LAKE PLYMOUTH

COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC.

BY LAWS

LAKE PLYMOUTH, LITCHFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT

BY-LAWS OF THE LAKE PLYMOUTH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC.

REVISED – April 4, 2023

Preface

These By-Laws are solely for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of Special Act No. 86-56 “An Act incorporating the Lake Plymouth Community Association, Incorporated,” enacted by the 1973 Connecticut General Assembly and revised May 5, 1986, by the General Assembly.  Nothing contained herein shall be construed to run counter to the provisions of said act.

ARTICLE I – MEMBERSHIP

Section 1.  All persons eighteen years of age and older who own any land to which is attached the right to the use and enjoyment of Lake Plymouth within the limits and territory of the locality known as Lake Plymouth located in Plymouth, Connecticut, as specified in Special Act No. 86-56, shall while they continue to be owners of such land, be members of the Lake Plymouth Community Association, Incorporated, hereinafter referred to as the “Association.”

Section 2.  Renters that are not owners of property and immediate family members shall be known as Limited Members, have the right to participate in meetings and in social functions, but will have no voting right and will not be eligible to hold any office.  There will be no fee for this type of membership.

Section 2A.  Limited Members may also have the right to serve on any committee but may not chair said committee.

Section 3.  Each member shall have one vote at the Association meetings.  Corporations owning property within said Association limits may appoint, in writing, an agent who will be entitled to one vote at Association meetings.  Guardians, administrators, executors or trustees, etc. having control over land within said Association limits, shall have the same power and right to vote as an Association member.

ARTICLE II – ASSOCIATION MEETINGS

Section 1.  Regular meetings of the Association shall be held in May and September, at such times and such places as the Board of Governors may decide.  These meeting shall be posted on a sign or a sign post within the limits of the Association for at least seven days prior to the meeting.

Section 2.  Special meetings of the Association may be called by the President or the Board of Governors.  They shall also be called by the Secretary within three weeks of receiving a written petition for one, from at least twenty-five (25) members.  This meeting shall be posted on a sign or a signpost within the limits of the Association for at least seven days prior to the special meeting.

Section 3.  The annual meeting of the Association for election of officers and successors to the members of the governing board whose terms expire shall be held in September each year.  The first order of business will be to elect members of the Board of Governors to fill vacancies caused by those whose terms have expired, or for those vacancies caused by Board members who have resigned.  The next order of business will be to elect, from the Board of Governors, the Association officers.  The meeting for adoption for a budget and tax based on the budget shall be held in May each year.  No absentee ballots will be provided or proxy votes allowed at any Association meeting.  Notification will be sent in advance of the budget meeting via first class mail to each member at least 14 days prior to the scheduled meeting date.  No special notification will be required for the September meeting

Section 4.  Fifteen voting members present in person shall constitute a quorum at any regular, special, or annual meeting of the Association.  Vote will be by simple majority with the exception of changes in by-laws, an enactment of ordinances, or overruling the President which shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the members present.

Section 5.  With the exception of procedures specifically mentioned in the by-laws, all meeting of the Association shall be conducted in accordance with Roberts Rules of Order.  The President shall make the final decision in this regard unless overruled by a two-thirds majority vote of the members present.  The President shall have the power to call any member present at the meeting out of order or request any member to leave the meeting for disorderly conduct.  However, the individual accused by the President of being disorderly may immediately move for a vote of the membership present as to whether he is disorderly and should leave the meeting.  If a second to the motion is received, the President will open the meeting to discussion on the motion.  If three quarters of the members present then vote in favor of the motion, the speaker is not required to leave the meeting for disorderly conduct.  If the speaker does not move for said vote of the membership prior to the next motion on the floor the decision of the President shall be binding.

Section 6.  All newly elected officers and Board of Governors at the annual meeting in September shall assume their respective duties upon the closing of said meeting.

ARTICLE III – OFFICERS

Section 1.  The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Association.  The President shall preside over all meeting of the Board of Governors, and of the Association.  The President shall have general and active supervision and management of the affairs of the Association, and shall see that all rules and resolutions of the Association are carried into effect.  The President shall have power to sign all contracts, obligations, conveyances, and other documents to or from the Association and shall have all other powers and perform all other duties usually vested in the office of President.  Along with the Treasurer the President shall co-sign all Association checks and be bonded.

Section 2.  The Vice-President shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President during his disability or absence.  The Vice-President shall also preside at all meeting of the Board of Governors and of the Association if the President, for any reason shall not be present.  The Vice-President shall have all other powers and perform all other duties usually vested in the office of Vice-President.

Section 3.  The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the Board of Governors and all regular, special, and annual meetings of the Association and shall make and preserve in the books of the Association a true minute of the proceedings of all such meetings.  The Secretary shall give all notices required by statute, by-laws or resolutions and shall have all other powers and perform all the duties usually incident to this office.

Section 4.  The Treasurer shall have custody of all corporate funds and securities and shall keep all books belonging to the Association and full and complete accounts of all receipts and disbursements.  The Treasurer shall deposit all money and other valuable effects in the name of the Association in such depositories as may be directed by the Board of Governors or shall disburse the funds of the Association as may be ordered by the Board of Governors or by the President, but no check shall be signed in blank.  The Treasurer shall render accounts of his transactions as Treasurer and of the financial condition of the Association to the Board of Governors at their regular meetings and to the Association at its budget and election meetings.  The Treasurer shall have all the powers and perform all other duties incident to this office.  All checks of the Association shall be so-signed by the Treasurer and the President.  The Treasurer shall be bonded along with the President.

Section 5.  The Vice-President shall automatically become the President when a vacancy in that office occurs.  Vacancies in all the other offices (Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer shall be filled at the next regular meeting of the Association.  A member of the Board of Governors shall be elected by the Board of Governors to fill the vacancy until such meeting.  Those filling the vacancies shall serve until the next regular meeting of the Association.

ARTICLE IV – BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Section 1.  The government, property, and affairs of the Association shall be managed by and vested in a board of Governors.  Subject always, however, to the express direction of the Association members given at any regular, special or annual Association meeting.

Section 2.  The Board of Governors shall have power:

(1)   To appoint or authorize the appointment of such committees from time to time as it may deem necessary or convenient and to define their powers and duties.

(2)   To call a special meeting of the members of the Association.

(3)   To enter into contracts, to incur obligations in behalf of the Association, to expend Association monies.  However, the Board must obtain approval from the membership at an Association meeting before entering transactions which amount to more than $1000.00 which were not previously approved in the annual budget.

(4)   To levy and collect fines of not more than $25.00 for each violation of the Association’s by-laws and ordinances after giving the accused violator a reasonable opportunity to be heard by the Board.

(5)    Generally, to perform all duties, carry on all functions, exercise all power and to do all things be it deemed necessary or proper to promote the objectives of the Association as set forth in Special Act No. 86-56 and the Association’s by-laws and ordinances, subject always, however, to the express direction of the Association given at meetings duly assembled.

Section 3.  The Board of Governors shall have the responsibility:

(1)   To prepare and present to the association at its budget meeting in May a yearly budget and a tax based on the budget.

(2)   To insure that the provisions of Special Act No. 86-56 and the Association’s by-laws and ordinances are carried out, and to carry out the directions of the Association’s members.

(3)   To determine the time and place of the Association’s annual meetings and to insure that proper notice is given to the membership.

(4)   Members of the Board of Governors who shall absent themselves from three successive meetings of the Board or Association shall be removed from office by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the Association or the Board of Governors at a board meeting, present at any duly called meeting, unless the membership shall by majority action, find that sufficient cause for such absence existed.

(5)   The Board of Governors may hold meetings at such time and place as the Board shall from time to time designate.

(6)   Each member of the Board shall have one vote at board meetings.  However, the President will only vote in case if a tie vote among the other members.

(7)   A majority (six) of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum at board meetings.

ARTICLE V – COMMITTEES

Section 1.  Select Committees – Select committees of the Association shall be appointed by the President from volunteers whenever the Association members at a regular or special meeting feel this is necessary.  Select committees shall dissolve whenever they have completed the function for which they were formed.

Select committees may make expenditures not exceeding $100.00 for any one transaction, with approval of the President.  Expenditures exceeding that amount require approval of the Board of Governors.  When the amount exceeds $1000.00 a majority approval of the Association membership at any meeting is required, unless previously approved in the annual budget.  The chairperson of each select committee shall have the responsibility of obtaining other members to serve on the committee as the need arises and shall report the committee’s activities to the Association members at each regular Association meeting.

ARTICLE VI – AMENDMENTS TO BY-LAWS

Amendments to the by-laws may only be made by a vote of two-thirds of the members present at a special meeting called for said purpose.  No by-laws will take effect until ten days after its passage nor until it shall have been posted on a sign or a signpost within the limits of the Association for the least seven days.  A certificate from the Secretary of the Association of the posting of any by-laws shall be prime facie evidence of such posting.

ARTICLE VII – ORDINANCES

Ordinances shall be enacted, revised, voted on, etc. in the same manner as the by-laws.  They shall take effect in the same manner.

ARTICLE VIII – PENALTIES

The governing board may fix a penalty for each violation of the Association’s by-laws and ordinances, and the penalties may be recovered in any action brought for the purpose in the name of the Association before any court having jurisdiction, for the use and benefit of the Association.  The accused violator shall have the right to a hearing before the Board, if requested, within ten (10) days after receiving notification that a penalty is being assessed.  All such requests will be heard within two (2) weeks of being made and a decision will be rendered within two (2) weeks of the hearing.  The accused may further appeal to the membership at the next regular meeting following the Board’s decision.  The majority vote of the membership at the meeting will be binding.

ARTICLE IX – TAXATION

The Association shall assess one tax per property based upon the assessed value provided by the Plymouth town hall tax assessor’s office most recent grand list. The mill rate will be calculated on these values after the budget is determined. Any assessment disputes must be addressed at the Plymouth town hall tax assessor’s office. The Board of Governor’s has no influence on property values.

Those members who are senior citizens, permanently disabled, or a Veteran will be eligible for a 5% discount off the assessed value provided by the town with proof of age (65) or supporting documents.  Discounts only apply to a primary residence. (Residence is determined by mailing address provided by the Plymouth town tax collector’s office) The Treasurer will be responsible for applying discounts after proper proof has been submitted. Discounts will not be applied retroactively or cumulatively.

As a special taxing district, the Lake Plymouth Community Association has the legal authority to lien any property for non-payment of taxes. When petitioning the courts to foreclose on any property. All court filing fees, attorney fees, and any expense incurred by the Association in this process is the property owner’s responsibility. Once three years of liens are in place the accounts will automatically be sent to an attorney for debt collection and foreclosure. 

ORDINANCES OF THE LAKE PLYMOUTH

COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INCORPORATED

1.  All boats shall have proper identification which is as follows:  Street Abbreviation and House Number.  Example:

                              LPB347  (347 Lake Plymouth Blvd).

This is to ensure that Lake Plymouth is only used by Lake Plymouth residents, owners and their guests.

2.  No motors of any kind are allowed in or on the lake in order to protect the waters of Lake Plymouth against pollution and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its residents.

3.  No ice fishing is allowed in order to safeguard the residents.

4.  No dumping of refuse of any kind into Lake Plymouth.

5.  No use of fire (open burning) on the beaches for cooking or any other purpose.  All refuse to be removed or put into containers provided.  Violators will be subject to a fine of no less than $25.00

6.  Speed limit on all Association roads shall not exceed 20 mph.

7.  No unauthorized vehicles over 5 tons shall be allowed on roadways within the Association territory.  Violators are subject to fine and/or arrest.

8.  During excavation of any type, all earth and sand piles must be contained by silt fences or hay bailed to prevent erosion and runoff.  Violators will be subject to a fine of no less than $25.00.  The President of the Association shall be notified of such excavation prior to beginning.

9.  Those vehicles parked in the wrong direction of roadways will be subject to fine.

10.  All dogs are subject to the Town’s canine control ordinances.  Owners who allow dogs to roam unleashed will be subject to a fine.

11.  All State Department of Environmental Protection Regulations, which include fish and game will apply.  Those abusing privileges will be subject to arrest.

12.  During storm emergencies all vehicles will be parked on the side away from the lake to facilitate plowing.  The following day all vehicles will park of the opposite side of the road.  Non-conforming vehicles will be towed by the Town or ticketed.

13.  All guests of Association members must be accompanied by the Association host or have in their possession the identification card issued to the member while they are fishing, boating, or swimming on Association property.

#14.  All Lake Plymouth Association properties known as or referred to as plated, paper roads or right of ways, will remain in their current natural state. No construction or clearing of these properties are permitted without Association approval.  Per Special Act No. 86-56, the Association has the legal right to govern and manage these lands on behalf of all Association members.

In the event a landowner wishes to alter said lands at any time, a petition must be submitted to the Board of Governors.  If the board decides the petition has merit, it will be forwarded for legal review and opinion before being presented to the community at a special meeting for a vote. If the Board denies the request, the landowner shall have the right to a hearing before the Board, if requested, within ten (10) days after receiving notice of a denial. All requests will be heard within two (2) weeks of being made and a decision will be rendered within two (2) weeks of the hearing. The landowner has the right to appeal directly to the Association. They shall request a special meeting, and the majority vote of the membership at the meeting shall be binding.

Penalties for the destruction of Lake Plymouth Community Association properties will include assuming responsibilities of all attorney fees incurred by the Association while prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law.

March 1, 1956  

What Happened to Uncle Zak's Pond  

The Story of Lake Plymouth  

By Emile L. Genest  

Just two miles from Thomaston there's a little lake that many folks tell some interesting stories  about. The narratives are interesting because the lake itself has ·an unusual history.  Lake Plymouth was man-made a little more than half a century ago, just long enough to give rise  to many legends on how it came to be and what was there before.  

Today, the lake is surrounded by about 150 houses, most of which were built as summer homes  and are now occupied all year. As a community, Lake Plymouth is less than 20 years old.  The lake itself, however, is old enough to make it difficult uncovering the facts about its  beginning. Inquiries in Plymouth inevitably yield reference to Ard Welton, a man who could have given  all the facts about the Lake Plymouth story.  Welton died in 1951 at the age of 88. But, he was a man who kept many records. Among those  records, his daughter, Mrs. David Pratt of Plymouth, has found a clipping from a Sunday newspaper,  which used a letter Welton wrote about Lake Plymouth as a feature article. ,

 1  

That clipping, dated February 16, 194 7, has proven the principal source of information about the  early days of Lake Plymouth.  In the letter, Welton writes that to try to "bring out the great changes that have been made there in  the past century or so, we should go back to the time when Victory Tomlinson left his kinfolks in  Stratford ... and came to Plymouth to settle down and start out for himself."  By purchase and other means Tomlinson soon had over a thousand acres of land in Plymouth and  Waterbury. ••  

"Some of this was wild land," Welton wrote, "That is land unclaimed before, by anyone. All that  he had to do was stake it out, measure it, and have some sort of record made on the1 land records of the  town."  

Tomlinson, who was know as "Uncle Vic", had a son named Zachariah., to whom he gave about  200 acres. That acreage included land on which the Scopino Farm is now located as well as the land on  which Lake Plymouth and its environs now stand, Welton's article said.  

"This was set off some 150 years ago," he wrote, "and at that time Lake Plymouth was unknown,  as it was covered with primeval forest; consisting mostly of soft maple and pepperidge, many of these as  large as sugar barrels."  Young Tomlinson, "know as Uncle Zak", cut the timber and sold it for charcoal in Waterbury.  After clearing the land where Lake Plymouth now lies, he built a dam at the lower end and flooded about  45 acres, which became known as Uncle Zak's pond.  "It was stocked with pickerel and bullheads," Welton said. "Bass and some of the ·so-called game  fish were not know at this early day. This proved to be one of the best fish ponds in the vicinity, fully as  good as Bantam Lake or Quassapaug."  

Uncle Zak's Pond, then, was the first name of what is now know. as Lake Plymouth. According  to Welton's figures, that must have been in the early 1800's.  

The pond and the land around it soon changed hands again. Uncle Zak had a daughter who  married George T. Hoadley, son of Silas Hoadley, "Who did quite an extensive clockmaking business."  When Uncle Zak Tomlinson died, George took over the management of the farm and, &,ccording  to Welton, "Conceived the idea of drawing off the pond because he thought that with more acres there  would be more income from crops and stock."  

When he did draw it off, however, he found many springs bubbling up from t~e lake bottom,  making the earth too moist to be tillable.  "After draining the land, he found it too soft to be worked by horse or oxen, so he had large three pronged hooks made with long wooden handles with which the laborers worked over a two-acre piece,"  Welton's story says.  ''Upon this, he sowed onions, which grew to a large size, returning a good profit."  (Mrs. Pratt today recalls that her father often spoke of onions, ''the size of dinner plates," grown  in the lake bottom.)  Next, Hoadley sowed the land with timothy, which grew to the height of a man's shoulders. He  was overjoyed with his achievement and saw great possibilities for his "large tract of' A-Number-One'  meadow land." •  He sowed timothy again, but the next year, all that came up was wiregrass and weeds. According  to Welton, the disappointment was too much for Hoadley and he gave up any further efforts to cultivate  on the lake bottom.  

One more paragraph concludes the article Welton wrote in 1947 about Lake Plymouth.  

"The real birthday of Lake Plymouth is on record as May 30, 1890, when the Plume & Atwood  Company sent a gang of men under the direction of Master Mechanic James Chatfield to rebuild the  dam."  A present day official of Plume & Atwood Company says that the company did once own a great  amount of woodlands in this area because all its smelting and annealing furnaces were wood-fired in  those days.  Some persons who have lived in the Lake Plymouth area for many years say that the Plume &  Atwood Company dammed the brook to create a lake for use as a recreation center by its employees.  In any case, the Hoadley Farm was owned at that time by Frenchman named L.H. Ploucquet who,  presumably, allowed the Plume & Atwood Company to flood a portion of his land. When the lake was  created, Ploucquet owned approximately one half of it at the west end and Plume said Atwood owned the  half of the lake at which the dam stood.  Many persons still recall that the entire lake was then known as "Ploucquet's Pond."  About 1900, Ploucquet sold his farm and his half of the lake to Stephen Bradley. Bradley's  daughter, Miss Jennie Bradley, who now lives in Plymouth Center says that her father and Welton  stocked the lake with pickerel and bullheads.  

Miss Bradley said the lake soon became a popular fishing spot. Her father rented boats, which he  kept beached near the spot where Lake Plymouth Inn now stands and charged a fee to anyone who wanted  to fish his lake.  There was nothing to prevent fishermen from going around to the end of the lake owned by  Plume and Atwood, however, and going out on the water from that point.  In the early 1900' s, Miss Bradley recalls her father bought the Plume and Atwood half of the lake  as well as a corridor of land around the eastern end of the lake.  "The way around the lake then was nothing but a cow path," Miss Bradley remembers.  In 1914 or 1915, Bradley sold the farm and lake to Dominick Scopino, whose son Thomas still  lives on the farm. Like the owners of the land before him, Scopino operated the farm successfully and  enjoyed the privileges and distinction of being one of the very few farmers with a lake all his own.  Scopino retained the farm and farmlands but in the fall of 193 5 sold the lake and the track of land  surrounding it to the American Land Company, operated by Nicholas Visconti of Torrington.  How Visconti felt about the lake and what he had in mind for it is perhaps best described by an  excerpt from a flyer his company printed to tell perspective purchasers about the property.  

"The Last and Most Beautiful of Connecticut's Private Lake now available for summer home  sites" the inside center page of the flyer said.  "Within exceedingly short commuting distances of the inland cities of the state, Lake Plymouth is  found nestled in the high Berkshire Hills, at the foot of Mt. Tobe in Litchfield County. In the midst of the  most wonderful blending of country, hill and valley, meadow and woodland. And all unspoiled,  unsurpassed in natural beauty."  The flyer then advises prospective summer home owners to visit all other available lake shore  properties then "come to Lake Plymouth, make a careful inspection, and compare prices."  Since the flyer makes reference to the new road around the lake, it presumably was circulated in  1936 or 1937. The land company later changed its name to Lake Plymouth Development Company,  Incorporated, and William Visconti, son of Nicholas, is the president and principal stockholder.  Known as Billie, Visconti now operates the Lake Plymouth Inn, built about nine years ago. He  says that when his father bought the lake and land around it there was no road and no buildings.  "The road and the surveying were completed in the spring of 1936," says Billie, "and we started  the sale of lots May (itlt, 1936."  Visconti said the company offered a prize of$100.00 to whoever should be first in completing a  cottage at the lake. John Groch of New Britain won the prize by completing the building of the cottage  now owned by Richard and Katherine Castonguay.  

It was also in 1936, Visconti said, that the company started the construction of 65 cottages which  were completed in about three years.  Many families bought cottages as summer places but soon converted them to year-around homes.  Donat Gosselin, who still lives at the lake, was the first to take up year-around residence there, Visconti  said.  He estimates that there are now nearly 150 dwellings around the lake and that 100 of them are  occupied throughout the year. In 1947 property owners of the area formed the Lake Plymouth  Community Association, Inc., to promote the general and social welfare of the community through  organized efforts. George Hoebel currently is serving as president of the group.  The association now has 181 members, one of its officers said. All of them own property around  the lake.  Undoubtedly, all of them are interested in how the lake came to be and what was there before.  Bu~ whether it was once called ''Uncle Zak's Pond" or "Ploucquet's Pond" is not too important. All who  live there now, call it home.  

Article printed in the Thomaston Express  

Thursday, March 1, 1956  

Jennifer Steinman- President Lpcactpresident@gmail.com

Robert Koenemund- Vice President rpkoe69@gmail.com

Barbara Galvin- Secretary LPCTsecretary@gmail.com

Valerie Rual- Treasurer Lpcatreasurer2025@gmail.com

Karen Woolley- Member

Brenda Janazzo- Member

Christine Stolfi- Member

Bob Shulman- Member

Rebecca Wronski- Member

Karen Kwasniewski- Member

Mike Monaghan- Member

The Association shall assess one tax per property based upon the assessed value provided by the Plymouth town hall tax assessor’s office most recent grand list. The mill rate will be calculated on these values after the budget is determined. Any assessment disputes must be addressed at the Plymouth town hall tax assessor’s office. The Board of Governor’s has no influence on property values.

Those members who are senior citizens, permanently disabled, or a Veteran will be eligible for a 5% discount off the assessed value provided by the town with proof of age (65) or supporting documents.  Discounts only apply to a primary residence. (Residence is determined by mailing address provided by the Plymouth town tax collector’s office) The Treasurer will be responsible for applying discounts after proper proof has been submitted. Discounts will not be applied retroactively or cumulatively.

As a special taxing district, the Lake Plymouth Community Association has the legal authority to lien any property for non-payment of taxes. When petitioning the courts to foreclose on any property. All court filing fees, attorney fees, and any expense incurred by the Association in this process is the property owner’s responsibility. Once three years of liens are in place the accounts will automatically be sent to an attorney for debt collection and foreclosure.