Summary of the December 2022 general meeting
2023 budgets. Treasurer Carol Ackerman presented the 2023 budgets. She noted that we won’t have to increase the lake dues for 2023, as was initially planned. That’s because the LLPOA hadn’t spent the entire lake budget in 2022, due to several projects not being completed as expected. Overall, the 2023 lake budget is similar to last year’s, with some redistribution of funds. There is no change to the water-system budget for 2023.
Association projects. Related to the above, the group discussed some previously planned projects as well as some possible new ones. Juli emphasized that the board is open to hearing any new project ideas, but cautioned that the members have limited time to devote to volunteer work. So, she reiterated that anyone wishing to have a project completed should step up and help in the process.
Minutes from the previous general meeting. There were no comments, corrections, or questions regarding the minutes from the July 31, 2022 general membership meeting. And they were approved unanimously.
Board officers and trustees. A new slate of people for these positions was presented and approved. The main changes were that Joe Nash will serve as vice president, Jon Arras as recording secretary (replacing Rik Paul), and Nancy Giler and Rik as trustees. To see all of the new board members, click on “Board & other volunteers” in the “About” tab of the Home page.
Lake restoration program. Judy Andersen, our liaison for this program, gave an update. We are in the second year of a five-year plan (allowing for a hiatus during the pandemic), and she is awaiting a report from Solitude Lake Management about the program's current status and plans for 2023. The tasks completed in 2022 included new water testing, bathymetry mapping (of the lake floor), and an aquatic plant survey. Additionally, more carp were removed from the lake.
Regarding a question about what we can do about algae in the lake, Juli reiterated that the lake has a high organic nutrient load (including phosphorus and nitrogen), which helps to fuel algal blooms. A major objective of the lake restoration plan involves improving water quality, but it will take time.
One contributing factor are the feeder streams entering the lake, including Crum Creek and the West Branch of the Hackensack. These include a continual source of undesirable elements from fertilizer, silt, and garbage coming into the lake. When asked who is responsible for the streams, Terri Thal said that because the streams have no boundaries, there’s no consistent responsibility between the county, town, and village. While past legislative proposals have been made to have the county take full responsibility, these efforts haven’t been adopted.
New website design. (Spoiler alert: You’re looking at it now!) Juli said that the board was working on a new website that was being designed by Rik Paul, and that a presentation would be made via Zoom to the whole community in the spring. She also thanked Carol Kaney for designing and maintaining our current website for many years.
New water-system bylaws. Noting that the association currently has no official rules or bylaws regarding the community well and water system, Juli presented three new bylaws that were proposed by Jaya Bhattacharyya, our licensed water-system manager, and Rik Paul, the system administrator. After some discussion, all three were unanimously approved. Here is the final versions:
If you want to install a booster pump you must notify the LLPOA board for approval and also agree to install a static storage tank/non pressurized vessel of at least 65 gallons, which will minimize the pump’s effect on the overall system’s pressure.
The LLPOA is responsible for maintaining the pumping system, water main, and service lines on association property. Participating home owners are responsible for repairs to their service lines on their property. The LLPOA will also cover repairs on a house’s service line that runs through a neighbor’s property.
Turning off the community water pump creates problems for all houses on the system. Therefore, if a house with a non-functioning turn-off valve in its service line requires a repair that necessitates the community’s water pump being turned off, the resident must install a functioning turn-off valve as part of the repair.
Road maintenance. Periodically throughout the meeting, the condition of Milsom Drive–between Lennox Way and Wyndham Lane–came up regarding the pooling of water in front of 24 Milsom Drive. Several people on the Board over the past years spoke to the efforts to find a drainage solution and the struggles to get engineers and contractors to help in our private community. Their reluctance is due to the high cost of amelioration for an HOA to approve.
According to the minutes from a 2019 general meeting, Skrable Engineering, in Mahwah, NJ, drafted an engineering plan to install an effective drainage system on Milsom. But the cost of the work was “estimated at $1000 per linear foot and the approximate amount of footage is 893.” (Juli said that plan could be sent to anyone who requests it.) Based on this, it was estimated that the overall project would cost about $1.2 million, with contingencies, and each residence would need to pay about $15,000 in full before the work could start.
To address the water-pooling problem, Talia Intrator, Jaya Bhattacharyya, Ron Wasserman, Brad Winer, and Jon Arras volunteered to work as a Roadwork Subcommittee.
In a related discussion about road grading (which had become the course of choice around December 2019), Juli said that in 2020 Bruce Smith, from Environmental Construction, said that
grading that section of Milsom Drive was not doable because of the high water table in that location and lack of drainage possibilities. A plan to grade other LLPOA roads was abandoned because the petroleum-based product they use would be detrimental to the lake’s health.