasurer. Rick Bryant seconded. Motion
passed unanimously.
VI.
Upcoming Audit
As part of the current Board’s
commitment to renewing our intent to work within the approved By-laws
and Incorporation guidelines, it was decided that an official audit
would be done. Member Ben Denaro had been suggested for this job, and
when Ed approached him he agreed. The Board asked that a written
report be done and submitted at the completion of the audit.
Rick emphasized the importance of
following ‘standard accounting practice” regarding all record
keeping and records. The Board agreed that there needed to be a
complete detailed Yearly report for the Board and the membership,
they recommended that a new ledger be used for each year and that a
copy of every financial transaction be made for the permanent records
in case of accident or loss. There was much discussion regarding
what was reasonable, how things should be recorded and so forth and
it quickly became apparent that professional advice was needed.
It was agreed that Robin would contact
Mr. Gagnon and Mr Vellenueve, who had provided legal council to the
Association during it’s early incorporation, regarding records and
advice. She will also as for recommendations for someone for future
council and contact Mr. Kearns, and local attorney of good repute, to
see if he does corporate law and advising. (Letters sent Aug.
16,2012)
- Membership
Caroline again requested that the
Board have access to a current “Active members” list. Ed and
Linda again voiced their concern regarding the confidentiality of
this information. Ron said that he understood that there was an
expectation of the preservation of individual’s privacy in regard to
all issue that came before the Board and that of course this
information would not be made publicly available. He and Rick both
stated that if a resident on the lake came to him with an issue they
wanted brought to the Board, they would want to know if that person
were a member in good standing before they because deeply involved
in the issue. Robin stated that she would like to have one, as Jeff
(our webmaster) and she would like to create a mailing list so that
minutes and updates from the Association could be emailed directly to
active members, thus improving Board communication, rather than
depending upon the website alone.
It was eventually agreed that every
Board member would be given a copy of the Active Members List and
that it would be updated at each Board Meeting. Ed requested that
Linda have that ready for the next Board Meeting.
- Next Board Meeting
After discussion of various Board
members schedules, it was decided that the next Board Meeting would
occur on Thursday, September 6th and would include
further discussion of the By-laws as well as general on-going Board
Issue. As it is likely to be a lengthy meeting, Robin volunteered to
host it at her cottage and to provide lunch, in addition to the
goodies she generally makes. An agenda, the exact time of the
meeting and confirmation of location will be given to Board members
in the near future.
IX. Review of current
Board Procedures
Ed gave a brief review of the
following general Board procedures:
- The President acts as the
“official” spokesperson for the Association. - The President and Secretary write
all “official” letters. - If a member approaches a Board
Member about an issue, that member should take notes and then
present the issue to the Board at the next Board meeting. - If a member approaches a Board
Member and/or Committee Chair about a possible project or activity,
they should be directed to complete the “Proposal Application
Form” (see attached) from the website and submit it to the
Secretary for the next Board Meeting’s Agenda.
Ed also stated that our current way of
defining our Calender year as being from July to July is causing
confusion in regard to recording accurate membership numbers. He
proposed that we change it to January 1 to December 31 of a calendar
year. There was some discussion and the board agreed this would make
things much easier to understand.
Ed motioned that “any dues
payment made between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013 be considered
denote membership for the 2013 year and that this dating procedure
take place immediately and here after. “ Rick Bryant seconded. The
motion was carried unanimously. There
by, any membership dues paid between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012
will denote membership for the 2012 year.
- Ad
Hoc Committees
Ed reviewed the
passing of Robin’s motion to have a Lake Matinenda entry in the
Town’s next Dragon Boat Race (hopefully spring 2013) at the General
Meeting. As specified in that motion, Robin will be “acting
Captain . . . responsible for the pledge form, drafting of paddlers,
general organization and acts as the liaison between town and our
team …. (and) create a Charity Paypal Account which will appear on
our Web Site and which can be pasted into resident’s Facebook
pages…. Our objective will be to raise $2000, that will cover our
$1000 entrance fee and give an additional $1000 to that years charity
of choice.” The Board was excited and positive about this new
adventure and Robin said she’d have and she’d have an article and
donation button up and on the website within the next few weeks.
Nancy Harz has
informed the Board that she will be resigning as the Chairwoman of
the Special Event Committee after a long and very successfully active
reign. The Board wishes to express it’s thanks to her and her
committee for all it’s hard work and efforts on the behalf of the
lake.
This announcement
led to a discussion regarding the chairmanship and process of
reporting for the Ad Hock Committee. There was some discussion about
having each committee’s chair be requited to be a member of the
Board, in order to assist in smoother communication between them and
the Board. Several Board members thought this might seem rather bossy
and that since Board members could come to the end of their term of
office and thus leave a committee in limbo. Robin suggested that
each Committee have co-chairmen, one of whom would be a Board Member.
Ron
Servatius made a motion that “every Ad Hoc Committee will hence
have two co-chairs, one of whom is a Board Member, to help facilitate
projects and communication “. This was seconded by Rick Bryant.
The motion was passed unanimously
XI.
New Business
A.
Winter Meeting
Caroline renewed
her request for a Winter Up Date Board Meeting to be held by
Conference Call. Because of commitment to year around communication
with the Town, many items do progress or get addressed during the
winter months now. The idea of a conference call was discussed a
year ago, but did not occur last winter. The majority of the Ron,
Rick, Caroline, Ed and Robin have all done conference calls and
personal calls using Skype and other mass media and are interested in
trying it for a Board Meeting. Ed said we’d try it and asked Robin to
remind him in January.
B.
Marine Park Committee
Up-Date of Interest to Our Lake
Robin up-dated
the Board on topics discussed at the last Marine Park Meeting. She
began by stating that it was her intention to apply for full voting
membership on this committee as suggest by our members at the Annual
Meeting.
Topics addressed
at the meeting included:
- There are
reportedly only 6 places in Ontario where homeowners own the actual
shoreline of their properties. - Grants:
Councilman Solomon stated that currently Katie Scott would be the
person who looked for grant opportunities for the town. Robin was
given a print-out of same, but it was from the same site she had
already accessed, which had very minimal information. The Councilman
also stated that one of the problems was that we’d only be permitted
to submit one grant request per year and it was not a case of being
turned down for one, you could then try another. You had to wait
another whole calendar year. - Dredging
the Marina: It is
estimated that it could cost up to $500, 000 to adequately dredge
the marina and it might be better to go for an even larger grant
covering a total redevelopment of the Marina instead of doing thing
piecemeal. Robin suggested that if that were done, the landing at
Matinenda could and should be added. - Assigned
Student Attendants:
Robin asked why the Marina, which has less traffic than our lake and
has operated at a sizable loss for years, has four attendants while
Matinenda has only two, even on days where there are 20 or more
boats being launched because of holidays. She was told that there
was a great deal more work to be done at the Marina as the
attendants there pump gas, clean the bathrooms and do lawn work.
Darrell may also assign them other tasks as needed as he is on-site
there.
Robin again
asked about possible gas money or travel time pay for the attendants
but was told that because the tips were so good on our lake, that
would not happen. She did make a point of telling the Committee
what an outstanding job David Hall and Gilbert Roy were doing this
year.
- Staff
Shirts: According to
Councilman Solomon all student staff members are suppose to have and
be wearing citron yellow “staff shirts”. The staff at the
Marina have been wearing their for a couple weeks now and have been
positively received by boaters. Robin asked why the Attendants at
Matinenda did not have ‘staff shirts’ The committee had thought
they did, but Darrell stated that he hadn’t gotten out to the lake
to give them to them yet.(Dave and Gilbert requested and got their
shirts on the weekend of August 12th
when they attended a staff party. Both boys will be ending their
jobs on or near August 27th
!) - Life
Ring: Robin informed
the Committee that a life ring had been placed in the Attendants
Hut. However, they had not been instructed as to what to do with,
nor did it have a rope attached. Darrell stated he hadn’t gotten
the rope yet. It was the original intention to leave the life ring
inside the hut as there was concern it might be stolen if it was
left out. Robin asked if perhaps a hook could be put on the outside
wall of the Welcome Hut or Attendant Hut and the ring be placed
there, at least during business hours. This was eventually agreed
to. (As of today, Aug 15th,
there is no rope and no hook) - Reported
$12,000 Budget Line Item:
Robin told the Committee that Councilman Kennedy had stated that
there was a standing line item in the budget for running the
Landing. He surmised that the money was used for Attendant’s wages
and the cost of lights and garbage removal. The Committee was
unaware of any such item and in fact, Councilman Solomon said that
he had recently learned that Matinenda wasn’t even listed under the
Marina Park, and that it’s attendant’s were paid by a different
grant entirely. Robin asked for more details on those topics and
was told that they should be in the town budget which was open to
the public. (The budget is not on the website, nor can I find it
elsewhere. I have since sent a letter requesting to see the 2011
and 2012 budget and the proposed 2013 Budget. I haven’t heard
back.) - Docks
and Landing Improvements:
Robin told the committee that the membership had voiced their
displeasure regarding the state of the docks and seawalls. There
were many questions and references to prior promises made.
Councilman Solomon stated that he was unaware of any plans or even a
file at Town Hall that was related to Lake Matinenda. Robin replied
that the Association had letters referring to such and some of the
plans and designs the town had given them over the years. Solomon
requested that Robin send the dates to Katie Scott in hopes that
they would help her find the matching documents. (These were sent
on Au. 16, 2012) - Requested
Signs: Robin reminded
the Committee that the signs that had been requested and agreed upon
20 months ago were still not in place at the landing and that
several reminder letters had been sent. Darrell said that they
should be in any time and that he had taken two of the handicapped
parking signs to the landing but was unsure where to put them. Robin
said she had seen the signs on the porch outside of the Attendant’s
hut (they were still there as of Aug. 15, 2012) Councilman Solomon
Robin suggested that Darrell could place them in whatever empty
parking spots were closest to the landing. - Boat
Parking By-Law: Finally
Robin shared Councilman Kennedy’s response to the repeated request
for a by-law addressing the long term parking of boats at the dock.
Councilman Solomon and the Committee members agreed that a by-law
seemed the logical answer and that if the Association wished they
could write to Katie Scott and ask to be added to a future Town
Council Agenda and then present the matter there.
After some
discussion regarding this report, Ed asked Robin to write another
letter to Katie Scott in which she itemized the issues that had not
been addressed and our concerns, then ask if it would be more
appropriate for Katie to bring these items to Town Council or if
spokespersons for the Association Board should request to be heard at
a future meeting.
C.
Maps and Cookbooks
When asked Linda
stated that she had heard that the Cookbooks were selling well. Robin
said the people at Mic’s had told her they were already on their
second batch and they were selling quickly. Ed asked how many of the
Lake Maps had been sold and Caroline replied that when she counted
them it appeared that 50 were missing and thus presumed sold, but
that she had not been the one selling them and she was in fact
handing them over from the Special Events folks to Linda today.
Linda said that she did not believe she had received 50 maps worth of
money. Ed then re-voiced his concern that there needed to be a
cleaner and improved way of recording where and when these items were
being sold, who was in charge of their delivery to the selling
points, who was collecting the money and how they were being tallied.
Although much discussion and many suggestions occurred, nothing was
finalized in this regard.
- Pay
Increase for Web Master
Robin informed the
Board that our webmaster, Jeff Rice, had requested a pay raise to
$100 per year for his services. The site license is $37 per year.
She stated that Jeff put in literally hundreds of hours on the
Association’s behalf and really deserved to have another couple of
zeros added to that amount. The Board agreed.
Robin
Z Schellekens made a motion “to increase the fee paid to Jeff Rice
as webmaster to $100 per year.” This was seconded by Ron Servatius
and passed unanimously.
- Adjournment
Ron
Servatius made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Rick seconded. The
motion passed unanimously.
Meeting adjourned
at 3:50PM