2017 Sunset Lake Annual General Meeting
November 5th, 2017
Board Attendees: Michael McLaughlin, Bob Papp, Harshal Limaye, Michael Gilmore, Lisa Kutchaver, Cynthia Freund
Members in attendance: See attached sheet.
President Mike McLaughlin called the meeting to order at 1:37pm. Minutes from last year were recorded by Chris Lelli who is absent at this meeting. Tony made a motion to table the minutes, All in favor.
Mike M, presented his report to the membership and said in general volunteerism is at its lowest. This is a volunteer organization and we need everyone to pitch in. The board has been repeatedly urging membership to volunteer, but that has not helped. So as a measure to encourage volunteerism, the board is proposing a work bond, details of which will be presented after we finish the regular business of this meeting.
Committee Reports Presented:
Vice President’s Report – Bob Papp
Bob Papp announced that the board has reinstated the Frank Ragazzo award. In memory of Doc. Meiner, the award is now called “The Rudolph and Alice Meiner Award”. This is an award given to a member family, in recognition for outstanding service to the community. The award is given on an annual basis with a condition that the member family chosen for the award is not serving on the board for that year. This award was first given in the year 1993 and continued until 2000.
The board has backfilled the award winners for the missing years from 2001 through 2016, and 2017 the award is given to Diane Adams. All winners get a plate engraved with their name on the award plaque. Bob held the newly designed plaque for display to the membership.
Bob read out all the winners of the award.
The Rudolph and Alice Meiners Award
In Recognition Of Outstanding Service To The Community
Frank Ragazzo 1993
Peg Harmon 1994
Ed Legge 1995
Cindy Welsh 1996
Lloyd Hess 1997
Bob Papp 1998
Peter Connors 1999
Ralph Obenauf 2000
Ann Perry & Mark Allison 2001
Sheri & Greg Bock 2002
Jim & Kari O’Connell 2003
Kyle & Susan Lorig 2004
John & Veronica Fedors 2005
Don & Allyson Hirsch 2006
Allan & Diane Borowsky 2007
Chuck & Mary Hewitt 2008
Roger & Lisa Kutchaver 2009
Tom & Margaret Potter 2010
Chris & Patty Driscoll 2011
Tom & Rosemary Kern 2012
Tony & Kathy Patullo 2013
Ken Campbell 2014
Pat and Stan Holoob 2015
Ilona Lelli 2016
Diane Adams 2017
Bob received kudos for bringing the award back and all winners got a big round of applause.
Treasurer’s Report – Mona Ragazzo
Mona was absent for the annual meeting. Bob Papp read out the Treasurer’s report on her behalf, which included income and expenses and budget for next year.
The lake over spent on Lake Management expenses this year and it was mainly due to the hydoraking project.
$7K was collected in initiation fees from new members who joined the lake this year.
Bob strongly advocated to continue taking services of the bookkeeper, and said this was money well spent to keep the accounting records in good shape.
There was question from the membership – why Grounds & Facilities spent was $6000 less than budgeted. Bob responded this money was spent on other upkeep of the lake such as the hydroraking project.
Ralph Obenauf asked about digitizing the lake records. Bob responded there are lot of records and it’ll probably take the whole summer to do it. There was discussion on who can do it and if we pay kids to do it during the summer.
Clubhouse and Grounds – Mike Gilmore
Mike Gilmore presented the reports for Clubhouse and Grounds.
Starting in March, about 25 dead Ash trees were marked and taken down.
Aquatic Technology, who manages our lake, was engaged for the Hydro-Raking project. They go out in a special boat and scoop out organic matter from the lake. This was the biggest lake management expense for 2017. The lake has signed a two year lake management contract with Aquatic Technology. Mike Gilmore said, next year he wants to focus on the stream that flows into the lake from east.
Geese have continued to be a nuisance to the lake. 8-10 geese have made their nest here and will continue to come here. Will get permit next year to addle the eggs. Spraying will continue in addition to addling. Tall grass as a buffer around the lake will benefit by catching all pollutants to go into the lake and also prevent geese to come out of the water.
Beaver trapping season starts Dec 1st and the lake will get a permit to trap the beavers again. Last time, the beaver trapper put 3 traps on Hickory side and 3 on the other side by the Welsh’s. The traps were reset by people. Mike requested the membership to stay away from the traps.
Ralph O. – Requested the board to run educational programs on beavers.
Miklos – Asked if we could check the traps. Mike responded saying the traps are under water.
Pat Stiles Hills said the board should send a communication to the membership letting them know that it is against the NJ law to tamper with the traps.
Bob Papp said, do not disturb the beaver lodge. It will make it worse.
Pat Stiles Hills said she was concerned about one tree by the clubhouse and another one by the dock. She added the dock at Hickory needs to be replaced.
Clubhouse – Chris Lelli
Chris was absent at the meeting, his report was presented to the membership.
This year the plumber replaced pipings, fixtures and the hot water heater at the clubhouse. The clubhouse has been winterized for the season.
Next year the board plans to replace water filter, fix the lights, and finish painting of clubhouse.
The surveillance camera system also needs to be installed and new members “Ryans” have volunteered to help.
Lisa said she brought a new lock to lock older shed. Lot of tables get borrowed and not get put back. We do not have the budget to buy new tables. We will be putting a lock on the shed with access only for board members.
Lifeguards – Maggie Potter
Maggie was absent at the meeting. Her reported was presented to the membership.
Payroll process is being improved by using the ADP mobile app. The app has also helped in managing scheduling. The swim ladder was replaced. A new kayak was purchased for the lifeguards. The lifeguards rescued two lives this year.
In 2018 – the beach umbrellas will be under a lock and let out under supervision of the lifeguards. Members need to sign in and check out the umbrella from the lifeguards.
There was a discussion if it is the Lifeguard’s job is to rake the beach. Mike Mclaughlin clarified on this – lifeguards focus is on lives in the water. Peg Harmon asked whose job it is to pick up toys, paper cups etc. Mike responded the members have to clean up after themselves.
Social – Lisa Kutchaver
Lisa presented the social report to the membership.
April – Egg Hunt
Tricky Tray – organized by Dee Papp had low attendance and very small donations.
Memorial Day Potluck organized by Cynthia had good response from new members.
June – Yoga
July 4th – 225 guests in attendance.
Aug – Lisa chaired Adult party 90 attendees Taco food truck photo booth.
Sep – Omelette Sunday by Peg Harmon
Labor Day Potluck – Cynthia
Beer fest – Mike M / Ken Campbell raised a lot of money for lake restoration
Truck or Treat – Halloween
Adult Halloween Party – Cynthia / Dan
Campout – had to be cancelled
Movie nights – Washed out by rain Sing and Secret Life of Pets Thanks to Chris Lelli
Lisa said, we need people to volunteer and step up for social. She said, she’s willing to oversee, but need people to form committees to run it. We need volunteers, or else we won’t have any social
Donna Marlowe said, she will volunteer to chair Water Quality. She said, she’s also willing to help on social.
Corresponding Secretary – Lisa Kutchaver
Lisa got a big round of applause for her outstanding work on Newsletters throughout the year.
Sunset Lake Wear – Lisa made sweatshirts with Sunset Lake logo. All proceeds went to the benefit of the lake. Sue Hart was wearing one at the meeting.
Pat Stiles Hills recommend next year we can do aprons.
Membership – Cynthia Freund
Cynthia presented the membership report and reported the lake had 7 new members this year.
Total Membership stands at 123 total members.
Cynthia said, she rewrote membership application to make it easier to understand. Distributed lake information to local realtors to attract more members.
Garage Sale – Cynthia asked the membership if there was interest in reinstating the garage sale. The response to this was not very favorable.
Current members – distribution of tags, swipe cards for parking lot, new decals.
There was a question from the members about how many members we lost. Cynthia responded probably 7, so it was an even wash.
Cynthia said, there are probably 5 swimming pools within 5 miles of Glenwood terrace. She suggested holding a social event to invite swim club members for membership drive. Prospective members ask her why they should join the lake instead of pool. Cynthia said, they always get excited when they hear about the social events.
Water Quality – Open
The Water Quality position remained open for 2017. The board shared the responsibility to do all the required water quality tests and there were no incidents to report.
Standing Issues
- Membership Limit – The board proposed we keep the membership limit at 150. All in favor.
- Budget 2018 Approval – Jim O’Connell made a motion to approve the budget, all in favor.
- Dues – The board recommended keeping dues the same at $675 + tax. Ralph proposed to raise the dues. Mike M. said the board discussed increasing dues, but instead decided to propose instituting a work bond. Tony made a motion to keep dues the same, all in favor.
- Work Bond – Mike proposed a word bond of $100 or 4 volunteer hours per year, and said this can be looked upon as an opportunity to donate instead of volunteering. Mike requested a discussion on the floor. Members said, with a work bond there’s a risk of losing members. Diane Harper suggested we start with 2 hours per year. People suggested $50 / 2 hours. Jonathan asked, do we know how many people are on Facebook. About 120 to 130 members of the FB group, but there are several members from same family. Is there a motion for $100 / 4 hours, Jim O’Donnell made a motion for $50 / 4 hours work bond. If it’s an issue of volunteerism, Bill suggested communicate properly this year and do the work bond next year. Jim modified his motion to a non monetary Work Bond of 4 hours which will be tracked. Tony seconded Jim’s modified motion. 2 against – rest all in favor. A motion was passed for a non-monetary work bond with every family contributing 4 hours towards volunteerism every year. It was decided the hours will be tracked on a Google Doc against a task list.
Election of Board and Officers
Bob Papp announced that after 7 years of service on the board, he’s stepping down. The members gave a big round of applause for Bob’s outstanding work in straightening out the accounting records and the accounting and tax process for the lake.
2017 Executive Officer Positions
The nominating committee proposed the following be elected as trustees for a new three year term: Mike McLaughlin, Harshal Limaye, Helder Christavo, Rob Bolte (to fulfill Chris Lelli one remaining year.)
No nominations from the floor. The board accepted the nominating committee’s recommendations. All in favor. .
The nominees for the five officers positions for 2018:
Michael McLaughlin, President
Mike Gilmore , Vice President
Lisa Kutchaver, Correspondent Secretary
Harshal Limaye, Recording Secretary
Mona Ragazzo, Treasurer
A motion was raised, seconded and passed all in favor to approve the officer positions recommended by the nominating committee.
New business
- COLA – Lake Mohawk Country Club 9AM Panel discussion with lake management experts. Bob Papp plans on going and he urged people to join.
- Elect Donna Marlowe for Water Quality. All in favor.
- All notices must be posted via email and not just Facebook, as not everyone is on Facebook.
- Diane Harper brought up that kids should be allowed to fish at the lake and she noticed that some people were a little too hard to them and asking them to leave if they were not members.
A motion was made, seconded and approved to adjourn the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 3:44PM.
Members in attendance
Mike McLaughlin
Mike Gilmore
Jim and Sue Hart
Cynthia Freund and Ed O’Hare
Ilona E. Kahl
Marie Comerford
Robert and Dolores Papp
Anthony and Katherine Patulo
Rosemarie Brusyo
Joanne and Ralph Obenauf
Donna and Kevin Marlowe
Corrine Legge
Daniel Adams
Harshal Limaye
Lisa Kutchaver
Jim O’Donnell
Diane McBride
Pati and Geoff Hills
Kathy Bolka
Joyee Rogina
Larry Perez
Miklos Ruschak
Diane Harper
Bonnie Digrius