Call to Order: President Pelonero called the meeting to order at 6:31 PM. The meeting is being held in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, 11th Edition, and the SRPW Governing Documents and is being recorded.
Pledge of Allegiance was led by President Pelonero.
Opening Prayer was led by Jack Easson.
Roll Call of Officers and Trustees:
Joanne Matina, Lore Hultz and Bernie Ernst were excused; Carol Scherm was absent at time of roll call but arrived afterwards. All other Officers and Trustees were present.
President Pelonero thanked Mayor Carmen F. Amato, Jr., Councilwoman Judy Noonan and his staff for their attendance at this meeting. He then introduced Mayor Amato.
Guests from Berkeley Township included:
Mayor Carmen F. Amato, Jr.
Councilwoman Judy Noonan
Councilman-at-Large Keith Buscio
Councilman-at-Large John Bachione
Code Enforcement Officer Ken Anderson
Animal Control Diane Laird
Fire Prevention Official Jack Wiegartner
Engineer Ernie Peters
Police Chief Karin DiMichele
Mayor Amato reported that Berkeley Township has the lowest taxes in Ocean County and the 27th lowest in the State of NJ out of 565 communities. S&P upgraded the bond rating for Berkeley Township to AA-; Berkeley is being fiscally responsible. Mayor Amato stated that there would be no municipal tax increase for Berkeley Township this year; Berkeley schools as well as Central Regional school taxes also are not going up this year. The golf course was also privatized saving us money. Packets were provided to those in attendance regarding services provided by Berkeley.
Other topics discussed were:
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Knowing your Neighbor- Expired drug drop off 24/7 at Police headquarters
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Contractor fraud
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Accident reports can be picked up at Police
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Headquarters or through cardfax.com, crash.org
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See Something Say Something campaign
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Thefts in our community – lock your car
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Camera registry
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Fire Dept. inspection of every building in twsp.
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New and updated web-sites
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Traffic Department
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Houses being rehab’d brought up to code
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Support communities to continue as 55 & older home ownership
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New ordinance prohibiting feeding of wildlife which includes deer, skunks, coyotes, waterfowl, raccoons, ground hogs and stray cats
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Property tax benefits administered through the Town and the State of New Jersey
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Sidewalks and curbs are the responsibility of the Homeowner
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Judy Noonan instituting/working on a new program to utilize veterans to help those in need of minor chores
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Summer Concert Series
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Scams to be aware of
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Computer virus issues
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Nixel, reverse 911 system to receive messages from township
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Special Needs info needs updating yearly
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Speeding in our community
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Tip and e-mail hot line
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Resale/rental inspections are done by Codes; homeowner approval letters; Clean/Lien Program
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Sound the Alarm program through Red Cross
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Arrangements for your pets should be made in the event you become hospitalized or incapacitated dogs and cats need to be licensed every January and do go door-to-door to conduct a census of pets at each home
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Passed an ordinance prohibiting the sale recreational marijuana and paraphernalia
Mayor Amato thanked the Board for allowing him and his staff to attend this meeting to update our homeowners on what is happening in the township.
Correspondence: Received a request from Silver Ridge Park First Aid Squad for a donation, which we will take up at the Board of Trustee meeting that follows. We also received a thank you note from Green Drop & Purple Heart for the donation of items that were left over from the rummage sale that was arranged by Barbara Fedeyko
Attendees: Barbara Gannon reported that there were 33 homeowners in attendance at our May Quarterly Homeowners meeting. We did not have a quorum.
Minutes of Preceding Meeting: Minutes of the February 11, 2019 Quarterly Homeowners meeting were held over for approval at the Trustee meeting to follow since we did not have a quorum.
Treasurer’s Report: The 1st Quarter Report for 2019 was read by Treasurer Lorraine Romero.
A question about the Sentinel mailing fee income was made by Mary Nye; this is the income from homeowners who do not live here purchasing a subscription to have the Sentinel mailed to them. Lorraine Barbalinardo had a comment that is was nice to see a plus as an end result instead of a minus figure. There being no other questions, the report was accepted as read and will be filed in the library and will be printed in next month’s Sentinel.
Trustee Reports:
Section 1: Lorraine Barbalinardo reported that a homeowner passed away and the house looks abandoned. Lorraine Romero responded that a letter was sent to the family requesting them to contact the office and there has been no response yet. Lorraine Barbalinardo had a phone number and she was going to make a call.
Section 2: Joe McCurnin has one complaint about tree branches that has been taken care of.
Section 3: Kathleen had one call about not receiving the Sentinel. She checked with the office and her address was included on the mailing list. She was advised to check with the Post Office.
Section 4: Jim Egan had to check out a home on Eton Road with a water shut off issue due to a leak while the resident was hospitalized.
Section 5: Harry Walker received two calls and both issues have been resolved.
Section 6: Carol Scherm had a couple calls. One was about the person living on Northumberland where the parents passed away; Carol gave a brief explanation of what is happening there but the neighbors are upset. Another vacant home was also rented on Northumberland.
Section 7: Mary had a call about sprinklers that kept going off on Northumberland where the homeowner was not home. The homeowner’s emergency contact was called by the office but no response was received. Mike suggested that their sprinkler company be contacted; most times their neighbors would know what company they use.
Section 9: Rosemary reported all was quiet.
Section 10: Jack got a call from someone on Whitmore Court who said there was a hole on the street; Jack tried to contact Berkeley’s Department of Public Works but no one answered. He received another call about a fire hydrant on Langley Road with a bag over it; when the homeowner called Suez Water, they were told that it was leaking. He also received a call about a car from Whitmore Drive parking their car on Herald Court. After speaking with the Whitmore Drive homeowner, the car was moved and then was again parked on a different section of Herald Court the next day. It seems the car belongs to a nephew who comes every few weeks and works for the Army.
Section 11: Elizabeth had calls about branches and trees down, dogs running loose and tires in common ground, which was removed by the homeowner. Mike asked that Animal Control be called whenever they receive calls about dogs running loose. There is a home on Bassett Drive with 6 dogs and there is another one on Basset Drive with a messy back yard.
A brief discussion ensued about the number of pets someone can have. This will be covered
Architectural Control: Since John has been under the weather, Mike reported that approval for roofs, windows, a sun room, patios, driveways and solar panels have been issued in the office. We need volunteers to help out with Architectural Control. Everyone is reminded that they need to get approval from the Clubhouse on any work on the exterior of their home before work begins.
Common Grounds and Forestry: Mike has been going out and checking things out when we get a call. We do need volunteers to come forward to handle this.
By-laws: Jim Egan reported that the Covenants & Restrictions and By-laws have been approved by the Board for distribution to homeowners shortly so that we can schedule a vote within the next couple of months. President Pelonero advised everyone that we will be having a special meeting on Monday, June 10, 2019 at 2:00 pm with our attorney present to address any questions that you may have. The only items that will be discussed will be the covenants and by-laws; Radburn law information has also been incorporated into these revisions.
Codes: No issues.
Recreation: Barbara Padellaro reported that a pancake breakfast was held on Thursday, May 2, 2019, for the VFW veterans that were here for their monthly meeting. They served approximately 19 veterans who enjoyed this experience; a thank you to the volunteers who helped with this. On June 12th, a trip to Hunterdon Hills Playhouse will be held to see the play “Over the River and through the Woods”; tickets are still available. We are working on something for September which will be in the Sentinel once things are finalized. We are thinking of having a one day extravagance with the Christmas tree lighting, the chorus, luncheon and some entertainment, which will take us through the end of the year.
Jim Egan then thanked the Recreation Committee for the wonderful time they had that day and they enjoyed it immensely.
Unfinished Business: Barbara Fedeyko reported that the Rummage Sale/Bake Sale/Kitchen was another success. $1,874.98 was the amount we raised; an additional $18 came in after the sale was closed out and those proceeds were given to Barbara Gannon for the food bank. One area is that we are in need of volunteers, particularly men to help with some of the heavier work. It was amazing as to how many donations we received; things we don’t sell got donated to the Green Drop/Purple Heart.
New Business: Mike thanked all of those who came forward to run for Officer and Trustee spots that were available. Without these volunteers we would be hurting. Rita Palacios then read the election results: Officers: President, Michael Pelonero; Vice President, Rita Palacios and Treasurer, Lorraine Romero. We need a volunteer for the Secretary position. Trustees: Section1, Nanette Ferrara; Section 3, Joanne Matina, Section 5, Tony Berardinelli; Section 7, Mary Nye; Section 9, Joe McCurnin; and Section 11, Elizabeth Wismann. Congratulations and good luck to all! These results were posted on the clubhouse front door and will be included in next month’s Sentinel.
President Pelonero announced that all homeowner and trustee meetings will be held at 2:00 PM on the second Monday of the month. Several requests have been received about changing the time of our meetings year round. A vote will be taken at the Trustee Meeting since we have no quorum at this meeting.
The Annual Report will be filed in the minute’s book in the library.
Our accountant was here today with our yearly financial report; we are in good shape and need to keep it there. A copy of the report will be placed in trustee mail boxes for review.
Announcements:
The due date for the June Sentinel articles was Friday, May 10. Reorganization meeting will be held on Monday, June 3, 2019, at 10:00 AM where the new officers and trustees will be sworn in. A big “thank you” to our outgoing trustees, Lorraine Barbalinardo, Kathleen Cuttingham. Harry Walker and Rosemary Bahooshian. Robo call sign-up continues to be on-going. We still now are in a general need of volunteers, specifically Secretary, Sentinel editor, Architectural Control, Common Ground & Forestry, etc.
Good & Welfare:
A homeowner questioned who was in charge of the kitchen downstairs; Mike replied that it is an Association kitchen. Whoever uses the kitchen should leave it in the same condition they found it in. Another homeowner asked if the cabinets were fixed yet and they were was the answer. The shelves in the cabinet still need to be taken care of.
Another homeowner asked what the Radburn Bill was. Mike replied that is was a law passed by the State of NJ in October 2017 that changed the way some of our by-laws work. It gives us the opportunity to fine homeowners if dues are not paid on time, the way dues are collected; how elections are held, etc.
A homeowner brought up the condition of the pool tables downstairs and that they need refurbishing. Mike thought that tournaments with other communities were going to be scheduled a few years ago; that didn’t pan out due to lack of regular players, etc. The need for refurbishing will be looked
The President requested a motion to adjourn the Quarterly Homeowners meeting. A motion was made by Kathleen Cuttingham to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Harry Walker. All were in favor, motion carried, Quarterly Homeowners meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Rita Palacios
Secretary