FIPPOA

Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association

Volume 8 Number 6

September 2014

We certainly had wonderful weather for the Labor Day Weekend and a jam packed weekend it was.

Congratulations to FIPAP for a terrific production of Into The Woods. It is a complex musical to produce and FIPAP did a bang up job! Hats off to the director, cast and all who were involved with producing it. The Pines also witnessed or was consumed by the 500 plus Madonna drag party on Saturday afternoon. The party did set a Guinness World Record for number of Madonna impersonators. Congratulations to all involved in producing this special Pines tradition.

The word is out, our own jewel in the Pines, the Pines Liquor Store was found by and featured in The New York Times! Kudos to Steve & Chris Nicosia and the Liquor Store Boys for well deserved recognition.

The beach project FIMI has now moved to a fast track. Congressman Bishop has been concerned about the project taking too long and convened a meeting two weeks ago for all the agencies involved in the project to speed things along. Suffolk County stepped up and made a commitment to expedite the surveys of the ocean front properties. Their commitment is to have surveyors in the communities by the end of September with a completion date of December 15, and the Army Corps of Engineers has committed to having the dune project completed in two years.

Yesterday the Army Corps opened the bids for the first phase of the construction project at the eastern end of Fire Island. Dutra was the winning bidder. The Army Corps will now formally award the contract and FIMI begins!

All this requires fast action on our part if the County and the ACE are to perform. FIPPOA has organized a meeting for all the ocean front homeowners this Saturday at 11:30 at Whyte Hall. We strongly urge all ocean front owners to attend. We will quickly review all the maps issued since October '13, and the information issued along with them. But the main purpose of the meeting will be to obtain signatures from the homeowners on the necessary right of entry forms which are required before the surveys can be performed. The forms require notarization, and we will have a notary at the meeting (bring an ID!!). Once the surveys are completed the County will then, and only then, be able to enter into negotiations with impacted homeowners to resolve any real estate issues, but we will give a general overview of what will happen. Once the real estate issues are resolved, construction can begin in the Pines. We do not have a date yet of when this could happen, but the Fall/Winter of 2015/2016 is looking more possible now.

In the Harbor, the petition process to obtain the necessary authorization to raise the bonds to fund the ferry passenger dock renovation is underway. Some homeowners were delayed in receiving their forms. The Town of Brookhaven law requires us to use the Tax Assessor's records for the mailing and those records are in many instances not current. Please contact us by return email if any owner has not received the documents. Remember the Co-ops vote as one entity not by individual units.

Don't forget the Annual meeting and election is Saturday, September 20th (10 am for coffee and danish and 10:30 am for the meeting). The candidate profiles were mailed in August along with ballots for regular members.

Mike Hartstein will be stepping down as Treasurer of FIPPOA this year after 8 years of service. At the time he took office the FIPPOA Board was in considerable disarray. He strengthened the FIPPOA Board at a critical time, bringing transparency to our finances and new confidence in the Board. His comprehensive overview of FIPPOA finances has been excellent. He knows our books backwards and forward as the Board and the members of the Audit & Finance Committee know from his frequent reports. He runs a tight ship financially, and has kept FIPPOA in the black - perhaps with fewer surpluses than he would have preferred, but the bottom line is always in the black.

He has taken on many other duties, aiding and assisting me as President every step of the way. FIPPOA is a better and stronger organization today and much of the credit goes to Mike. Fortunately Mike will remain as a director, ensuring a smooth transition, and we will continue to benefit from his eminently sage advice.

I think the fall is a very special time of year in the Pines.

Hope everyone enjoys it !

Jay

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The Fire Island Pines Fire District is looking for a volunteer secretary, who will attend the monthly meetings, take minutes, file notices and help oversee District elections. The amount of time involved would be approximately ten hours per month which includes attendance at meetings. If you have any interest, please send a note about yourself to [email protected].

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The Ed Romaine fundraiser will be held this Saturday, September 6th at 4PM (Sharp!) at Sip N Twirl. Special appreciation to Nicole LaFountaine and P.J. McAteer for hosting the event. Contributions can be made to either campaign by clicking on the PAC logo.

The Tim Bishop Fundraiser on September 14th from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm at the penthouse apartment of Jay Pagano & Mark Fortier, 211 West 18th St NYC. Contributions can be made to either campaign by clicking on the PAC logo.

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Pines Party Recreates Itself

Pines Party created a wholly new look thanks to the design by Guy Smith and his capable partner, Roberto Montenegro .

Vinnie Petrarca was the producer for the third consecutive year. The Pines Party team worked for one year on this event. The team was headed by Dr. Ed Schulhafer and Allan Baum. This was one of the hardest working committees in FIPPOA history and included Hal Hayes, Randy Wilson, John Cassese, Jay Henry, Marc Cote, Jeff Hall, Henry Jiang, and Jon Gilbert. Thanks to Joey Mendoza for his work on the online journal. Administration was handled by Ken Pollard, Ignacio Ceriani, Alan Brodherson and Michael Hartstein. The Pines business community lent unprecedented support lead by Tommy Esposito, Mark and Eric Schrader, Chris and Steven Nicosia and Jon Wilner. All this effort produced not only an amazingly successful event but better financial results than have been seen in several years.

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But, it's not too late to make your donation to the 2014 Damminix Fund. As you know, your generous contributions make it possible for us to continue this important program. The second application of Damminix has been applied, but we need your help! Won't you please take a moment and make your donation now. If you have already donated this year, please accept our sincere thanks. If you have not, now would be a perfect time to join the list of your friends and neighbors who have.

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In Memoriam

Eric J. Lebow

We are sad to announce that we just lost a valuable member of our Pines Community. Eric Lebow lost his battle with melanoma on August 15. He was well know for his smile, his jokes, abundant energy and work ethic. He loved working in the Pines and enjoyed the many friends he made over the years. He is survived by his wife Nancy, his daughters Erica, Amanda and Rachael, his parents, brothers, step children and grand children, and his extended family from around the country. Anyone wishing to honor Eric's memory can mae a donation to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Hospice.