Green Hill Acres Association
July 26, 2008
General Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order at 10:15, followed by a salute to the flag, and a moment of silence for
our boys in service to our country.
The floor is open for discussion.
We will be posting the June and July minutes of our general meeting on our website and will also be
emailing them to those of our members who have email access and addresses.
Four of our number did not receive the test email sent out by Tom Massotta. They have given us their
current email addresses and they will be included in our next test sending which will be done next
week.
We will also be making the minutes and any other association news available to the membership in a
box that will be hung at the corner of Twin Peninsula and Brant.
TREASURY
23 members have paid $500 in dues which will bring them current until 2012.
59 members have paid their 2008 membership dues.
The total collected this year is $18,255.64. That includes the membership dues collected, and
miscellaneous payments of varying amounts that total $855.64.
This number represents payments from 82 of the 112 households in Green Hill Acres.
Our balances are now:
$20,854.35 Checking account
$ 21,463.66 CD at Washington Trust
Total: $43,318.01
This year we have paid bills of $3500 which includes taxes and insurance on the roads and sundry
other items.
Tom asked those present to talk to any of their neighbors who have chosen not to pay dues with the
hope that we can prevail upon them to reconsider their stance on participating in the costs of our
development.
ROADS
The paving of Twin Peninsula will go forward as previously discussed. The final cost will be increased
by $300 which is one half of the increase Mr. Marchetti has realized in the cost of materials necessary
to do the job. The actual increase was $600, but he has agreed to split the increase with us.
The road repaving will begin in late September or early October.
Tom Masotto read a detailed overview of the road project that is included in these minutes. It answers
all of the questions and gives a summary of every aspect of the paving to be done on Twin Peninsula.
Statement read by Thomas Masotto, President:
"I am pleased to inform you that your Officers and Executive Committee agreed unanimously to have TP
paved from Mallard to just past Wild Goose. As you know, correspondence was sent to all GHAA
residents in March. It outlined a plan to raise funds to pave TP and to keep our association in healthy
financial condition. I believe we can achieve these goals – pave TP and maintain a healthy financial
condition. This will require some belt tightening and careful financial monitoring.
TP will be paved post Labor Day. A date is yet to be determined. The cost will be $26,800. The
original proposal was for $26,500. However, in his recent invoice, Mr. Marchetti's cost for materials
was increased by $2/ton. The project requires 300 tons of material. I discussed this increase with Mr.
Marchetti and we agreed to split the increase in half. I believe this is reasonable, since the cost of
materials has skyrocketed since his initial estimate in early 2007. So, we will incur an additional $300
expense, bringing the total cost to pave TP to $26,800.
Here is how we are going to pay to have TP paved:
1) 23 members paid $500 in advance for 2008-2012 = $11,500
2) $6,500 from our membership funds
3) $8,800 from our emergency fund CD
These figures may be slightly modified depending upon additional members choosing to pay $500 in
membership dues for 2008-2012.
I am disappointed that we need to use CD money. As I stated in the past, I believe that the CD should
only be used for emergency purposes. However, based on your input at our June membership meeting
and discussion among our Board, using monies from the CD is the only way to pave the entire road at
one time. I do plan to replenish our emergency fund over time but that will be dependent on our
membership fulfilling their obligation to continue to pay their annual $100 membership dues.
I have carefully examined our previous years' budget that Jon manages. I believe we will be in good
shape over the next 4 years as long as our members continue to pay their $100 annual membership
dues over the next 4 years. I will work with our Board to minimize expenses, such as mailing, dirt road
maintenance and other purchases. We will migrate all correspondence to e-mail, hard copy in a
convenient mailbox and U.S. mail only to those who are consistently out-of-town or don't have an e-
mail address. We will continue to provide gravel process to self-repair our dirt roads. We will continue
to make safety our priority and spend money appropriately. Claudia, with the help of other volunteers,
will hand deliver correspondence only when necessary. It would be great if we have a volunteer(s) from
each street to assist in this distribution.
I explained the necessity to pay annual membership dues in our Spring mailing. However, we continue
to have neighbors who do not pay their $100 annual membership dues. This has placed a financial
hardship on our ability to further improve our community. This has placed an added challenge on my
requirement to maintain and improve our financial integrity. We, those paying their annual $100
membership dues, are carrying the burden for more than 40 non-paying members. That equates to at
least $4000 annually that we do not have to provide for all our needs and ability to further improve our
community. Had everyone met their financial obligation over the past few years, we would have had
ample monies to pave TP without using CD money and have additional funds for future expenditures.
We are a good community. I'm confident will continue to work together in spite of our obstacles. Your
Board is committed to caring for our community needs. We need more volunteers to work to keep our
community vibrant. Please see Lois to be listed as a volunteer when needed.
We should all be proud of our community effort to raise funds to pave TP."
Questions were asked regarding the paving. Mr. Masotto
replied to all questions. He also requested that neighbors should discuss and encourage non-paying
members to pay their membership dues. This will allow us to further improve our community.
DOG POOP BAG DISPENSER
Our dispenser at the corner of Twin Peninsula and Wild Goose has been vandalized a second time. We
are still considering our options on replacement of that dispenser. We may change the location or
remove the box all together. That decision will be made sometime in the near future.
AREA CLEAN UP
Marlene Connor is planning a clean up with the help of volunteers from our group. Those volunteering
will meet for a few minutes after our August meeting to plan that day and those interested in
participating can talk to Marlene that day.
Marlene suggested that we might also work on the boat launch areas. We will talk about building a
kayak rack at the launch areas so that the members can store kayaks there rather than transporting
them home after each use.
T SHIRTS
Jen Ginn still has a small supply of unsold T shirts available. Give her a call if you are interested in
purchasing one of them.
GARAGE SALE /TAG SALE
Carol Perasso has volunteered to organize a community tag sale. She will look into the legal
requirements put forth by the town in that regard, and will collect the fee from those wanting to
participate.
The following pertains:
Date: Saturday of Labor Day weekend
Time: Not yet determined
Cost: $10.00 per table ( covers advertising, balloons and refreshments for the participants.)
Those involved can set up their table at their home or along Twin Peninsula near Mallard and Brant.
We will have helpers available for those who need it to bring their merchandise to those areas. Anyone
with only a few items can give them to Carol or Lois Schroder and they will include them at their table.
It will be a gathering day, as well as a capitalist endeavor, and will definitely be a lot of fun.
JET SKIS
It was noted that jet skis are not prohibited on Green Hill Pond.
MEMBERSHIP LIST
Several people have requested our latest membership list. We will try to have copies of the membership
available at the next meeting.
ANNUAL PARTY
Our annual gathering will be held on the afternoon after the August 23, 2008 general meeting. It will
be in the empty lot on Brant North. Bring an offering of your favorite food, and we will make good use
of it.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:15.
Respectfully submitted,
Lois Schroder
Secretary
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