Smith Trust Owners Association
www.southshoreowners.com
Meeting Minutes – July 16, 2020
Opening Meeting:
The meeting opened at 6:31 PM. There were 22 attendees and three Trustees (Leanne Withrow, John Picard, Steve Morin) present. Agenda and detailed proposals can be found in a slide presentation ~ Available upon request.
Thank You’s:
Bruce & Susan McDougall – painting the mailbox
Mark Wolfendale – patching the road and fixing the ice dam
Phil Kane – road digging and cones
Chris Waterworth – digging the trench
Craig Erikson – digging the trench by hand
John Picard – road and ice dam repair, digging the trench, loaning equipment
Steve Morin – road repair and filling the puddle
Rick McNeill – creating Right of Way signs
Rick Caldwell – managing our website
Carolyn & Rob Dustin – road clean-up & alerting the police about drug paraphernalia
Al Campbell – clearing the road of brush and grass and beach wall repair
Joe DiNicolzolo – Donating cones
Scott Godin – Enormous undertaking of the road repair, cutting down fallen trees and patching the road
Angela Harkins- tracking and reporting financials and setting up Zoom meetings
Adrienne Keane – taking minutes
Community members that built the walkway behind the Withrow’s house and dock helpers Welcome New Families to the Lake
David Hyman
Proulx Family
Not mentioned at the meeting, but also new:
o Brenda & Mark Godin
o David & Mary Kay Tanner
Reminders
Website (www.southshoreowners.com) and our private Facebook group (Smith Trust Owners at LIP)
Approval of Previous Year’s Minutes
The attendees accepted the minutes from June 14, 2019 without any changes.
Road Sign
Rick McNeill created a new “Smith Road to South Shore Drive” road sign. Will replace the temporary
green town Smith Road sign.
Road Repair
Successfully completed updating of the corner of South Shore & Smith in Oct 2019 by EJ Paving.
Addressed drainage issues on Smith Road earlier in year for an approved $2500 cost.
Emergency repair near the mailbox will be done by Scott Godin beginning 7/17/2020. Will pave full width of road – 170 feet length x 20 ft. Equipment and labor are donated, so we will save money. Scott is experimenting with a new approach that we will continue to use if proven successful.
Capped expense for materials at 7,000. Process is:
Cut asphalt full length
Remove asphalt will be discarded for free
Scott to pave each side so we will have an area to drive. We may need to drive on a section of dirt gravel/while repair underway.
Need volunteers during asphalt
Expect delays during this time
Second phase to remove large rocks will follow the upper road repair. Will use removed dirt and gravel to fill each hole, then cold patch.
Plowing
During 2019, we contracted for $5200 flat rate with Boyden Landscaping after reviewing multiple bids, some over $10,000. Boyden Landscaping offered the least risk and best services for the most competitive price.
Trustees are in the process of securing our plowing contract for 2020-2021 winter.
Thank you to Phil Kane for his excellent plowing of the road during the last several years.
Volunteer Opportunities
Continue Volunteer Day on second Saturday of the month April – October. Meet at 8:00AM at the
beach.
We have many things we need to maintain and improve and need community volunteers to pitch in.
Future Goals
Assess and streamline insurance expenses – research better rates.
Culvert repair – identify and prioritize repairs. Unclog where possible.
Homogenize our name – we are referring to our Trust in several different ways which can be confusing.
Identify and implement committees so we can accomplish more. We need more help.
Questions, Concerns & Suggestions
Concern: Money collected should go to road. Not all home owners may be part of Smith Trust beach.
o Road was originally all Smith road, created by George Smith in 20’s. Trust grants us road use and access to our homes – including access to the beach and Right of Ways.
o Engineering map on website shows Trust and there is a 1924 map of the Trust that is referenced in the Trust Deed.
Question: Are there any wetlands issues to consider with culvert repair? We had engineering completed and we have permits done.
Question: Have we considered doing a wetlands assessment? Town never identified the vernal pool that was removed when the house on Smith Road was built. Town has not assayed wetlands on or near private roads.
Suggestion: Julia Steed Mawson has a County Forester comes to assess the health of her trees. Other community members can have him assess their trees at same time. Could consider for Smith
Road, but would need to include the Smith Road land owners in the discussion.
Question about offering a proxy vote for any homeowner who cannot attend meeting. Discussion around how to educate homeowner on topics being voted on, if homeowner is not present at meeting.
Motions
Raise the road dues by $50 to $400 beginning with next year’s billing by Scott Godin, second by Bruce McDougall. Motion tabled to next meeting via Zoom by Julia, second Tim. Motion to table until September passed unanimously.
Actions
Add Smith Trust 1924 Smith Trust map to website.
Determine if the town has an updated wetland assay that includes private roads.
For next meeting, add a “Dues Amount and Reapportionment” topic to the Agenda. Consider having “Dues” as a standing agenda item.
Schedule a February meeting for a mid-year Zoom update.
Talk to neighbors to make sure everyone has access to Zoom.
Schedule a September meeting to discuss options to raise dues and apportionment, motion and vote. Anyone whose dues are paid in full can vote per the Trust.
Explore best way to do a virtual vote via Zoom for next meeting.
Adjourn:
Adjourned meeting at 8:16 PM.
Minutes written by: Adrienne Keane
Minutes Reviewed by 3 Trustees & approved: 9/28/2020