Esmann Island
Board Meeting Minutes
Date: 8/15/2026
Time: 8:00am – _9:18am
Location: Esmann Office
Facilitator: Jeff Brown(President)
Note taker: Nikki Lynch (Secretary)
ATTENDEES
All board members were in attendance except Tom Stueck
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REPORTS
Report #1: Treasurers report of income/ expenses/ investments, etc
Bills paid:See PAY HOA for all Financials
Income received:
Bank balance(s):
Report #2: Building Permits/Ownership Changes
Details:
Don and Julie Sorenson @ 415 River View Road are filing a building permit for a bed and bath extension on their existing house. They have already attained a Clayton County Building permit, Flood plain permit, and DNR approval. The building committee has not yet walked the lot, so will still have to do that. Brown will contact them and get that finalized.
Wayne and Michele Ahern @ 382 River View Road – Lot 96 are going to tear down their existing cabin and replace it with a one story home – 54’ x 41’. A building committee member walked the lot. It was very well marked. The building committee has signed the permit, requesting board approval.
Report #3: Committee Discussions
Details: The Welcoming Committee met and we have many ideas to start welcoming new members.
There was a question regarding funds for this committee. Nikki will get with Kari Winders to discuss using some of the can money to help get this off the ground. Please, if you have any ideas, reach out to one of the volunteers. Pay HOA will be utilized to send out a welcoming email.
The following have volunteered: Nikki Lynch, Cindy Lynch, Sarah Vegter, Becky Shaffer and Cheri Reisner and Sonya Burco. Thank you!!
Report #4: Roads Committee
Details: The following have volunteered for the road committee, Tom Lynch, Dan Vegter and Mark Tarpy. Thank you!!
There was discussion that a board member should head up the road committee. Shauna K agreed to lead this. A motion was made to approve made by Terry and seconded by Tony, the motion was passed.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Item #1: Insurance: Who will cover us as an HOA? Options?
Details: Insurance renewed on 8\15 The board made the decision to keep the same insurance company for now. They will continue to look at different options but for now, just renewed the policy but looking into cancelling the terrorist protection package that was a part of the policy.
Item #2: Alliant/Mediacom Poles: Has anyone contacted the project managers to come to a meeting?
Details: Brown, Denner, and Mark Tarpy met with Dustin Mohs, the Alliant project manager for the Esmann Island underground project Friday 8/14/26. We discussed that there are two remaining properties to have their underground services hooked up. These are both scheduled for the week of 17 August. As soon as those have been completed Dustin will send a “wrecking” crew to come out and remove any pole that does not have transmission lines or active service lines on it. There are still a lot of poles that have Mediacom on them. While the wrecking crew is on the Island they will top those poles, removing all transformers and conductors – this is to clean up the poles and get any remaining Alliant equipment out of the area. Poles with Mediacom services will be left in place.
Terry Denner received an email from Craig Eggert, Construction Specialist at Mediacom. They had spoken multiple times in the past. Craig reiterated that MC will be bringing fiber to the home (on the north half of the Island – Presumably he meant Esmann). MC’s current schedule is to begin this work in early 2027 and complete before the end of the year.
- Everything MC will be buried with the possible exception of, they may decide to use service poles for the fiber that will be in place where residents have elected not to have underground electric.
- Pedestals – they will attempt to use as few pedestals as possible, however, some home without MC service will still get pedestals in order to build out the service infrastructure.
- Also, they may be able to use some of the new service poles that Alliant has installed to hang some MC services on thereby freeing up some number of additional poles for Alliant to “wreck” when the send their crews down to remove poles.
Kate Hoffman mentioned that it would be nice to get a contract with Alliant stating all of these details. Cindy Miller stated there were times in the past that a contract would have been helpful instead of a verbal agreement. Jeff agreed to reach out to the people involved to see about getting something in writing regarding all of the details discussed.
Item #3: Signage: It was discussed that we may need to get a few more signs. What type of signs and exact locations? Were the members contacted regarding trimming bushes at the 3 way corner by the dock area?
Details: Signs will be purchased to be placed at the 3 way corner by the dock area. Motion was made by Tony and Terry seconded and the motion was approved. It was suggested that someone should talk with our insurance agent and get a checklist regarding where we need to have signs for the protection of the island.
Item #4: Money in bank vs CD options, has the decision been made? Did the bank account get changed to reflect the new board execs?
Details: Jeff and Shauna will get in touch with the bank to make the necessary changes and also get the CD’s set up.
Item #5: Was a letter sent to Abel regarding disruptive drivers?
Details: Letter has not been sent. This remains Brown’s action. Reaching out through existing contacts for access to the Abel Island board members.
Item #6: Where should the agenda, minutes, etc be posted? There was concern that all information should be posted only on Pay HOA and no longer on FB?
Details: The agenda, minutes, etc will be posted on FB, Pay HOA and the Esmann website until the end of this year. After that, Pay HOA will be the main hub for information and will be the main site for all Island business.
Item #7: Verbiage for personal signage.
Details: Dave looked into personal signage verbiage and his other HOA says the only sign that can be in one’s yard is a For Sale sign. The board does not want to be that strict with signage but going forward, if you see something that is offenses or you feel crosses the line, please reach out to a board member. This issue and how to proceed moving forward will be added to the Annual meeting agenda to adjust the bylaws.
NEW BUSINESS
Item #1: Do we need internet at the office?
Terry brought up the expense of internet at the office. Terry made a motion to drop the internet. Much discussion was had by members stating that they do want to have access to the meetings online. Shauna Barton has been graciously using her phone to stream the meeting and is using her cell service. Jeff said we should table this discussion until next meeting and other options will then be discussed.
Item #2: What are the terms for the new board members?
Tony inquired about the term for the new and existing board members. In 2025, Tim Plagge, Tom Stueck were elected as new board members so their terms will be up at the annual meeting in 2028. Josh was also re-elected last year so his term is a 2 year term.
In 2024, Terry Denner and Gail Scherr were “elected” to the board so their terms will be up at the annual meeting in 2027.
All that being said, for the 3 new members, there are 2-3 year terms and 1-2 year term to fill.
Member Comments/Discussion
Gail stated that she was noticing a lot of members blowing freshly mowed grass onto the roadway. This can be very dangerous for bicyclists, golf cart drivers, motorbike drivers, please refrain from blowing grass on the roadway.
A motion was made by Jeff to adjourn the meeting at 9:18, Terry and Tony seconded and the motion was passed.
Respectfully submitted by Nikki Lynch EIOA Secretary
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