MT. KEMBLE
LAKE ASSOCIATION, INC.
ANNUAL MEETING
- MARCH 11, 2006
MINUTES
The annual meeting of the Mt. Kemble Lake
Association, Inc. was held on March 11, 2006 at the Clubhouse. The meeting was
called to order at 7:00 pm by President Joan Fitzhugh. The Secretary reported a
quorum of 52 Members present and 65 Members represented by proxy.
President Fitzhugh recognized and welcomed new
Members. She then asked for a moment of silence in memory of friends, relatives
and neighbors who passed away during the year.
The minutes of the 2005 annual meeting were provided
to members, read and approved. Unlike previous years, the annual minutes were
not read aloud by the Secretary but distributed prior to the meeting for
members to read.
President's
Report by Joan Fitzhugh:
The report started with
special recognition of the contributions made by a variety of community
members.
1. The Dam
Stabilization and Dredging project impacts were noted:
A. Road care: Anticipating that the heavy equipment
might damage the roads MKL did not patch the roads.
B. Regular resurfacing was postponed to next year .
C. It has also been difficult to estimate road
resurfacing costs for next year because we don't know how much repair will be
made to the damaged roads by the contractor.
2. Cash flow: Warned by Lakeshore that we might not
receive state reimbursement of our invoices for as long as three months, we
held back on doing some planned work to keep more cash available.
3. New community needs:
A. The change of plan from using the dredge spoils on
the dam to storing them on our property for drainage has created unanticipated
danger...and unexpected expenses.
B. The area at the Fishin'
Hole needs considerable work to return it to recreational usage.������� .
C. Significant repair and maintenance issues have become
known regarding the deck to the clubhouse.
On the positive side
of the ledger this year, we collected some outstanding dues that we were afraid
might be lost to bankruptcy. We earned twice the bank interest we expected. And
the clubhouse was rented more than expected. Detailed reports by the President
and Committee chairs may be viewed on the website, www.mountkemblelake.org.
Following is a summary of
the committee reports.
House Maintenance by Bettina Bierly: The clubhouse was used an average of 3 days a week,
not including the vast amount of time spent by volunteers and workers making
improvements. Thanks to the Clubhouse Committee - Carl Bonar, Cacky Bell, Ruth Chaney, Jane Dwyer, Jane Kendall, Barbara
and Michael McGoldrick - we were able to install a
new kitchen floor as well as new carpeting in the foyer, bar and alcove areas.
In addition, the room division screens were refurbished, two tons of trash was
removed from the basement, tablecloths were repaired and inventoried, closets
and cupboards were cleaned. Special thanks to the MKL Country Club for their
$2,000 donation.
Clubhouse report given by John Murray for Mary Van Kirk: Thank you to the House Committee members: Guy
Bowden, Rick Barrett, Mick Merenda, John Murray and
Phil Van Kirk. Special thanks to Joyce Murray and Guy Bowden for scraping and
painting the turret. Additional projects completed over the year include having
the deck power washed, fire detection equipment was replaced and maintained,
and work continued on the history room. The ballroom and foyer ceilings were
repaired and painted d.ue to roof and air
conditioning malfunctions. Based on the report of a structural engineer,
maintenance and general repairs are needed to the deck. The repairs are fairly
significant and will be implemented in phases starting this spring and running
through the next three years.
Community Affairs by Carol Irving: Six newsletters were published and distributed.
Welcome packages were created by Country Club and distributed at the
Orientation Meeting on January 17, 2006. Gail Allyn
gave Carol a special commendation from the floor recognizing the value and
enjoyment that the newsletters give to the community members.
Beaches
& Docks by Bill Canada: Thanks to the community for helping throughout the
year. Spring clean-up had about 30 volunteers. Special thanks to Lorraine Negele for preparing lunch for the spring clean-up. In
addition, a new floating dock replaced the wood one off the beach, temporary
fencing was put up at across the beachfront to discourage the geese from
nesting, and the floating dock at the Fishing Hole was removed in preparation
for dredging, coordinated water treatment and analysis with contractors during
swimming season.
Grounds by
Terry Dwyer: Over the past year
we have removed the trunks of trees which had previously been cut down but not
hauled away and removed a number of trees endangering resident's properties.The children repainted the playground equipment.
Special thanks to Barbara McGoldrick for supervising
the maintenance
and improvements to the tennis courts Also, thanks to the Burds
for maintaining the flowers on the clubhouse deck. The garden continued to be
extensively used, thanks to Jim Irving and Ray Jones. The property west of the garden,formerly known as the ball
field is now the depository of the dredging spoils. It is very dangerous and
the MKL Board strongly recommends that everyone stay
away from it.
"
Terry also
introduced the MKL website to the community. It was launched in late February
2006 as another channel for the community to share information. A few members
of the community expressed concern over privacy issues. These issues will be
further explored outside of the meeting.
Roads reported by Joan Fitzhugh for Cacky
Bell:
Thanks to all of the volunteers who have helped with the spring and fall road
cleanups. The Summer Road Patrol starts
Memorial Day weekend and runs through Labor Day weekend. Thanks to all of the
volunteers who go out nightly on patrol. This past year we had the 24 hour Road
Closing. Everything went smoothly and, again, special thanks to the volunteers
who manned the check-in station for the required 24 hour period. Every four
years the roads are resurfaced. Due to the dredge work, it did not happen this
year. We are planning to have the work done in the spring and an initial quote
has been obtained. There was a suggestion from the floor that additional bids
be obtained.
Summary of
Need for Dues Increase by Joan Fitzhugh: The board is requesting an annual dues increase of
$350 to cover increases in operating costs. The dues increase of $250 in 2003
was to cover the cost of the dam/dredge operation only. The increase in the
operating budget is needed to cover the higher costs of such items as the
insurance, road resurfacing, fuel costs for heat, electricity, maintenance
requirements to community property including the Fishing Hole, Clubhouse,
gardens, and the dredge area around the ball field. In addition, over the past
year we have had to make emergency repairs to the clubhouse due to roof leaks,
a malfunction in the air conditioning units and deck repair.
Treasurer's Report by Karen Morrison: A financial package including Financial Summary,
Income Statement, and Budget Comparison and Proposed Budget was presented.
Questions were addressed regarding line items and reserve funds.
The dues increase of
$350 was passed by a voice majority vote and absentee proxies.
By-laws Revision Presentation by Mark Baumgarten: President Fitzhugh turned the podium over to Terry
Dwyer in order to participate in the by-laws discussion having been a member of
the committee. Mark thanked the committee and provided an overview of the
changes that had been made. The by-laws document had previously been
distributed to the community and a motion was made to pass the by-laws in their
entirety. This motion passed by 2/3 majority. After the resolution passed,
there were questions from the floor regarding the by-law changes. Since changes
had just been approved, the questions were addressed outside
of the meeting.
Special Committee Reports
Environmental Stewardship Committee by Joan Baumgarten: The
committee was formed in 2005 as a standing committee. The vision of the group
is "to promote environmental stewardship of the land and the lake
throughout the
Members are Chris Allyn, Nancy Barrett, Joan Baumgarten,
Bruce Chalfant, Bob Edgar, Jane Kendall and Cyndi Kuchler. New members are welcome.
Planning Committee by John
Murray:
�A
series of community outpost meetings have been held over the past three months
with both adults and children.
The objective of the meetings was to understand what the community viewed as
the long term and short term needs. The information gathered at the meetings
will be shared with the three MKL boards.
Dam Stabilization and Dredging Report by Chris Allyn: Through a montage
of photographs, Chris summarized the now completed project. It started on
January 21,
2006 and took two months to complete. It
was noted that it took 20 years to plan the project! The project resulted in
our meeting state requirements for a lake of our size and included areas such
as stabilizing the dam, repairing the spillway and dredging parts of the lake.
Special Presentation by John Murray: On behalf of all three MKL boards and the community,
John Murray presented a gift and special thanks to Barbara Coulter and Chris Allyn for their hard work and dedication to the dam/dredge
project. Chris and Bobbi said that they would provide the community with an
outline of "Lessons Learned" from the dam/dredge project.
Nominating
Committee:
Bob Edgar presented the candidates for
election to the Board. Elected to two-year terms were:
Mark Baumgarten, Barbara
Coe, Austin Godfrey and Bob Yingling