The Escape E.P.O.A. Office (570) 857-9090 P.O. Box 282 Green town, Pa. 18426 Fax (570) 857-0490 July - August 2010 Issue Emergencies (570) 857-9090 Manager's Column By Alice Trunzo, CMCA Time flies when you're having fun. It's difficult to believe that the summer is almost over and we couldnt have had better weather for boating and swimming or just relaxing in the community. We did install and have the heater working at the Marina Pool and everyone seemed to enjoy it even though this was one of the warmest summers I've experienced here in the Poconos. And thanks to the generosity of property owner Ralph Filieri who donated a heater for the Southerton Pool. That pool was also heated as of July 31st. Many thanks to Mr. Filieri for his kindness that will be enjoyed by our residents and their guests for years to come. Our lifeguards are under the direction of Jennifer Berger and have done an outstanding job keeping everyone at the pools safe. We follow the Red Cross Water Safety guidelines and all our lifeguards are Red Cross Certified Lifeguards. While our lifeguards may be young they are responsible for the safe enjoyment of swimmers at our pools. They do periodically enact time outs for children running on the decking and/or minor behavior problems and, in these instances, they have the authority to do so without interference from a parent or older sibling. We do appreciate your cooperation with all pool regulations so these instances of bad behavior are few and far between. One of the projects I promised the Board of Directors that I would do this winter is a total evaluation of all your amenities and facilities in order to produce a Capital Replacemenl/Reserve Study. Reserve items usually include items that exceed $1000 in cost but a Board might decide to raise this cost to $2000 and everything else is considered just an annual maintenance expense. A reserve study is based on the age of a facility, the average life expectancy of all its components, and the replacement cost. Each year the budget should include the portion of capital replacement funding for all components of facilities so that when the time comes for that component to be replaced you have the money to do it without going out for a Special Assessment. For instance if you have decided that the roof on the Marina building has a fifteen year life expectancy and the total cost for the roof is $20,000 you should have been putting aside $1333.33 each year so that when the fifteen years are up you will have $20,000 to replace the roof. On the fifteenth year you evaluate the roof and find the replacement can be put off for another year or two the funds remain in your Capital Replacement Fund for that purpose. Your reserve study will be a big job as it will include pools, all buildings, infrastructure (lines) for the water and sewer plants as well as pumping stations, control panels, water towers and everything that makes your community function. Don't get excited over the overall cost of a Capital Replacement/Reserve Fund as very few communities are fully funded. However it is time for a comprehensive plan. This is the first Wallenpaupack Lake Community that I have managed and when I came aboard in February management had been involved in obtaining a retroactive non-standard shoreline use permit for work replacing the former railroad tie wall at the area of your boat launch that had already been constructed. Before receiving PPL's retroactive permit I had to receive approval from the Pike County Conservation District who was representing DEP's interest in the shoreline. After all information was submitted we did receive the retroactive permit that satisfactorily resolved this old violation. After a storm on March 14th we experienced major erosion on our roads and numerous fallen trees including some trees at the Marina area that had fallen on clubhouse cable and phone lines. Management contacted PPL on March 17th to let them know we needed their forester to come on property to obtain approval to take down additional trees that were dead. Yes, I had considered the fallen trees an emergency and documented their condition with photos. I was wrong. Even an emergency has to be approved by PPL and I received a notice on April 14th that I was in violation for unauthorized vegetation removal. I was notified that PPL would evaluate the damage done to their property by this unauthorized work and was cautioned not to do any further work on PPL property whatsoever. On April 19th I responded to this violation noting the severity of the storm and the emergency nature of the tree cutting along with photos of the damage and fallen trees. On July 10th I received PPL's evaluation for this unauthorized vegetation removal. We were fined and the breakdown includes the following: $104.00 for costs of consulting forester; $0.00 for damages to unauthorized vegetation removal since all 25 trees were dead when cut and, therefore, had no ornamental value; I can't dispute the cutting of 25 trees in 2010 as I had only worked 13 full days for your association when this occurred; I don't know when 25 trees were cut down but I don't believe it all happened by mid-March of this year; $1260.00 in replacement costs for replanting 6 white pine trees; $315.00 to cover a three-year Maintenance Agreement. In addition to the fines we were notified that five of our gravel paths exceed 5 feet in width and must be reduced to required width; this will be done before winter sets in. the bonfires we used to have on PPL property are considered uncontrolled burning and must be discontinued. We were required to clean up the area of the bonfires and this was done by July 15th. Our swim dock was found to be approximately 42 feet long which exceeds the 20 feet permitted. We will have to reduce the size of our swim dock before May 1, 2011. Additionally PPL permit tags were not displayed on the swim dock and on all sections of docks including fingers. We are in the process of having our permit number stenciled sprayed on all docks and fingers and will send documentation to PPL. PPL definitely is the authority for our permits on their property at our Marina and we will proceed with correcting all noted violations before the time required. The Escape is under a licensor (PPL) and Licensee (The Escape) agreement that is renewed annually at a fee of $3,998.00. The Marina is a huge part of what The Escape is and we don't wish to incur any further violations that might jeopardize our license to have docks on Lake Wallenpaupack. Since I am the responsible agent for The Escape the buck stopped at my desk for all these violations. No work will be authorized on PPL property adjoining our community in the future without required permits being in place first. As noted in President Brennan's article your election ballots will be returned to our independent auditor's office. As a manager of community associations for many years I steer clear of involvement in your election process that is guided by your By-Laws. Good luck to all ten candidates running for the four open positions. Collection activity is continuing and many of those delinquent property owners have opted to go on payment agreements. Payment Agreements are offered only for a term of one year on delinquent balances and all current maintenance/utility & dues have to be paid when due. A property owner is not considered a member in good standing until all delinquent payments are satisfied. I will proceed in filing civil complaints at the local magistrate's office against those delinquent property owners who are not paying their fair share of the expenses of the community. Shortly after arriving at The Escape I began receiving complaints that those residents served by the Long Court Well would be without water service after a power outage. The controls on all wells are the same and are programmed to reset and then restart after a power outage. Gayle Corporation who supplies our pumps and technical service first thought the controls had to be reprogrammed which was done. It worked for a short time and finally we decided to replace the control pump that resolved that problem and the Long Court Well pumps are now resetting and restarting after a power outage as they should. Recently I was notified by various residents on the elevated portion of homes serviced by Long Court Well that they were not satisfied with their water pressure. Since that notification I have found that a water system improvement permit was approved by DEP in the early 2000's that should have resolved all pressure problems. We called in our local DEP representative and are currently involved in having the engineer who designed our system review the design and recommend a resolution to the low water pressure some residents are experiencing. Just as we corrected the restarting of the Long Court Well pumps we will resolve this latest problem. Join us for the Labor Day Flea Market on Sunday September 5th from 9AM to 3PM. Plan on reserving a table by calling the office as there are a limited number available. Additionally if you wish to participate on an individual basis from your home call the office and we will list you on a map to be handed out at the office on Labor Day Weekend. We will also issue a balloon for you to place at your driveway that will let people know they can stop to look at your fleas. This way you don't have to cart your stuff to the flea market at the Roundhouse and still get rid of Aunt Harriet's ceramic white elephant. Remember, one man's junk is another man's treasure. Enjoy the rest of the summer and stay safe. President's Message: I hope that everyone is having a good Summer. The weather has certainly been hot enough to enjoy the lake and the EPOA amenities. We have had some concern over the amount of water that has been used on weekends. It would be helpful if the residents would refrain from washing cars and watering lawns on weekends when the demand for water is the greatest. If that doesn't help, we may have to post water restrictions on the weekends. There will be a change in the Fall election procedures this year. All ballots will be returned by mail to the office of our Auditor Mr. Owens. You will not be able to return your ballot to the EPOA office. This change is being implemented so as to remove any suspicion of impropriety with the election. There are four openings on the Board of Directors this year and we have ten petitions submitted for these openings. Progress has been made on the Attorney General's case and although it is just a draft resolution, we hope to have some definite information to report at the September 4th meeting. Our manager has been busy sending notices to all delinquent property owners in an effort to bring these accounts up to date. Most of the property owners have contacted the office and have set up payment agreements in an effort to bring their account up to date. For those of you who may not have heard the announcement at the July 10th meeting, the Board is happy to report that our Insurance Company has sent us a check in the amount of $16,354.06 to cover the monies misused by our previous manager minus our $500.00 deductible. This money has been deposited back into the EPOA Operating Checking Account. Some other projects currently being addressed by the Board are: Seeking Bids for Tarring and Chipping of the roads. Working with KB A on the Equalization Tank Updating of the EPOA By-Laws Water Pressure on the Long Court Well With the end of the boating season coming up quickly, I would like to announce that there will be a meeting for all dock owners on September 4th at 1 :OO PM at the Marina Building. I hope that you enjoy the remaining weeks of Summer, and I look forward to seeing you at our Membership Meeting on September 4th at 10:OOAM. Robert Brennan President NOTICE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY THE MARINA CLUBHOUSE WILL BE OPEN FROM 9AM TO 7PM OR TO COINCIDE WITH THE HOURS OF THE MARINA POOL CLOSING." ; IT WILL BE OPEN AT OTHER HOURS ONLY FOR SCHEDULED EVENTS. By BOARD OF DIRECTORS NOTICE A DOCK OWNERS MEETING WILL BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 4TH AT 1:00 PM IN THE MARINA BUILDING NOTICE SEPTEMBER GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING SEPTEMBER 4TH AT 10:00 AM IN THE MARINA BUILDING. NOTICE FLEA MARKET FROM 9AM TO 3PM CALL OFFICE AT 857-9090 FOR DETAILS. Architectural Report: The Architectural Committee has the responsibility to protect all of our residents, property values and neighborhood appearances. The way we do this is to require that property owners fill out a project request. These requests are free, but if a project is done without this no-cost project request the homeowner will be fined $100.00 or more, depending on circumstances. Please apply for a project request before doing any work on your home's exterior, driveways or placing a shed. in 2008 the Pennsylvania Legislature passed the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act. The law requires that all contractors who perform at least $5,000 worth of home improvements per year register with the Attorney General's Office. As of July 1, 2009 consumers in Pennsylvania have been able to verify a contractor's registration by visiting the "List of Registered Contractors at www.attorney general.gov, or calling their toll-free hotline at 1-888-520-6680. Respectfully,. Len Jardon |