POA Executive Board Meeting Minutes 9-14-2026

Pine Orchard Association
Minutes of Executive Board Meeting
Date: September 14, 2026

Board Members Present: Matt Barez, Kerri Beckert, Niall Ferguson, Vin Giordano, Terese Howey, Karen Jubanyik, Leslie Hopkins Peters, Thomas Roche, Peter Robinson (Office Manager), David Silverstone
Absent: Richard Greenalch Jr., Nancy Labanara, George O’Dowd

Call to Order
Meeting was called to order by Kerri Beckert at 7:02 pm. A Quorum of Executive Board members was established.

Approval of Minutes
Motion was made by Karen Jubanyik to approve the minutes from July 6, 2026. Seconded by David Silverstone. Motion to approve passed unanimously.

Treasurer and Committee Reports
By Laws – Richard Greenalch, Jr. not available and no action has taken place since our last meeting.
Treasurer – George O’Dowd not available but current expense sheet through August was displayed. There was some discussion on moving budget around, if required, and opportunities for spending less than planned but no changes were made.
Office Manager’s Report – Peter Robninson presented his report and then spoke for George on Tax Collections in lieu of his absence.
Tax Collection – Peter Robinson reported, and had a listing, of the 12 unpaid tax bills that were due by the end of July. No talk of a revised notice to the 12 delinquent bills.
Zoning – Tom Roche reported that only 1 permit was received since last meeting for a generator.
There was some concern over people doing work without permits and people making changes to their design or footprint after permit approval. We had further discussions regarding validating or certifying the “as built” configuration to make sure there are no height, square footage, setback, or any other zoning infringements once complete. Tom Roche and Matt Barez will follow up with our ZEO (Laura Magaraci) to discuss some recent issues and make potential recommendations or ideas to address them.

The Board also discussed replacing the flat $275 permit fee with a sliding scale, similar to the town’s approach, based on the value of the work. No definitive action was taken.

Another short-term rental case, recently identified on Airbnb, was discussed. The ZEO has been notified and will send a cease-and-desist letter to the homeowners. Kerri Beckert recommended emailing the Association another reminder about short-term rentals. Peter Robinson to send an email to the Association.

Nominating – No update provided on nominating, no action since last meeting.
Building – No update provided on the Building, Vin Giordano was a little late in attending and not present at the time, but no immediate concerns exist.
Waterfront – Karen Jubanyik reported that the two open projects for waterfront have been complete. The steps at Seldon required an added step at the bottom and there was some seawall repair toward the end of Island View Ave. There are currently no upcoming or open projects for our Shoreline maintenance. Signage was discussed at access points with no action taken.
Community Liaison – Terese Howey and Leslie Hopkins Peters reported on their meeting with the Police Chief, Jonathan Mulhern, and 1st Selectman, Josh Brooks, to discuss car and house break-ins and thefts. While only 6 reported incidents this year, the cars that were broken into were unlocked and some had keys in them, perhaps time for another community reminder but no action was taken. The police did warn that these criminals are experienced, probably armed, and most likely not local, the best prevention is to keep all doors and windows locked for the house and automobiles and to take your garage door opener inside with you as opposed to leaving in the car.
Beautification – Kerri Beckert provided an update on Spring Rock Road relative to irrigation and landscaping, as well as what effort the town is willing to participate in. She has talked to Josh Brooks twice and it appears to be a budgeting issue from the town’s perspective. Irrigation is the first priority, before landscaping, and it is still unclear if the town is willing to pay for water and if there is a meter required there or not. Kerri Beckert will follow up with Josh Brooks. Terese Howey dd volunteer to lead the beautification committee later in the meeting.
Long Range Planning – no update from Niall Ferguson.

Old Business
Kerri Beckert brought up Speeding on Pine Orchard Road. We have offered our parking lot to the police for monitoring, and they do use our lot on occasion, people are reminded to please drive the speed limit.

Kerri Beckert brought up the flooding under the train tracks on Totoket Road and mentioned that the town did do some work on the area and drainage has improved recently. After the monster storm we recently had it drained within a few hours after the rain stopped. She also contacted the Department of Transportation to see what the permanent long-term fix is and it is part of a 10-year improvement plan, unclear on when it will take place. She talked with Susan Dahill, our RTM representative, who will engage Christine Cohen to see if we can get blinking lights and signs like what Stony Creek has on their roads that flood.

Kerri Beckert brought up the use of scooters and e-bikes since she has received 11 emails with complaints and concerns about their usage in the area. In discussion with the police, she reminded us that anyone under 18 must wear a helmet and all traffic laws must be obeyed including no driving on the sidewalks. She also was informed that any scooter or e-bike that is over a 750-watt maximum or 20 miles per hour must be registered and only a licensed driver can ride. Golf carts were also discussed with the police being concerned about under-age people driving them unlicensed. Recommendation was made to send a notice out to the association even perhaps restore a recurring “newsletter” quarterly. Kerri was going to pursue a college intern to assist with the newsletter.

Matt Barez brough up the future disposition of 180 Pine Orchard Road in terms of what kind of upkeep it will require, are we willing to cover the expense, or other alternatives with the building beyond use for 5 board meetings a year and a home office.

Kerri Beckert did say that if we turn the building back to the town that Josh Brooks would use it for social services, such as a food bank or clothing shelter, for the town to use even though it is not on a bus line. In her discussions with the Town Attorney and Josh Brooks, Kerri did state that if we could get subordination to the town’s reversionary interest in the building, we could be able to borrow money to fix or update it. A sub-committee was formed with Matt Barez and Vin Giordano to initially see if the town can provide an inspector to look over the building and provide an assessment. If not available through the town, perhaps a building inspector should be hired to better assess the condition. No action to hire anyone, presently, first see what the town might have available. Other ideas were brought up for better utilization of the building, perhaps adding a playground, after-school activities, clubs, and even game groups playing there.

|New Business
Bob Dahill was there representing the Young Pond’s Park Commission (YPPC) to discuss the cattail problem at Mirror Lake and potential mitigation steps. He explained that in prior years a resident used to pay for chemical treatment of this lake and in recent years no treatment has taken place. The town recently treated the lake with pesticides to kill the algae but there are a few other steps involved in removing these evasive plants and he suggested that the POA partner with the town in getting this done. The proposal would require a $4,200 investment from the POA over the next 3 years to continue with the removal of these plants. The board had concerns over what the authority or scope of what the YPPC was and if they had any budget from the town. It appeared not and perhaps soliciting contributions is a better way to fund but there were additional concerns regarding the herbicide being used and potential toxicity to the water. This expense was not in the budget and Kerri Beckert wanted to differ to next year’s budget; topic was tabled for now to be discussed later.

Public Comments
Maura Sullivan from 7 Pleasant Point Road was there to ask for help with resources, support, and advice on how to deal with the water problems she and a few neighbors have been having for years. She has letters to the town going back to 1991 and still has an issue. Tilcon was pressured by the town and state DEEP to make the drainage culvert larger, and they did rip up the railroad tracks to do so based on an Engineering report from 2007. Vin Giordano has been very helpful to her over the past years in trying to mitigate some of these issues and she has spent over $100,000 on water repairs through the years. This last storm, although somewhat extreme, had water pouring into Maura’s neighbors living room. Maura did claim to have a letter dated 10/28/2025 from Steve Dudley (previous Town Manager) saying the “inadequate culvert was deliberately kept that way to not impact the downstream residents”. Kerri Beckert said she would invite Christine Cohen and Robin Comey to our next meeting to discuss this and other Rt 146 improvement projects.

Executive Session – The board did go into executive session after public comments.

Adjournment
Motion was made by Matt Barez to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Tom Roche. The meeting adjourned at 9:11.