Roll Call
Virtual Governor’s Meeting @ 6:30 PM
Christopher Rossetti, President, Governor
John Williams, Governor
Sue Jansen, Governor
Susan Franke, Secretary, Governor
Katia Salokas, Governor, Treasurer
Mitch Uzwack, Vice-President, Governor
Absent
Austin Patenaude, Governor
Unit Owners
Judy Larkin
Ann Costello
Greg Weston
Lois Hessert-Blawie
Mark Visconti
Jon Beck
Paula Darlington
Rodney LeBlanc
Property Managers
Lauren Pizzoferrato
Meeting called to order
Meeting called to order at 6:31 PM
Meeting Minutes of November 2022 approved.
Hearings
13 Edgewood, removal of 3 large trees with no DRC application – not present. Mitch Uzwack motioned to fine owner $250 per tree. Judy Larkin and Katia Salokas seconds. John Williams voted against the motion. Motion passed 6 to 1.
20 Gray Pine maintenance violations – not present; Lauren read the email from the owner to allow Board to weigh in on assessing fines. Christopher Rossetti moved to impose a fee of $10 per day beginning January 26, 2023 until all violations are resolved. Sue Jansen seconded. John Williams requests that we postpone a month to evaluate actions taken by owners. Christopher Rossetti withdraws motion. Lauren will tell the owners that they need to produce for proof of work being scheduled. The unit owners will be put on the February agenda.
7 Edgewood, removal of tree at boundary of 8 Edgewood Resident/Homeowner Mark Visconti (7 Edgewood) purchased a red October maple tree and presented to unit owner at 8 Edgewood who refused the tree. Mark will submit landscaping plan at the end of spring/early summer and will try to incorporate a maple tree in the vicinity of the one that was removed. Adjourned until the April meeting for compliance and action..
Resident/Homeowner Questions and Comments (Limited to 20 minutes)
Paula Darlington (1 Owl Court) asked if the board has a trusted list of vendors. We do not at this time, but we may add this to the revised website. Purchased unit with the understanding that the garage door had been fixed, but it was not. Christopher Rossetti requested a copy of the resale certificate from Paula, and he will investigate the matter.
President’s Report
A meeting was held by Gena Hamilton to review the progress on the development of the new website on 1/19/23 by interested members of the PPA Board. There was general satisfaction with the proposed new site although myself and one other board member did not like the automatic slide show default aspect of the site. Launch should be occurring soon. Another tranche of material edits I promised was delivered to Gena on 1/23/23. Little remains.
As Jeff McChristian retired effective 12/31/22 his replacement as general counsel for Pond Place was needed. No one in the firm of Ford & Paulekas with which he was associated for the last couple of years specialized in common interest community law. For that matter, neither did Jeff. By way of history, Attorney Henry Ide resided on Pond Circle for many years and was a past President of the Pond Place Association & Tax District in the 1990s. Henry was a litigator. He became affiliated with the small Avon based firm of DeManche & McChristian. This three-attorney firm was subsequently professionally consulted by late Domenic Zacchio throughout his many years as president of Pond Place. When Henry Ide retired and moved to New Hampshire, Jeff McChristian became the primary provider of legal services to Pond Place. In 2020, to facilitate the sale of his interest in that practice, McChristian associated with the business firm of Ford & Paulekas in Hartford.
In 2022 we established a relationship with Rosenberg & Rosenberg, which firm is small and whose practice is limited to common interest community collections. Now we need to engage counsel to provide guidance to the Pond Place Association, the Pond Place Tax District and Northington Meadow on an ongoing basis on other matters. Among the major matters that the Board will be need legal guidance on in the next few years are: (1) updating, amending and restating of our Declaration & ByLaws (2) whether to continue to hold title to Stub Pond in Northington Meadow, Inc. and (3) whether to acquire either or both the Roadway parcel or the abutting 3.44 acre undeveloped parcel from the Connecticut Water Co. In our area of Connecticut, the two most prominent attorneys who specialize in common interest community law are Michael Feldman of Feldman, Perlstein & Green and Gregory McCrackin of Jacobs, Walker, Rice & Barry. (Mr. McCrackin was associated with the late Matthew Perlstein’s firm earlier in time.) He is my choice to engage as general counsel and will be making a presentation to the Board and answering questions at tonight’s meeting.
Manager’s Report
Design Review Committee
Per DRC Chairperson Bill Sage as all information on DRC applications is available from Pilera online, there should be no obligation to submit a report.
Report Treasurer’s Report
Report sent to the board, and there were no questions.
Northington Meadow, Inc. Report
On 1/6/23 I spoke with Attorney Ed Spinella of Murtha Law regarding his availability to counsel Northington on the issues associated with a possible transfer of the pond parcel to Pond Place Association, Inc. He indicated he would be available and promised to send a written proposal, as yet unreceived.
On 1/9/23 spoke with Tom Battles, the Director of Engineering at HRP Enterprises, the outfit that performed the dam inspection and inundation study. The engineer who actually did the site work and reports had left the company and she was no longer available to consult. Mr. Battles reviewed the file and stated that drawing down the pond level during winter was unnecessary for purposes of dam safety or to prolong the life of the dam but also was not harmful.
The Northington Board held a special meeting on 1/12/23 to review the proposals from Pond & Lake Connection and Life-Lakes, Inc. to determine whether Northington wanted to accept either proposal for pond treatment in 2023.
Present: Katia Salokas, Susan Franke, John Williams, Greg Weston, Judy Larkin & Susan Jansen
Absent: Mitch Uzwack and Austin Patenanude
The Board voted 6 in favor and one abstention (Susan Jansen) to accept the Life-Lakes, Inc. proposal from Mark Rowland.
In correspondence with Nick McMahon at Pond & Lakes Connection and a review of the map and deed to the Stub Pond parcel it appears that as none of the industrial park abutters actually have shoreline rights to the pond, notification obligations may be limited to just the residents and owners of Pond Place. This info was communicated to Mark Rowland of Life-Lakes, Inc. today who then reversed the earlier withdrawal of his proposal.
The requested annual report of treatment and pond condition from Pond & Lake Connection was received and shared with the members of the Northington Board.
Pond Place Web Site Progress Report
Mitch Uzwack requested the home page of the existing site be cleaned up. John Williams agreed to clean it up.
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Old Business
New Business
Attorney Gregory McCrackin
Potential new attorney Gregory McCracken made a presentation to those present: He indicated he concentrated in representing common interest communities in Connecticut and was an active member and presenter to CAI Connecticut, a non-profit organization which seeks to educate homeowners and board members, on common interest community matters. Attorney McCracken indicated he could help the board with updating declaration and bylaws, resolving issues, and providing guidance to the board as needed. He has done this for many years on behalf of many associations. He could be of assistance in providing guidance on online voting, rental limitations, and pending potential land acquisitions.
Christopher Rossetti moved to engage Gregory McCrackin of Jacobs, Walker, Rice & Barry. In accordance with Representation Agreements circulated previously to the Board. Sue Jansen seconded the Motion. Motion approved unanimously.
Future Meetings
The 2023 meetings being held @ 6:30 PM by Zoom on the 4th Thursday of the month, except for November when due to Thanksgiving it will be on the 5th Thursday of the month.
Here are the dates for 2023 as agreed to by post meeting electronic consensus.
2/23/23, 3/23/23, 4/28/23, 5/25/23, 6/22/23, 7/27/23, 8/24/23, 9/28/23, 10/26/23, 11/30/23
Meeting adjourned at 8:25 PM
Respectfully submitted by Susan Franke, Secretary
