Present

Eva Thaddeus, Susan Krim, Alfred Souza, Miri Navasky, Rachel Dretzin.

Board Roles

The board approved the following roles for the coming year:

• Eva Thaddeus: President
• Alfred Souza: Vice President
• Susan Krim: Treasurer
• Rachel Dretzin: Secretary
• Miri Navasky: Co-Secretary & Co-Treasurer.

Miri will work with Annie/Susan to arrange for access to the bank account.

Farmhouse

After discussion, Rachel moved to increase Debbie’s rent by 3%, starting in September 2026. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. Eva volunteered to communicate the increase to Debbie.

Susan moved to spend up to $200 on chairs for the pond if we need them. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.

Pond

Eva moved to approve Bruno’s request for algae removal equipment. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.

Orchard

Eva moved to spend up to $300 on fruit trees for the orchard this year. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously.

Barn

ACTION: Eva will talk to Schemerhorn about the animal poop in the barn, and see if they have suggestions.

The meeting was held in the community, at the home of Anne Navasky. Minutes submitted by Rachel Dretzin.

Present

Deb Adamsons, Marti Bone, Rachel Dretzin, Susan Krim, Wendy Lidell, Roger & Debbie Meier (remote), Annie & Miri Navasky, Jenny & Bruno Navasky (remote), Judy Reibel, Alfred Souza & Fabiana Viso, Eva Thaddeus

Financial Report

We’ve had about 30k in our account every year between operating and capital accounts. Susan notes that rates go up and at some point we won’t have the cushion we need.

Dues

The board presented a proposal to raise dues by $100 a year, increasing each of the annual payments by $50. It has been two years since the last increase and there’s been 2.9 percent inflation. The increase would start at the end of the year, with the January dues. A vote was called and the community was unanimously in favor of the increase.

Road & Plowing

Susan notes that road hasn’t been repaired for close to three years. Burfeind estimated about 7k a year for maintenance, some years more and some less, and that was two years ago. Susan worries it could be as much as 10-15k this year. If it’s 10k we will end up with about 10k in each of the two accounts. The only real concern right now is the potholes. We are on his schedule for annual maintenance. Burfeind seems good and reliable, much better than Carmen.

The road is plowed in winter by Martin Moore-Bridger, who also does trees during the summer. His wife runs the office, it’s a two person business. It was a rough winter, and many HN members had issues with the plowing. Eva toured the community with him and discussed the issues and damages. Burfeind said it was such a hard winter there wasn’t anyplace else to put the snow, but offered in future to bring a smaller plow for detail work in the driveways and park it on our road during the winter. He comes to plow when snowfall exceeds 2 inches. Deb suggests maybe each person meet with Martin to discuss and mark appropriate locations for snow storage during extreme snow events. Susan noted that his Martin hired people to plow during the past winter, and they weren’t familiar with our roads and difficult spots. Annie asked if we can talk to him individually and pay him extra to come and mark with poles. Wendy says she has done that every year and he’s still plowed down her pole. He hasn’t taken responsibility, but he did come back and repair the damage without charging us. He dug out a portion of Dmitri’s driveway which required a lot of work to repair. Susan has looked for alternatives and so far they are very expensive compared to Moore Bridger. Few people will take on such a large job. Brothers for example overcharges and does a poor job. Susan also has one more plowing company to look into on behalf of the board. It was suggested that we ask Moore Bridger to give us a quote for a flat seasonal price as an alternative to per-plow pricing.

Pond

Algae last year created a nuisance for swimmers. We met with representatives from two pond maintenance companies regarding treatment, received proposals, and eventually hired Zach from Pond and Lake to treat the algae with a copper-based algaecide called Cutrine Ultra. The treatment seemed effective in clearing the surface for swimmers, but dead and living algae remained at the bottom of the pond. The algae that dies ultimately just decomposes if not removed, and returns the nutrient load to the pond to feed further algae growth, while the copper sinks to bottom and accumulates over repeated treatment. Zach thinks we will need a treatment once or twice yearly. Bruno suggested as an alternative a rake and net to manually remove both floating and bottom algae, for a total of about $300-400. The net is designed to haul in floating mats, while the rake pulls out stuff from the bottom. Bruno volunteered to order the equipment and lead a trial effort to use both should the algae recur. He has submitted a proposal to the board to make the purchase. Bruno noted that there is also a peroxide alternative to Cutrine called Green Clean, which is more expensive (probably twice as much as the Cutrine, which was $810), but has minimal impact on the pond ecosystem.

Another thing we are doing differently is asking Will to leave an unmowed margin of tall grasses by the pond, to capture mowed grass and other nutrients that might wash into the pond and feed algae, and to make the pond less attractive for the geese.

Zach did find an invasive water chestnut. The most important thing we can do is learn to identify them remove them regularly. They are spiky and hurt a lot when you step on them. There is a page on the community website with pictures of the water chestnut.

Debbie noted that she has struggled getting into the pond with her walker due to holes and unevenness in the pond bottom. It was suggested that Roger could rake a smooth path to provide a runway for Debbie’s entrance into the pond. There was some concern expressed that the holes were due to sunfish nests. Bruno noted that according to Zach from Pond & Lake the sunfish in the pond were overpopulated, so he didn’t think it was much of a concern from an environmental point of view.

We are low on pond seating . Miri has a couple of chairs to donate, and there are more in the barn.

We are also low and shaded areas. We have planted a birch and three young red maples, but they will take time to grow. Deb offered to donate young red maple, black willow, and red oak trees to the community for shade near the pond. Hers are about twelve feet tall right now. The willows grow super fast, but can suck a lot of water out of the pond. The community agreed that the board could create a pond subcommittee to decide about trees.

Legal Documents

Bruno transcribed the community’s foundational documents that
were originally done on a typewriter. The bylaws and the statement of restrictions, which are 50 years old and have never been updated. The board has been looking at them and seeing ways we are out of compliance with them, either because times have changed or because we didn’t know. We have identified a lawyer able to work with us to advise us on how to update the documents to bring them into line with our current practices and needs. The lawyer charges $375/hour, so it behooves us to have our ducks in a row going into the consultation. He’ll take an hour just to read them, so it will probably cost at least twice that. Examples of things that need updating: the by-laws say that the Annual Meeting is supposed to be every March 6, and there’s a requirement that the community issue certificates of membership, among other questions. There are also questions about what parts of these documents can be amended by the board or membership, and how that works. Eva suggested that the board make a list of changes to work on with the lawyer and then can present them to the community for a vote next year, if necessary.

Woods

Eva reported that she worked on an agreement with the Family Forest Impact Foundation to pay the community for our carbon credits. We commit to leave 65 acres of our woods largely undisturbed, with no logging or development other than pulling invasives and a certain amount of thinning. In return they give us an annual payment. The protected land doesn’t include our individual lots or the land immediately along the road or stream. We get a $2000 signing fee, and then $600/ year for the next twenty years. Eva proposed that we allocate the money toward health of our woods. The foundation will also send an expert to work with us on a forest management plan. Current needs were discussed. There are invasive burning bush plants on the side of the road between the Navasky and Dretzin houses, which might be a good place to start. Susan moved that the income from the Family Forest foundation be allocated toward forest health. All members were in favor. Deb suggested that we budget for replacing the invasives with something else by planting. She noted that seedlings from the state cost a dollar each.

Tennis Court

Dmitri reports that the net is sagging and that there vines have returned along the perimeter fencing. We cleared the vines last year during our work day and its already grown back. At some point the net will need to be replaced and the court will need a repaving. Susan noted that Peretti did the fencing, and that she had tried to get a hold of them but couldn’t. ACTION: Dmitri volunteered to research costs for a new net and posts, and to try to remove the vines. Any remaining vines can be tackled during the community work day.

Orchard

The apples and pear trees are bearing fruit this year. They will be ripe in September. The quince trees seem to be taking a year off, perhaps because of the late spring frost. There are two holes ready for something to be planted in the fall. Mulberries were suggested.

Community Memorial Grove

Will has cleared some brush away around and under the pine trees by the pond in that location. There is still poison ivy there, which Eva has been addressing. Miri and the memorial subcommittee will look possibilities for stone engraving and other issues.

COMMUNITY WORK DAY

Last years workday was a great success, with good turnout and a lot accomplished at the tennis court and around the pond. Eva proposes doing it again this coming Labor Day, since most of us will be here. The community supports the idea. The day is set for Sunday of Labor Day weekend, with Monday as the rain date .

ANNIE’S STUDIO

Annie has submitted a request to the board to expand her studio, adding a room. Since her addition would exceed the 1000 square foot limit set by current board policy and the declaration of restrictions, she would need a waiver signed in writing by 75% of the membership. Annie already had her architect bring it to the town. A studio was also defined as having no kitchen. A document was circulated among the community members to sign and presented to the board.

SWIMMING POOL

It was suggested that the board form a subcommittee to research the possibility and cost of building a community swimming pool. Deb, Megan and Annie from the membership and Rachel from the board volunteered to constitute it.

BARN REPORT

Bruno shared an estimate and plans from Chris Preusser on a deck for the pond side of the barn. It would be uncovered and unattached, just a platform with bench seating in lieu of railings on two sides, and broad steps on the front. Chris gave us three options: from $20k- $35K. Chris strongly recommends the two more expensive options, which are for Timber Tech, a synthetic material that looks very much wood and lasts for many decades, as opposed to a pressure treated wood deck. Bruno noted that natural wood would be more in keeping with the spirit of the barn restoration, but that it will require costly maintenance and eventually start to splinter and become challenging for bare feet. He’s working on getting quotes for an alternative: a flat stone patio with a couple of tables and chairs with umbrellas, which he things will be a nicer option, and looks forward to sharing all options with the community. Megan noted the stone steps at their house require a lot of maintenance. Another possibility is a fine gravel bed. The challenge has been that the stone people are overcommited and not responding. Even Chris, who is already working in the community has been occasionally hard to track down.

Bruno reported that a foosball table had been donated by Megan and Dmitri, and he and Melissa had donated a sturdy wood low table for the sitting area. The next priority acquisitions are shelving and bins for the storage bay, and a small bookshelf for the sitting area.

Deb Adamsons reported that standard grid-connected solar power would be prohibitively expensive. Miri volunteered to join Noah in researching alternatives for electricity.

Megan noted that the paint on the barn exterior has started to peel, and that one of the beams inside seems loosely seated. Deb and Eva agreed to contact the Schermerhorn’s regarding the beams, and Susan will talk to Chris regarding painting.

BOARD ELECTIONS

The current board all agreed to stand for reelection and the community voted unanimously in favor of reelecting them.

The meeting was held in the community, at the home of Anne Navasky. Minutes submitted by Rachel Dretzin.

PRESENT

Eva Thaddeus, Susan Krim, Alfred Souza, Miri Navasky, Rachel Dretzin.

ANNUAL MEETING

The date of the Annual Meeting was set for July 12th in HN, on Annie’s porch, if available.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Susan reported that we have $12, 857 in the Maintenance account, and $19,657 in the Capital Improvements account, with outstanding payments due to Will for mowing and Carmen for Trash. They are late on invoicing us. 

Miri agreed to be the co-signer on the bank account. She will talk to Annie first, and then register with the bank.  The board also discussed the possibility of Rachel taking over as secretary and Miri taking the role of assistant treasurer to learn more about Quickbooks from Susan.  

ROADS: PLOWING

Eva did a drive-through with Martin Moore-Bridger around 6 weeks ago. She showed him the areas where community members had reported problems with plowing, including her driveway, the knocked-over apple tree at Annie’s, and damage at Alfred’s and Marty’s. Martin said it was a very rough winter, noted that some areas require tight turns and said he needs to put the snow somewhere.  

She came to an agreement with Martin about difficulties (with a focus on things being knocked over) that next winter he will bring a smaller frontloader, park it by the dumpsters for the winter and use that for the driveways.  

Eva also talked to wife Viviana who is the office manager.  We had been late on payments, so she was upset about that. Eva is concerned there’s a possibility that Martin might drop us as clients.  She will follow up with Viviana and find out what the charges would be for next year and will find out if there will be extra charges for leaving equipment on site.  

Susan Susan noted that Martin was using someone inexperienced and never walked the community with him in advance to discuss potential problem areas. She received three recommendations for other plowers from the librarian in Craryville.  She contacted one — Morabito — but his seasonal quite was twice what Martin is charging, so if anything we would go with a per-plow rate, but that too would be significantly higher.  Susan didn’t trust him.  She is meeting with another person next week, but he seems like more of an excavator.  The board continues to look for other recommendations. 

ROADS: MAINTENANCE

The board agreed unanimously to move ahead with Burfiend to do the road maintenance work, and if anyone needs work on driveways done we can add on for that individually.  

Susan will call office and ask whether they prefer one person be the main contact or to work with each family individually. 

When we hired Burfiend to do initial major repairs to the road, he said annual maintenance should cost somewhere between $6-10K, and offered to continue doing the maintenance if we wanted. 

The board determined that Eva will send a note to the community about the upcoming Burfiend Road Maintenance and request that they notify the board ASAP if they need work done on their driveways.  The board also determined to ask Burfiend again for snow plowing recs. 

POND

The pond is already showing algae and needs to be treated. We had a signed contract with Brad Bowers who had said to just let him know when we were ready to start, it seems his business has closed its doors. The board determined that Eva would follow up with the other candidate, Zach Davis of Pond & Lake Connection, 518-577-8286. [NOTE:  Eva is in contact with Zach and working on scheduling treatments. ]

BYLAWS AND DECLARATIONS OF RESTRICTIONS

Bruno received 4 recommendations for local lawyers experienced in working with on Homeowner’s Associations to advise on updating our foundational documents. Eva went with Paul Freeman, the man that Annie had worked with in the past, but we’ve gotten no response from him.  Will try him one more time and then will keep going to other people. 

WOODLANDS

Eva having problems tracking Anabelle down — slightly frustrated.  

There have been additional questions about the Forest Fund application and whether we can document that we own the forest.   Assume this can get sorted once we have a real estate lawyer and then maybe we apply again down the road. 

It was reported that Noah Goodman and Wendy have expressed interest in working on these issues. The board agreed to add this to the agenda for the annual meeting of the community.

ANNIE NAVASKY STUDIO ADDITION

The board noted that Annie’s addition would exceed the limits on square footage in the declaration of restrictions, but noted also that they can waive said restriction. [Note: article 23a in the declaration provides for a waiver of most provisions with “an instrument in writing signed by 75% of the members” of the community.]

Rachel moved that the board recommend waiving the restriction on square footage and allow Annie to move ahead with the addition to her existing studio as long as it’s one additional room and no kitchen. 

Alfred seconded the motion. 

Rachel noted that families are expanding and the spirit of the community should be to allow people to spend time with their children and grandchildren here.  Susan raised a concern about the potential rental issues.  The board agreed to consider a provision limiting the renting of these kinds of spaces.  Eva suggests this should be written into bylaws.  Rachel suggests that we raise this at the annual meeting, because I think it touches a lot of people, and it’s worth having an open conversation about the larger issue.

Eva notes that she wasn’t really in favor when we began discussions but has really been won over by the arguments.  Seems to most efficient way to allow people to fit into their space and allow families to sustain relationship to hillsdale from one generation to the next. 

Motion passes unanimously. [Note: according to our current rules, the waiver needs to be signed by 75% of the community, so work still needs to be done to make this official – perhaps at the annual meeting?]

ORCHARD

Eva was pleased to report the apple trees are showing potential for a good harvest this year.  This would be our first real season of apples.  There are still a couple of holes that she plans to fill with new trees, but has not yet gotten around to it. We are hoping the spongy moth damage is behind us.

FARMHOUSE

There was a leak in the screen porch this winter. Eva reported that Chris Preusser had misdiagnosed the leak.  The original report was that it was caused by winter, but that was wrong.  Debbie called somebody else and hasn’t yet provided an estimate for repairs, but we will need to pay some money to repair it.  Hopefully it will just be some patching and not too expensive, but we have to go forward with it.  

The meeting was held remotely by Zoom. Minutes submitted by Miri Navasky.

Present

Eva Thaddeus, Susan Krim, Alfred Souza, Miri Navasky, Rachel Dretzin.

Carbon Credit Program

A special meeting of the board was called by Eva Thaddeus to designate an authorized member of Hillsdale Neighbors to contract with the Family Forest Carbon Fund on behalf of the community.

Miri Navasky moved to make Eva Thaddeus the authorized agent of Hillsdale Neighbors to sign the legal contract with the Family Forest Carbon Fund. The motion was seconded by Rachel Dretzin and passed unanimously.

The meeting and vote was conducted by email, minutes submitted by Eva Thaddeus.

Present

Eva Thaddeus, Susan Krim, Alfred Souza, Miri Navasky, Rachel Dretzin.

Pond

At the request of the board, Bruno spoke with Brad Bowers at Serenity Solutions and Zach Davis at Pond and Lake Connection and recommended a revised contract with the former, which he submitted and Eva has executed on behalf of the board. Brad will treat the pond with a proactive application of Metafloc, a nutrient binder, and again later in the season. The hope is that this will restrain algae growth for this season and possibly future seasons as well, allowing us to implement other long-term natural solutions, but we have a second contract on hold for a peroxide-based algicide, which we can use this summer if needed.

Studio

Bruno has also been going through old meeting minutes and found the records of the meeting where the board approved Duff’s proposed policy clarifying rules for secondary structures on sites, which Miri attached to the chat. According to the policy, secondary dwellings must be smaller than 1000 square feet in size and not have a kitchen. Eva and Miri reported that Annie was unsure of the current square footage of the studio but is considering an addition that would bring the studio to more than 1000 square feet. The board continued to discuss the purposes of second dwellings and related questions around rental use, and decided to create a Google Doc to track discussions.

Woods

Eva reported that we have qualified for payments from the Family Forest Carbon Fund, a foundation recommended by the forester Annabel, with whom the community had contracted for a woods walk-through. The Family Forest Carbon Fund works with owners to buy carbon credits. They evaluated our forest, read our bylaws/ declaration of restrictions, and have identified 65 acres that are eligible to participate in their program. Individual lots are not part of this, nor the area immediately around the stream. The fund would pay us $650 per to participate in their program by allowing our forest to continue to grow. In return, we would make a 20-year commitment not to harvest timber (other than under special circumstances, such as culling diseased trees, etc.) . They’re planning on sending Eva a contract to review. Annabel also suggested other sources of funding to preserve the forest: federal grants, a state program which is complicated and requires an administrator. Susan expressed a concern that the carbon contract could conflict with other potential funding for forest removal. Eva noted that there are more restrictive ways to participate that pay us more, but don’t allow us to participate in other programs, and recommended the less restrictive option.

Financial Report

Susan reports that we have $21,475 in the Maintenance Fund, with two outstanding invoices for snow removal totalling $10,227, and $19,657 in the Capital Fund. Total snow ploughing invoices for this winter were $13,510

Annual Meeting

The date of the annual meeting was set for Sunday, July 12, at 10:00 am.

The meeting was held remotely by Zoom. Minutes submitted by Rachel Dretzin.

Hillsdale Board Meeting November 16th @ 7:30pm

PRESENT

Eva Thaddeus, Susan Krim, Alfred Souza, Miri Navasky, Rachel Dretzin. Guest: Wendy Lidell

MEETING MINUTES

There are several missing minutes from past meetings. The board agreed to try to send to Bruno immediately following meeting. [Note from Bruno: Don’t worry about formatting, I will take care of that. It’s important to record the following: attendance, location, any votes or policy decisions, financial reports, and any concerns or comments from community members or other guests. You can also include other subjects discussed and main contours of discussions if you like.]

FINANCIAL REPORT 

Susan reported that we have $16697 in kettle account, and $16330 in our regular account. She noted that we didn’t spend much on road this year, so suspects it will be much more next year.  Snow plowing costs in previous years were:

We also have farmhouse Floors coming up — paying 1/2 of $3000. Susan looked at itemized insurance renewal, and realized we were insuring a swimming pool for 200$. The new accountant, Robert Patterson is also the accountant for the town of Hillsdale. He’s cheaper, very easy to work with and very helpful. 

POND

Susan reported on proposals to treat the algae in the pond that has been appearing during the hottest portion of summers. Two companies were consulted and she preferred the Pond & Lake Connection [PLC].  She shared three proposals [see below] from PLC and moved to approve up to $1000 for them to come and give a single treatment next summer. Miri seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously by the board. The board also determined to ask Bruno to follow up with Pond and Lake to discuss details of treatment and make a final recommendation to the board.

ANNIE NAVASKY HOUSE ADDITION

Eva shared a sketch from Annie Navasky for an additional room on her studio. Susan noted that Section 3 in the community Declaration of Restrictions prohibits a second dwelling or building on the property other than studio or garage or carport.  A discussion of the intent and history of the rule followed. As Annie was in no rush to have the work done, the board agreed that it would be helpful to hold a meeting this winter to carefully examine and consider the community bylaws and declaration of restrictions, including pros and cons of amending them. 

WOODS  

Eva shared and reviewed the report from the woods walkthrough with Annabelle.  Annabelle felt $3000/year to put towards the care of the woods ($125/per family per dues) could go a long way. There are a lot of possibilities for action in selected areas to address specific threats.  

The board considered whether it made more sense to hire Annabelle to write a grant proposal for a one-time fee, rather than spending that sum annually to have her do the work, but would need more information about the different grants available, what strings might be attached, what the work would entail, etc. Eva moved that the board invite Anabelle to attend a meeting during the winter to discuss further, and this was approved unanimously.

The board also agreed that they would love Deb to lead some volunteer work on the woods, with awareness that there are limits to what can be done, given both the scope of work, and the availability of volunteer labor. 

The meeting was held remotely by Zoom. Minutes submitted by Miri Navasky.

PRESENT

Eva Thaddeus, Susan Krim, Rachel Dretzin, Miri Navasky, Alfred Souza (remote)  

ELECTIONS

Miri moved that the board continue in the same roles as the previous year. Rachel seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

The board will continue in the following roles, as noted:

• Eva – President
• Alfred – Vice President
• Susan – Treasurer
• Rachel & Miri – Secretary 

The board encourages all community members to consider board service for next year. 

POND

Discussion continued on short and long-term proposals to mitigate algae in the pond, weighing the importance of getting the pond swimmable, especially for the older people in the community, against the concern about the unintended consequences for the ecosystem of the pond. The board agreed that if copper is used, it should be the lightest treatment possible and don’t want to open the door to having the chelated copper done repeatedly. Eva raised the question of  it being so late in the summer.  Wonders as the weather gets colder will the algae disappear anyway.

The board decided to get a second opinion from another consultant as soon as possible. Susan volunteered to coordinate. Board will hold vote for second opinion, and then vote over email on short term solution, or call for an additional board meeting if more discussion is necessary.  

Susan moved to approve up to $500 for a 2nd independent opinion on the pond. Rachel seconded the motion.  Board was unanimously in favor.  Questions were suggested for second consultant: 

• Can you do water testing?
• What is the lightest treatment possible (is 1.2 gallon per acre foot the lightest?) 
• Is it a small enough pond that you can do in one treatment? 
• How quickly after treatment can you swim? 
• How quickly does it take effect?
• What happens to dead algae after treatment
• Do you also recommend Fishing out the fish? 

 [Note: Susan, Jenny and Bruno met with the second consultant on August 21. He will submit a proposal to Susan. As of Aug. 23, with colder evenings the algae has dropped to the bottom of the pond, and community members found the pond to be easily swimmable, with little visible surface algae.]

The meeting was held at the home of Anne Navasky. Minutes submitted by Miri Navasky.

Present

Deb Adamsons, Marti Bone, Rachel Dretzin & Noah Goodman, Susan Krim, Wendy Lidell, Roger Meier Annie Navasky, Jenny, Miri & Bruno Navasky, Judy Reibel, Alfred Souza & Fabiana Viso (remote), Eva Thaddeus

Financials

As of the end of fiscal year 2025, we have $17, 356 in the maintenance account, and $12,937 in the capital account, with one outstanding Assessments (Michael and Marti) and $207 outstanding in rent on the Farmhouse.

Will Chase was paid $1,680, mostly for last year’s services. It continues to be difficult to get him to bill us regularly. We do not have a bill yet from the new accountant and bookkeeper. We can anticipate high costs for road maintenance this year since we did none last year.

Recycling

People have not been following guidelines for recycling. Wendy has posted the guidelines on the bin, and Bruno will add them to website. All members are requested to share guidelines with service people, guests, and renters.   Please note: plastic bags go in regular trash, not recycling. Shredded documents can be put in a paper bag and placed in the recycling bin. Check the Hillsdale town website (see link in sidebar) for hazardous waste collection and document shredding schedule (next dates: September 8-19 at Town Hall). Staples will take anything electronic, and Claverack Library will accept old batteries.

Compost

Some members have suspended outdoor composting because the black bears have been visiting. Electric indoor composters for individual homes are available that can turn compost into good soil very quickly (contact Bruno or Melissa for more information). The Hillsdale Facebook page or town website may have more information. Noah Goodman will research local composting options.

Road

Susan spoke with Lou Jennings, who is managing the electrical work for Marty and Michael. The pole for the wires has been placed, but there are trees that need to be trimmed back, and NYSEG won’t do it because it’s a private line. Lou is talking to someone to get it done. The wires need to be run in time for Paul Burfein to do the roadwork, so it can be plowed this winter. Susan will follow up with Lou, and Wendy offered to reach out to Marti to offer assistance moving forward.

The town seems to have extended their area of responsibility up the road somewhat, so portions look better than usual. A perennial puddle has broadened into a large pothole on the spur road just before Wendy’s house. 

Tennis Court

The surface looks fine, and the vines growing along the sides need to be cut on a yearly basis. This is on the to-do list for community work day. 

Rachel and Jesse will look into adding lines on the court for Pickleball and Basketball, as well as a method to close the gap in the fencing with netting or a free-standing fence.

Barn

We’ve added a few more chairs, and a sturdy wood coffee table to complete the sitting area behind the hammock in the community space. We’ve also added a Foosball table in the center of the space (thanks, Megan and Dmitri, for the donation). We are now looking for shelving: a small bookshelf to hold games, general supplies, and a community book-share, and shelving/bins for pond, sports and gardening equipment in the storage bay. Please contact Bruno, Rachel or Megan regarding donations.

There are mouse droppings that follow one of the rafters.  We’re looking into options to treat the one beam to make it less palatable, but it seems unlikely we’ll be able to animal-proof the barn. We keep a large broom in the storage bay of the barn, and members are encouraged to sweep debris out the door.

Discussion continues regarding adding solar panels to the back roof of the barn to power a light and ventilation fan. Other possible uses include an outlet, a small fridge, and a wireless router for internet accesss. Eva, Deb and Noah volunteered to look into options regarding tax credits and options for installation.

Bruno volunteered to price out options for a patio or deck on the side of the barn, with seating, sun protection, and possible space for a grill. Susan recommended Chris Preusser. We will price out steps for the front and back doors of barn at the same time, as well as a ventilation fan, and a possible outhouse against the woods behind the barn. Roger notes that community members who ask are welcome to use the facilities at the farmhouse.

Orchard

The orchard has apples and pears for the first time!! We planted two new trees this spring, a plum and a Macintosh. Eva thinks the reason the trees have been dying is due to underground rodent activity. She will look into what we can do about it, the big trees are solid now. The young pawpaws are growing really well. 

Work Day

A community work day is set for Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, with Sunday as the rain date. The orchard needs pruning, weeding, and a cage for the young trees to protect from deer during the winter. The tennis court needs clipping of vines and there are some weeds growing along the back of the barn. Eva will circulate an email during the week so people can sign up.

Woods

Susan reports that there is state money available to restore and preserve local forests. She and Eva have hired Annabel Roberts McMichael, a forester who will do a 1.5 hour walk-through of our woods on Saturday, October 18th with any interested community members, and make a comprehensive assessment of the health of the forest with potential risks and recommendations for action steps and funding. She asked what the community priorities were for the woods. Fire safety, nice walks, resilience against invasive insects and plants, a wildlife refuge, addressing deer pressure for the understory, and encouraging native regrowth were all mentioned.

McMichael asked if our community would consider having a relationship with a hunter. Overpopulated deer can create pressures on local woods. The community was generally in favor, providing we can pick the hunters. Bruno suggested we explore opening our woods to the man who hunts Truman land. 

Susan and Deb recommended the Cornell Cooperative Extension which also has master foresters. They may be useful for a second opinion.

Memorial Grove

Eva has been working with Will Chase to ready the site for the memorial grove, located under the pine trees which were planted when the community was founded, at the corner of the meadow by the pond, across from the path to the tennis court. It will be a place to remember our family and community members, with a place to sit, and ashes and/or markers.  Eva has been spraying the poison ivy, and Will will mow nearby vegetation for easy access. Eva found a gravestone place and will share. Susan suggested that plans to for placements in the grove be submitted to the board for approval, and Bruno seconded the suggestion, which was met with general agreement. 

Pond

With the heat this summer, the amount of algae in the pond has increased. Susan, Miri, and a number of other community members met with a pond consultant, who submitted a proposal with short-term and long-term components at $450 for short-term treatment and $1300 for long-term treatments next year. Short-term treatments would center around use of a chemical to kill the algae, and long-term treatments include both plantings and chemical treatments for nutrient mitigation. Other treatments such as dredging and mechanical aeration were dismissed as too expensive. The community agreed that the board should consider both the importance of swimming to some community members and environmental impact of treatments as it looked at proposals. It was agreed that the board should get a second proposal for due diligence, and Susan volunteered to follow up with contacts she had.

Carp in the pond were also discussed. It’s possible that they eat algae, but more likely that it’s not the kind that is causing a problem in our pond. Also, the carp that we stocked previously to graze back the cattails resulted in an influx of geese, who liked the easier access to the water, and goose poop is one of the nutrients entering the pond that causes growth of algae. 

[Note: With the shift to colder evenings shortly after the annual meeting, algae had mostly disappeared and swimmers reported the pond pleasant for use; a second pond consultant made a visit and submitted similar recommendations, so the board has good options for treatment going forward. Both consultants noted that the pond was generally safe and healthy, and recommended maintaining growth all around the pond, which has now been implemented with Will Chase, who is going to leave a margin of growth along the near side of the pond, with the exception of the beach area for community members.]

Swimming Pool

Annie Navasky raised the idea of a salt-water community swimming pool behind the barn. She suggested that funds be raised through optional donations as we did with the barn restoration. Support for the idea was mixed, with objections including potential maintenance costs, aesthetic issues, dilution of support for the pond, and environmental concerns. Annie also suggested that she could build a private pool on her site, there was discussion of whether a pool is permissible under the community’s by-laws and declaration of restrictions. Annie and Deb volunteered to do initial research and look into costs.

Communication

Wendy requested more communication around board meetings. Bruno noted that board meetings minutes are archived on the website, and that there is a sign-up tool on the front page for email notification. Bruno also volunteered to set up a community mailing list to facilitate discussion, as the manual information emails sometimes omit addresses inadvertently, or don’t get read. 

The meetings was held at the home of Anne Navasky. Minutes submitted by Rachel Dretzin.

PRESENT

Rachel Dretzin, Susan Krim, Miri Navasky, Alfred Souza, Eva Thaddeus

FINANCIAL REPORT

Susan reports we are in relatively good financial state. 

Main Checking Account: $20,400

Savings/Capital Account: $12,900

Susan in process of changing accountants (leaving Jeff Wolf).  She is meeting with Robert Patterson next week.  Hopefully he will be our new accountant.

FARMHOUSE 

Rent: Debbie is due for a rent increase again. We have generally been increasing the rent by about 2%, but rule of thumb has always been to follow NYC rent stabilized guidelines. This year that has gone up to 4.75%.  Should we still follow that? Right now, Debbie pays about $1500/month (its low because Debbie put in for renovations herself – so we have always kept rent down) so the increase will be $70-$75 vs $30.

MOTION:  Rachel makes Motion to increase Farmhouse Rent by 4.75% in line with the NY rent stabilization rules.  Seconded by Alfred.  Board is Unanimous. 

It is agreed that Susan will let Eva know the exact amount, and Eva will inform Debbie.  The change will begin in July 2025.

Work:  Estimate (approx $4270) from plumbers (Bradway) about redoing the outside plumbing. Discussion of the estimate and whether Bradway is on the more expensive side. Eva believes their estimate is based on best knowledge of what has been going on there and they have done the work to date. Worry that someone who doesn’t know the situation will end up being just as expensive.  (NB: Will does smaller plumbing and heating jobs for future needs) 

MOTION: Susan makes motion to go ahead with plumbing work on Farmhouse based on estimate by Bradway. Alfred seconds the motion. Board is unanimous.

Eva will contact Bradway and let Debbie know.

ROAD

Burfiend’s regular maintenance on the road is delayed pending Michael and Marti’s completion of their electrical work in the area delineated by a traffic cone.  Board recognizes that they are going through a difficult period, and discusses how best to help arrange the work, since Marti is so overwhelmed. Susan notes that fiber and electrical repairs need to be coordinated with others before Burfiend can  do the road.

Eva volunteers to talk to Marti (and let them know we need to go ahead) and Susan volunteers to call Burfiend to find out what his understanding was to make sure it gets scheduled again.

Alfred adds that part of the problem is that the road has to be closed for a day or so — as it will impact everyone above Marti and Michael.  So lets agree on dates that work. 

CEMETERY

Eva reports that Will is going to start mowing/clearing out an area for cemetery, and will clear some dead branches and brush, etc. for the area. Work will take about 2 hours. 

Board votes unanimously to approve the work. 

Eva would like another season to fight the poison ivy before we start using it.  Discussion of an event/ceremony for community gathering in September for cemetery. 

FOREST HEALTH

Susan has been attending workshops and learning about resources locally about best way to maintain healthy woods and larger property.  She gave Eva the name of a consultant who will do a walkthrough and look at our forests and assess whether we would be eligible for a grant from the state to have our forest managed for better health. The walkthrough would be free, but any grant work would be paid. The workshops are part of a master forester program run out of the Cornell Cooperative Extension. There’s a 3-part video series.  Susan notes you can watch it on the Town of Taghkanic website (scroll down to “Town Talks.” [Note from Bruno: the CCE also maintains a YouTube channel with lots of useful videos.]

Eva thinks this would be great (we could get a fix on invasive species to target, learn about the impact of deer overpopulation on young plants.  advice on tree planting, etc.).

Eva will follow up on lead and will report back.  Once she has date to walk around she will invite other people and will ask Bruno if he will do the walk with her.

ANNUAL MEETING

Too many members could not make the July Meeting, so Eva will look for a date in August.  The current Board is unanimously willing to run for reelection.

Eva will look for an annual meeting date in August.

Present

Susan Krim, Miri Navasky, Eva Thaddeus (Alfred Souza & Rachel Dretzin remote)

Election to Roles

All agreed to continue in their current roles:

• President: Eva Thaddeus
• Vice-President: Alfred Souza
• Treasurer: Susan Krim
• Secretary: Miri Navasky & Rachel Dretzin

With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.

On August 9th, the board met remotely to address the culverts. Susan Krim made a motion by email to authorize Paul Burfeind to create two additional culverts near Judy’s house as described in the attached estimate #1524 dated 5/31/2024 at a cost of $7,600.

The meeting was held at the home of Anne Navasky. Minutes submitted by Miri Navasky.