Call Meeting to Order at 7:00 pm by Nicole
President- Nicole Fitzgerald(Present) Trustee- Tony Spear (Absent)
V.P- Victoria Wilcox (Present) Trustee- Fred. Boogren (Present)
Treasurer- Frank Kren (Present) Trustee- Tess Cini (Present)
Secretary- Sandra Parker (Present)
Previous Meeting Minutes
August meeting minutes, we as a board and the attendees of the meeting, representing the community, took a minute to read over the previous meeting minutes. Nicole motioned for the approval of the minutes Victoria accepted and Frank seconded the approval, all other board members were in favor.
Presidents Report
I want to explain why we started posting the meeting agendas. I started posting the meeting agenda on Facebook so that the residents could see what we would be addressing at the meeting and take that opportunity to see if there is something on the agenda that they would like to be present for as it is addressed or if there is something that they would like to add to the agenda. This is a way to help the board work better for you as well as get the residents more involved with their community.
Our Secretary, Nancy, retired. We hate to see her go and she will be extremely missed, but let’s all wish her well. She has assured us that she is retired but will not be a stranger. Prior to the meeting, the board discussed who the new secretary would be. Frank motioned to vote for Sandra, Victoria accepted and Fred seconded, Nicole Abstained, all others were in favor. Let’s all welcome Sandra Parker as our new secretary. Just to let everyone know, we are doing speach to text meeting notes, so let’s see how this goes.
The association assessment/HOA bills went out early September and it is time to get busy collecting the dues now through October. The dues go to so many things such as:
- Street lights
- playground maintenance
- park maintenance
- building and structure maintenance and repair
- Snow and Salt for the winter
- Fun Events
and so much more.
Collecting the assessments/HOA dues also helps the treasurer find discrepancies in the system and fix them. Discrepancies such as misspellings, messed inconsistencies with the street, number versus the word etc.
There have been a lot of complaints again about some residents not securing or leashing their dogs. Per ByLaws and Frenchtown ordinance the dog must be on a 6’ leash, or a fenced in yard. This is for the safety of passers by as well as your animal. We had a tragic event occur that did not end well with two pups. Please do this, no resident wants to have to call animal control.
J & B Seal Coating, sealed the Bear Park Pavilion, the multi-sport area, and the basketball court. They did an absolutely wonderful job and it looks amazing. A huge thank you to J & B Seal Coating,
There is a lot that has to be done in the month of October, so the board discussed canceling the October meeting so that we could take that time and get things ready for Halloween. All board members were in favor, Nicole abstaining. Since the October meeting is canceled, this meeting will be our last until approximately March.
There will be a lot more votes that will happen in this meeting since this is the last meeting until approximately March.
We heard from special guests; Tom Friar, Ignacio Bijarro, and Shane Foster. They discussed Jefferson Schools and what their plans would be if elected. We appreciated their time to come out and share with all of us at the meeting
How the Board works:
- Something is brought to the board, by the board or resident at the meeting.
- The board takes the information, and then votes on what is proposed. Now, sometimes this can happen immediately or it may have to wait. For instance, the Halloween budget will be voted on; the majority will either approve it or they won’t and that will happen right away. Now, say we need to put a stop sign where some residents have said they would like to see a stop sign, then we will not vote immediately, a facebook poll will be posted to see how many people support it. If a lot support it, then we put the sign in.
- No single person can just make the decision. It is a majority rules, period
- We have Officer Trustees: President, V.P, Secretary and Treasurer, and then we have trustees of the board. This is explained in the by-laws and if you are interested in a recent copy, inbox or email us and we can get you a set.
There are things that are in our power to change
- landscaping,
- painting,
- park hours,
- What can be in parks,
- What time the parks are open and close
- Road Signs
That is just some examples.
Things that pertain to local and state laws (even though this is a private community) such as roads and otherwise, we cannot change and we are required to abide by them.
The Importance of Reserving the Bear Park Pavilion
You must reserve the Bear Park Pavilion. This is not anything new, it is something that they have been doing for years. It is a $100 check deposit that is never cashed unless the pavilion or park is left messy and we have to clean it up or things are broken and/or damaged. Reserving the pavilion protects you and the association.
You reserve it and then it is yours for the day. If someone is there, they have to leave, that cannot be disputed because you as the individual that reserved it have the rights to it, period.
It protects the association from full out of pocket cost if there are damages or clean up. Some people have big parties which leave big messes, that is normal but the party holder cleans it up.
So, Please, reserve it, go through the proper channels. The only thing that you have to lose is your party if you don’t reserve it.
Committee Reports
Financial/Treasurer Report (Frank)
Frank touched base on the approval of the 2022-2023 budget and how it was gone over, voted on and approved at the July and again at the August meetings. He also addressed the importance of the budget and the focus of staying within each areas boundaries (ie. office, grounds, law and order, snow removal, beautification) and that we are so far doing an excellent job at staying within those boundaries. Frank continues to monitor our bills and works to get the most affordable pricing; doing this all.
Frank discussed the importance of paying your assessments. He stated that this helps him fix any discrepancies in the system. He also extended his apologies for the typo at the bottom of the invoice, implying that we basically took no form of payment. Thankfully not too many people paid any mind to it. That statement has since been fixed and didn’t seem to slow this community down, because we are already $1000 ahead of where we were last year. This is saying a lot given the amount of money that we have spent this month this year compared to this month last year. Great job everyone
We are within the Halloween budget. So it is a go for ordering donuts, coffee, hot chocolate, and buying the candy. Frank stated that we also have extra in the Halloween budget to purchase visqueen to wrap for the Halloween gathering in the Bear Park pavilion.
Beautification/ Event Committee
Our beautification and events committee is in full swing. With Halloween approaching, the committee will be decorating the pavilion little by little on each weekend as Halloween approaches. They will not be putting the blow up decorations out until the last minute. Once Halloween happens, November 1st the committee will clean up and begin plans for Christmas.
The Beautification and Events committee has been discussing purchasing a real tree to be planted for not just Christmas, but the better of the community beauty. If you are interested in being a part of the beautification committee reach out to the us for more information through Facebook messenger, Text only# (734) 393-2765, email detroitbeach@sbcglobal.net or leave a message on our office phone (734) 289-4354
Building, Maintenance and Grounds
Our head of grounds is wrapping things up with the JAWS program. The season for being really productive is coming to an end. Grounds and Maintenance will assist beautification and Events committee if there is anything that they need assistance with in the off season, although it is not expected to be much. We may be needing volunteers to assist with the committee. Reach out to the us for more information through Facebook messenger, Text only# (734) 393-2765, email detroitbeach@sbcglobal.net or leave a message on our office phone (734) 289-4354
Law and Order Committee
There have been many complaints of blight. Let’s keep it clean, we all want to live in a nice and neat neighborhood. Blight will continue to go out as long as weather permits. If you need help, reach out, many have and have received assistance from the wonderful residents. It is easier to ask for help than to pay a blight fine. I am always looking for volunteers to assist with doing the blight.
Flood gates are not a boat launch. If it can be carried fine but anything that has to be pulled with any type of motorized vehicle is not allowed.
Just a friendly reminder, parking in the park’s parking areas is for the parks and for the OCCASIONAL overflow of guests you may have at your home, not an extension to your driveway. If a busy event is the case at your home, please contact us and let us know so that we can get your guests temporary guest passes that have to be returned to the office in the dropbox or in person if someone is available. If you are at a park to visit the park, please make sure that you have your pass in the window so that you do not get your vehicle towed or ticketed. We do appreciate your assistance and thank you.
The best neighborhood watch is everyone keeping an eye out, ears open and knowing who to contact if there is some type of issue at hand. Please, keep a vigilant eye on your surroundings. Call the non-emergency, (734) 243-7070, number for the police to look into suspicious activity, this phone number will get a car out asap according to Sheriff Goodnough. The tellthesheriff@monroemi.org is still functioning for things that do not require immediate assistance. Of course call 911 if there is an active crime, fire or medical emergency. This will help keep our neighborhood safe and looking nice and it’s almost like a type of neighborhood watch.
Ongoing Business
Bear Park is almost done. We most likely will not be able to finish this year, but early next spring hopefully. Most parks will be being re-surveyed so that we can get some visually pleasing landscaping in. We did discuss changing the speed limit on most of the roads that branch off of Edgewater, Bronson, and Grand.
Halloween and Christmas are coming and the beautification/ events committee may need some assistance. Please jump in and have some laughs while giving back to the community.
Just a friendly reminder, if there are any complaints that need to be addressed about any board member, please email detroitbeach@sbcglobal.net, Text only# (734) 393-2765, through Facebook messenger or come to a meeting. The messages must include the complaint against who, as well as the details, there also needs to be a date, time and your name and phone number. This is for legality and official purpose. No phone calls can be accepted for this type of complaint. Hearsay and personal vendettas are not applicable because of easily disputed legality. Not liking someone or having a disagreement is not a viable complaint, it is subjective and will not be accepted for legal purposes
New Business
One of the residents suggested selling hoodies and/or t-shirts that say “Detroit Beach Association” to go towards getting new metal benches put in at the parks. The board figured we would put a poll on this idea on our Facebook pages and see what type of traction we would get, whether the residents and others would be interested in doing something like this. We will revisit this idea at another meeting, but will do the poll.
Up for vote is:
- Planting a real Evergreen in Bear Park. Frank motioned for the vote on the real Christmas tree in Bear Park accepted by Victoria and 2nd by Sandra, All others were in favor, Nicole abstaining.
- Having Christmas on Saturday December 3, 2022 @ 6:30 pm. Motion was made by Nicole, accepted by Victoria and 2nd by Tess, all were in favor.
- (Just in case we cannot have a March 2023 meeting) Easter in Bear Park on Saturday March 25, 2023 at 1:00pm Frank motioned for a vote, Fred accepted and Victoria 2nd, all were in favor, Nicole abstaining
Holiday Event Schedule
- Halloween- Per Frenchtown hours of 6-8
- Christmas Celebration- @ Bear Park Pavilion, December 3 @ 6:30 (Tree Lighting Countdown promptly starting at 6:40pm, Hot Chocolate, Coffee and Christmas Music) Residents and their families
- Easter in Bear Park- March 25, 2023 @ 1pm (Easter egg hunt) Residents and their families
Public Participation
Connie brought up stray cats. I suggested calling animal control. Hopefully this helps the situation. Thank you again to Ignacio, Tom and Shane for coming out to share with the community.
Adjournment
Motion made by Frank, accepted by Victoria. All in favor. Meeting concluded at 7:36pm
