HOA Minutes of November 17, 2022 Board Meeting
Board members attending: Joe Cerullo, Lou Petix, Marianne Fohn, Sherry Azoulay.
Representing HPM: Dave Morse
Guest Speakers presenting the Crest Group: Daniel and Marco Scarda
Approximately 30 residents attended
7:00pm Joe opens the meeting
All attendees stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
Joe Cerullo: introduced Janice to give the social committee update, Ellen is in Florida
Janice Cerullo: please let Ellen know if you haven’t received her emails. The fall fling was October 23rd it
was a nice evening. Pat and Janice worked on it. It was held at the Meadows Club. It would be great if
more people came. On 11/26 at 10:00 AM we will be decorating the clubhouse for the holiday season.
Please e-mail Marianne Fohn. On 12/18 will be the holiday party at 4:00 PM bring your own drinks and
an appetizer to share, there is no sign up. The next movie will be Top Gun. Watch your emails. During
the winter months happy hour will continue on Wednesdays from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Movie nights will
continue. Sangeeta will be in the clubhouse on Fridays at 11. For the spring we anticipate having a trivia
night, the community show, and a painting night. Sal Saint George will present on 5/9 at 7:30. His
presentation will be on Mash.
Joe Cerullo: introduced the Crest group who are here to talk to us about the Villas at Setauket and
answer any questions that residents may have. Daniel and Marco Scarda are here to represent the Crest
Group.
Daniel Scarda: there are 92 homes in the Villas of Setauket. The remaining yellow single family home
and nursery was purchased in 2021 after construction of the Villas. Demolition of that property began a
year ago. They need to bring that property into the project. It is in the review phase now with the Town
of Brookhaven. They plan to put up 6 additional rental units and garages closer to the existing parcel and
an egress road. There is no change to the existing SM 50 foot buffer between our property and their
property. That cannot be encroached upon. To be clear, any discussion eliminating a buffer zone, is
referring to removing a buffer on the east side of the property they purchased, between the yellow
house and the Villas at Setauket , not between the yellow house and SM.
Joe: I understand that there is a Councilman having discussions with resident(s) that said ”Oh yeah, they
are trying to do away with the buffer”. We have a 50 foot buffer –
there is no way that you can encroach on it.
Daniel Scarda: We applied for removal of the buffer between the yellow house and nursery and the
existing units – not SM buffer.
Joe: What about the road?
D Scarda: We are working with the Fire Dept to determine their needs.
Joe: and the 2nd egress on Blair?
D Scarda: waiting for town and fire dept – if all is approved – the entrance on Blair would be obsolete.
Joe: We would like you to remove the Villas at Setauket rental sign on Comsewogue at some point.
D Scarda: We have 4 -5 units left to rent. We can reposition the sign, maybe across the street.
Doranne Metz: I live on Blair and started the petition. When you did the construction, you did not take
into consideration the effect on our community. Such as rats. We became overrun with rats. The Board
brought in traps. I am taken aback that Scarda did multiple sets of blueprints. Why are the proposed new garages/storage units opening toward the back of Blair?
D Scarda: The way the road comes into the community –
if we flip the garage/storage units – then the
housing units will need to be closer to Blair.
Metz: Concerned with the noise –
opening and closing of the garages
D Scarda: we don’t anticipate
much activity.
Metz: will there be 50 foot buffer of ours and 50 foot buffer of yours too?
Joe: Their 50 foot buffer is on the other side.
D Scarda: The 50 foot buffer of the old house is on the other side
Macomber: How close will the units be to our property line?
D Scarda: 106 feet to building and about 60 feet to property line
Marco Scarda: Pre construction there was not a lot of wildlife near the yellow building property –
because it was used for landscaping.
Susan Koehn: So you’ll build 6 units, a road where emergency vehicles may need to
turn around. And there will be a 50 foot buffer and a road?
D Scarda: The road is on our property. We brought a map of the existing property and the proposed
additions.
S Koehn: OK I’ll look at the map.
Brian Koehn: If the road doesn’t go thru – will you eliminate the road?
D Scarda: Will ask the Fire Dept
M Scarda: The new road will be a single lane road about 22 feet wide.
David Prestia: So closing the existing road, depends on the fire Dept. Why did you build the road?
D Scarda: Based on the 2018 plans –
prior to the 2021 purchase of the yellow house property-we had to
build the road.
Ann Razzano: Will the storage units be available only to the residents or to anyone?
D Scarda: We don’t know. Need to see what’s approved. 18-20 garages. There are no plans yet. Depends
on what the Town zoning approves.
Donna Higgins: In Fairfield Village, the garages were in very high demand, you had to get on a waiting list.
D Scarda: Also there is a self storage right down the road. We want to build the garages/storage units
because some tenants have no garages and are complaining.
SM Resident: Will the Town restrict your plan for the garage/storage units?
D Scarda: They will probably approve it. Though probably will not allow them to be used for commercial
or industrial.
M Scarda: We prefer to rent to our residents.
Joe: They have no basements –
residents will more than likely rent those units.
Macomber: You need to consider mitigating the noise on the new road and the headlights.
D Scarda: Cars come in parallel so no lights. And there will be only 6 units. We don’t expect
a lot of traffic. Also we will need to do a traffic study for the Town and will be required to mitigate. Yes, we will
include some landscaping too. We will share the study with you. 90% of the tenants will use Marco Drive
to get to their homes.
Joe: Tenants have put up white lights on the houses behind my home. It’s annoying, but I have no
choice.
Prestia: Will you be putting up any landscaping at the end of our 50 foot buffer?
D Scarda: We havent prepared any landscaping plans yet. We will be putting something there. No sight
plan yet. After Town approval – then planning for landscaping and lighting.
Prestia: Blair bedrooms will be affected by lighting.
Metz: The yellow house was dark at night – your lights actually help when I’m walking my dog.
Joe: Are there any questions that haven’t been asked yet?
Metz: You should make an effort to make this community happy. Reverse the garage/storage units and
add a buffer for sound.
Prestia: Add landscaping behind Blair. There were trucks blocking my driveway at 5:30 AM and I couldn’t
get out. You're changing the zone. You need to have some stake in the game – ie add landscaping.
D Scarda: We’re family first! We want to be nice neighbors. We will look at adding a landscaping buffer.
There is not an immense need for a lot of street lighting. We can have more of these conversations.
Joe: Please give us updates when you know more.
D Scarda: Yes, in example change access on Blair.
Joe: Noise, lighting, road access issues. Maybe in 3-4 months
D Scarda: Yes, in example change access on Blair.
Joe: Noise, lighting, road access issues. Maybe in 3-4 months –
join us again at a meeting.
Macomber: When is the next Town meeting?
Joe: They’re not on the schedule yet. Maybe sometime next year. I hope that you feel that you got
answers.
Metz: I’m not happy – this will not go down without a fight.
Scarda leaves meeting.
Macomber: This can be stopped. They are asking for a rezoning approval.
Joe: Go ahead. Do what you think you need to do.
Joe: Previously there were college students living there, making a lot of noise and police were being
called all of the time. This is an improvement. There were woods behind me, now there are lights. I’m
not happy – but it’s there.
Prestia: Give us something back.
Joe: They have been put on notice. Depending on Fire Dept needs – if road gets put back we will also
have 2 more guest parking spots.
Financial Presentation –(Editor's Note:) To view the 2023 Budget Presentation click here.
Joe Cerullo
Joe: There will be an increase to the HOA fees of 10.4%. A $62 increase. $550 HOA plus $110
Cablevision. New Fee $660.
Joe then went over the PowerPoint presentation page by page (Lou ran the presentation that was
projected on the TV screen)
Joe went into a little more detail about the STP, Utilities, Cablevision. IE When we signed the new
Cablevision contract we were told that we were getting the same channel lineup for $99. We started
getting complaints from residents that they were missing channels. Cablevision increased the monthly
charge by $4-$5. We had to absorb that.
Our community liability insurance also increased and now covers $175 per square foot. As a point of
reference, we asked the Crest Group what it cost to build the Villas and we were told in excess of $200
per square foot. We will continue to review our liability insurance coverage to ensure that we are
adequately covered.
The 2022 expense increase over budget of $66,000 in recurring expenses illustrates that we needed to
have an increase of $37 per unit per month in 2022. And the non-recurring $56,000 could have been an
assessment. The Board chose not to burden the Community with another assessment during 2022. So, if
you calculate that into the $62 HOA increase for 2023, $37 has already been incurred and the increase is
an additional $25.
As an example, if in January something cost $1 then in June it goes up to $2…the average for that year is
$1.50 per month or $18 for the year. Then calculating for the new year, you are starting off at $2 or $24
for the entire year, if nothing else occurs. This would create a 33% increase year over year.
, if in January something cost $1 then in June it goes up to $2…the average for that year is
$1.50 per month or $18 for the year. Then calculating for the new year, you are starting off at $2 or $24
for the entire year, if nothing else occurs. This would create a 33% increase year over year.
Next year, if we do all of the non-recurring projects listed –
there will be an assessment of about $500-$600, which will be divided over two payments.
The 2023 budget shows a total monthly fee of $663. The fee is going to $660. The $3 difference is made
up with the interest income that we receive on our accounts.
We were forced to use some reserve funds to make up for the shortfall in revenue.
Repairs and maintenance –
last year thru October there were approximately 125 work orders –
This year
about 100 – but the unit cost increased.
There is a mistake on page 16. When we send it out and publish it to our webpage, it will be correct.
Page 17 Beautification Project – trees need a little more filling in –
some trees and branches need trimming. There will be a plan to do plantings on the berm.
Page 18 SM 2023 Budget analysis. Please review at your leisure, we’ve given you
the numbers for your information.
Sherry reviewed the handout of Completed Projects.
Joe: Safety Issues: It is the residents’ responsibility to manage and care for the smoke detectors, CO2
detectors and the dryer vents.
Sherry: Mulching the property will be done this year. Each year we mulch the entry to our community
and the clubhouse. Every other year, we mulch the entire property.
Bill Hammer: The mulch gets blown away by 4D. We should mulch every year.
Lou Petix: Some residents complain and do not want mulch every year.
Sherry: Mulching is very expensive. At least $15,000 for the entire community.
Joe asks Dave Morse for HPM update – Dave says that he has nothing further.
Macomber: Are repairs to back deck paid for by HPM? (We believe he was referring to the HOA)
Dave and Joe: For rear decks only, if the ledger board is detached from the building –
yes we pay for that repair. We do not pay for cosmetic repairs or the replacement of a deck, that is owner responsibility.
Community Questions
Metz: During the winter – her driveway has an incline – the bobcats take off the sealer.
Dave – Sealer is cosmetic
Higgins: Tree near pond blocking view. Can I pay to have it trimmed?
Sherry – Yes, we’ve already discussed this.
Joe: We’ll pay to have it trimmed, we’ll look at it (Follow-up, Sherry met with 4D on Friday 11/18; the 3
trees behind 136 were cut down 2 feet and trimmed)
Dom DiStefano: Gate issue – young man making a delivery snuck in behind him at the gate. He could
have snapped the gate. Could we put up a sign saying that gate allows only 1 car at a time?
Dave: I have a sign. I will get it installed. Maybe should consider speed bumps and dividers. Put
moveable cone dividers at the gate between the guest and the resident access side.
DiStefano: Cars drive too fast on street –
maybe sign to slow down – or speed bump.
Joe: we need to do something. Tell us when you see someone going too fast –
HPM will send them a warning letter.
Dave: Speed bumps are problems for ambulances and fire dept. They need to slow down a lot to go over
them. They are also a noise factor. Maybe rubber ones. They can be removed in the winter.
Joe: Let’s get an estimate on speed bumps.
Dave: Probably about $1500 each.
James Gajeski: If we could get some gym equipment – a few barbells, universal – doesn’t have to be new
or state of the art. There are gyms selling equipment. Online, etc.
Joe: Get a couple of guys together and get us a quote.
Dave: need to consider weight limitations on the room –
it’s above the pump room.
Sherry: At the same time as providing equipment quote, if you feel that equipment in room should be
moved around, include that in your proposal.
8:30PM Joe closed the meeting
Representing HPM: Dave Morse
Guest Speakers presenting the Crest Group: Daniel and Marco Scarda
Approximately 30 residents attended
7:00pm Joe opens the meeting
All attendees stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
Joe Cerullo: introduced Janice to give the social committee update, Ellen is in Florida
Janice Cerullo: please let Ellen know if you haven’t received her emails. The fall fling was October 23rd it
was a nice evening. Pat and Janice worked on it. It was held at the Meadows Club. It would be great if
more people came. On 11/26 at 10:00 AM we will be decorating the clubhouse for the holiday season.
Please e-mail Marianne Fohn. On 12/18 will be the holiday party at 4:00 PM bring your own drinks and
an appetizer to share, there is no sign up. The next movie will be Top Gun. Watch your emails. During
the winter months happy hour will continue on Wednesdays from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. Movie nights will
continue. Sangeeta will be in the clubhouse on Fridays at 11. For the spring we anticipate having a trivia
night, the community show, and a painting night. Sal Saint George will present on 5/9 at 7:30. His
presentation will be on Mash.
Joe Cerullo: introduced the Crest group who are here to talk to us about the Villas at Setauket and
answer any questions that residents may have. Daniel and Marco Scarda are here to represent the Crest
Group.
Daniel Scarda: there are 92 homes in the Villas of Setauket. The remaining yellow single family home
and nursery was purchased in 2021 after construction of the Villas. Demolition of that property began a
year ago. They need to bring that property into the project. It is in the review phase now with the Town
of Brookhaven. They plan to put up 6 additional rental units and garages closer to the existing parcel and
an egress road. There is no change to the existing SM 50 foot buffer between our property and their
property. That cannot be encroached upon. To be clear, any discussion eliminating a buffer zone, is
referring to removing a buffer on the east side of the property they purchased, between the yellow
house and the Villas at Setauket , not between the yellow house and SM.
Joe: I understand that there is a Councilman having discussions with resident(s) that said ”Oh yeah, they
are trying to do away with the buffer”. We have a 50 foot buffer –
there is no way that you can encroach on it.
Daniel Scarda: We applied for removal of the buffer between the yellow house and nursery and the
existing units – not SM buffer.
Joe: What about the road?
D Scarda: We are working with the Fire Dept to determine their needs.
Joe: and the 2nd egress on Blair?
D Scarda: waiting for town and fire dept – if all is approved – the entrance on Blair would be obsolete.
Joe: We would like you to remove the Villas at Setauket rental sign on Comsewogue at some point.
D Scarda: We have 4 -5 units left to rent. We can reposition the sign, maybe across the street.
Doranne Metz: I live on Blair and started the petition. When you did the construction, you did not take
into consideration the effect on our community. Such as rats. We became overrun with rats. The Board
brought in traps. I am taken aback that Scarda did multiple sets of blueprints. Why are the proposed new garages/storage units opening toward the back of Blair?
D Scarda: The way the road comes into the community –
if we flip the garage/storage units – then the
housing units will need to be closer to Blair.
Metz: Concerned with the noise –
opening and closing of the garages
D Scarda: we don’t anticipate
much activity.
Metz: will there be 50 foot buffer of ours and 50 foot buffer of yours too?
Joe: Their 50 foot buffer is on the other side.
D Scarda: The 50 foot buffer of the old house is on the other side
Macomber: How close will the units be to our property line?
D Scarda: 106 feet to building and about 60 feet to property line
Marco Scarda: Pre construction there was not a lot of wildlife near the yellow building property –
because it was used for landscaping.
Susan Koehn: So you’ll build 6 units, a road where emergency vehicles may need to
turn around. And there will be a 50 foot buffer and a road?
D Scarda: The road is on our property. We brought a map of the existing property and the proposed
additions.
S Koehn: OK I’ll look at the map.
Brian Koehn: If the road doesn’t go thru – will you eliminate the road?
D Scarda: Will ask the Fire Dept
M Scarda: The new road will be a single lane road about 22 feet wide.
David Prestia: So closing the existing road, depends on the fire Dept. Why did you build the road?
D Scarda: Based on the 2018 plans –
prior to the 2021 purchase of the yellow house property-we had to
build the road.
Ann Razzano: Will the storage units be available only to the residents or to anyone?
D Scarda: We don’t know. Need to see what’s approved. 18-20 garages. There are no plans yet. Depends
on what the Town zoning approves.
Donna Higgins: In Fairfield Village, the garages were in very high demand, you had to get on a waiting list.
D Scarda: Also there is a self storage right down the road. We want to build the garages/storage units
because some tenants have no garages and are complaining.
SM Resident: Will the Town restrict your plan for the garage/storage units?
D Scarda: They will probably approve it. Though probably will not allow them to be used for commercial
or industrial.
M Scarda: We prefer to rent to our residents.
Joe: They have no basements –
residents will more than likely rent those units.
Macomber: You need to consider mitigating the noise on the new road and the headlights.
D Scarda: Cars come in parallel so no lights. And there will be only 6 units. We don’t expect
a lot of traffic. Also we will need to do a traffic study for the Town and will be required to mitigate. Yes, we will
include some landscaping too. We will share the study with you. 90% of the tenants will use Marco Drive
to get to their homes.
Joe: Tenants have put up white lights on the houses behind my home. It’s annoying, but I have no
choice.
Prestia: Will you be putting up any landscaping at the end of our 50 foot buffer?
D Scarda: We havent prepared any landscaping plans yet. We will be putting something there. No sight
plan yet. After Town approval – then planning for landscaping and lighting.
Prestia: Blair bedrooms will be affected by lighting.
Metz: The yellow house was dark at night – your lights actually help when I’m walking my dog.
Joe: Are there any questions that haven’t been asked yet?
Metz: You should make an effort to make this community happy. Reverse the garage/storage units and
add a buffer for sound.
Prestia: Add landscaping behind Blair. There were trucks blocking my driveway at 5:30 AM and I couldn’t
get out. You're changing the zone. You need to have some stake in the game – ie add landscaping.
D Scarda: We’re family first! We want to be nice neighbors. We will look at adding a landscaping buffer.
There is not an immense need for a lot of street lighting. We can have more of these conversations.
Joe: Please give us updates when you know more.
D Scarda: Yes, in example change access on Blair.
Joe: Noise, lighting, road access issues. Maybe in 3-4 months
D Scarda: Yes, in example change access on Blair.
Joe: Noise, lighting, road access issues. Maybe in 3-4 months –
join us again at a meeting.
Macomber: When is the next Town meeting?
Joe: They’re not on the schedule yet. Maybe sometime next year. I hope that you feel that you got
answers.
Metz: I’m not happy – this will not go down without a fight.
Scarda leaves meeting.
Macomber: This can be stopped. They are asking for a rezoning approval.
Joe: Go ahead. Do what you think you need to do.
Joe: Previously there were college students living there, making a lot of noise and police were being
called all of the time. This is an improvement. There were woods behind me, now there are lights. I’m
not happy – but it’s there.
Prestia: Give us something back.
Joe: They have been put on notice. Depending on Fire Dept needs – if road gets put back we will also
have 2 more guest parking spots.
Financial Presentation –(Editor's Note:) To view the 2023 Budget Presentation click here.
Joe Cerullo
Joe: There will be an increase to the HOA fees of 10.4%. A $62 increase. $550 HOA plus $110
Cablevision. New Fee $660.
Joe then went over the PowerPoint presentation page by page (Lou ran the presentation that was
projected on the TV screen)
Joe went into a little more detail about the STP, Utilities, Cablevision. IE When we signed the new
Cablevision contract we were told that we were getting the same channel lineup for $99. We started
getting complaints from residents that they were missing channels. Cablevision increased the monthly
charge by $4-$5. We had to absorb that.
Our community liability insurance also increased and now covers $175 per square foot. As a point of
reference, we asked the Crest Group what it cost to build the Villas and we were told in excess of $200
per square foot. We will continue to review our liability insurance coverage to ensure that we are
adequately covered.
The 2022 expense increase over budget of $66,000 in recurring expenses illustrates that we needed to
have an increase of $37 per unit per month in 2022. And the non-recurring $56,000 could have been an
assessment. The Board chose not to burden the Community with another assessment during 2022. So, if
you calculate that into the $62 HOA increase for 2023, $37 has already been incurred and the increase is
an additional $25.
As an example, if in January something cost $1 then in June it goes up to $2…the average for that year is
$1.50 per month or $18 for the year. Then calculating for the new year, you are starting off at $2 or $24
for the entire year, if nothing else occurs. This would create a 33% increase year over year.
, if in January something cost $1 then in June it goes up to $2…the average for that year is
$1.50 per month or $18 for the year. Then calculating for the new year, you are starting off at $2 or $24
for the entire year, if nothing else occurs. This would create a 33% increase year over year.
Next year, if we do all of the non-recurring projects listed –
there will be an assessment of about $500-$600, which will be divided over two payments.
The 2023 budget shows a total monthly fee of $663. The fee is going to $660. The $3 difference is made
up with the interest income that we receive on our accounts.
We were forced to use some reserve funds to make up for the shortfall in revenue.
Repairs and maintenance –
last year thru October there were approximately 125 work orders –
This year
about 100 – but the unit cost increased.
There is a mistake on page 16. When we send it out and publish it to our webpage, it will be correct.
Page 17 Beautification Project – trees need a little more filling in –
some trees and branches need trimming. There will be a plan to do plantings on the berm.
Page 18 SM 2023 Budget analysis. Please review at your leisure, we’ve given you
the numbers for your information.
Sherry reviewed the handout of Completed Projects.
Joe: Safety Issues: It is the residents’ responsibility to manage and care for the smoke detectors, CO2
detectors and the dryer vents.
Sherry: Mulching the property will be done this year. Each year we mulch the entry to our community
and the clubhouse. Every other year, we mulch the entire property.
Bill Hammer: The mulch gets blown away by 4D. We should mulch every year.
Lou Petix: Some residents complain and do not want mulch every year.
Sherry: Mulching is very expensive. At least $15,000 for the entire community.
Joe asks Dave Morse for HPM update – Dave says that he has nothing further.
Macomber: Are repairs to back deck paid for by HPM? (We believe he was referring to the HOA)
Dave and Joe: For rear decks only, if the ledger board is detached from the building –
yes we pay for that repair. We do not pay for cosmetic repairs or the replacement of a deck, that is owner responsibility.
Community Questions
Metz: During the winter – her driveway has an incline – the bobcats take off the sealer.
Dave – Sealer is cosmetic
Higgins: Tree near pond blocking view. Can I pay to have it trimmed?
Sherry – Yes, we’ve already discussed this.
Joe: We’ll pay to have it trimmed, we’ll look at it (Follow-up, Sherry met with 4D on Friday 11/18; the 3
trees behind 136 were cut down 2 feet and trimmed)
Dom DiStefano: Gate issue – young man making a delivery snuck in behind him at the gate. He could
have snapped the gate. Could we put up a sign saying that gate allows only 1 car at a time?
Dave: I have a sign. I will get it installed. Maybe should consider speed bumps and dividers. Put
moveable cone dividers at the gate between the guest and the resident access side.
DiStefano: Cars drive too fast on street –
maybe sign to slow down – or speed bump.
Joe: we need to do something. Tell us when you see someone going too fast –
HPM will send them a warning letter.
Dave: Speed bumps are problems for ambulances and fire dept. They need to slow down a lot to go over
them. They are also a noise factor. Maybe rubber ones. They can be removed in the winter.
Joe: Let’s get an estimate on speed bumps.
Dave: Probably about $1500 each.
James Gajeski: If we could get some gym equipment – a few barbells, universal – doesn’t have to be new
or state of the art. There are gyms selling equipment. Online, etc.
Joe: Get a couple of guys together and get us a quote.
Dave: need to consider weight limitations on the room –
it’s above the pump room.
Sherry: At the same time as providing equipment quote, if you feel that equipment in room should be
moved around, include that in your proposal.
8:30PM Joe closed the meeting