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Property Managers
Michael Montgomery, Manager
Absent
Lauren Pizzoferrato, Assistant Manager
Governors Present
Christopher Rossetti, President
Mitch Uzwack, Vice President
Katia Salokas, Treasurer
Judith Larkin, Secretary
Lois Hessert-Blawie
John Williams
Absent
Susan Jansen
Guest
Christopher King, CPA, Auditor
Unit Owners Present
John Beck
Teresa Campbell
Paula Darlington
Deb Delcorro
Perry Hassen
Mark Holbrock
Carol Shaw
Ian Tullock
Meeting called to order at 6:31PM
Hearings
Owners of the following properties did not attend the meeting as requested:
4 Dove, 7 Edgewood, and 10 Gray Pine. The Board, as per its authority, levied fines of $5.00/day on each unit until the violations are satisfactorily corrected and reinspected by the Manager.
Mark Holbrook, the new owner of #11 Owl Court, was not aware of the outstanding 2022 violation of there being no number on his garage. Rossetti moved that there would be a $5.00/day fine imposed after 9-15-23 until the violation is corrected. The motion was seconded and passed.
Resident/Home owner Questions and Comments
Carol Shaw asked if the Association was responsible for the removal of the trees that have fallen into the pond on the far shore. Rossetti responded that Northington Meadows owns a 10-15 foot strip of shoreline, but as access to those trees is extremely difficult and expensive, they will probably be left where they are.
Mark Holbrook of 11 Owl Court noted that there is a pothole on Owl Court that needs patching.
Perry Hasson of #2 Finch Run has not received approval of his request for modification, sent 30 days ago. Montgomery will have his assistant check on it.
John Beck requested an update as to when the privacy fence behind Finch and Edgewood would be erected. Rossetti did not have a date, but the fence will be erected by the company doing the construction.
Deb Delcorro of #3 Keystone is asking for the construction of a dog run. Rossetti said that discussion in the past has been negative, but she should submit a proposal with costs of construction, insurance, and maintenance, who will be responsible for clean-up, rules, etc. There is no money in the budget this year, but a proposal could be considered for next years’ budget.
President’s Report
None
Manager’s Report
None
Design Review Committee
Hessert-Blauwie reported that she has updated the Application for the Modification form, and asks that it be uploaded to the web and W&K’s site.
Treasurer’s Report
Salokas reported that she just received the statements yesterday, and she is waiting for the postings to share them with the Board.
FY 2021-22 Audit Report
Christopher King, CPA, presented his audit report, stating it was a challenge to prepare due to the necessity of collecting information from two management companies. He covered the fiscal highlights, and said there were fewer errors in bookkeeping than in the past. There were fewer significant deficiencies than last year’s audit report. He recommended we prepare a manual delineating our standard accounting procedures. Rossetti reported that Salokas had downloaded a generic version of such a manual, and he and Salokas edited same to conform to Pond Place’s current practices. Jim Downey, CPA, and the staffs at W&K and King and King will need to review this document for further comments. Rossetti will ask M. Guidice to finalize the documents and have it ready for Board approval in December.
All records should be digitized and uploaded routinely to the Cloud. Montgomery will research what electronic documents would be readily available from W&K.
Northington Meadows
Rossetti reported that Uzwack and Downey opened an operating account at the Avon branch of Bank of America.
Rossetti is investigating whether W&K accounting and bookkeeping can take on the Northington account. He expects a proposal to be ready for the next meeting.
The Pond was treated in early August, and will have a 4th treatment next week.
Williams reported that the Geese are back, and he has seen an Osprey flying around the pond. Rossetti brought up the need to treat/cut the Phragmites, and he will look into possible treatment by Mark Roland of Life Ponds, Inc. with DEEP approved herbicides in 2024.
Rossetti will contact JH Landscaping again as to the need to mow and cut back vegetation around the dam.
Pond Place Website
Weston will create a document for Standard Operating Procedures for the site. A system for loading and updating information is needed. Weston will devise a form that can be submitted by Pond Place homeowners to the Webmasters for collection, processing, posting and retention of information.
Old Business
None
New Business
Salokas reported on her research into Cloud-based record retention. The cost would be $20-$100/month based on the number of Gigabytes we would need. We could keep Land Lease information, meeting minutes, etc. in the account. Weston, Uzwack and Williams will come up with a SOP plan as to who would have access to the account, who would be responsible for entries, and who would maintain it.
Rossetti reported that the tennis court has been refurbished. Discussion ensued as to whether the court should be striped for pickleball as well as tennis. Rossetti moved that the court be striped for dual usage, with signage of rules and regulations to be permanently affixed at the entrance. The motion was seconded and passed with one against. W&K will fabricate the sign to attach to the fence.
Rossetti reported that the update of the Declaration and ByLaws is essential, as once the Land Leases are paid off, Pond Place will need to meet the requirements of the Connecticut Common Interest Act. Pond Place will then be navigating between the Common Law Covenants as set forth in our original PUD documents and new CCIA. The cost for Drafting the Association Bylaws and the Tax District Ordinance, and meeting with the Board concerning same, would be approximately $10,000. Once the Board approves the draft, Title Searches of all properties would need to be done, followed by notification of all owners/mortgage holders. This would be approximately $20,000, bringing the total cost to around $30,000. Land Leases should be paid off by 2028, so we need to begin the process now. Rossetti moved we engage Greg McCrackin to do part #1, drafting the declaration and bylaws for the Association and Tax District, with the objective of bringing Pond Place into conformity with the Common Interest Act, and counseling the Board on same. The motion was seconded and passed with one against.
Larkin asked Montgomery if we could have the fall inspection done from October 1-31, and the spring inspection done from April 1-30. He agreed this would be done.
Meeting Adjourned at 8:31PM
Judith Larkin, Secretary
