PRESENT
In person: Debra Adamsons, Susan Krim, Wendy Lidell, Anne & Victor Navasky, Bruno Navasky, Judy & Noah Reibel, Marty Bone & Michael Rosenberg, Alfred Souza & Fabiana Viso, Eva Thaddeus. By video: Dmitri Cavander/Megan Gelstein, Miri & Jenny Navasky, Rachel Dretzin

FINANCIAL REPORT
Susan delivered the financial report (see attached document).

ROAD MAINTENANCE
We spent close to $7000, double what we did the last couple of
years. Paul Burfeind does the road repair. Susan spoke to him and reported that he said this year was a bad year because we didn’t get a frost and the road wasn’t hardened when the plow came, so there was
more damage. He didn’t seem to think it was a problem with the plowing. Burfein did the road and will maintain it annually and he thinks we should budget about $7000/year for that. If we need work on individual driveways, we can call Burfeind, or let Susan know. We’ll have him come annually in early summer to look at the road.

The Board reported on extensive plowing discussions. Snowplowing has gone up by about $2000 this year to about $8000, which is in line with what was anticipated (Martyn Moore-Bridger’s fee varies according to how many times he plows, while Carmen charged a flat fee per season). Some of the problems we had with the plowing spewing up dirt and gravel were unavoidable, but there were other complaints. We decided to go with Martyn again for this next season, but Eva will give him an list of issues, and ask that he and whoever plows with him does a drive around with Eva before the winter and look at problem areas and ask that they become familiar with it and are sensitive to what was messed up. Martyn is a tree person, and not really a plower. His equipment is old and he told Wendy he’d stop plowing before getting new equipment. The board is considering getting a quote from Bob Host in case Martyn doesn’t want to continue.

A general discussion of plowing issues this year followed:

• Dmitri’s new wall got nicked. Martyn was pushing snow into the driveway instead of across the street.
• Wendy and Alfred’s hubcab sign got knocked over, Wendy’s sign for 180 got completely ripped out, and the reflector sticks she put over the edge of her garden for the plower got knocked over. There’s no more gravel on her driveway because of the plowing of the gravel over the edge. He came back as promised and she no longer has a gravel driveway, she has a dirt road. She had terrible runoff. He swore up and down it wasn’t anything they did. Last week with the rain, she had a huge gulch in her driveway. Annie suggested we ask Burfein to look at it. Wendy has a company coming next week to assess. Judy and Annie had what they felt were similar problems and Carmen put in a drain. Wendy has a company called Green Flow Property coming in to do an assessment. Susan suggested Wendy ask Burfein to come in for a second opinion.
• Judy would like Green Flow to look at her property as well.
• Susan: they took part of her corner wall. Also they’ve knocked a couple of her huge rocks in her driveway,
• Bruno reported that Martyn generally seems to scrape deeper, but thought it was an issue of time and technique rather than equipment. Also, the runoff from their driveway runs into the center of the road and is damaging it. It would be great if he could scrape less, and if Burfeind could do some minor work to rechannel runoff.
• Miri reported an issue with ice, but there was a question as to whether this was a plowing issue.

The community resolved to hire Will Chase on an annual basis to clean out the ditches of the road in the fall so the stuff doesn’t gum up the road. He will also clear the tennis court of vines. Will mostly does lawn mowing, weed whacking, clearing land and falling trees, provided
wood. THE COMMUNITY VOTED TO SEND WILL CHASE A WEDDING GIFT OF $500.

POND
Do we need sand? Discuss pros and cons of sand. Agree that we should wait and decide after the season. Bruno says the sand attracts the geese. The sand does make it easy to get in and out. Maybe we can look at some kind of big rubber mat or other way to make it easy to get into the pond for Debbie. We have to be very careful about design and execution so
that they don’t become a hazard in and of themselves. The huge flocks of geese are a recent phenomenon and they like sandy beaches.

ORCHARD
No fruit this year. We agree to replace the trees we’ve lost. MOTION PASSES TO AUTHORIZE UP TO $500 FOR REPLANTING. We will have a planting party in the fall and perhaps remove the deer cages on the ones that have surpassed deer height. What about a willow tree? They grow really fast and like the water. We could use some of the $500 for a willow.

PHONE/INTERNET
We have a three year contract ending this year, and then can renegotiate pricing. We can talk with the sales rep. We should renegotiate as a community. MIRI WILL CALL CONSOLIDATED TO DISCUSS. Access problems at individual homes can vary in their causes, but most should be fixed by Consolidated for free. Individual community members can contact them directly for repairs .

BARN
Bruno delivered a report on the barn. Current furnishings include the ping-pong table, a hammock, two small tables, several chairs, and changing area. Possible significant future improvements include solar panels, a refrigerator, electric lights and maybe an exhaust fan or hot air outlet. We agreed at our last community meeting that we didn’t want to charge fees for anything, so these will be considered by the barn committee and board as capital expenditures. Before we think about electricity, we need to work on basic furnishings for general use and community events. THE BARN COMMITTEE WILL PUT TOGETHER A PROPOSAL TO THE BOARD for chairs, tables, storage containers, shelving and other items, including costs. Questions from the community included the feasibility of wireless internet and/or phone service, and the possibility that installing solar may change the tax status of the barn.

TENNIS COURT
A freestanding fence would be far cheaper than getting someone to fence it in. They’re about $80 for six feet. You could buy sections of fencing you put there instead. Bruno reported that Nicky Meier had noted that the net will last longer if we take it in for the winter.

We will try to add a makeshift bridge to the tennis court using some of the discard lumber from the barn restoration. The old beams are really desirable, and THE COMMUNITY AGREED TO ENTERTAIN AN OFFER from Deb Adamsons, who might want to use them for her house. Initially Tom Shepherd saved them with the thought they might be used to make a loft over the second bay, adjacent to the storage area, but realistically speaking, the cost and possible complications to barn infrastructure and potential insurance risks make this unlikely in the near future.

TRASH/BEAR
The bear visited the dumpster twice again this year, both times in the spring/early summer. Bruno spoke to Carmen Jr. who reported that there are bear proof dumpsters that start at $2500 and go up to $10,000. Bruno asked him to look into the cost of one with the possibility of either us purchasing one or him purchasing one and renting to us. Carmen said the nails he’s used have worked for most of his clients, or a metal bar that makes the dumpster unopenable without removing it. Carmen thought seniors in the community might have difficulty with both the bar and the specialized dumpsters, and that his people would leave it on the ground when picking up the trash. Three options were discussed: 1) purchase or negotiate rental on a bearproof bin; go with the metal bar, or continue to pick up scattered trash when necessary, which hasn’t been overly onerous to date. BRUNO SAID HE WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK INTO OTHER OPTIONS and the community agreed to stick with status quo in the meantime.

Community members were alerted that hazardous waste, large metal items, and electronic equipment cannot go into the dumpster. Hudson maintains a free recycling center in Greenport, and Barbado has a transfer station as well, and will accept many items for free.

For community members who need papers shredded, town hall sponsors free shredding events periodically. You can sign up on the Hillsdale town website for the newsletter to keep apprised of these.

TREES
Deb reported on the spongy moth caterpillar situation. Green Cross was here, went to everyone’s property to estimate how many oaks there were in each house envelope. There are a few properties that don’t have any high-risk trees at all, so it might not be equitable if we all chip in. Deb says they are very thorough and very good. They spray the trees, but you have to do it just after the eggs have hatched in the beginning of May. They priced the various properties as follows:

• Farmhouse (129 Bushnell): no oaks
• Susan (140 HNR): two small oaks, plus birches $700
• Marty and Michael (171 HNR): many oaks, $1700
• Wendy (180 HRN): a dead ash, $750
• Alfred (182 HNR): $1400
• Judy (201HNR) : $1000
• Deb (214 HNR): not sure
• Annie (307): five dead ashes, $1250
• Miri/Bruno/Jenny (314): Many dead oaks. (included in prev?)
• Rachel (287 HNR): $950
• Megan/Dmitri & Eva (no estimate?)

DEB WILL GET A COMMUNITY PRICE FROM GREEN CROSS, AS WELL AS PRICING FOR Eva’s house, and the orchard and dumpster areas. Other dead trees: SUSAN WILL ASK CHRIS to look at the big tree between farmhouse and the road that is going to fall one way or the other.

FARMHOUSE
Chris cleaned roof of moss, and the other work that needed doing. Has
painting/ staining of decks on his radar, weather has made it difficult.
For future large events, THE COMMUNITY AGREED THAT WHOEVER IS HOSTING THE EVENT MUST SUBMIT PARKING AND OTHER PLANS to the board in advance for approval, and then upon approval the community should be notified, either by the board or the person holding the event. We should expand the parking across from the dumpsters. THE BOARD WILL LOOK INTO costs of having Burfeind do it when he comes to do the rest of the work.

BOARD ELECTIONS
With all members willing to continue to serve, and with no other candidates standing for election, the board was unanimously renewed for the current term.

The meeting was held at the home of Anne Navasky and remotely by Zoom video. Minutes submitted by Rachel Dretzin.

PRESENT

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

FARMHOUSE

Debbie has requested someone like Tom to help out  with work that needs to be done in the farmhouse. The front and back deck need work, the roof needs a pressure treating, etc. We agree that twice a year someone should do a walkthrough of the farmhouse just to see what needs to be done.

Now that Tom is no longer available, Susan thinks we can rely on Chris Preusser (a handyman/ construction person) for the work in the farmhouse. Her sink is pulling away from the wall. Debbie may need grab bars around the house.

Motion: For small things (under $300) Debbie should go directly to Eva and Eva can approve. Passed

Motion: to approve Chris Preusser’s 4/23 bid of $4400 to redo the decks and roof and other things on the farmhouse Passed

LAWN

The gash/ trench we made in the lawn between the farmhouse and barn needs a load of topsoil and maybe some grass. Debbie’s gardener Luis offered to handle it. Will is cheaper and Susan thinks he’ll get around to it eventually, but it could take a year. Action: We decide to add it to Will’s list. Will also said he could handle the deck around the tennis court.  Action: Alfred will assess before we decide if we take that on ourselves or give it to Will.

ROAD

Susan spoke to Burfeind who said the road damage was a problem for everyone this year. The problem was that the road hadn’t frozen before it snowed so there was no base for the plows. He has a space in his calendar and can do the repair. We just need to give him the go ahead. The community should expect approx. $8000/year in road maintenance costs, according to Burfeind.

Motion: to give Burfeind the go-ahead to fix the road based on his estimate 4/20 of $8710. Passed

Will sent an estimate for blowing the trenches in the road the fall. It was very cheap, but if there is debris from shale in the road, that’s a different kind of cleaning.. Action: Susan is going to talk to Burfeind to see if that is part of his estimate.

Because of the problems with plowing this year, we decided we need a snowplowing plan next year with Martin to see if that helps. Eva is willing to take charge of that. Action: Eva will coordinate the plowing plan with community members this summer and speak to Burfeind about it in the fall and will do a walk through with whoever is planning to do the plowing.

TENNIS COURT

Susan got quotes from Peretti to fix all aspects of tennis court which came to approximately $21,000.  Board thought too much. Alfred thinks court is generally playable, with the possible exception of areas where the surface is eroding. The tree needs to come down. Also: algae is growing on the surface which could be dangerous in terms of people slipping. Susan got a quote from someone at Burfeind as well as from Chris for powerwashing and chemical treatment, to keep the court usable. Those quotes were $1,000-$1,400 That’s the kind of maintenance that makes the court usable.

Motion: Alfred to do research into what’s needed to stabilize court and has authorization for community to spend up to $500 for supplies – members will help with cleaning of tennis court this summer (miri volunteers).

ANNUAL MEETING

Potential dates for the annual meeting were discussed, and the board settled on either July 15 or 22. Action: Eva will investigate. Miri is sure Annie will be willing to host and we can also consider the barn or Debbie’s back porch.

OTHER ITEMS

Rachel brought a suggestion from Megan that the community purchase a projector and related supplies for a weekly movie night during the summers. Action: Rachel will talk to Megan and explain that the board feels the supplies for movie night should be a donation unless she wants to wait for the community to discuss it in July.

Susan says that Peretti is totally impossible to work with. We have a credit with him, which is why we talked about using him, but Susan suggests we should just have him refund the money he owes us and let him go. Action: We agree to let Peretti go and have him refund the money.

Paul Burstein also gave Susan the name of a handyman he trusts. He’s been added to our list of local contractors.

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

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

PRESENT

Rachel Dretzin (remote), Susan Krim, Miri Navasky (remote), Alfred Souza, and Eva Thaddeus from the Board. Dmitri Cavender, Megan Gelstein, and Bruno Navasky from the community.

BOARD OFFICERS

The board determined to maintain their current offices, with Eva as president, Alfred as Vice President, Susan as Treasurer, and Miri and Rachel sharing the roles of Assistant Treasurer and Secretary.

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

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

PRESENT

In person: Susan Krim, Wendy Lidell, Debbie Meier, Anne & Victor Navasky, Bruno, Miri & Jenny Navasky, Judy & Noah Reibel, Marty Bone & Michael Rosenberg, Alfred Souza & Fabiana Viso, Eva Thaddeus. By video: Dmitri Cavander/Megan Gelstein, Rachel Dretzin

FINANCES

Susan delivered the financial report.

ROAD

Susan and Eva delivered a report on the road. Paul Burfiend has completed the road work.

Plowing was discussed. Martyn Bridger quoted a full-season price ($18,100 plus sanding and salting as needed, plus 8% sales tax) and a per plow price ($905 plus sanding, salting and sales tax).

Bruno looked up snowfall rates during the previous 5 years, and we estimate there will be fewer than ten plows necessary per season, so the per-plow option seems best. Miri and Eva walked the road with Delbert Martin. He felt the job was too big for him to take on at present. Carmen had charged $950/month plus tax (1026/month) for 5 months – $5130
and charged another $500 for sanding.

BARN

The Barn Committee met in the barn over July 4th weekend and put together some initial plans to begin using the space, as well as some initial guidelines for its use. We hope to make it a fun place to read, play, or relax. We also imagine it as a center for community-wide gatherings. Additionally, it will provide much-needed storage for community items used at the pond, in the orchard, etc.

We are researching storage possibilities for the smaller, single-bay area, and starting to furnish the larger, multi-purpose area. Many thanks to Deb Adamsons for donating a brand new ping pong table, already in frequent use, and to Alfred and co. for helping to set it up.

Our next priorities are a hammock, a bookshelf, a large cooler, and some durable furniture for people to relax. We also need a ladder, a broom and dustpan, and folding and/or stackable tables and chairs for larger gatherings. We’ve discussed adding towels, sporting equipment, sunscreen and bug spray, and shelving and bins for pond and orchard equipment. Long-term goals include exploring the possibility of solar power, a small ventilation fan or outlet, lights, a movie projector, refrigeration, art supplies, and additional decor.

We also discussed a set of guidelines for barn use, largely geared to keeping the space clean, beautiful, and useable:

• The single-bay area (the door on the left) will be for storing authorized community items.
• The larger area will be for general, multi-purpose use by community members.
• No items are to be left in the barn without approval by the board or barn committee.
• Any equipment borrowed from the barn is to be returned within the day and replaced as found.
• Towels borrowed from the barn are to be washed and returned as found.

Options for pay-to-use services were discussed and the community was largely opposed to any services requiring additional fees (such as for individual storage lockers, bicycle racks, or renting the space for private parties), so for the present all such ideas were shelved.

ORCHARD

Eva delivered an update on the orchard.

FUTURE PROJECTS

Susan and Eva discussed the need for a drain near the barn, and cleaning up the area around the barn.

ELECTION

With no new members standing for the board, the community unanimously reelected Eva Thaddeus, Alfred Souza, Susan Krim, Miri Navasky, and Rachel Dretzin to the board.

The meeting was held at the home of Anne Navasky and remotely by Zoom video. Minutes submitted by Miri Navasky.

PRESENT

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

ROAD WORK

Eva moved that the board send out a request to the entire community for approval for an assessment of up to 5k for road work.
Rachel seconded. Motion was approved unanimously.

The board agreed that Eva can put in a note that if it’s a hardship for anyone and they need to spread the assessment out over two years to let her know, and to ask others if they would be willing to front the money to make that possible.

Eva will contact Paul Burfein, whose estimate seems the most reasonable, and see if he will charge an hourly rate to walk the road and get us a more detailed estimate. Susan can be available to walk with him soon. Susan will also get an additional bid from Dave Zacarolli, another contractor who has been working in the area for 35 years and also plows.
We’ll meet again as soon as we have those two last pieces in place and make a decision about who will do the road work. We all agree we should do the work all at once this spring/ summer.

Other Items

• We need to get an estimate on road maintenance. We’ve spend $45-$50 in the last four years on maintenance- will the cost continue to be about 8k a year or higher?
• Alfred noted the main difference between Brothers and Burfein is the amount of shale that fits in a dump truck. If one is proposing dumping twice as much gravel, that would explain the difference between the two estimates.
• We need to answer the question of whether we need more gravel.
• Brothers also proposes a tarp/ material that isn’t being discussed in the
  others, which costs $10k.

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

PRESENT

Rachel Dretzin, Susan Krim, Miri Navasky, Alfred Souza from the board. Also present: Debra Adamsons, Wendy Lidell, Anne and Bruno Navasky, Noah Reibel, Michael Rosenberg.

ROAD WORK

We have almost three estimates on road work. the board will  ultimately make the decision on who will do the road work, but called this meeting to update the committee and solicit feedback. 

Estimates:

1. Burfein’s: 45k (written)
2. Erik Schnackenberg: 60k (oral. Eva will ask for a written estimate, broken out into similar categories to Burfein’s). Erik’s estimate was for over a three to five year period and Erik can’t guarantee what will happen to his prices over time. Eva thinks he will be out of the running if we decide to do this in one to two years because he’s a one- man operation. 
3. Brothers: We’re still waiting on an estimate from Brothers. Susan met with someone from Brothers who says he could do the plowing as well as the road work. He is supposed to get us an estimate for both. 

We discuss whether only to take bids from people who can do both. We agree that it’s premature to make that decision since we need to crowdsource the wisdom we’re getting from multiple companies. Ultimately it probably would be best to go with someone who can do both, but no one wants to let go of Carmen until we have to. 

There aren’t many people that can take this on. We need them more than they need us. We agree that our priority is the road first, and getting someone to replace Carmen second. 

We also agree we need each of the estimates to break out exactly what the road work will involve. Burfein’s estimate included digging ditches so the water doesn’t run down the road but is directed into the ditches. The ditches will be filled with material that slows down the water. Hel was thinking of using the same ditches that are currently there but improving them. Susan says some of those ditches are shale so can’t be dug further down even if we crowned them.  

Timeline: After much discussion, we all agree that it doesn’t make sense to spread the project out over five years, but to try and do it as fast as we can, probably in one to two years. We’re already spending quite a lot of money on road maintenance (Susan will try to get a number.) If we spread it out, the costs may go up substantially. 

Deb: didn’t discuss spreading it out with Burfein. Giving an estimate for three years from now would have to be an open ended contract because of labor shortages, salaries etc. 

Board will also send out a letter to the whole community about doing this in 1-2 years and find out how people feel about an assessment. 

Availability:

Schnackenberg could start this spring. 

Deb will ask Burfein if they will be available this season

Susan didn’t ask Brothers if they will be available either. 

Will the plowing damage the roadwork?

Eva discussed this issue with Erik. She asked Erik about Carmen’s equipment. He says he hasn’t seen Carmen’s equipment, but presumably he uses a plow attached to a pickup. Says our worries are not unfounded.  He says it’s not the equipment that makes the difference, it’s the skill of the operator and how much they care about your crowning. You can’t just scrape off the top, you need to tip in one way and then the other. 

Erik also said its best to have the same person crown and plow it. It’s then in their interest to plow it better. 

We discuss whether it makes sense to get a flat combined estimate for both so it’s in their interest to take care of the road. Or some kind of guarantee built into the contract in case the work doesn’t hole up. 

Financing: 

Eva polls the non-board members in the group about what they’d be willing to pay. The consensus is that everyone sees the road as a necessary expense and would be willing to put up the money. 

We discuss the idea of having those who can afford it pay up front right away and those who can’t, to amortize it  Everyone is paying the same amount its just about how long it takes. 

We discuss the idea of Eva sending out a letter to all community members informing them and finding out if people can handle the assessment before sending out a hypothetical question about whether they’d be willing to front the money for others. 

Susan points out that since we do this in phases, there will probably also still be a six month break between payments- two six month assessments. 

We won’t pay it all up front. Usually 25-50% up top. 

Defraying these costs with the capital fund won’t be easy. There is only 4600 in the capital fund at the moment. We get not quite 7000 a year in capital funds which we put aside. We could put aside the whole thing for two years which is 14k, but we have capital expenses other than the road. 

A few more general  concerns are raised: 

Annie says she has historically  has never dealt with the road and has never had a problem getting up the road. 

Bruno’s observation with the last round when Carmen and Tom filled in the ditches was that in practice the ditches seemed to get very quickly filled with leaves and debris and stopped working. He’s inclined to trust more any proposal that involved some kind of a warranty or included a commitment to keep roads up,

Deb: says the leaves have to be blown out in November. It’s a system that needs to be maintained. 

Noah: Asks how much its costing the community to do what we’re doing now which is to have Barbados fill it in and have it not work. Also wonders about similar roads and who is doing such a good job with those roads. Suggests we see if they have any thoughts about our road. 

Wendy:  Wants to make sure that a big truck coming up the road with heavy equipment won’t ruin the work we’re doing. 

Eva: Eric explained that because of climate and heavy use, there is more wear and tear on the road and we will have to continue to maintain it. 

Deb: not having the log harvesting on the road will make a big difference too.  

Susan: one thing we could do is put some bumps on the road. Maintenance people, UPS and FedEx whiz up that road. If we can slow down the traffic it will make the damage a bit less of a problem. 

Deb: those will also help direct the water because they are put at an angle. 

Michael: Speed bumps are a very effective pain in the butt thing to deal with. Help preserve a road. Plows have to know where they are and lift the blade up. Usually put a post up to signal where they are. Or put them up for most of the year and take them up for the worst part of the winter. 

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

A special meeting of the Members and Board of Directors of Hillsdale Neighbors, Inc, was held via Zoom on January 16, 2022 at 11am.  The purpose was to vote on the application currently pending before the Town of Hillsdale Planning Board for a boundary line adjustment whereby Lot 3 (Tax map # 145.-1-12) will be merged with and become part of the common area (Tax map # 145.-1-5), and a new Lot 3 be formed as depicted on the attached survey map in the Town of Hillsdale, Columbia County, New York. All members were represented either in person or by proxy.*

Eva made the following motion:

Resolved, that the members, directors and officers of Hillsdale Neighbors, Inc. hereby approve the application currently pending before the Town of Hillsdale Planning Board for a boundary line adjustment whereby Lot 3 (Tax map # 145.-1-12) will be merged with and become part of the common area (Tax map # 145.-1-5), and a new Lot 3 be formed as depicted on the attached survey map in the Town of Hillsdale, Columbia County, New York.

It is further resolved that the members, directors and officers of Hillsdale Neighbors, Inc. authorize Debra Adamsons to appear on behalf of said corporation before the Town of Hillsdale Planning Board to seek and obtain said approval.”

Bruno seconded the motion.

The vote in support of the motion was unanimous. 

Eva also updated the community on the state of the road.   We have one estimate from Eric Schnakenberg for 60K to crown the entire road (he could start as early as this spring and we could do it over time).  Eva is planning to get a 2nd estimate from Brothers and Deb suggested getting a 3rd estimate from the people that did her road – will forward the name to Eva.

* Eva is obtaining proxy from Debbie Meier.

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

PRESENT

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

FINANCES

Susan Krim reported on the community finances as follows:

On deposit in bank	$24,585.20
Dues to be paid	$2,400.00
Total	$26,985.20
Outstanding bills
Tom – barn management	$12,000.00
Tom – septic management	$1,514.70
Bill Bradway (?)	$1,362.00
Total	$14,876.70
Septic system expense
Bill Baldwin	$1,944.00
Bill Bradway	$1,362.00
Tom – septic management	$1,514.70
Total	$4,820.70

NOTES : Bradway had close to 1500 bill that Debbie paid. We need to clarify who is reponsible for that bill. Also we owe Carmen 1200 monthly now because of snowplowing.

SUMMARY: we have about 14,000 after everything is paid.  We’re paying close to $2000 a month for Carmen plus any additional funds for sanding. So essentially, the capital fund is at zero. We don’t get income till June again. Susan usually assigns money to thecapital fund as a percentage of what comes in in Jan and July. But at this point we’re spending it, so she can’t assign it. We’ve spent it on the sewage and the barn.  Susan is anticipating we’ll be able to start spending again after this half of the year. 

SEPTIC

Debbie had to leave her house because the septic was backing up. Tom got people in very quickly to deal with it.  The ground wasn’t frozen and they were able to take care of it in about three days, but it was a lot of work because they couldn’t locate the blockage. Finally they found the blockage right outside the kitchen: shrubs planted right outside the house had gotten into the pipes. Its fine now but we’ll need to get shrubs removed in the spring. Tom also found that one pipe was pointing up instead of down, and they’ve replaced that pipe at another angle. He told Eva the septic system is fine now and we won’t need to spend any more on it. Susan says the issue is that we had a whole new septic system put in about 7-8 years ago. The septic system itself is fine, the issue was the pipe from the house to the septic system. One thing Tom feels we should still do is pop out the septic system which you should be doing every 5-10 years and it hasn’t been done. That would be 300-500 dollars and should be done soon. The other thing is around the barn its very wet. The reason is that there is a hidden stream just near the barn. Apparently, the year before last we were 7 inches below the water table and last year we were 16 inches above the water table, which is why there was so much water. At some point in the near future we should put in a drain around the barn, otherwise the foundations of the barn may have a problem. Dig deep, put in some stones and a pipe system as Wendy and Susan did in their houses. The figure for that is $5-6k. Tom feels Carmen has the equipment and can do it for closer to $3k. Tom will get a price for us. We’ll need to do that in the next year or two., Susan thinks it’s prudent to keep it on the front burner and deal with it sooner rather than later. Susan’s going to put a diagram of the septic system up on the website.

ROAD

The road issues seem to be quite acute. Susan says at the bottom of the road, we’re down to bedrock by the barn. Eva says there’s a deep gully in the road that’s only going to get worse. This could be a bigger problem during the muddy season than it is during the frozen months. Paving the road is cost prohibitive.

Eva went back to Erik Schnackenberg for a better estimate to crown the road and also snowplow. (we assessed it was a good idea to have the same person do both.) Erik says he can’t be the person to pick up our snowplowing job since it’s too big. He stood by his original estimate of 60k to crown our entire road, which could be done over several years with him starting at the top of the road and working his way down. He says the time of year to do this May or June, and he could start this spring, but we’re not in a position to do that financially. 

We discussed getting another estimate. Erik suggested we talk to Brothers in Craryville about doing both snowplowing and plowing. Eva says she will ask Brothers for an estimate. Miri suggested we also talk to the guy who does work for Megan and Dmitri. He can’t do the road but can do the plowing, but he gave a much higher estimate. She is going to discuss the road work with him. 

While Carmen is much cheaper than anyone else we will find for plowing and we want to keep him as long as we can, here is concern about whether Carmen might undo the road work with his snowplowing, since his equipment is old. Also, there is concern that if we hire Eric to crown the road, we might offend Carmen and he might not want to plow for us anymore.  Eva will call Eric again and ask him if he knows about Carmen’s equipment specifically or if it’s just a problem with snowplowing in general.. 

Financing the road work: Funding a 60k project will mean an assessment over two years or a making this a three to five year project. That would be five years at 12k, which is 1k from everyone for five years. 

-We discuss starting the work with Judy’s hill to buy some good will. 

-Everyone agrees we have to present this to the whole community

-Alfred thinks spreading this over five years seems too much of a spread. Feels like a long time to have ongoing construction. The good thing is if you start small,  and there is damage, we’ve only spent 10k or so before we know we have a problem. 

OTHER NOTES 

Rachel suggests we gather community wide resources like plumbers and electrical to cleaning people and exterminators and put them up on the website for all to share. We discuss getting a volunteer to head that effort up. 

Eva mentions that we don’t have a plan in writing for expenditures into the future. What’s going to need doing when and rough amounts to budget for these things. Like remembering you need to clean out a septic tank every five years or repaint a barn every 25 years etc. We need to find a way to record that somewhere. 

The meeting was held remotely by video. Minutes submitted by Rachel Dretzin and Miri Navasky.

PRESENT

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

FINANCIAL REPORT

Susan gave the financial report. We have $8500 in the capital fund, $22,307 in the operating fund, and the barn account, which was opened with a balance of $95,500 to start with, is down to $16,109 now.

BARN RESTORATION

Eva updated the board on the barn restoration. Tom Shepherd says that if we are to overrun the budget at all, it will be by $3,000 or less. The board agree to hold off on altering any windows, but to replace or otherwise put the current windows in working order. Tom is ready to bring in the painter. The color of the barn will be barn red. Tom says we are definitely in need of a new roof. The current roof will not last even a year, and if we don’t do the restoration there will be damage to the barn from moisture.

The board discussed the options and agreed on a corrugated metal roof,
which costs about $10,000 and has a 30-year guarantee. The board discussed how to pay for the new roof. Originally, the board had determined that up to 16k in additional costs would constitute a reasonable community assessment, given the alternative costs of taking down the barn. However, since a new roof wasn’t part of the original plan, the board agreed to fundraise for the roof and assess for any
remainder after voluntary contributions. Susan suggested the possibility of covering the costs out of the capital fund, since it’s a capital project. Eva thought it would be better to reserve those funds for the road. The board agreed to combine fundraising for the roof with fundraising for electricity, which two projects would cost approximately $20,000 together. If the whole amount can’t be raised immediately, the board determined to replace the roof and wait on the electricity.

The board resolved that once the barn roof and the flooring are complete, the barn would be a shared resource of the community. At this point, the barn will be solely for our community’s use and not opened up to other purposes. Community members will be able to sign up to use the barn for parties/ meetings/gatherings. Eva will put out a call for people to sign up to be part of the barn usage community.

The board agreed that the enclosed bay (the first one, on the far left) will be reserved for storage of items for common community use (e.g. pond furniture, toys, grills, etc). It will not be used for community members’ personal possessions. Bicycle storage will be allowed, with a
limit for each member, so the number doesn’t get out of hand. The three open bays (on the right side) will kept open for general recreational uses. Some possibilities were discussed (ping pong table, pool table, sitting area, hammock, projector for movie nights, appropriate furniture, and if we have electricity, a small fridge for beverages). Shelving for towel storage, bug spray and other communally items would be useful. The board agreed that community members can donate furniture, but that the board would set certain controls and guidelines for the donations. The board will designate a barn committee of two to propose and monitor guidelines, pending board approval.

Anything left in the barn will be available for community use, which will restrict what is left there.

INTERNET

Alfred noted that the farmhouse has internet and if the community takes over the farmhouse internet or any additional expense and improves it we could have internet on the barn. Debbie is on a 25mbps connection and we’d probably want to increase that to 100mbps. We can create a guest on the same router.

ROAD

Eva reported that she spoke to Eric Schnackenberg (who crowned her
driveway). Eric walked the road with Eva and estimated that it is probably a 50-60k job to do the whole road not including the side roads. Right now, the way Carmen fixes it, we are putting band-aids on it, but the road is getting lower and lower each time. According to Eric, what we have to do is bring it substantial pieces of crushed shale and build the road to crown it so the water flows off. We’d still need upkeep since snowplowing scrapes roads. He says we will know we’re running out of time if we need more and more bandaids, and we’re there.

Eva suggested a road committee to think about long-term planning especially since Carmen is in his eighties and has been giving us a sweetheart deal. Eric says he cant take on our road for snowplowing. We got some estimates a year ago but not for Eric. Eva likes dealing with
Eric. He’s easy to deal with. Susan thinks we need someone to do both the road and plowing because Carmen would get upset. His ego would be affected. Eric says we don’t have to do the whole road all at once, can start with the parts uphill.

The board decided to ask Eric to give us a formal estimate for fixing the
road. It would be great if he included the plowing, but it’s not a
precondition. If Eric is planning on doing it in stages the board needs to know how many stages. $15,000 a year is in the ballpark. We also need the estimate to include the extra parts off the main road.

NEW LOT

Following the meeting, the motion to approve Deb Adamsons’ lot change was approved unanimously by the board.

The meeting was held at the home of Eva Thaddeus. Minutes submitted by Rachel Dretzin.

PRESENT

Rachel Dretzin (remote), Susan Krim, Miri Navasky (remote), Alfred Souza, and Eva Thaddeus from the Board. Dmitri Cavender, Megan Gelstein, and Bruno Navasky from the community.

BOARD OFFICERS

The board determined to maintain their current offices, with Eva as president, Alfred as Vice President, Susan as Treasurer, and Miri and Rachel sharing the roles of Assistant Treasurer and Secretary.

BARN RESTORATION

Bruno reported in detail on the barn restoration. Apparently Tom Shepherd had built his original estimate with the intention of pouring three bays worth of concrete, but discovered that there would need to be four bays, which would have resulted in a cost overrun. Instead tom recommended the following, along with recommendations for other choices that the board needs to make:

• Tom proposes to omit the concrete and use a vinyl subfloor envelope instead. He says it’s better protection from rodents, and a more effective vapor barrier to protect the wood in the barn. It’s a relatively new technology and the oldest installation that Tom has done is about 20 years now, with no problems, but if we do run into issues it’s patchable. If we follow Tom’s recommendation we can complete the project within our budget; otherwise there will be significant additional costs for the extra concrete bay.

•  The wall separating the far left bay from the rest of the barn can be either removed or retained and restored within our budget. Tom recommends that we keep the wall.

• There are a number of original ceiling beams that might form a base structure for a loft. Although the loft itself isn’t a part of our plan, Tom recommends that we consolidate any unused beams in that area for aesthetics and possible future use, but we could also ask them to remove them and haul them off without affecting the budget. 

• Tom recommends that we leave the remaining three bays open, and that we pressure wash and treat the entire barn interior. In addition to cleaning, this may help straighten some of the original wood that has warped with moisture over the years.

• The windows can be either left as is, removed and sided over, or replaced with aesthetically appropriate barn sash at an additional cost. Tom recommends removing the windows and adding what we want at a later date after full consideration of the lighting and space in the restored barn.

Eva moved that the board approve Tom’s recommended modifications to his original barn renovation proposal. Alfred seconded the motion and the board unanimously approved it. The board also agreed to ask Tom to explore options for insect screens so that we can have light through the doors during the interim without a lot of insects, and dig a hole for an environmentally friendly outhouse behind the barn. [Note: a majority of the board subsequently voted by email to retain the original windows 3-0, with 2 abstentions.]