Some Recollections, Reflections and a Retirement

This note was written in June 2013 by Charles Rosenberg, a long-time resident of Berkshire Hills Leisure Lee, past President of the Berkshire Hills Leisure Lee Owners Association, past Vice President, and, Chairman of the Legal Committee upon his retirement from the Board.

It was an unpleasant day during the summer of 1976 at Leisure Lee when those home owners who were present were startled to see a statement posted on the bulletin board by Barnum Investment Group, Inc., the owner and manager of the common properties at Leisure Lee, declaring that the home owners should voluntarily agree to an assessment of $10,000.00 for improvement to the Leisure Lee Roads, or Barnum would cease to maintain any of the common properties at Leisure Lee. Barnum was not required to maintain the properties, and would cease to do so. The home owners could fend for themselves.

Barnum had established Leisure Lee as a “vacation community,” which had been accomplished by acquiring title to all of the land; subdividing the land into more than 200 lots, which could be sold individually, and by establishing “covenants” which would govern the rights and obligations of all owners of land at Leisure Lee. The covenants, which were property rights which would remain binding on all owners of lots (all individual deeds would also contain language binding the owner to the covenants), which were designed first and foremost to protect the rights of Barnum, were intended secondarily and importantly to bind all lot owners to provisions which would assure that each owner of property would be entitled to use his/her property as provided in the covenants while at the same time assuring that they and other owners would be precluded from using their property (or the common property) contrary to the requirements of the covenants.

Barnum had contemplated that more than 200 lots would be sold, and in order to bring that result about, Barnum built roads to provide access to the lots, as well as two tennis courts and a small beach front and dock area at Goose Pond. By the summer of 1976 there were perhaps 35 homes which had been built, some of which were owned by members of Barnum or by relatives of Barnum owners. Unfortunately for Barnum, for various reasons, it became apparent that substantially less than 200 lots could be sold, and, in fact, as a result of economic conditions, very few lots had been sold. which meant that Barnum,(which had provided in the covenants for home owners to pay only $100 per year in maintenance charges so as to encourage the sale of lots) was losing money in attempting to maintain Leisure Lee.

Anyone with any familiarity with the Leisure Lee properties knows the extent to which the Leisure Lee Roads were not properly constructed. The various ways in which the roads were inadequate for the intended purposes need not be specified. Suffice it to say that the roads were not properly built, and would require regular maintenance work to be usable by owners. Only minimal and completely inadequate repair work had been done by Barnum, which had raised an outcry among homeowners, which had resulted in the posting of the notice referred to above. Seeing this notice, in turn, had caused the occurrence of public fury (screaming along the roads), as well as fear among the homeowners as to how they would be able to use their property.

I do not remember exactly the circumstances which led to Sid Romash and I getting together to discuss the situation, except that perhaps Sid and I were the only home owners who were not yelling and screaming on Leisure Lee Road. I met with Sid in my house, and in discussing the situation, we decided very quickly that we would reject the proposed Barnum assessment and would take advantage of the opportunity to assume control of the common properties, and to accept the responsibility to maintain the common properties. In accordance with the covenants we would form a corporation which would assume the responsibilities to maintain the Leisure Lee properties.

Sid and I privately met with a fellow named Donovan who was in the road construction business, and he agreed to do the necessary repair work to the road for the $10,000.00 sum. In discussing this situation with him, however, he said that he would not be able to take care of the winter snow removal work, and that he could not imagine that any other person or company would undertake such a chore. He thought that Barnum “had us” because of this problem. However, just prior to leaving he said that he had an idea and he mentioned that two young fellows were just starting in the road maintenance business, and that perhaps they would be willing to do this work, which would give them a start in business and would also give us a start in undertaking to maintain the roads during the winter.

Sid and I then met with Bill Williams and Chris Williams, who agreed to undertake the winter snow plowing and maintenance of the roads on an “as needed” basis, and the result was a relationship that lasted for many years during which Willams took care of the winter snow maintenance at Leisure Lee.

There remained the paperwork which would be required in order to implement our objective. The “internet” did not exist at the time. I assumed the task of attempting to put together a set of by-laws which could apply to our new organization. This meant that I was required to visit several libraries to try to put together a document which would be consistent with the covenants and which would try to accomplish the objectives. One difficulty which was confronted by homeowners and which remains in effect as per the covenants, was the fact that every owner, whether of a lot without a home built on it or with a home built on it had the same voting rights. For this reason our Association became one of “Owners” and was not one limited to homeowners, although, inevitably those interested in Association matters would be owners of homes. Preparing an initial set of by-laws from scratch created a number of difficult issues which were resolved in the By-Laws which were presented to the Owners at the initial Owners meeting which followed. Most of such By-law provisions remain in effect to date.

The initial meeting of Owners was held on the beach, and at that meeting the formation of the BERKSHIRE HILLS LEISURE LEE OWNERS’ASSOCIATION, INC. was confirmed; the by-laws were adopted and the initial Directors were elected. The meeting was conducted by Sid Romash who the Directors elected to serve as President, and I became Vice President . At that initial meeting it was necessary to vote for the approval of the road assessment, in order to enable the work to be done as per the understanding we had worked out with Donovan. I was additionally concerned with the abominable condition of the tennis courts, and thought it necessary that there also be an assessment which would enable the tennis courts to be repaired. A vote was taken on that issue, and by a single vote, the assessment was not approved. Frankly, that vote was very upsetting to me, as I thought that it was important for the tennis courts to be in condition allowing their use; not to mention the eyesore which was presented to anyone who entered Leisure Lee. Accordingly, my initial reaction was to have the matter reconsidered, as I was confident that a new vote after further consideration would have a different result. Notwithstanding my strong initial inclination, the matter was discussed privately by Sidney, myself and some of the newly elected officers and the result was an important determination. It was determined that for matters which involve substantial financial commitments by Owners, there should be more than a simple majority vote favoring the expenditure. Rather there should be an overall feeling in the community (in effect, a consensus) favoring the undertaking. As a matter of history, the fact is that one year after our initial meeting of the Association, a vote for an assessment to repair the tennis courts was approved unanimously, and over the course of the years this concept of relying upon consensus has been adhered to, as indicated by the fact that most undertakings involving a significant expense have been approved by unanimous vote of the Directors.

Through great effort on the part of the home owners, the community thrived. Additional homes were built; the community facilities were maintained, with particular care being given to maintaining the beach and waterfront of Goose Pond, and making necessary repairs to community roads. In accordance with the provisions of the Covenants, once the Owners Association had established its credibility in terms of managing the community, the Association became entitled to ownership of the community properties (roads, beach front, etc.) However, Barnum refused to agree to transfer title to the Association. Their argument was that all Deeds to lots at Leisure Lee contained provisions for Barnum to have the right to make changes to the rights of Owners with respect to use of all community facilities, including the use of the roads and use of the beach. Therefore they did not have to convey title to the community facilities. Sid and I met on several occasions with representatives of Barnum, in an effort to resolve the situation. Barnum was afraid that if we owned the community roads we would interfere with their ability to sell lots. In view of the continued refusal of Barnum to transfer title of the community facilities to the Association, we instituted a law suit, which resulted in Barnum being ordered to provide such a Deed.

Some time after the title to the community facilities were transferred to the Association by Barnum, Barnum transferred all of its properties at Leisure Lee to the Brundage Trust. The Brundage Trust then devised plans to develop and sell properties at Leisure Lee to an extent not authorized by original filed plans. In fact, Brundage obtained necessary governmental approvals to proceed with its plans, which required the Association to institute a law suit seeking an injunction to prevent Brundage from proceeding to implement its plans. There were extensive discussions with representatives of Brundage, in an effort to resolve the situation in a manner acceptable to the community. The result was the “Brundage Agreement,” which enabled Brundage to make certain sales, but which limited the additional development which could take place in the future respecting property which Brundage had owned.

For a number of years after the formation of the Association, Sid had remained president, providing wonderful leadership and guidance, which was particularly important during those initial years. For a number of years thereafter, I served as President, and I can only state that it is difficult to imagine all the paperwork which was required during the pre-internet period. Every document had to be typed; every communication had to be individually typed and mailed, with a copy maintained.

For several years Jack Kissinger was a full time resident at Leisure Lee, And for a number of years during that period he served as president of the Association. While Jack was not involved in the negotiations with Brundage, he was President at the time, and consequently he signed the Agreement on behalf of the Association. One noteworthy achievement of Jack was to introduce us to the Ruth Bridagan, who became the “security person” at the foot of the hill. It is interesting to remember that for many years after Leisure Lee was founded, no person was engaged by Barnum or later by the Association to provide such “security.” At some point, some homeowners stated that our beach and dock facilities were being used by residents of Lee or of the surrounding area, and complained that we should have someone placed at the foot of the hill to prevent our facilities being used by those not entitled to such use. At the time, I made arrangements with the retired chief of police, who performed such services for three years, after which he declined to continue, and at that point Jack presented us with Ruth Bridagan.

After Jack Kissinger sold his house, Sid Romash once again became President of the Association, and I served as Vice President. This continued for a period of years during which much progress was made at Leisure Lee, with respect to the facilities; the use of the facilities and the functioning of the Association. From the inception of the Association, many homeowners have contributed mightily to the maintenance of the community facilities, including the beach, parking and the road facilities. Without the active participation and efforts of so many Owners, I doubt that Leisure Lee could be what I regard as the success story it is today. I would not mention any specific names as my attempting to do so would surely omit to specify someone whose efforts on behalf of the Association have been particularly important.

It was a very sad day indeed for all of us at Leisure Lee when we heard of Sid Romash’s passing. My personal dealings with Sid from the inception had been intimately and friendly, involving contacts on almost a daily basis. However, I continued to serve as a Vice-President, working together with three persons, whose efforts as officers of the Association have been truly extraordinary. One cannot imagine our beautiful and usable beach were it not for the efforts of Roy Rapp. Roy has been the guy to go to over the course of the years respecting all Leisure Lee matters. All financial aspects have been taken care of by Bill Glassner, who not only contributed his own personal time and attention , but who made his entire business organization available to attend to Leisure Lee matters. Not much need be said about our secretary Jerry Hayden, whose continuing contributions are obvious. He has established a web-site for the Association, and has otherwise brought the Association into the computer age. If some communication respecting an Association matter is called for, a response from Jerry has been forthcoming .

Over the course of the years, Roy, Jerry and I have always remained in touch with one another to deal with key problems as they arise, and Jerry has kept Owners apprised of all developments and occurrences. What has been particularly satisfying is the fact that many persons who have acquired their homes in recent years have shown great interest in Association matters and have actively contributed to the work of the Association. This augurs well for the future of the Berkshire Hills Leisure Lee Association, and is an unspecified signal to me that it is time to move on and to make room for our new and interested Owners to assume these organizational responsibilities.

At the conclusion of meetings in recent years, I heard the voice of Cy Beer, who always sat to my immediate left, whisper to me that I should not think about resigning as my conduct of meetings was important in setting the tone for the Association. I would hope that the tone has been established and will continue all of which amounts to an assertion that I will not be including my name as among those who will be serving as directors after the Annual Meeting of 2013. I express my appreciation and extend my best wishes to all.