March 2021 Board Meeting Recap

The RomeRock Association Board of Directors held their March board meeting on Saturday, March 13th at the Village Office with Louise Lisac, Rory Marshall, Scott Soble, Nadine Pope, Cheryl Fain and Rick Brothers present.  Dave Emick was unable to attend. This was a zoom meeting available to all members to attend virtually. The meeting was attended by approximately 35 residents.

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

Louise Lisac began the meeting with the President’s comments. She is hopeful that we will be able to meet in person in the near future, but at this time, we still must follow Covid guidelines. Our Annual meeting will be held virtually this year on Saturday, April 24^th.  The meeting will be held at the Village Hall and a small audience will be allowed to attend in person. Details concerning this will be published in future eblasts. Louise also addressed clubhouse rentals which are still currently on hold due to Covid guidelines. Our clubhouse does not fall into the classification of a restaurant or banquet hall, so those guidelines do not apply. Louise thanked members of the Polar Bear Club for finding a way to hold the plunge on a limited basis, because the funds raised are so important to our local students.

The February meeting minutes were approved, as were the January and February Treasurer’s reports. Payment of dues and assessments decreased substantially in February and  treasurer Scott Soble urged everyone to be sure to pay them before the May 1 deadline.

Randy Ruebel, our Maintenance Manager, was present to give an overview of what our maintenance department has been doing over the winter. In addition to snow plowing, maintenance and repairs are being done on much of our equipment. Roads are being cold patched and roadsides cleaned up from snow plowing. Plans for early spring are to remove the bathroom located at Lunar and Sunset and to put a new roof on the bathroom at the site of old pool 4. This building is now being used for storage. The seawall by the clubhouse will be replaced in early spring as well as some tree removal and stump grinding by the clubhouse.

Under legal Louise reported that the association has used the expertise of our legal counsel, David King and that of Kaman and Cuismano, a legal firm that specializes in homeowner associations, to be sure that we are correctly following Covid guidelines. It is much safer to reach out to experts to be sure we are handling things appropriately.

In our financial update Nadine Pope answered a question concerning delinquent accounts sent in by a resident. We are unable to provide an exact amount of delinquent dues and assessments because the 2021 payments are technically not past due until after May 1 and the total due is reflected on the bills. We are currently compiling a list of delinquent accounts that will have liens placed on their properties and reinstating liens that have expired. Our legal counsel is contacting some delinquent members as well. After May 1, we will be sending out collection letters. We have made a good deal of progress with collection over the past two years, and it is an ongoing process. These funds are extremely important to the association. They fund all areas of our community and it is unfair to those who pay on time to have to carry the load of those who do not.

Under Lake Management Louise explained the process taken to decide on hiring EnviroScience as our lake advisor. They have a long history with and a wealth of knowledge about our lake. They also do not sell product, but just recommend what is needed. They are currently reviewing past studies and will come up with a short term plan to treat symptoms and a long range plan to bring our lake back into a healthy balance.  A steering committee representing the RRA Board with two board members and representatives from Lake Management, the Fishing Club and the EAC will review all suggestions that will ultimately be sent to the board with the steering committee recommendations. Louise also noted that RL lots will need to act as buffer zones for our lake and will no longer be mowed by the association.

Dave Ernes advised us that it is up to all of us to help. Our properties. both on and off lake, have to act as buffer zones for things that go into and affect our lake. Our water testing procedure will remain the same this year with results being posted on the web site as soon as received and included in the following Monday’s eblast.

Lake Safety – Rory reported that new buoys have been purchased to replace those that were damaged and all buoys will be relabeled to specifically reflect their purpose – i.e. NO WAKE, or HAZARD AREA. When members come to the office to purchase their boat usage stickers, they will be given a key chain with both the Marina and Lake Patrol telephone numbers. This is a joint project with the Marina to help boaters to be able to contact someone in case of an emergency on the lake. They will be available after next week. If you have already purchased your sticker, you can stop in and pick up your key chain. We need to remember that our lake is a private lake and sharing of key fobs for entry to the lake is not permitted. These will be closely monitored this season, so please do not share with non members.

Another area of concern is guests on the lake. Please remember that the member is responsible for making sure their guests are properly trained in the operation of any watercraft that you allow them to drive on our lake. We had two serious accidents on our lake last summer and certainly don’t want to see that happen again. Please be sure to read our rules and regulations, especially our 10 Commandments of Boating, before you let anyone operate your equipment.

Louise thanked Dave Emick for his service to the board. He will retire from the board at the end of April but will still be active as president of the Fishing Club. Rory Marshall will continue to serve on the board for another three year term and he will be joined by Robert McClintock. Mr. McClintock told us he is looking forward to becoming involved in his community and hopes to make it his full time residence in the near future.

 Louise also welcomed Wendy Carley, our new part time office employee. Wendy will be helping with the operation of our office and serving as back up for Jen and Pat when they are not able to be there. Welcome Wendy.

Under Amenities Rick reported that we will be discussing pool openings and any changes in restrictions at our April meeting. We are hopeful that by then there will updates in Covid guidelines. We are getting information for resurfacing the tennis and basketball courts and will be looking at creating pickle ball courts. Rick is also planning to begin having New Member Orientations quarterly once restrictions are lifted. This will allow people who are new to the shores to meet with current residents and get information about our clubs and amenities.

Under the EAC (Environmental Advocacy Club), Dawn Longo is the new president and the club will have a report at our annual meeting. Thank you to Chris Lisac for leading this group during his time as president.

Our Strategic Advisory Committee is working to give the board input and future guidance by evaluating our amenities. What needs improvement, what are we doing right, what needs to be changed? We want to thank Joe Eardley and Steve Kaufman to leading this group. It’s still brand new but already a great benefit to our community.

Cheryl reported that the Roaming Shores Community Preparedness Club will be meeting virtually on Monday to discuss future programs.

Louise reported that a new club is being formed. It doesn’t have an official name yet, but we’ll call it the Neighborhood Cleanup Club for now. Jim and Sally Fell are heading this up to help make our community more beautiful. Help with painting picnic tables, weeding flower beds – things of this type that there isn’t always time for our maintenance crew to do in the summer when they’re busy with mowing and taking care of the pools and the lake. More information will be available soon.

Under STARS club – we are hopeful that we can have our annual Fireworks over the 4^th of July weekend. Thanks to all who have donated. No association funds are used for the fireworks. Please donate if you are able. Jen Addair is coordinating this year’s 5K Run and it appears it will be held in person with staggered starts. More information will follow soon.

Under New Business, upon recommendation of our lake advisor, the board voted to allow RRA members in good standing to contract with AquaDoc for invasive weed control in 2021.

The question was asked about having a Spring Clean up Day. The village has let us know it will be held on May 1 in the clubhouse parking lot. More information will follow.

Please remember that the Board takes your questions and comments seriously and will respond.

The meeting adjourned at 11:20.