October Board Recap

The RomeRock Board of Directors held their October board meeting on Thursday, October 1 at the clubhouse with all directors present. Louise Lisac called the meeting to order at 6 p.m. The meeting was held meeting social distancing guidelines and was closed to the public due to COVID-19 meeting guidelines.

The meeting opened with Cheryl Fain giving the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Minutes of the September meeting were approved. Treasurer, Scott Soble, did not have the September Treasurer’s report available for review as yet. He again explained the importance of collection of past due accounts and their impact on our ability to meet our financial obligations. Nadine Pope is compiling a list of delinquent accounts to turn over to our legal counsel for review. These members will be sent letters and given one last opportunity to either pay their accounts in full or make payment arrangements before legal proceedings are implemented.

Louise reviewed plans to implement a new Strategic Planning Advisory Council to help the board plan for our lake community’s future. We need a plan for the health of our lake, dredging, our pools, paving of our roads, equipment replacement and many other areas. Our community is too important to leave all of these details to chance and hope that they take care of themselves.  We have to plan for the future of our infrastructure and how to maintain and pay for it. We are pleased that several of our community members have volunteered to take on this responsibility and the council will be meeting in the near future.

We want to thank everyone who came to help out with Community Clean Up Day on September 26. A special thank you to maintenance employee Darren Savel for his assistance manning the frontend loader. He made everyone’s job easier.

Lake Management – The committee has been extremely busy reviewing possible solutions for our lake’s battle with algae. They are looking at many natural remedies that will help filter unwanted toxins from entering our lake, such as buffer zones and RL lots not being mowed, especially along the waterfront, which will allow the grasses to help filter what enters the lake. Lake Management is creating a survey for residents who participated in the Aqua Doc invasive weed treatment program this year. LMC is also looking at limiting dredging during July and August which should help to keep phosphorous levels from skyrocketing during the hottest months. Aeration is also extremely important and the many fountains that are popping up around the lake are helpful.  Please be sure to read the information that LMC posts in the eblast. It contains valuable information for all property owners. The decision was made not to lower the lake this year. Several factors were considered. Currently the lake can only be lowered a foot per week due to EPA requirements. It has not been successfully lowered in several years. Lake Management recommended not to lower it in order to better control algae blooms for next year. Finally, with Covid being such a stealer of activities, keeping our lake available for as long as possible for recreational use is a priority. Discussions will be scheduled for all pertinent parties to determine how a real lake draw down, like the ones that longtime residents remember, might be achieved.

Lake Safety – Rory Marshall reported that he was very pleased with the Lake Patrol performance this summer. They tried to educate those they stopped and explain what they were doing wrong. Some residents were not receptive, but for the most part, those who were issued citations at least understood why. Our hopes for next season are to have a police presence on our lake. This year the pandemic put a halt to our plans due to the necessary training for our police department being cancelled.

Our next meeting will be held Thursday, November 5^th. Unless guidelines are changed, this meeting will not be open to the public. Our December meeting, however, will be held via zoom for members to attend virtually.