Howard Minch is now the Chair of the Grievance committee

The position of Assistant Secretary is currently Vacant

7/26/08

Dear Member

On Saturday July 19th, 2008 we had a membership meeting at the Keene Public Library to discuss a rent increase. The board of Directors was pleasantly surprised at the great turn out to this important meeting. Nearly half of our members were present.

The board would like at this time to thank everyone present for their questions and input and most importantly their vote of confidence.

As everyone is experiencing, the cost of living has gone up tremendously. The Base Hill Cooperative has also been hit with great increases in our operating costs.
After the presentation by our treasurer, any members that had questions, comments or concerns were addressed by our board. The following was voted on and approved by the membership.

Starting October 1, 2008 the rent for each member household is going up $37 a month from $378 to $415. Our members that are still paying on their membership are still required to pay $10 a month minimum for a total of $425. Our rents are still a great value compared to other mobile home communities in our area. We are a non profit community. This means that we only charge what we need to pay our mortgages, utilities, taxes, and other services. The board is not paid. These costs are based on every household paying their rent.

At our meeting our treasurer also stated that the cooperative is owed $8215 in back rent and penalties. He also assured us that he has tried to the best of his capabilities to get these funds with mixed success. He would like the balance to decrease but there are members that are not open to the gravity of this problem. The members at the meeting were appalled and voiced their concern. No one’s name was mentioned and personal financial information will always be confidential.

At our board meeting on the 24th the board of directors has decided that any account deemed not compliant in the terms of their past due debt and or not paying their rent will be forwarded to our attorney and dealt with the full extent of the law including termination and eviction. We feel that for the community to survive and prosper every member household needs to pay their rent. There is no other option.
We wish to thank you for your support
Any questions can be answered by any board member.

Board of Directors

Yvon P. Brulotte Sr
Treasurer
Base Hill Cooperative
1-603-209-3184
basehilltreasurer@ne.rr.com

I am sorry, but I have to change the date for the new committee.Instead of Wednesday, July 9, I am rescheduling the "Crime Stoppers" committee meeting to Wednesday, July 16. I have to stress the fact that I am in need of numerous volunteers. Thank you.

Cindy Connors
Board Secretary

Due to recent reports of breaking into cars and walking uninvited into homes stealing money and/or medications,I have been asked,as a Board Member,to eliminate this problem.I decided to take it upon myself to form a new committee entitled "Crime Stoppers".I cannot do this all by myself so I am asking for numerous volunteers.There will be no limitations to how many people volunteer for this committee,but I do need as many of you as I can get.This job would detail:
1)walking the streets inside Base Hill Co-Op (hours and days will depend on how many volunteers we get)
2)access to a cell phone in case of an emergency
3)pairing with a spouse,neighbor,or friend for safety
4)the use of a flashlight
5)able to communicate well with others
6)the ability to question possible unwanted guests
Rules and regulations will be created within the Crime Stoppers Committee along with schedules for each volunteer.Please contact Cindy Connors at 903-0137 if you wish to volunteer.I am scheduling the first meeting on Wednesday,July 9 at 6:30pm and it will be posted on each bulletin board along with a sign up sheet.Until then,lock all your doors to your house and car even when you are in the house or in the back yard.

We are having a Membership meeting on Saturday, July 19, 2008, at the Keene Public Library from 10 am until noon. At least one Member per household should attend for we will be discussing and voting on a Park rent increase due to the very sizable water and sewer bill. There is a sign up sheet on each bulletin board. Please sign up and attend.

Thank you,
Cindy L Connors
Board Secretary

Reminder that we are having a Park Wide Yard Sale this Sat., Sun., and Mon.Everyone is responsible for their own stuff. There will be an add in the paper. Please let me know if you plan to set up by calling me at 903-0137. I would like an approximate count for the paper.

Cindy Connors
Board Secretary & Social Committee Chair

Our next board meeting is Thursday, May 22 at 6pm at 2 Elcona Drive.It will be at the home of Pia Walsh, Assistant Secretary.

Cindy Connors
Board Secretary

Dear members

Since last fall we believed we had a major water leak in our park. When I became treasurer in November 2007, I received an outstanding bill for the months of July, August and September for $21,111.92, we had a previous balance of $3729.74 for a total of $24,841.66. The water usage number was 3278 units of water. One unit is 748 gallons. We had many contractors and maintenance crew looking for this leak. Carl Cormier and Gerry Merrill spent considerable amount of time addressing this issue. In December we received another bill from the city for $9000 for three months, it had gone down. We were told not to pay anything yet until we found the leak and then they would adjust our bill. By the time I received the January bill our bill had grown to $41,000. At my suggestion we started paying $2000 a month.

As spring approached the board was seriously considering getting a loan and upgrading the water lines in the middle section of our park at a tremendous expense. I was getting nervous since we could not find this phantom leak.

I recently took it upon myself to look at this problem from another direction. I went to the city and received a print out of the park's water usage numbers back to 2000.
I went to Tanglewood Estates another mobile home community to see how their water usage numbers compared to ours. After crunching the numbers, I reported this to the board on March 31st.

In summary I found that someone in repairing a minor leak had accidently turned on a valve that was not marked and that line was just pouring water into the ground somewhere as it was not capped, even though we could never actually see where it went. This valve was shut and our water bill improved. The city and our board agrees with my findings.

The good news is we do not have a major water leak. The new numbers from our water usage supports this. The valve has been closed and marked. The bad news is that the city of Keene has had three major increases including one in January. Thru the hard work of our president Gerald Merrill he went to the public works department then wrote a three page letter to the city which I typed up on our letterhead, the city has credited our water/sewer bill $8486.40.

I would like to say at this time that Gerry has spent countless hours on coop business including helping me tremendously when I require his assistance. As I am spending 20 to 30 hours a week on keeping our finances on track. Gerry has to be spending many more hours than I. If you see him please thank him for his hard work.

The bad news is that we still owe the City $30,551.68 of which we pay $2500 a month. Every three months we get a new water bill. Our water usage for last winter averaged 1500 units for three months at an average of $12000, we have in our budget $7100 a quarter. This is twice the water usage that tanglewood uses for 85 homes. They use 769 units for 85 homes. The only difference is that they have their own members pay for their water/sewer bills on top of their $400 rents. Some of their tenants pay $25 and others pay $100 or more each and every month.

Our water usage numbers show that many of our members trickle water during the winter months. I strongly suggest that if this is the case, that this practice stops. Get your heating tapes fixed and insulate your water lines properly.
Any homeowner water line breaks have to be addressed immediately by shutting your water off and fixing the break.

In closing I will be discussing this matter in depth with the board as we have to adress the issues I have mentioned.

Thank You

Yvon P. Brulotte Sr
Treasurer
Base Hill Cooperative

WE WILL BE HAVING OUR NEXT MEMBERSHIP MEETING SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1st, AT THE KEENE PUBLIC LIBRARY BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10am AND NOON.WE WILL BE DISCUSSING AND VOTING ON A NEW BUDGET AMONG OTHER TOPICS. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU ATTEND, FOR ONLY YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR PARK. YOUR VOTE DOES COUNT AND WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR OPINIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. NOTICES WILL BE GIVEN OUT DOOR TO DOOR AT LEAST 10 DAYS PRIOR TO DECEMBER 1st. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE AND HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING.

CINDY CONNORS
BOARD SECRETARY

For all co-op members,we will be having our next Board meeting at 6pm, Friday, November 16th. The location is 7 Anderson Avenue at the home of our Board President, Gerry Merrill. As every Board meeting welcomes co-op members, we would appreciate it if you did sign up to be at that meeting so we can supply the space needed. Sign up sheets will be on both park bulletin boards by the end of this day.

Thank You,
Cindy Connors
Board Secretary