November 9 Special Meeting

[Mark Bernacki]

October 29, 2024

Dear OLSBA President Diane Duhaime.

My wife, Maria and I are owners of 59 Sea Spray Road. In my professional capacity I am the Town Clerk in New Britain. As part of my numerous responsibilities I am also the Clerk of the Common Council and am one of the chief election officials.

We received the OLSBA email dated October 27, 2024 regarding a November 9 Zoom Association meeting to vote on an additional $6.8M bond resolution for the water, sewer, road improvement and drainage improvement project. The project vote should not be held via Zoom. The OLSBA Charter and By-Laws are specific and require Association meetings be held in Old Lyme. They also specifically prohibit absentee ballots (remote voting) requiring absent Association members to give their proxy vote to another Association member that will be attending the meeting. The Town of Old Lyme also requires town votes be held in-person at Old Lyme Middle School, the same location OLSBA holds our meetings.

In 2012 the process of voting for the $9.7M infrastructure bond was laid out, in detail, by Atty. Santoro. Members were checked in by CPAs and Association members, were given ballots to vote, and their ballots were supervised as they deposited the ballot into the ballot box. Why will this same procedure not be followed for the November 9 meeting?

A huge number of Association members attended the June 16, 2012 Special Meeting at the Middle School. Prior to the vote, all Association members received information detailing the proposed project, a lengthy debate occurred and over two thirds of the entire membership voted in favor of moving forward with the $9.7M infrastructure project. Each member would be responsible for a cost of $28,000 - $41,000 (June 16, 2012 meeting minutes) and would be payable over 20 years.

According to the October 27, 2024 OLSBA email it was also stated that we must authorize MORE bonding otherwise there would be negative consequences. According to Martin Merritt there are some estimates exceeding $130,000 per property and members would also be responsible for decommissioning their septic system and hook up to the sewer system. This can run tens of thousands more.

Martin also stated with the Point of Woods sewer project some home owners refused to connect to the sewers. My wife and I spent over $25,000 for an engineered system with a submersible pump. We currently pay approximately $300 every 3 years to pump out our tank. The Board or WPCA estimates that 10 years of annual sewer charges would be $5,000 (10 X $500). This is way more than the $900 we are paying for the same period of time.

The impediment seems to be an open ended, ever expanding cost for the project. Since Connecticut Water installed the year round water for free there are hundreds of thousands of dollars that is freed up from the original bond.

A NO vote on additional $6.8M bonding resolution does not stop the project. Other options must be discussed to get these costs back into being fiscally viable for our members. While the Association overwhelmingly voted FOR the project in 2012 it is imperative the entire Association participate in an in-person vote and the super majority will dictate the outcome.

Sincerely,
Mark Bernacki, 59 Sea Spray Road