December 2023 Board Meeting Recap
The RomeRock Association held a meeting on Saturday, December 2, at the clubhouse with the following directors present: Scott Soble, Nadine Pope, Bob McClintock, Rory Marshall and Mark Dougherty. Also present was RRA Office Manager, Wendy Carley.
President, Bob McClintock called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. and the invocation was given by Wendy Carley, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Bob welcomed everyone and gave a brief update on recent board activities. He advised members that the board has been working on developing the 2024 budget in recent weeks. It was an even bigger challenge than usual because we were without the expertise of long time Office Manager, Pat Sowry. Dawn Franklin, our new part time office assistant did an excellent job of wading through the many accounts and with help from board members, we were able to pass the budget for 2024, which will be $1,674,000.
We know that this process includes many pieces and parts. There are employee wages and benefits, taxes, road improvements, fuel, equipment payments and maintenance, utilities and buildings, pools and a lake to maintain as some examples. When I first joined the board, I had no idea it was so complex. I think that is because things are taken care of so seamlessly that it’s hard to notice the individual pieces of the whole picture.
Bob also congratulated Joyce Misinec for being named the statewide Hospice Volunteer of the Year by the Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice.
Minutes from the October 7th meeting were approved and Bob advised us that the next quarterly Treasurer’s Report will be available at the February 3rd meeting.
Standing Committee Reports:
Legal: Scott let us know that we have no pending legal issues. Nadine reported for Financial and Collection that we are investigating working with the village and/or our legal counsel to find a method to settle many of our long standing delinquent accounts. Our new computer system will be able to automatically notify residents with delinquent balances and add late fees. Dave Ernes reported for Lake Management that both Aqua Doc and EnviroScience have given him their year end reports and he will be preparing a summary to post to members. Planning for 2024 has already begun and will be discussed further at our February Meeting. We are looking into ways to lengthen our dredging season while still protecting the lake from stirring up excess nutrients. Dave also let us know that there is a sub committee working with a consultant to look for grant opportunities to assist with our bigger projects. As a note, there were several questions from the audience regarding the need to discuss dredging in more depth at each meeting. This is always a subject we address under Lake Management and we will attempt to make all possible information available to those present. Our three year dredging plan is in place and was discussed in length at our last Annual Meeting. This plan, however, must be flexible to allow for changes in circumstances on our lake. Lake Safety: Rory reported that our committee has been working on revising and clarifying our lake boating regulations. We are continuing to work with the village to have a police presence on our lake next summer. The focus of both our Lake Patrol and our Police Officers is to educate boaters to keep our lake safer for everyone out there. Steve Kaufman, our Village Liaison, told usthat the council is working to develop a plan for our new water tower and has created an infrastructure improvement fund. Duane Helms has received his class 2 sanitation certification. The Council will be considering a road ban from February 15 until April 15 and will review fines for non compliance with the road ban. Mike Peterson reported that there is one new case that was brought to the Board of Review last week. Under Building, Facilities and Amenities, Scott reported that the board is planning on replacing dilapidated fencing by the clubhouse. There are also plans to pave the parking lot at beach two next spring. Several other capital projects are also being considered. Rick Brothers let us know that last month’s Bingo Night at the Shores was a huge success and will hopefully be held again in January and February.
Under Administration/Personnel, Scott reported that long time employee David Sayre is retiring January 2, 2024. We have hired Justin Szalay to take Dave’s place in the maintenance department. Nadine wanted to thank Dawn Franklin, Wendy and Jen for all of their hard work implementing the new computer system and assisting with the budgetary process. Bob reported that the Strategic Advisory Committee will be presenting information regarding their work creating a new Building and Maintenance Committee.
Under Club Reports: Mark Dougherty reported that the Polar Bear Club is hosting Breakfast with Santa on December 9th. He thanked everyone who came out to help decorate the clubhouse. (It looks amazing). Mark also asked that whoever took the commercial baking trays from the clubhouse after an event please return them so they can be used next Saturday. He also reported that the Polar Bear Plunge will be held Saturday, March 9th. Jim Fell reported that the Volunteer Committee is planning a project for next spring to help improve beach two.
Joe Eardley from the Strategic Advisory Committee gave us a presentation concerning the formation of a Building & Maintenance Review Committee. The SAC has spent several months researching this project that began when the village requested that the RRA resume their role in exterior building review. The RRA will take a role in the permitting process (along with the village) and assist in upholding established community standards. The board will be taking member applications to serve on this committee. Applicants should be an RRA member in good standing for at least 5 years and be able to demonstrate familiarity of residential housing and community development. They must be willing to actively participate in related duties for their full term and not be a vendor or contractor of any type serving Roaming Shores. Much more information will be available to applicants. Please contact the RRA office at 440-563-3170 if you are interested in picking up an application. We want to thank all SAC members for their work creating this committee. The meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m.
Nadine Pope, Secretary
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