POENB Minutes

Wednesday, August 6, 2025

The meeting was held in person at Price’s Bend Beach from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by a roll call of officers.

Officer Roll Call

• Tom Kehoe – President
• Steve Neuf – Vice President
• Sally Neal – Treasurer and Recording Secretary (ABSENT)
• Nancy Regan – Corresponding Secretary
• Paul Dippolito – Assistant Vice President
• Michael Ien Cohen – Assistant Vice President
• Heather Warrington – Assistant Vice President

Attendance

There were 24 members physically in attendance, not including six officers.

Tom Kehoe’s motion to accept last month’s minutes as published on the POENB Website was seconded.

Correspondence – Nancy Regan

The Board received 26 separate emails and texts since POENB’s member meeting on July 2, 2025.  This correspondence has been consolidated and organized by topic.

• Beach Reservations – The Board received two inquiries about returning their deposit for beach parties.  Deposits were returned to both members.

• Watercraft Storage –There were 6 inquiries about procuring spaces for dinghy and kayak storage.  All emails were addressed by Michael Ien Cohen

• Membership – Membership Chair Gene Caputo advised that as of July 31, POENB had 232 members (an increase of three (3) from June 2025).  However, POENB is still short 12 members from a budgeted member number and revenue perspective.  Gene encouraged all Eaton’s Neck property owners to join.  Greg Hodges suggested that we welcome new homeowners to the area and offered to assist the Welcoming Committee in greeting new homeowners. 

• Lost –A member lost a navy blue strap during the Jaws movie night at PB.  If found, please return it to Margaret Zulkofske at 4 Rugby Court.

• Overnight Parking – A member asked whether he could park his car in the PB parking lot for two nights so his guests could park in his driveway.   The member later withdrew the request and made other arrangements.

• PB Beach Security
  • A member sent a video of people, arriving in different vehicles, who parked in the PB parking lot and then left a large bag of empty beer and white claw cans.  In the video, the people could be heard arguing about who would drive the vehicles home.  It is unclear if the persons were members or non-members.  However, the situation creates a liability to POENB and underscores the need for a security gate. 
  • Another member asked (1) how POENB’s internal operations would be impacted by a security gate, (2) if the security gate would require a key vote, and (3) how the ENFD or other first responders would access the PB in an emergency.  Sally Neal responded to this inquiry.  The answer to these and ~ 50 other questions that the Board has received about the proposed security gate are currently being documented and will be published on the POENB website (most likely sometimes in September).
  • Another member provided additional photographic and eyewitness evidence of non-residents and non-members using PB and told the Board that he/she was strongly in favor of a security gate. 
  • John Ballow asked the Board to clarify (1) the definition of membership (eligibility) and (2) whether property owners have “rights” to use the beaches without becoming a member (via their property deeds or POENB’s governing and legal documents).   To reduce the price of PB security, John also suggested installing a manual gate and using more and larger signage around the beaches (e.g., “private property, members only”).
  • The Board will provide routine process updates on the status of the security gate (see separate section below).

• Beach Maintenance 
• Several members emailed the Board about PB’s general poor appearance (e.g., shrubs not trimmed, broken grills not replaced, and broken sections of the split rail fence not repaired).  These members stated that they had repeatedly asked for these tasks to be completed expeditiously.  Steve Neuf, who oversees landscaping, stated that Ted McCarthy had remediated some issues to the member’s satisfaction while other tasks were still pending.  Greg Hodges offered to assist Steve Neuf in his landscaping management role since Greg lives directly across the street from PB.  The Board will discuss Greg’s offer at the next Board meeting. 

• The Board received the July invoice for beach grooming from Hermann Lindau.

• Urshula Barbour advised that there is a serious infestation of lantern flies in the cluster of Trees of Heaven adjacent to Prices Bend. She asked if some members might be willing to try to remediate this problem.  She stated that spray bottles with soap and water or white vinegar are effective.  If not addressed, the lantern flies will spread to maple, willow, walnut, fruit trees, and other hardwood.   The Board asked for volunteers to help stop the spread of the lantern flies.

• A member asked that the Board order and install additional “Private Beach – Members Only” signs for PB as soon as possible – in advance of any decision on the security gate.  Steve Neuf will investigate the price of these signs and, if the cost is responsible and within budgetary constraints, will look for volunteers to install these signs.

• Social – A member, Paul Parenti has a classic rock band and volunteered to play at PB to raise funds for the security gate.  Paul Dippolito responded to Paul Parenti’s emails and they are exploring possible dates.  Paul P and Paul D discussed charging a $20 “gate fee,” allowing BYOB and potentially asking a local vendor if they wanted to bring their food cart to the beach (Shrimpies was suggested) so that attendees could get a bite to eat.  Attendees would pay for the cost of the food from the food truck themselves.

• Changing Tides
  • To entice more eligible residents to join, a member suggested distributing the CT only to POENB members. The Board said it would take that suggestion under advisement.  However, a counterargument for more broadly distributing the CT is the increase in advertising revenue that is generated by sending newsletter to 405 residents (vs. 232 members).
  • A member inquired why the names (if consent was provided) and addresses of all POENB members had not yet been published in the CT.  The names should  be published in the September CT.

•  Insurance Correspondence – POENB’s insurance company advised the Board that the Umbrella premium will increase from $2,900 to $3,320.

• Heating Oil Buying Program – Paul Attanasio advised that the price originally quoted by Lewisy Oil Program is no longer available. Paul said Lewisy didn’t get enough participation to justify the price.  Michael Ien Cohen will update the website accordingly.

• Valley Grove Drainage Remediation –  Bonnie Schalle advised that a storm on July 24th caused an 18 inch hole on the beach at Valley Grove.  The work that the TOH proposed to fix the hole is not yet complete. John Ballow emailed Andre Sorrentino at the TOH and asked for a status update. 

• Bevin Seawall – In May 2024 (over a year ago), engineers hired bythe Village ofAsharoken (VOA) said that Road near the Seawall was undermined and had structurally failed.  John Ballow and others believe the 2,100 residents that live on and above Bevin Road deserve to understand the risks that exist and be provided with a plain English, reasonable, and fast-tracked plan to ensure their safety.  Therefore, during the public session of July VOA monthly meeting, an Asharoken resident asked Mayor Letica questions suggested by John Ballow.  These questions included (1) the status of the design for the seawall repairs and the $1 million grant obtained by Rep. Suozzi for emergency repairs and (2) whether impacted residents had been told that the road was undermined and had structurally failed.  Mayor Letica said VOA “had not used the money and they are in discussions with the DOT.”   The Mayor also said that VOA didn’t see a need to communicate the road’s condition at this time.

Social Committee (Paul Dippolito, Heather Warrington, and Michael Ien Cohen)

Thanks to Michael Ien Cohen’s generosity, POENB was able to present the 50^th anniversary edition of Jaws at PB on Friday, July 18, 2025.     The event was well attended.  Both young and old had a great time. 

Treasurer’s Report – Nancy Regan for Sally Neal

The Treasurer’s Report (see page X) includes the Income Statement for the period January 1, 2025 to July 31, 2025 and a partial Balance Sheet as of July 31, 2025.  Please note, given space limitations in the Changing Tides, some financial statement line items have been aggregated.

Total Revenue was ~ $75,200. 

The largest revenue items were:

• Membership Dues ($64K)
• Watercraft Fees ($4.1K)
• Social Income – including merchandise sales ($3.6K)
• Donations ($1.3K).

Since the number of members is down from 2024, POENB is at risk of NOT breaking even in 2025.  

Total Expenses were $18,500

• Changing Tides $2.1K
• Social – including merchandise expense – $6.7K
• Beach expenses – landscaping, security, utilities – $8K
• Other $1.7K

Net income for the period ended July 31, 2025 was $56,700.  As of July 31, 2025, POENB had approximately $80K in cash.  

PB Security Gate – Greg Hodges for Sally Neal

In late June/early July, some members contacted the Board about installing a security gate at PB.  These members pledged to donate $5,000 toward the cost of the gate, if the following three conditions were met.

1. The members must remain anonymous
2. Other members must provide matching funds that at equal (or exceed) the $5,000, and
3. The gate must be installed no later than 12.31.25

If all three conditions were NOT met, the pledge would be withdrawn/cancelled.

To take advantage of these members’ generous offer, Sally Neal, Treasurer and Recording Secretary, started a “Gate Working Group” composed of four persons (including herself).

Over the past two months, the Gate Working Group has met several times in person and via zoom and has:

1. Identified and obtained bids from four (4) qualified vendors who could supply the gate
2. Reviewed the vendor offers and put two on the “short list”
3. Drilled down on the features suggested by the short-listed vendors to determine which were “nice to haves” vs “essentials”
4. Brainstormed on methods to finance the gate
5. Sent out a “blast” email to members asking for donations on July 30
6. Created a list of ~50 FAQs based on queries received from members as well as questions the Working Group asked the vendors
7. Created answers to these FAQs and then categorized them into six (6) major groups
   1. POENB Inc. physical assets, obligations, rights and governance structure
   2. Current PB security situation
   3. Benefits of a gate at PB
   4. Features of the Recommended Gate
   5. Gate financials – cost and funding sources
   6. POENB policy, process, and IT changes needed to successfully implement the recommended gate
8. Made a preliminary recommendation as to the “best” vendor – subject to more discussion
9. Identified POENB policy, process and IT changes needed to successfully implement the gate

As of August 3, approximately $1,500 additional donations have been received for the gate. 

Therefore, a total of $6,500 in donations have been collected for the security gate at PB.

If you haven’t donated yet, please consider doing so.  The price of the recommended gate is ~$15K.  However, the electrical work, additional signage, plantings and other items could add another 30% to 35%.

Currently the recommended security gate is a basic barrier arm – a round, white aluminum pole on a hydraulic lift that contains reflective tape.  There is also a pole at the end of the arm that contains a magnetic lock to prevent a person from physically “forcing” the arm up.

A member stated that a “basic barrier arm” gate was ugly/not aesthetically pleasing and asked the Working Group to determine the price of an “estate gate.”

Another member inquired about installing motion detectors at PB and late-night high beams to check license tags.

Next Meeting

Next month’s meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at 7:30 pm at the EN Firehouse.  The meeting will also be available via Zoom.  All members are encouraged to attend.