Minutes from the Oak Terrace Improvement Association Meeting-September 11, 2013.
The meeting was called to order by President Greg Denny at 7:04pm. Board members present: Jim Loring, Dan Griffin, Gregg Zink, Radu Roman, Rich Rieck, Frank Cirrincione, Dina Lepczynski, Al Johnsonbaugh, William Yarbrough, Greg Denny, Ramona Triebold, and Colleen Hodges. Members at large present: Ann and Ray Sipowicz, and Tracy Kleinschmidt.
Dina Lepczynski made a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes and to accept them as reported. Radu Roman seconded the motion. All in favor; the minutes were accepted.
Dan Griffin delivered the treasurer’s report. He stated that a resident on Elmwood has entered into a payment agreement with the OTIA. He also reported that Mr. Spears, a resident behind on payment, has brought his status up to date. We are still owed approximately $32,000 in back dues and special assessments with interest. Radu Roman made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report with corrections. Rich seconded the motion. The motion passed and the report accepted.
Greg Denny reported that a tree at Beach Park was damaged during a recent storm. The trunk was split and needed to be removed. Dave Gnadt cut up the downed portion of the tree and Dave Garcia and his employees cleaned up the area.
Radu reported the street signs are up and looking good. Final payment was made to the company who did the installation. It was decided the posts would be painted in the spring.
Greg Denny shared information he received from our attorney, Julie Jacobson, regarding the joining and splitting of PINs. As Greg understood the attorney, if a property owner splits their lots and converts to two separate PINs, each of those PINs would be eligible for one-half vote. Many questions followed as to how that would work and if that is the best resolution to this issue. Greg will follow up with Julie to get a more detailed explanation. The board members suggested inviting Julie to a meeting to clarify some of these issues for our membership.
Diamond Lake issues were discussed. Radu raised the question as to whether or not it is prudent to let someone else police our waters. Dan stated that he spoke to Diana O’Kelly regarding who has the policing power at present. After some research, Diana reported that Village of Mundelein has the power to police the waters of Diamond Lake. As Mundelein has recently adopted the same rules that our subdivision has, it was decided that asking the MPRD to police our portion of the lake would be a good choice for us. Margaret Resnick of the MPRD has asked for a formal communication requesting their assistance in policing and enforcing rules on our portion of the lake. Greg Denny will communicate with Margaret on this issue.
In an effort to continue to protect Diamond Lake, William Yarbrough suggested we become a presence at the regular MPRD meetings. The meetings are the second and fourth Monday, 7:30pm, each month at the Mundelein Community Center, 1401 N Midlothian Road. OTIA member, Tracy Kleinschmidt, expressed interest in helping with the communication with MPRD.
We received a thank you from the Lake Bluff Condo Association for the placement of the no wake buoys off Lakeview Park.
Radu shared some research he has done involving the removal of milfoil which is causing issues for users of the lake. He reported that there are two schools of thought on the ongoing problem. One faction believes there is no way to rid the lake of the invasive plant. The other feels that harvesting in spring and fall and treating with herbicide garners the best results. In his research, Radu found the cost of harvesting can run between $200 and $800 per acre. The lake is approximately 138 acres and we own one-eighth of that area. Radu made a motion to spend up to $1,000 on harvesting milfoil. More discussion ensued. Gregg Zink stated that he does not believe the harvesting will be effective and may, in fact, cause more growth from the cut plants. Dan suggested getting three bids for our specific area to present to the membership at the Annual Meeting on November 6th. The motion failed to get a second and it was tabled until the next meeting.
The board went on to discuss the issue of the spraying of the lake next year. Ramona stated she feels for us to be involved financially again this year, we must have some involvement in the choosing of contractor hired to supply the herbicide treatment. The board is in agreement with this assessment of the situation. This will also be discussed with Margaret from the MPRD. Gregg Zink suggested we raise the amount of money we are willing to pay for the process in order to help get a more reputable company to perform the service.
Colleen reported that she had contacted three landscape architects regarding the accessibility at Lakeview Park. In order to have an idea of the options for the property, a fee must be paid for one of these professionals to draw up plans. Rich suggested that his son would be willing to take on the design of this project. Some suggestions for the use of the park included: a gazebo, basketball or tennis courts, and swing set. We need to determine what uses we would like to have for this park, although the issues of accessibility and use are two separate issues.
Greg Denny suggested we start to do some research into the possibility of contracting a professional accounting service to handle our financial reporting and management. He would like to form a committee to screen three companies for presentation to the board. He feels it is time to move forward with this process as it is becoming an overwhelming task for the board to handle. This will be addressed at the next meeting.
There being no further business, Rich made a motion to adjourn. Jim seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:44pm.
Respectfully submitted by Colleen Hodges-OTIA Secretary
