POENB Minutes for Wednesday, August 8, 2024

The meeting was held in person at the Eaton’s Neck Firehouse from

7:05 pm to 8:35 pm.  The meeting was also available via Zoom.

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

Officer Roll Call

• Tom Kehoe – President
• Ryan Schaefer-Walker – Vice President and Treasurer
• Yvonne Lambertson – Assistant Vice President (Technology, Web and Communications) 
• Steve Neuf – Assistant Vice President (Engineering and Special Projects)
• Sally Neal – Recording Secretary
• Nancy Regan – Corresponding Secretary
• Anthony Fusaro – Assistant Vice President – ABSENT

Attendance 

There were 7 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 accepted.  

Correspondence – Nancy Regan

An asterisk identifies a topic that is covered in greater detail in a separate section. 

1. Eaton’s Neck Fire Department (ENFD)

The ENFD inquired about holding a fundraiser at PB on October 5th. Beer would be included in the price of an adult admission.  This request raised two questions:

• Should an exception be made (per the Beach Party Rules) to extend the beach past October 1st to accommodate the ENFD, and
• Does POENB’s and/or ENFD’s insurance cover the consumption of alcohol at the fundraiser  

Since nearly all ENFD volunteers are members of POENB, the Board agreed to extend the beach season for the event.  

The Board also reviewed the terms and conditions of POENB’s liability insurance regarding the use of alcohol. Our insurance prohibits the manufacturing, selling or distribution of alcohol but does permit drinking “host provided” and BYOB alcohol. 

2. Lecture by a SC Tick Expert

In response to Bob Pisicani’s suggestion during the June meeting, the Board invited Moses Cúcura (entomologist) at the SC Dept of Public Works, Division of Vector Control to speak with EN residents about the mice, mosquito and tick population and actions residents can take to avoid tick bites.  Moses was scheduled to speak at the August 7th meeting.  However, shortly before the August meeting, Moses contacted COVID.   Moses is now scheduled to speak at the September meeting. 

3. Membership marketing and possible revenue generation opportunities * 

The Board received several emails from members offering their help and expertise to increase membership and generate additional sources of revenue.  

4. Bevin Seawall * – John Ballow emailed the Board updates on the recent actions related to permanently repairing the Seawall. 

Membership – Gene Caputo

The membership numbers included in last month’s CT (as of 7.12.24) were slightly overstated; they were incorrectly listed as 243.  As of July 18, 2024, 240 EN (out of 419 or 58%) homeowners have chosen to become POENB members.  

The total number of members is less than prior years when the number of members ranged from 252 to 258 (or 60% to 62% out of 419).  

One member expressed surprise that membership had declined (year over year) given POENB’s recent success, partnering with members of the Eaton’s Neck Community Working Group (ENVWG) and elected officials, to improve the reliability of electrical service PSE&G provides to EN residents.    

The member noted that as a 501(c) (4) organization, POENB has a three-fold mission: 

1. Protect and preserve the two beaches
2. Advocate for the public safety and wellness of all EN residents with governments and corporations
3. Build a sense of community via social events 

POENB’s ability, in concert with the ENCWG, to successfully lobby PSE&G and elected officials, has measurably improved the quality of life for all residents of EN.   The “nightmare” of numerous, multi-hour power outages during periods of heavy winds and precipitation that EN residents had to endure for 50+ years appears to have finally come to an end.  

Please consider joining POENB if you have not done so already.  We are more than a Beach Association.  The organization focuses on enhancing public safety and the quality of life via advocacy with town, county, state and federal officials and corporations) (e.g., the Bevin Seawall and road repairs) and sponsors several social events. 

Treasurer’s Report – Ryan Schaefer-Walker

The Treasurer’s Report (see details on page 2) includes the Income Statement for the period January 1, 2024 to August 7, 2024 and a partial Balance Sheet as of August 7, 2024.

Revenues for the period were $65.7K of which $55.3K was received from membership dues. The remaining revenue was attributed to watercraft fees, Changing Tides ads, social fees, and beach rentals.  Expenses were approximately $36.9 K. The majority of these expenses were spent to clean and maintain the beaches.  Net income for the period was approximately $28.8K

As of August 7, POENB had a total of approximately $56K in all of its bank accounts. 

Beach Report – Steve Neuf, Yvonne Lambertson, and Tom Kehoe

VG – Stairs

On behalf of the Board, Steve Neuf hired local resident, Pete Lombardi of Lombardi Construction, to replace the railings and several steps at a very reasonable price.  Pete will also stain the stairs in the near future.   

Watercraft

Yvonne Lambertson stated that members may want to secure their watercraft given “hurricane season.”   During periods of high tides, full moons, high winds and heavy rain, watercraft not tied down, may float away.  

PB and VG Beach Condition Observations

Tom Kehoe noted that several members remarked that the beaches seemed clean and neat.  Specifically, the lack of weeds, removal of broken equipment, clutter and debris, and close trimming of shrubs near the VG stairs and the PB watercraft racks gave the beaches an open and inviting appearance. 

Tom thanked Sally Neal and Ryan Schaefer-Walker for their efforts.  Sally has been working with Ted McCarthy who provides landscaping services for both beaches while Ryan has been working with Hector and his son who provide weekly sand raking/beach grooming at PB.

New Beach Signage

Tom Kehoe noted that NYS allows POENB to use security cameras to help keep beach property and members safe as long as individuals are told that a camera exists and the nature and extent of recording is within a reasonable expectation of privacy.  POENB posted a sign that states cameras are in use at PB for security purposes.

Membership Marketing & Possible Revenue Opportunities -Tom Kehoe

Tom said that several members have expressed an interest in leading / helping POENB 

• Acquire new members
• Increase the engagement of existing members (both young families and seniors), and
• Retain existing members (stem unplanned attrition)

Meeting attendees also expressed their desire to use a “data driven” approach to  better understand why the percentage of residents who become POENB members is “stuck” at around 50%.  

Members stated that they would like to:

1. Analyze membership lists (over the past 2 to three years) to identify 

1. Street location 
2. Type of membership (senior vs. regular), and 
3. Attrition trends 

2. Create a “heat map” based on member street locations to see if there are any discernible patterns 
3. Use old copies of the CT to determine if there is any correlation between the number of members and the price of membership dues
4. Leverage public and POENB data to better understand the demographic characteristics of EN’s population
5. Use attendance at POENB sponsored events to assess an event’s relative appeal 
6. Conduct focus groups to ask residents

1. If they understand POENB’s mission, revenue model, and value proposition, and 
2. Why they 

• are members
• are not interested in membership 
• dropped their membership

Meeting attendees also offered the following suggestions to obtain new members:

• Leverage EN real estate transaction data to monitor resident home sales and departures 
• Prepare and disseminate a formal “welcome package” for new residents and members that explains POENB’s mission and value proposition
• Form a separate “welcome committee” vs. rely on Block Captains (who distribute the Changing Tides)
• Upload “why I choose to be a POENB member” testimonials on the POENB website

Meeting attendees also suggested the following ideas to increase the level of involvement of current members with POENB activities:

• Offer different social events based on demographics and interests (e.g., EN “Olympics”)
• Broaden communication platforms to engage with members – Facebook and other social media
• Publish a meeting calendar in January with standardized meeting dates and times

Additional revenue generation ideas included: 

• Email members, on a monthly basis, an ad booklet (with discounts from local vendors); POENB income would be based on the number of members who use the ads in the booklet  
• Send out an invoice to each resident that explains POENBs value prop and why no taxes are paid on the beaches (its included in each homeowner’s property taxes)
• Communicate more frequently and broadly that POENB is MORE than “just” a beach association since its mission also includes public advocacy and social activity sponsorship
• Fund an endowment by appealing to the nostalgia value of former residents

A group of interested members (Paul Dippolito, Michael Cohen, Gene Caputo, Greg Hodges, John Ballow) and officers (Sally Neal, Ryan Schaefer-Walker and Tom Kehoe) will meet on Wednesday, August 28th at 7 pm to analyze available membership data, consider suggestions made, and take pragmatic actions to acquire, grow (the involvement of) and retain members.    

Infrastructure and Public Safety – John Ballow, Tom Kehoe & Steve Neuf

Road Repairs – John stated that after burying the electrical lines to improve the reliability of electrical service to EN, PSE&G provided funding to VOA and TOH to repave the portion of EN between Bevin and North Creek that was excavated during construction.  

VOA has used its allotted funds to repave Asharoken Avenue between Bevin and its upper border (~ entrance to the USGC station).

Based on John Ballow’s and Tom Kehoe’s conversations with Andre Sorrentino, TOH Highway Supervisor, TOH plans to contemporaneously conduct the PSE&G funded street repaving with other TOH funded road upgrades requested by the POENB Infrastructure Committee (chairs: John Ballow and Bob Dennis – see July 2023 minutes).  It is unclear when TOH will complete this work. 

Bevin Seawall – John updated members about several discussions among POENB, VOA, TOH and politicians (i.e., Mario Matteo, Keith Brown and Nick Lalota) about funding for the wall.  John noted a July 30th article in Newsday about the incorporated Village of Baxter Estates (Port Washington) in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County.  The Village received $7.7 million from NYS to prevent flooding along Shore Road.  John noted that only thirty (30) homes were impacted and that those residents have multiple exit points in the event of flood.  John questioned why and how Baxter Estates was able to get funding while 2,100 people impacted by the failing 30-year-old Bevin Seawall – with only 1 entry and exit point – have not been able to receive funding.   

John stated that the Mayor of VOA wrote a letter to Governor Hochul asking that very question.  

John also stated that despite on-going communication among multiple government officials, the Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE), and others, the three available options remain unchanged: 

1. Let VOA to go it alone in terms of plans, construction, permissions, and funding.  This option has two parts and would take ~12 years to execute both pieces.  VOA estimates that Part 1 of this option (i.e., Seawall engineering), IF completed fully on schedule, would be done by January 2026.  The VOA estimates that Part 2 (e.g., obtaining funding and implementing the engineering solution) would take another 10 years. 
2. Wait for a disaster to happen and then “hope” FEMA will make the needed repairs. 
3. Obtain federal funds for the ACOE to fix the wall since the ACOE’s actions caused the current state of the wall. 

In parallel to these 3 stated options, our Federal, State and County representatives are actively exploring more immediate solutions. 

TOH Drainage Pipe Project at VG 

Tom Kehoe and Steve Neuf stated that on July 22, the TOH asked to access the VG property so that it could finalize its proposed project (prepared by Nelson + Pope, an engineering, architecture, and surveying firm based in Melville) to repair the non-functioning drain pipe.  

The TOH does not need POENB’s permission to access the VG property since the pipe sits on a public easement.   However, before TOH can begin construction, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) must review and sign off on the project.

Based on conversations that Tom and Steve had with the TOH officials and documents provided by the TOH, it appears that the project will create a new pipe that will protrude approximately 10” at the end of the bulkhead.  The existing non-functioning pipe will be closed off and the water re-routed so that it flows through the new pipe.

Tom and Steve will meet again with TOH officials on August 9, 2024.  They asked members for their suggested questions (see list below)

1.  What assurance can the TOH provide that this solution will work – and prevent flooding of neighboring properties?  This solution seems similar to ones that were implemented in the past but without long-term success. 
2. Will the TOH remove the existing pipe? 
3. Will the new pipe have a screen over it?  The new 2’ pipe could be tempting and hazardous for children (e.g., to put their hands and feet into)?
4. What, if any role, will the solution play in ameliorating the bacteria levels at VG.  The water at VG is frequently contaminated – per notifications released by SC Department of Health Services.  It is unclear what causes this high and frequent level of contamination.  Some say that it is human waste that is “resurfaced” from cesspools installed in bungalows built near VG during the 1920s and 1930s (but never removed).  Others say it may be caused by animal waste.  
5. Will the TOH’s pipe repair project include permanently fixing the stairs at VG?  The stairs need to be repaired on a routine basis – given the volume and speed of rain water rushing down Carlisle.  POENB just spent money to make a temporary repair – see beach above.  

Next Meeting

Next month’s meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 5th, 2024 at 7:00 pm.