Grant Money for Saco Island

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/Government/story.cfm?storyID=61751

The state gave a decent chunk of change to Mattson deveopment and the city of Saco to build the riverwalk.

They're also going to demolish the steam pipe that connects Saco Island to Biddeford. I will actually be sad to see it go just because of the cool birds I have seen perch on it.

Snow Removal Policy

(Originally posted 12/15/07, modified March 08)

The day after the storm, Saco Island LP will plow our lot (and theirs) at 9AM. If that day is:

Monday through Friday:

By 9AM all of our vehicles must be removed from our parking lot and Saco Island LP's lot at the top of the hill (which they let us use at their leisure, but are not obligated to give us space in.) Our vehicles may return to these lots at Noon.

On weekends:

Construction vehicles and Saco Island LP tenants will not be on site, and we will be permitted to move our vehicles to the lower lot, behind our building on the Biddeford side of the island. To quote an e-mail from Saco Island LP:

"The parking that is available in the lower lot is marked. We have closed the areas under construction. People should not try to park there. In terms of available weekend parking: residents can park in the lower lot during the hours of 9 to noon, but no longer than that."

Any vehicle left in ITOA's lot will be subject to fines and or towing and may be plowed around. Vehicles in Saco Island LP's lot will be handled as follows: (Quoting from their e-mail)

"We have made arrangements with our contractor to clear the ITA lot and the lot at the top of the hill between the hours of 9a.m. and noon. ITA residents must move their cars from these lots and may not park in any lot on the island with the exception of Saturday and Sunday. The lower parking lot may be available on those days, assuming it has been cleared. If it has not, ITA residents must find their own parking off of the island. They must be out of the lower parking lot after the ITA lot is plowed. If there are cars left in the lower parking lot that impede snow removal, they will be towed. We are not responsible for any damage to vehicles."

Annual Meeting - Results

At this morning's annual meeting the budget for 2009 was approved by the association. Bob Martin and Paul Culloton retained their positions on the board and Larry Lopes was voted in to replace Vin White. The board would like to thank Vin for all of his hard work and dedication in service to the association as a board member and for his pledge to continue to help.

Condo Meetings

We will no longer be meeting on the first floor of the building in the office next to the hair salon. The meetings will still be held in the same building, however, at the same time, just upstairs. Find us at 6:30PM on the Second Wednesday of the month at 110 Main Street Suite 1508, on the 5th floor.

MERC's stench and Noise from Biddeford

You may already be aware of this, but former Saco Mayor, Mark Johnston is suing MERC. He seeks an injunction to block the transmission of the odor that emanates from MERC. You can help! If the smell of garbage comes into your unit when your windows are open, or you are walking outside and can smell MERC call the Saco PD non-emergency line (284-4535) to report the odor. They may come to check it out too. They will log your complaint and the more confirmed reports of the odor, the better our chances are in getting that injunction.

Also, one of our neighbors has been complaining about the noise form the rehearsal spaces in Biddeford. If you find they are disturbing the peace, please call Biddeford or Saco public safety to report the incident.

Windows in The Hallways

There are windows in the hallways on the 1st and 3rd floors that many people open to let air in the hallway. Please DO NOT open the windows that DON'T HAVE SCREENS. Board members and some residents have been repeatedly closing these windows. Some of your neighbors have reported -- quoting -- "large, slow flying flies that are disgusting and huge. Not sure if they bite but they are the size of a moose fly."

We have lots of birds and rodents that can easily come into the buiding if the windows that lack screens are left open.

Additionally, it has been reported that a resident who got locked out, climbed in through a window near the laundry rooms on the 1st floor. Those screens do provide a certain measure of security, but for safety sake, please avoid opening windows that are accessible from the walkways near the entrances to the building on the 1st floor.

Please use common sense. If you wish to open a window in the hall, make sure it has a screen. And if you see it raining or may rain, please close the window to prevent rain from entering the building.

Moving In or Moving Out?

Please make sure to contact R+E before moving in or out of ITOA. Why? To make things easier for you, R+E can give you permission to use no parking zones, exceed 15 minutes in the short term parking areas at the front of the building and the fire lane.

The reason you need to contact R+E is simple: As rare as it may be very often two people are moving in or out on the same day. If one person has permission to use the fire lane then the other people cannot use it too.

In special cases, it is possible to contact unit owners who have spaces close to the entrance by the laundry room on the first floor and to obtain their permission for you to borrow their spaces for the move. Let R+E coordinate this too.

Under no circumstances is anyone to park in the no parking zones by the dumpster (flats entrance) in the fire lane or in ANY OTHER UNIT OWNER'S SPACE without prior approval from R+E. Doing so will result in fines and or booting of your vehicle.

Single Stream Recycling

Saco has made things easier for us. Cardboard, paper, plastic, cans and glass can all be put in the same bins. Please do not throw cardboard boxes (except pizza boxes) into the dumpster. Make sure to break down your cardboard before recycling.

Thanks,
ITOA

Construction Area

Saco Island LP's security staff has been told by people claiming to live here that Island Terrace residents are allowed to fish on the East Side of the Island. This is not the case. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, the East side of the Island is closed to all people. This is a construction zone and staging area. There are no protective barricades and the wharf edge of the island is in bad shape. Teh ITOA and Saco Island LP do not want people to be in an unsafe area.

The property is also private property and unauthorized presence there is trespassing. Saco Island LP has closed the area for access and their security personnel will enforce this. If people refuse to respond to the security officers, the Saco Police will be called. When the East side is developed, a trail from the entry way to a spot on the rocks below Cataract Falls will be opened to the public so folks can fish. In the meantime, everyone should avoid the area.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Saco, Maine

This video was available for download on the city's website...

March Meeting - Rule Changes

At the March meeting a new board member was elected, Leon Flint, who replaced Alan St. Pierre who resigned from the board last month. One of the last things that Alan accomplished during his tenure was finding the money in the budget to pay for windows to fill the spaces on the 1st and 3rd floor hallways that are currently sealed. We will not have to make a special assessment or dip into the reserves to fund this. We have one bid at the moment and are entertaining others and hope to decide on a contractor during the April meeting.

At the request of the plow drivers, vehicles are now required to be moved by 9AM and not 10AM. A large number of stragglers caused some difficulty for the plows. In one case a resident backing out of her space almost collided with a plow. So for your safety and theirs please have your vehicles moved from the ITOA lot and the one at the top of the hill by 9AM the day after the storm.

Parking policy has been reexamined. A few minor changes have been made to fix some loopholes in the way the previous policy was worded. The new policies go into effect on April 1, 2008 and are as follows:

ITOA PARKING POLICY

EFFECTIVE 4-1-2008

1. EACH UNIT IS ALLOWED ONE ASSIGNED, NUMBERED SPACE TO BE USED BY THE UNIT OWNER OR TENANT. EACH UNIT WILL RECEIVE TWO PARKING TAGS, TO BE DISPLAYED IN THE FRONT OF VEHICLE BY OWNER/TENANT OF THE UNIT.

2. AN ADDITIONAL 6 SPACES ARE RENTED THROUGH THE ASSOCIATION AT A COST OF $50 PER MONTH. SEE ADDENDUM.

3. IF YOU ARE RENTING A SPOT FROM AN ABSENTEE OWNER, THE OWNER WILL NEED TO PUT IN WRITING TO R&E MANAGEMENT, YOUR NAME, TYPE OF VEHICLE AND THE DURATION OF THE RENTAL OF THE SPOT UNIT OWNER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPPLYING TENANT WITH PARKING TAG.

4. THE REMAINING 6 VISITOR PARKING SPACES ARE ONLY TO BE USED BY VISITORS FOR A TOTAL OF 4 HOURS. THESE WILL ALSO BE CLEARLY MARKED WITH A SIGN. IF A VEHICLE IS PARKED FOR MORE THAN 4 HOURS, THE VEHICLE WILL BE SUBJECT TO TOWING AND THE UNIT OWNER COULD ALSO BE FINED.

SWAPPING A VEHICLE IN YOUR ASSIGNED SPACE WITH ONE IN VISITOR PARKING IS NOT PERMITTED AS A WAY TO EXTEND THE USE OF THE SPACE BEYOND THE 4-HOUR TIME LIMIT. THE SAME UNIT IS STILL MONOPOLIZING THE VISITOR SPOT AND DENYING OTHERS ACCESS TO IT. RESIDENTS SHOULD NOT USE VISITOR PARKING AND LEAVE THEIR ASSIGNED SPACE EMPTY.

5. IF AN UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLE IS PARKED IN A RENTED SPOT THE OWNER CAN REQUEST HAVING IT TOWED. THE VIOLATOR IS ALSO SUBJECT TO SANCTIONS.

6. ADDITIONAL VEHICLES ARE TO BE PARKED UP ON THE HILL IN THE OVERFLOW LOT THAT SACO ISLAND LP PREMITS THE ITOA TO USE IN GOOD FAITH. IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO GIVE YOUR GUESTS PARKING PASSES THAT IDENTIFY THEM AS YOUR GUEST NO MATTER WHERE THEY PLAN ON PARKING.

7. ALL 15 MINUTE PARKING SPACES ARE FOR JUST THAT, 15 MINUTES! VIOLATORS WILL BE WARNED, FINED AND/OR TOWED . EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE ARE FOR MOVERS, R&E, WORKERS DOING WORK ON UNITS, VENDORS LIKE PHONE, LIGHT, ORCABLE.

IF YOU ARE HAVING WORK DONE ON YOUR UNIT, OR IF YOU ARE MOVING, PLEASE NOTIFY R&E PRIOR TO THE DAY OF THE EVENT TO AVOID YOUR VENDOR OR YOURSELF BEING SUBJECT TO CONSEQUENCES.

8. THE FIRELANE IS TO BE KEPT OPEN. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE POSTAL SERVICE, FED EX, AND UPS, VIOLATORS WILL BE SUBJECT TO FINES AND/OR TOWING. (NO WARNINGS)

9. IF YOU ARE SELLING A UNIT, PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR REALTORS THAT THEIR CLIENTS AND ANY REALTOR SHOWING THE UNIT MUST PARK IN VISITOR PARKING OR USE THE ASSIGNED SPACE. THEY MUST NOT USE THE 15 MINUTE PARKING OR FIRELANE.

10. IN THE SPIRIT OF BEING NEIGHBORLY, IT IS HOPED THAT IF A CAR WITH AN ITOA TAG IS PARKED IN YOUR SPOT YOU WILL TRY TO CONTACT THAT UNIT OWNER BEFORE CALLING FOR TOWING OR R&E.

Reserved Parking Addendum

To clarify the existing policy pertaining to the six "reserved" parking spots an addendum was approved at the last board meeting. These six spots belong to the ITOA and are available for rent for $50 a month.


In order to rent one of the six reserved parking spaces from the association a unit owner must contact R+E and be put on the waiting list. The list is first come first serve. The fee is $50 per month and is in addition to association dues.

An owner may only rent one reserved spot at a time and may not be on the waiting list more than once, even if they have multiple units.

When a unit owner sells their unit the rented space is then assigned to the next person on the waiting list.

A unit owner must be living at Island Terrace in order to rent the space. If the owner decides to rent their unit, the space is then assigned to the next person on the waiting list.

Any current tenants who are renting a spot from their landlord (the unit owner) are grandfathered in and when they terminate their lease the spot will be assigned to the next person on the waiting list.

A unit owner must be in good standing in order to be placed on the waiting list. If they go more than 30 days out on condo dues or heating/cooling fees then they will be removed from the waiting list.

Failure to pay for the reserved spot will result in a $25 late fee being assessed after the 5th of the month. Failure to pay reserve fee and late fee by the 1st of the next month will result in forfeiture of the reserved space. If a unit owner fails to pay their condo fees, but sends in the $50 for their reserved spot, that money will be applied to the condo fee and their reserved spot will be subject to reassignment.

Any matter not specifically addressed by this policy will be brought before the ITOA Executive Board for a decision.

Send Us Your Pics!

We've set-up a new e-mail address:

Pix@islandterrace.info

Feel free to use it to share pictures of life at Island Terrace or to report problems. For instance this morning this picture was taken by a camera phone and sent to us:



A leak in the lobby. This photo was forwarded to R+E so they could come repair the issue.

If you see something that you want to report simply e-mail a picture to Pix@islandterrace.info with a brief description. Feel free to add us to the phone book in your cell phone to send picture or video messages.


With your help we can become aware of minor problems before they become major headaches.

For instance, you come home from work and the gate is broken, take a picture with your camera phone and send it to Pix@islandterrace.info

If an unknown vehicle is in your spot, take a picture of it and we'll try to locate the owner and let them know not to park in your spot, or if you request it, we can arrange to have the vehicle towed.

And if you happen to have a camera and are just walking around the island or in town and want to share a picture with your neighbors, feel free to send that too! We'll create a web page for neighbors to share pictures with each other.