Timber Hill Community Association, Inc.
Meeting of the Board of Directors
April 21, 2015
I. Quorum Count
A Timber Hill Community Association meeting of the Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, April 21, 2015at 8 P.M.
The following Officers were present:
- Barbara Canty, President
- Dave Lovejoy, Treasurer
The following Officers were absent:
- Yvonne Owen, Secretary –Unexcused
- Warren Green, Vice President- Excused
The following Directors were present:
- Michael Doyle
- Ralph Pizzano
- LaTonya Jackson
- Muriel Geiersbach
The following Directors were absent:
- Stacy Koehler- Excused
The following property owners were present: 1
Attorney Michelle F. Farley, Esq. and Tricia Nelson, Admin. Assistant, were also present.
There being a quorum of 6 board members, the meeting was called to order at 8:15pm.
Barbara Canty: There will be no board or committee reports. We are consulting with Attorney Michelle F. Farley on the Road Fee and the Alpine Mountain settlement.
- Unfinished Business
- Road Fee
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: Is there a protest to the road fee? I reviewed the minutes of last meeting and the minutes from October 2009. I also talked with Dana Debenedetto, who was THCA previous office clerk, about this since we can’t talk to Phyllis Razzano. I can’t remember if I was at that meeting or not. I do not have any notes on it, but that does not mean I was not there. I do not always take notes. What I do remember is that the roads were bad. You received a letter from the post office stating they would stop delivering the mail. Phyllis Razzano asked if we can assess a temporary road fee, since this was an emergency. My gut is saying that this road fee should have been put through a membership vote. There is no doubt this was assessed, because there was a need. Where does this leave us now? I need a little more time to do some more research. If you put any assessment to the membership, you are most likely not going to get a majority vote.
Dave Lovejoy: I remember Phyllis Razzano saying that if we raise the dues then we can’t take it back. The road fee was temporary and we can get rid of it.
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: Road are expensive to maintain. The roads seem better here now.
Ralph Pizzano: Lou DiBernard spoke to me about this and mentioned letter M. on page 7 and that’s how this was voted through.
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: It lays out the general powers of the board, but on page 12, it requires a majority vote. This is put in place, so that a board doesn’t lose sight and forget who it is they represent. It is a protection for the membership. I’m not ready to 100% that you need a majority vote. I need more time to research. When is the last time you have raised the dues?
Ralph Pizzano: We probably last raised the dues about 8 years ago.
Tricia Nelson: The problem is that we are at about 50% uncollectable, so how can we justify a dues increase?
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: I’m really concerned about this delinquency rate. How many have paid the road fee?
Tricia Nelson: We did not invoice the road fee for 2015.
Latonya Jackson: I remember back then, it was an emergency of an ambulance and no delivery of the mail. We were trying to be careful of what we could do in this emergency situation.
Ralph Pizzano: Mark Elliot used to send out many letters and Bob Marki always came through. Nobody else was putting in bids, because our jobs were too small for them.
LaTonya Jackson: We need to wait for your opinion.
Ralph Pizzano: I’m pretty sure it was an emergency.
Muriel Geiersbach: Can we make this an emergency now?
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: We have nothing now to justify there is an emergency.
The Board: We need to make sure we do this right.
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: Talk to members about it. If it comes to not getting mail, they might think about it. If you put it out there of emergency services, it might make a bigger difference. We need to take this one step at a time. I’ll have an answer within in a day or two.
- Alpine Settlement:
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: I tried to get e-mail responses from everyone on this particular subject. The settlement is a revision of the licensing agreement which states that any owner, successors who runs anything on the land even ingress and regress….this does not need to be renewed every year, this agreement runs with the land. They owe us money and it was like pulling teeth at the last meeting with Ott. They have signed over their shares, a stock purchase from Kevin Fabiano. He is the operator and used the facility. In this settlement of $15,000 we couldn’t get everything, but it was a settlement. I feel Ott had this all planned. Fabiano is the operator not the owner. By the terms of this settlement, it should be settled. I gave him a precipe to settle, he just has to sign and file it. He wants us to also sign a waiver, which has pretty standard wording, but he might use it against us. I’m not happy with this waiver he provided. We can’t sign this waiver, which could stop us from suing him again in the future. We should go ahead and sue for the remainder owed in small district court of $5,400.00: $3,000.00 for licensing and $2,400.00 on the 6 lots. There’s no case law on this, but they will wave that waiver at us. My concern is at the hearing, he’s asking for attorney fees.
Linda Siano – Homeowner: Couldn’t you just counter the waiver with different wording?
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: I offered a more acceptable wording, but their waiver was their counter offer. (She read both waivers)
Dave Lovejoy: Can we say if you pay everything owed, we’ll sign the waiver?
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: I can write up whatever you decide. If you want to sign this waiver, I’ll back you up. I would go to Judge Riley and get the money owed to us. I am scared of his legal fees. He will sue us for this, because we are not following the settlement.
The board: Let’s go ahead and sue for the dues and licensing fee in district court. Can we include Kevin Fabiano?
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: We should not include Kevin Fabiano in the suit, because he is not documented as an owner. This seems to annoy Ott, but Kevin Fabiano is only the shareholder/ operator.
Tricia Nelson: I have questions regarding the bridge ownership and responsibilities. Do we own the bridge but are not required to maintain it? They still have yet to fix the bridge from the accident and the road is falling apart going down to the pond. This is becoming a huge safety issue.
Attorney Michelle F. Farley: We would have to sue on that as well. Let’s get the $5,400.00suit filed first before the 29th hearing on the settlement. I’ll need the statements or invoices for this.
Note: Tricia Nelson will send Farley invoices on what’s owed on the licensing fee and 6 lots to bring to suit.
Motion to vote to bring suit to district court of Mountain Tubing LLC and Mountain Resort Ski and Golf for lot dues and licensing agreement
Dave Lovejoy – Motions
Ralph Pizzano – Seconds
Unanimous
Motion to continue the hearing on the 29th of April on the latest round of litigation unless he pays the full amount
Ralph Pizzano – Motions
Barbara canty – Seconds
Unanimous
Alternative motion to take 50% owed and a promissory note stating the remainder owed and then we’ll sign the waiver
Barbara Canty – Motions
LaTonya Jackson – Seconds
Unanimous
II. New Business
III. Open Floor
IV.Closing Adjournment
Motion to close the meeting at 9:16PM
Barbara Canty– Motions
LaTonya Jackson- Seconds
Unanimous
Minutes taken by Tricia Nelson, Admin. Asst.
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