POENB Minutes
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
The meeting was held at the EN Firehouse and on Zoom from 7:30 pm to 9:25 pm.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited followed by a roll call of officers.
Officer Roll Call
- Tom Kehoe – President
- Steve Neuf – Vice President (ABSENT)
- Sally Neal – Treasurer and Recording Secretary
- Nancy Regan – Corresponding Secretary
- Paul Dippolito – Assistant Vice President (ABSENT)
- Michael Ien Cohen – Assistant Vice President
- Heather Warrington – Assistant Vice President
Attendance
There were 15 members physically in attendance, not including five officers. Three members attended via Zoom.
Tom Kehoe’s motion to accept last month’s minutes as published on the POENB Website was seconded.
Correspondence – Nancy Regan
The Board received 21 separate emails since POENB’s member meeting on September 3, 2025. This correspondence has been consolidated and organized by topic.
- Water Pipe Leak at Valley Grove – A resident identified a leaky pipe at Valley Grove. A plumber was called to repair the leak.
- Security Gate – Several members emailed the Board in support of the gate at PB and noted the gate should decrease (1) POENB’s insurance liability and (2) reduce non-member and non-resident night traffic (activity and parking), and abuse of private property (dumping, boat storage).
- Insurance – POENB receive its 2026 insurance 2026 and other renewal conditions
- Asharoken Seawall
- John Ballow emails:
- Asking POENB officers and members join Senator Mattera at a 9/16 TOH meeting thank him for obtaining $25K to determine the feasibility of raising the road across the swamp at Bevin Road and confirming attendance of several board members and members at the meeting
- Alerting POENB of VOA’s decision to reject the $1million Schumer /Suozzi Earmarked NYSDOT Grant for “Emergency Repairs to the worst 200 feet of the Seawall given that VOA was reluctant to provide matching funds of 20% ($200K) and had issues with other grant provisions.
- Criticizing Mayor Letica’s and the VOA Board of Trustees’ response to Seawall issues including their decision not to accept the $1 million funding
- Sharing Mayor Letica’s letter to Gov. Hochel asking her to meet with him to discuss the State’s financial support for the Bevin Seawall
- Requesting that Mayor Letica include multiple members from NYS delegation during the VOA’s meeting with Gov. Hochel (e.g., Assemblyman Brown and Senator Mattera, SC legislator Bontempi, US Rep Nick Lalota, USCG representative, ACOE, etc..) and bring the petition (and provide a link to the petition) that contains over 1,900 signatures asking VOA to act urgently to repair the Seawall
- An emailed copy of a letter Nick Cavuto sent to Mayor Letica expressing outrage over VOA’s rejecting the $1 million seawall funding
- John Ballow emails:
- Vendor invoice – receipt of vendor invoices related to beach maintenance
- Social events – multiple emails regarding:
- The two fund raising events (wine tasting and band concert) for the PB security gate
- The date of the tag sale
Nancy Regan, Corresponding Secretary, then read a personal statement into the minutes. She (1) described her 40 years of experience in commercial insurance and risk management and the need for the PB security gate and (2) urged members to donate to the gate. Her full statement is in the on-line version of October’s Changing Tides.
Social Committee – Heather Warrington
Heather provided details on the two fundraisers as well as up-coming events
- Wine Tasting
Caterina Velez, a Director and Brand Ambassador at Ruffino Estates, organized “A Night in Tuscany,” at PB on Saturday on September 20 from 5 pm to 7 pm. The wine tasting was a resounding success: the weather was picture perfect, approximately 90+ people attended the event, the cheese, nibbles and pizza perfectly complemented the wines served and the event netted $1,880. An enormous thanks to Catarina for donating her expertise and wines to make this fund-raiser an absolutely fantastic event. A list of wines served is included in the on-line version of the Changing Tides.
- Classic Rock Concert
Paul Parenti and his classic rock band, Moss, played at VG on Saturday, September 27 from 4 pm to 6 pm. This event was attended by over 100 people and was a “knock it out of the park” homerun. The event netted $1,690. As a result of Heather’s negotiating skills, Shrimpies set up their food truck at VG and attendees were able to buy food and drinks. The truck was so popular that Shrimpies ran out of margaritas!
Heather noted that of the ~190 persons who attended the two fund raisers, ~100 were unique individuals.
- Family Halloween Movie – Michael Ien Cohen has again generously offered to sponsor another movie night. Based on “on-line member voting, Hocus Pocus 1 (original) will be shown on October 18 in the grassy area near the EN firehouse. Prior to the featured film, a Charlie Brown Halloween will also be screened so that little ones – with early bedtimes – can enjoy some of the fun.
- Annual Children’s Halloween Parade and Fire Safety Event – This event, for children up to 14 years of age, will occur on October 25 (rain date is October 26). The children will gather at the ENFD at 12 noon and the costume parade will begin at 12:15 pm. The parade will go down Essex Drive and conclude at the ENFD. After the parade, there will be candy, food, soft drinks, games and a fire safety lecture by one of the firefighters at the ENFD. The event should be over by 2:15 pm.
- Adult Halloween Party – This 21+ event will be jointly sponsored by POENB, ENFD, EHC, and other HOAs in the VOA/EN area. The event will take place on Saturday, November 1 from 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm. There will be a DJ for music and dancing. Costumes are recommended but are option. Participants should bring their own beverages. Shrimpies may provide food for sale. More details will be provided closer to the event on the POENB website.
- Merchant Discount Card for Members – This program will begin once the 2026 budget is passed in February and members submit their annual membership dues.
Beach Committee – Michael Ien Cohen
- Benches – will be moved from PB and installed at VG within the next two weeks.
- Swimlines -will be removed from the PB and moved to the shed.
- Watercraft
- Given 2025 is an odd year, stored watercraft must be removed from the racks at the two beaches no later than November 1, 2025. Removing the craft early in the season will provide needed flexibility to conduct clean-up/close-down beach actions.
- An email will be sent on November 1 to all members asking them to determine if they have abandoned watercraft at either PB or VG. PB abandoned watercraft are stored behind the shed. These boats are in relatively poor condition and have not been claimed in over 2 years. If members have abandoned watercraft, they are asked to remove them within 120 days of the notice (no later than 2/28/26). Legally, POENB can sell abandoned property after 90 days but is providing an additional 30 days as a courtesy to members.
Membership – Gene Caputo
Gene said that POENB’s 2025 budget assumed 245 members. The current number of members in 2025 is 234 – or a shortfall of 11. From a revenue perspective, POENB has received $3,300 less in membership dues (245-234 = 11 X $330/standard member) than budgeted.
Gene said that the names (if consent was provided) and addresses of all 2025 POENB members will be published in the November issue of the CT.
Treasurer’s Report –Sally Neal
The Treasurer’s Report (shown separately) includes the Income Statement for the period January 1, 2025 to October 4, 2025 and a partial Balance Sheet as of October 4, 2025. Please note, given space limitations, some financial statement line items have been aggregated.
For the ~9 months ended October 4, 2025
- Total revenue was $82K
- Total expenses were $45K
- Net income was $37K
While our net income currently looks quite strong ($37K), there are several large expenses (totaling $20,540) that are due in the next 30 days. These expenses include the annual insurance premium ($14K), various beach landscaping, grooming, maintenance and utilities ($5.4K), and social and printing costs ($1.3K).
Sally estimates that after accounting for December expenses and year-end transactions, POENB should be able to turn a profit this year (vs. just break even).
Detail on the donations collected for the PB security gate are in a separate section, however, with respect to where the gate security funds are recorded on the financial statements.
- On the income statement, the two fund raisers were recorded in Social Events in the line item called “Endless Summer.” $3,070 = $1,880 (wine tasting) + $1,490 (band concert)
- Raffle income – for the three raffles – Super Bowl ($1,250), Easter Egg Hunt ($220), and Wine Tasting ($203) are recorded in Raffle Income ($1,673)
As of October 4, 2025, POENB had approximately $60.6K in total cash.
PB Security Gate – Sally Neal
Sally said that the Working Group had completed the six tasks related to the security gate (1) identify the need for change and the benefits of installing a gate, (2) document gate requirements, (3) identify and recommend vendors, (4) raise sufficient funds, 5) identify operational changes required post gate installation and (6) create and post gate FAQs for member review and comment. The remaining steps include (7) conduct a key issue vote, (8) collect additional cash, (9) sign contract, (10) install and pay for the gate, and (11) finalize policies and operational issues.
Completing these tasks could be challenging given timing issues: (1) selected donor fund expiration date of 12.31, (2) vendor availability to execute the work before year end, and (3) optimal installation weather conditions (above 40F) for pouring concrete.
Sally provided a report and an analysis of the funds collected for the security gate as of October 4, 2025.
| Cash donations | |
| Gate Specific | $4,805 |
| General | $1,370 |
| Subtotal | $6,112 |
| Fund-raisers | |
| Wine Tasting | $1,880 |
| Band Concert | $1,490 |
| 50/50 Raffle at Wine Tasting | $203 |
| Subtotal | $3,573 |
| Pledges | $5,500 |
| Total | $15,185 |
Gate Specific Cash Donations (Checks, Venmo) were received – from 32 people. Donations ranged in size from $25 to $1,000. The average cash donation was $178. The total was $4,805 and is recorded on the balance sheet (DR Cash and CR Capital improvement Donations)
General Gate Donations (received in Cash), primarily at the two fund raisers, as a result of attendees “rounding up” /allowing POENB to “keep the change” off the admission price. There were ~70 people who “rounded up” by “throwing in and $5, $10, $15, $20 or even $40. The total was $1,307 and is recorded on the income statement (DR Cash and CR Donation Income)
Pledges were received from five people. The average pledge was $550.
The “target number” for the security gate is $18K; $15K for the gate and another $3K for electrical work and trenching.
Sally said that POENB could eliminate the current short-fall of $2,815 if:
- Additional pledges/cash are collected
- The electrical work and trenching costs less than $3,000
- All remaining 50/50 raffle money collected – from Super Bowl boxes ($1,250) and Easter Egg Hunt ($220) is directed to the security gate
- Interest income earned on the Beach Infrastructure CD ($219) is used for the gate.
At the September meeting, the membership and Board agreed to hold a key issue vote on the security gate.
Tom Kehoe stated that the Key issue will be phrased as a straight “yes/no” for the gate installation. Assuming the key vote passes, policy issues (as described in the FAQs) will be determined by the Board in consultation (receive input) from members.
A notice of the Key Vote, in the form of a blast email, sign at the ENFD and posts on social media (Facebook) will be made on or around October 20.
Other Business
- Nominations – A member asked about the slate of 2026 Board members – when are nominations due, when is the vote, and are any current members running for another term?
- Beach Ambassador – Shane Elefante, 90 Eaton’s Neck Road, stated he was in the 6th grade at Norwood Avenue School and participates in the LI Fencing Club (swords). He is environmentally oriented and asked the Board to be named as PB’s Beach Ambassador. In that role, Shane would solicit other like-minded students to help clean PB and maintain its marine life. The Board whole-heartedly agreed, thanked Shane for his offer and put him in touch with Greg Hodges.
Next Meeting
Next month’s meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 7:30 pm at the EN Firehouse. The meeting may also be available via Zoom. Given a Key Issue Vote will be Held on the PB Security Gate, all members are encouraged to attend.
