West Norwalk Association Board Meeting
June 6, 2011
Minutes of the West Norwalk Association
June 6, 2011
Board Members present were: Joel Zaremby, Galen Wells, Margaret Karl, Linda Forcellina, Bob Wagman, Chris Potts, Martin O’Connell, Ron Brown, Ron Paladino, Candide Valadares, and Anthony Carrano. Gay Mac Leod was a guest.
President, Joel Zaremby, called the meeting to order at 7:37. He welcomed the Board and visitors to the meeting.
Galen Wells presented the minutes of the May meeting. Chris Potts provided a marked copy with corrections of minor errors. Ron Paladino moved to accept the minutes. Linda Forcellina seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously accepted with the corrections.
Linda Forcellina presented the Treasurer’s Report. The association has $5,702.21 in the bank. The expenses for the near future are expected to be $185 for postage, $436 for insurance, $40 for the web site, the Annual Meeting usually costs $1,000 and the Holiday Party costs $2,500. The newsletter costs $870. Bob Wagman moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report and Martin O’Connell seconded the motion. The Treasurer’s Report was unanimously accepted.
Joel then opened a discussion about the association and its future. He will not be on the board next year but he said he will participate and that Gay would be on the board. Bob Wagman agreed to head a Nominations Committee to find interested board members and officers for the next year. Joel also said that all the homeowners in a condominium association could be members of the association but only one from each condominium could be on the board. The board agreed to send newsletters to all the households in Ledgebrook.
Joel next opened a discussion of the Annual Meeting. The group discussed having the meeting at Fox Run School or at NCC instead of Dolce. The issue of food and how it would be handled and prepared was raised along with possible liability for anything that was mishandled and spoiled. Anthony Carrano agreed to look into the use of the school and deals on food from Shop Rite and Stop and Shop. Gay agreed to look into the costs
at Dolce.
The next discussion was about the newsletter. Linda and Margaret will write an article about the history of West Norwalk. Ron Paladino will write an article on security. Bob will write an article on flooding and Galen will write an article on meeting the politicians at the Annual Meeting. The newsletter is our primary form of communication with the community. The group discussed the value of expanding our email database. Joel agreed to look into a form that can be filled out on the web site as a way to collect email addresses.
Linda gave a report on the Ambassadors Committee. They had a meeting and discussed putting together baskets for new people as they moved into West Norwalk. The issue was the cost involved. They will look into deals from local merchants and passes to events. There are about 75 new households in West Norwalk per year. The difficulty of providing and putting together 75 baskets is considerable.
Gay brought up the possibility of a scholarship for a high school senior who lives in West Norwalk of $100 to $200. We could have them write an essay and a committee would pick a winner. Linda pointed out that high school seniors are very busy and need to write essays for college application etc. Another essay for $100 may not be worth it. The group decided to think about all the parameters and discuss the issue again.
Gay pointed out an Adopt-A-Spot in West Norwalk that needs help. Anthony agreed to see if the Boy Scouts need an Eagle Scout project. The next board meeting will be on July 11th at the West Norwalk Chapel. Martin moved to adjourn the meeting and the motion was seconded by Bob. The meeting was adjourned at 8:58.
Respectfully submitted,
Galen Wells, Secretary