GACPT Annual Meeting
September 24, 2022
2:00 p.m. Gilford Library Conference Room
Meeting Minutes
Trustees: Kathleen Butler, Jose Diaz, Kimberley Staaf, John McGowan, John O’Brien
Moderator: Deb Sullivan
Administrator: Lily Rausa
Deb reviewed her role as moderator and how the meeting will run using modified “Robert’s Rules”. Agenda will be adhered to. Questions at the end unless they are needed to clarify items on agenda.
Trustees introduced themselves.
John M reviewed the budget briefly to show how annual dues were calculated. The budget was reviewed line by line at the budget review meeting in August and the proposed budget including increases and special assessment was voted upon to be presented on the ballot for this meeting at that time.
Questions were addressed about the cost of repairs to the gate. Was there insurance coverage? It was damaged by acts of “God” and time. It is over 15 years old. What would happen if a special assessment is voted down. It would have to be paid out of our money market account.
Ballots are collected at this time. Lily will count as the meeting progresses.
Kathleen reported about the waterfront. Beach clean-up day was successful and Properties by Pete , our new landscape company, has done an excellent job. New cleaning company also did an excellent job this season. Kayak racks have been expanded and are full. Jim Guzman built 3
new racks. Please do not leave any vessels on grass. Nothing should be left on trailers. Only place dinghies on mooring racks and racked SUPs, canoes, kayaks, etc. Racks will be numbered for next season and we ask that members email with their name and number of racks they are using so we have a record of it. Bath house had a few days of bathrooms not working, Penco will address that in the off season. Shrubs will be trimmed every other year, so next year the shrubs at the waterfront will be trimmed for the view to be kept in compliance with the State of NH waterfront regulations..
Al Herte was concerned that the gate will not be opened for the Aquatherm company to be able to turn on the water circulator. They will be allowed access. Also, the ruts at the bottom of the driveway need to be filled in and the swale needs to be dug out. That will get addressed also.
Joe Malloy had a question about why the gate needs to be closed for the winter season. The insurance company has requested for liability reasons it remain closed.
A member had a question about if we would ever consider hiring a lifeguard. No lifeguards will be considered for the beach.
Howard Epstein asked if there are “no trespassing” signs at the gate. There are signs at the sides of the beach to not trespass on Lakeshore Park and Samoset, and at the gate to
only allow GACPT members, but not “no trespass.” His opinion was that then we could leave the gate open.
Tom Kelly, commented that an open gate is an invitation to trespass. If the insurance company asked to close it, why would we leave it open and expect them to consider a claim if we had one.
Jack Kelley, Harbormaster, gave a mooring field report. There was improvement in the amount of use. There is a continued requirement of having boats on moorings June, July, & August. If members cannot use their mooring, Jack has been able to allow other people on waitlist use of moorings for a short term. There is a secondary issue of the size of boats in the mooring field
and the layout of the mooring field. It was designed for 19-21 foot boats and with people trying to upgrade it is difficult to meet the needs. We cannot change the mooring field. Mooring holders are also asked to shorten their lines as they replace them to 5’ lines instead of 6’.
John Baxter will replace the top decking on the dock next season. The whole dock will need to be replaced in the next two or three years. It may be even sooner than that. Mooring chains and shackles get changed on a 3 year rotation. Waitlist is now 97 people long. There were five turned over this past year. The list is updated on the website in the spring and fall each year.
John M reported about the new security system on the existing gate and bathhouses. It has been well received and the camera system has been useful.
Tennis courts now have a lock on them, but people still bend the latch.
Pickleball lines will be added for next season.
Jose reported about the newer town policy about the noise ordinance and if it has been helpful. It has had some beneficial effects in the Acres. Gilford PD will issue a warning, then $100 fine, then $1000, fine as needed. All info on Gilford Town website.
John M reminded members that there is NO USE of AMENITIES to short term renters, less than 31 days. If that policy is violated, members will lose their access to the gate and amenities.
Kimberly gave an insurance policy report: We use Cross Insurance. We have used them for over 20 years, possibly more. Our insurance is adequate.
Cost is approx $7800/year and covers the following:
Property for Bathhouse
D&O policy for board members and other volunteers
Umbrella policy for land and beach
Personal injury
Crime- guards money so board members can’t abscond with funds
General liability
Kimberly reported about research she has done with insurance companies looking to replace the raft. When the former raft was removed it was discovered at that time that it had never been insured. There have been inquiries from members to replace the raft with something of the same kind, something inflatable, or an inflatable trampoline. Also there have been inquiries about putting a swing set with a climbing wall near the beach area. Cross reached out to 16 different carriers. 13 immediately declined. The others gave quotes for a wooden raft beginning in the range of tens of thousands up through $50K plus. Trampolines were in every case declined for coverage as a safety liability.
Kimberly did extensive research to more insurance companies outside our own agency. There was information shared about neighboring communities who have trampolines that may not have disclosed that information to their insurance companies. Kimberly mentioned a quote
from the trust documents that states, at no time shall the assets of the trust be placed in high risk. The trustees feel that the risk and cost is too high at this time.
Because of the efforts put forward by both the Recreation Committee and the Trustees, if asked, the Recreation Committee will be given the documents to complete from the insurance company with the specific information they need to move forward if they so choose. They will then need to come up with a quote and if they would like to move forward with a motion to add a swingset or raft to add to the budget for a vote of all members in the upcoming years. Kathleen, John and the other Trustees have met with the recreation committee twice this year and have reviewed the requirements with them. No motion was made at this annual meeting and nothing seconded by any members so nothing will be discussed at next year’s annual meeting.
Kimberly & Jose have worked with the Green Space committee. Kudos to the committee. They provided a very well thought out and comprehensive proposal to the board. The trustees are currently discussing the proposal and a decision will be made in the next month or so by the board.
The floor is opened to questions.
Ryan Shevis asks: Is a NH boat registration required in order to be put on the mooring field waitlist? No boat registration is required. To be on the waitlist, you have to be the property owner of record.
Can short term renters access the greenspace? There may be some confusion about what the green space is? There is no use of the amenities, tennis courts, basketball courts, or beach areas.There is no allowance for camping in greenspace etc. It would be hard to monitor use of greenspace between properties by renters.
There is a comment to correct the discussion of the time of the noise ordinance. Noise complaints should be reported to the Gilford PD at any time. Time of day is taken into consideration based on what is reasonable by them, Officer Vansteenberg reported. Fines are incurred to the owners. Fireworks do have specific hours. He also commented on the no trespass sign and keeping the gate down. Read the laws of criminal trespass in NH. It could become a criminal offense.
Jan Spry thanked the Board and Jack Kelley for having the mooring field open earlier. She also expressed gratitude that the beach had much less traffic and was much more pleasant to be at this year without short-term renter access.
Could there be considered a time limit if you aren’t on your mooring by a certain date then you forfeit your mooring. Are PWC allowed to be on mooring balls out deeper and taking up a space that a larger boat could use? Is there a history of this?
Pickleball lines- Will there be different nets to use? No new nets will be purchased. Just lower the nets we have. If anyone wants to volunteer to set up a pickleball group or club to get people playing, please let the trustees know.
Results of voting
Beach operations budget including special assessment- passed
In Favor-103
Opposed-25.5
Mooring operations budget- passed
In Favor- 113
Opposed- 12
Trustee for three year term
Kathleen Butler- continues for another three year term
97.5
Hailey Bateman
22.5
Any new business or motions discuss or presented
Two items were emailed into the board
Change the annual meeting to May. History is that this was recently voted on in 2016 and changed to October with a unanimous vote 151-0 so that the annual meeting would line up with the budget review.
Budget items should only be voted on by the membership.
Any monetary expenses should be voted on by all of the membership
A budget meeting was held to discuss and approved by members as stated in the trust document.
No major policy decisions can be made by trustees without approval from membership. No changes to operations can be made without approval from the membership. These two motions can be made and seconded. Not done.
The trust documents state that the trustees have the responsibility to do the following, among other things: To use any and all income derived from the Property to hold, protect, maintain, operate and improve certain property and assets of the said Property, in that order and the trustees shall administer the property for the beneficiaries. The elected Trustees shall be responsible for the general operations of the Trust.
Deb reviewed the process of motions. Motions are made, a person can support them, seconded, then they can be added to the meeting for discussion for next year’s meeting.
The point was raised that there are no by laws, but a trust document. Should this be changed? The trustees do not support this at this time, but members can make a motion at a meeting.
A member did make a comment to compliment the board and moderator for the work done to make this meeting run well.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting and it was seconded.
Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted.
Kathleen Butler