Birch Island Residential Property Owners Association
Minutes of Executive Meeting of May 3, 2007
Present Home Cottage E-mail
Orland French President (613)969-8354 359-1074 ofrench@lks.net
John Curley VP, Web Master (613)549-1021 359-5085 JohnCurley@gmail.com
Sharron Curley Secretary (613)549-1021 359-5085 Sharron.Curley@gmail.com
John Feltmate Director (613)824-1833 359-5831 feltmate@ican.net
Bob Cavanaugh Director (717)249-6195 359-5461 cavenagh@dickinson.edu
Regrets
Ralph Robertson Past President 359- 5427 ralph.robertson@sympatico.ca
Alice Howarth Treasurer (613)216-7120 Alice_Howarth9@hotmail.com
Bill Johnson Director (570)784-1178 359-6000 wjohnson570@nationi.net
Chuck Laudermilch Director 359-1078 cclauder@ptd.net
· The meeting was held at the Curley’s, Kingston and convened at 1:30 pm.
* Email for Alice is Alice_Howarth9@hotmail.com
1. Minutes & Action Items from meeting of Sept. 3, 2006
The minutes were reviewed and approved. The action item list was updated with items brought forward as required.
2. Treasurer’s Report & Membership Fees.
Alice emailed her latest figures. As of the general meeting, the balance on accout was $4948.61. As of Sept. 2007, the account stands @ $3892.61. Motion to set this year’s annual fee @ $40. Moved by J. Curley, seconded by John F., carried. This will be communicated to members in the upcoming newsletter.
3. BIRPOA and possible absorption of Sand Lake Assocation.
After some discussion it was felt that the best route to follow would be to see the Sand Lake Association meet and agree to dissolve. Any monies on account would be returned on request. Anyone interested in joining BIRPOA would be welcome. We suggest they look at the BIRPOA website and individually decide based on our areas of interest.
4. Parking area at end of Township Road
Orland visited the area in question and felt that with some grading and gravel a nice sized parking area could easily be made. The width of the road allowance is 66 feet. There would also be a no parking area sufficient for snowplows etc to turn around. He will talk to the municipality and suggest this be considered as Birch Island’s request for a “road improvment grant”.
5. Septic Tank Re-inspection Program
The municipality will be running a pilot program this year. John Feltmate will find out further details on selection of areas, the actual approach and who will be doing the inspections.
6. Membership Drive
The spring newsletter will go to all island property owners and we’ll hope to attract new members. Other activities will be discussed at the next meeting. Bill Johnson had some excellent ideas in the past. There were 5 cottage properties change hands last year. A personal visit by a BIRPOA member to welcome them to the island was suggested.
7. Spring Newsletter
Orland will be drafting the spring newsletter. Sharron will do the mailout. John Feltmate will contact the township for an updated list of property owners. The newsletter will also encourage people to provide their email addresses.
8. Signage & Trails
John Feltmate noted there are a few areas where signs are still required. He will follow up on this. The cost would be under $150. We will find out from Alice who has ordered individual signs and whether they paid in advance. Some trail maintenance costs were incurred this winter as a large tree had come down on a pathway. Other trail costs will be improvements. The first step being to map out the trail boundaries. John Feltmate is lead here, assisted by John Curley. Once marked, we encourage anyone who wants to get a head start to go head.
9. Web Site Content & Backwoods Library
Bob Cavenagh has started several articles for the web site. He is also planning to build a structure at the rear of his property for a “library” and will provide books as well. This would be for the use of everyone and donations of books are welcome. John Feltmate is poised to get a sign made once given the go ahead.
10. Upcoming Events
The annual general meeting will be held on Sunday, August 5.
The next executive meeting will be held on the island on Saturday, June 16th.
Orland mentioned there will be Labour Day festivites at John’s Falls as well as many other activities in the area - all part of the 175Th Aniversary of the Rideau System. An explanded Author’s Fest will take place on July 21st. A new book “Lock Up” is currently being launched. Each chapter deals with a murder set on the Rideau as contributed by various authors. Orland is a contributor with his story set at Jones Falls.
11. Tax Assessment Data
John Feltmate and John Curley gathered taxation assessment data from MPAC and other sources. They were able to get the data for 57 cottages and 16 properties. John Curley analyzed the data and derived a simple formula that could be used to estimate an assessment. If the result was well off the estimate then the owner should take another look. On average, the assessments seemed fair applied with some anomalies noted. The formula to use is $80,000 + $60/sq ft of home.
12. Rideau System as a World Heritage Site Meeting
John Feltmate attended this meeting on Nov. 22nd. Well over 100 persons were there with many others turned away if they did not have an invitation. He noted that most of the attendees were representatives of towns and municipalities along with chambers of commerce. Very few individuals. A presenter from France talked about their experiences as a world heritage site. He cautioned there may be many restrictions coming out of this designation. The status will not be announced until June. John’s report on the meeting will be posted to the web site.
Action Items
Orland French
• Talk to Glovers regarding posting of web site address on Marina bulletin board
• Spring email
• Follow up on request to township for improvements to boat ramp/parking area
• Phone calls to non-members
John Curley
• Post privacy policy.
• Draft advertising policy
• Check with Alice for latest on paid members; split up list of non-members
• Provide Orland with graph of assessment
• Look into dock fees coming from Parks Canada
• Mark trails for maintenance
Alice Howarth
• On going treasurer duties
Update on individual signage requests
Sharron Curley
• assist Orland with spring email
• review brochure & web site - reasons to join the association
• post newsletter to web site with provision to archive newsletters
Bob Cavanaugh
• Status of emergency fire pumper and servicing maintenance bill; advice of Fire Department
• Boating column (when time permits)
• Phone calls to non-members
John Feltmate
• Process etc. for Septic Tank Pilot Re-inspection program
• Mark trails for maintenance
Chuck Laudermilch
• Talk to Glovers re: improvements to dock cart area at marina
• Phone calls to non-members
Bill Johnson
• Membership drive plans
Ralph Robertson