BLPOA Newsletter

Summer 2009

PRESIDENT’S NOTES:

As I write this newsletter, we’re enjoying temperatures in the nineties and the weather- men are calling for a good amount of sunshine for the coming week. What a difference from the start of summer when we all thought it would never come!

Earlier this summer, we experienced the resignation of Jan Consolmagno, our Vice- President and John Kelley, our Treasurer. I’d like to take this moment to thank them for their contributions to the BLPOA and for making the transition to new volunteers a smooth one. Under Article III- Section VII or our bylaws, the Board of Directors has the responsibility to fill vacancies on the board for unfilled terms. We were very fortunate indeed to find someone as qualified as Karen Johnson to volunteer as our new Treasurer. Her qualifications are as follows:

Bachelors in Business Administration from Northeastern University with a major in accounting and a Masters in Business Administration from Suffolk University.

Welcome aboard Karen!

I’d also like to thank Bob Williams for filling the Vice-President’s post and hope he decides to volunteer for this for a longer time period in the near future. He will be running again for his present position as a Director. With the technology age upon us, and so many of us going south for the winters, it’s become clear that solutions are needed to streamline the BLPOA paperwork as much as possible and to try and minimize the workload for our board members. In many cases, the old methods of sharing data were nonexistent and difficult at best. Some of our board members, including myself, needed data they couldn’t get. We will shortly be choosing between different systems we want to use but the bottom line is that we will be able to access our documents from almost anywhere, keep them more up to date and share our work with each other.

This subject leads to the September 5, 2009 Fall Membership Meeting. This is the meeting where the membership chooses Directors and Officers to fill the positions that are up for election. This year, you’ll be considering people who are running for six Director positions and four Officer positions. As this Newsletter goes to print, we are still looking for someone who is interested in being our Vice-President. I’d like to point out that the person who assumes this position will simply be helping the President from time to time, taking an interest in what goes on at meetings and learning all about the BLPOA. Nominations will be accepted at the September meeting in accordance with our bylaws and I hope someone will consider joining us and filling this important position.

The Fall Membership Meeting is also the meeting where the proposed budget for the coming year is presented to the membership for vote. The "Call to Meeting", the Absentee Ballot and the budget are at the end of this newsletter.

Don Chapman, our Director in charge of Erosion Control and Water Quality has decided to call it a day after many years of serving in one capacity or another on the BLPOA Board. We all owe him a debt of gratitude. There are a lot of members who don’t know how things might have been on Belleau Lake had it not been for people like Don serving on the Board. Taking their work for granted would show a basic lack of understanding of the relationship between what your Board does and what you have come to enjoy. We need some of the younger people to step up to the plate and learn from these people what needs to be done to preserve the lake and our property values. If you haven’t considered this, you should. The value of your property depends on it. Please get in touch with us to see how you can help. After September 5^th, no one will be doing what Don Chapman did.

Valerie Blomstedt
President
Belleau Lake Property Owners Association, Inc.

MILFOIL TREATMENT

This year, Lycott Environmental Inc., a licensed contractor, treated Belleau Lake on Monday, June 15, 2009. They treated 34.5 acres. We all knew before they arrived that it was going to be a bad year for milfoil. After three years of heavy rains, one year with two washed out roads dumping a foot of silt into the lake, the phosphate level encouraged rampant growth of milfoil. With the cost of the herbicide 2,4-D going up and various other factors, having our own milfoil harvester is happening just in time. Next year we have no choice but to have Lycott treat a much larger area in an attempt to bring the milfoil under control.

As far as the six divers who signed up are concerned, on Sunday, August 9, 2009, Captain Nemo (a.k.a. Joe Arnone) and his crew of two (COUNT THEM), two intrepid divers (John Couch and Lorraine Rosenthal) braved the depths of Mercy’s Cove to remove 30 gallons of milfoil. A small number of volunteers teamed up in their kayaks as tenders to assist John and Lorraine in removing the bags of milfoil and taking them to Joe’s boat as well as to skim any pieces of milfoil floating about. A guardian boat stood watch at the entrance to the cove to prevent any motorized craft from entering. As of the writing of this newsletter, they met again on August 13^th in Emerald Cove and harvested another 30 gallons and again on the 16^th^. A great big thanks from all of us to John and Lorraine for volunteering to make this effort as much of a success as it could be. The only problem is that there have only been two divers against a world of milfoil. Lorraine has made the statement that the two of them will never be able to do the job alone and that from what they’ve seen while diving, we can kiss our property values goodbye unless we get a handle on this. THIS IS NO JOKE!!! We need YOU to volunteer NOW!!!

We’re almost ready to get our milfoil harvester boat involved in the battle. Joe Arnone and Jim Tries have each devoted an enormous amount of time getting the boat ready for launch! Bill Golonka has also spent a great deal of time on the fiberglass work, Bill Silver rebuilt the motor and Bob Grant has worked on the lighting. John Couch has pulled double duty with his ideas. While there isn’t enough space to mention everyone, there are quite a few others who’ve contributed their time and energy to this project. We are so blessed here on Belleau Lake to have so much talent!!! We need more help though. While there have been some new people who’ve answered Fran Fruhbeis’ call for help, we need a lot more people to do the job. There just aren’t enough of us to win the battle!! PLEASE UNDERSTAND WHAT’S AT STAKE HERE!! Get in touch with Joe Arnone or Gordon Rhyner and lend a hand!

THE ROAD AGENT SPEAKS:

Jim Powierza

The BLPOA has had a real problem this year when it comes to hot topping driveways. Lakes Region Paving has done paving improperly on our roads, not only violating our bylaws, but town and state standards as well. Even after warnings have been given and I’ve explained to the company and the people having the work done why our roads will wash out and become impassable if they don’t follow the guidelines, this company has continued to break the law. Be forewarned that while you seem to be saving money when you hire this outfit, it will cost you at least $1,000 to repair what they’ve done. Our bylaws state that the homeowner is responsible for any damage done to the roads. A permit is required from me to put a driveway in or to change an existing driveway. These permits are free. Below are the pertinent bylaw articles you need to know:

BLPOA BYLAWS: ARTICLE X- SECTION III: DAMAGE TO THE ROADS

Owners of property abutting Association roads are responsible for damages to the road caused, directly or indirectly, by the property owner, their agents, employees and invitees. Owners shall also be responsible for damage caused by erosion or water coming from their property onto the roadway. If repairs are not undertaken promptly, and pursued to completion in a timely manner, the Association shall have the power and the authority to undertake such restoration of the road and shall assess the cost thereof to the property owners, including attorney’s fees and costs.

ARTICLE X- SECTION IV; DRIVEWAYS

Owners of abutting property to these roadways have the right to pass over these roads. To come and go to their property. They do not have the right to damage the roads, or unnecessarily increase the costs of road maintenance. The entry onto the roadways to/from the property must be of sufficient design and construction as to not allow water to flow onto the travel portion of the roadways.

New Construction: The owner of the property wishing to construct an entry onto the roadways must submit a permit application to the Association’s Road Agent, including a sketch of the pro- posed driveway design, and obtain a permit from the Association’s Road Agent prior to starting construction. Such design must conform to the Association’s then current specifications and standards, which shall include not discharging water onto the travel portion of the roadway, nor interfering with the flow of water along the side of the roadway. An appropriate sized culvert with a minimum diameter of 12 inches, and a minimum length of 20 feet may be required. The driveway constructed must conform to such specification and standards.

Existing driveways: If any driveway or access is, or becomes, a potential threat to the integrity of the roadway, or its surfaces, ditches, embankments, bridges, or other structures, or a hazard to the travelling public, by reason of situation, flooding, erosion, frost action, vegetation growth, improper grade, or failure of any culvert, drainage structure, or any other feature, the Association, its Road Agent or other designee, may issue an order to the landowner or other party responsible for such access/driveway to repair or remove such hazardous condition and to obtain any and all permits required therefore. The order shall describe the hazard, prescribe what corrective action or alteration in the location or configuration of such driveway or access shall be required, and set a reasonable time in which the action shall be completed. Such an order shall be sent by certified mail.

In regard to the above, plunge pits are NOT there to put your trash and leaves in. Please clean in front of the plunge pits so that the water can go in. If the plunge pits are full, it will cause flooding and erosion of the road, sand in the lake and, you guessed it, a breeding ground for milfoil. Take care of and respect your lake.

2009 DAM OPEN - A SUCCESS!!

Surrounded by weeks of rainy days, June 13 turned out to be the most beautiful day of June for both weather and for golf! 45 golfers teed off at the Province Lake Golf Course in sup- port of the Belleau Lake Dam Association. In addition, 23 companies and individuals sposored holes or provided raffle prizes, including Red Sox tickets and gift certificates for food items. After golf, 43 other Belleau Lakers joined the golfers on the patio overlooking Province Lake for a delicious barbecue lunch and an hilarious putting contest. The tournament winners were Val & John Blomstedt, who credit their success to two "ringers" who rounded out their foursome.

Rick Gasbarro won the trophy as the

"Best Dam Putter 2009"

for his ability to putt a marshmallow and other assorted oddities. Thanks to all who participated and supported this fun-filled event. You helped the Dam Association to raise over $3,000 for its contingency fund so it’s prepared for an emergency. Check out our poster of pictures at the BLPOA Labor Day Weekend meeting.

WATER QUALITY REPORT

Belleau Lake Bacteria Test Results

E-Coli Bacteria Test taken 8/4/09

location

2009

1 South Cove

4

2 Assoc. Park

5

3 Narrows

3

4 Merci's Cove

6

5 Vachon Area

15

6 Emerald Point Cove

12

7 Moose Point

5.2

8 North end

6.3

9 Door Bay

10

(Number per 100 ml water)

By statute: For a Class A water body, the average of three samples taken at each point tested for E-Coli must be 47 or less, with no single result over 157, or 88 at a beach. With all test results under 30, follow-up test is deemed un-necessary. (E-Coli is from human, or warm-blooded animal waste, manure or leach fields. It indicates the possible presence of harmful microbes.)

YES,
THE BLPOA 2009
DIRECTORY LOOKS AS IF
IT’S GOING TO BE HERE

We’re hoping the directory will be available for the September 5, 2009 Fall Membership Meeting. Right now, things are looking good.

If you can’t make the meeting, get in touch with Gordon Rhyner at 522-3411 to find out how you can get a copy.

If you find any mistakes that need correcting or you would like to make an addition because something’s missing, please get in touch with John Blomstedt at rudoblom@dishmail.net or 522-9425 or Jennifer Rich at 522-6795 or Bruce.Rich@roadrunner.com. We try to make this directory as accurate as possible.

EMAIL ADDRESSES

If you know that you’re email address is going to change or you’re going to be moving, please let Gordon Rhyner know so that he can change what needs to be changed. This will save him a lot of hours of work every year and I know he’d appreciate it.