Category: Concerns

Michigan's New Fireworks Law

6/21/2019

As we approach the Independence Day holiday, your Board of Trustees wishes to inform the membership that significant amendments to the fireworks law went into effect at the end of last year. The amended law states that:

Fireworks may be used on one's own property, but only on certain days at certain times (see below).
Fireworks cannot be discharged on "public property" or on the property of anyone else without the owner's expressed permission.

Our Protective Covenants prohibit the use of fireworks. Consequently fireworks cannot be used on CSA property, which includes the roads, the park across from the North Beach access (at Erie and Ottawa Trails), the Beach, and the beach accesses areas. This means that unless someone is either the owner of the property or has the expressed permission of the owner, fireworks cannot be discharged at any time within Cobmoosa Shores.

Furthermore, it is against the law for anyone under the influence of "controlled substances" or alcohol to discharge fireworks anywhere and at any time.

The amended law has reduced the number of days on which fireworks can be legally used anywhere in Michigan to:

the Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day
June 29 through July 4
July 5 (only if it is a Friday or Saturday)
the Saturday and Sunday before Labor Day
New Year's Eve

Other things to bear in mind

Even if you (or another sober person with your permission) uses fireworks on the days allowed by law on your property, consideration for your neighbors suggests that you use them only before 11 PM.
We are over 11 miles away from the nearest volunteer fire department. Road construction this summer on Shelby Road and Stony Lake Road may make it more complicated for fire departments to reach Cobmoosa Shores, so it will take even longer to reach us. Although it is currently rather wet, there will be times when vegetation will be dry and very combustible. If you, a guest, or a renter use fireworks that causes a fire that does damage to someone else's property, including CSA property, you will be liable for damage to that property. Landlords may therefore want to include in their rental contracts an expressed prohibition against using fireworks.

Although the Protective Covenants suggest that under some circumstance the Board might give permission for the use of fireworks on CSA property, that has not happened within memory. Therefore, don't count on it!

Amerigas Update

12/29/2018

Your board, largely through the efforts of Trustee Ed Dedic, discovered that Amerigas was not holding prices according to their agreement with the Association.

We have an agreement that is negotiated in May or June of each year which sets the pricing for the following billing year. The billing year runs from August 1 of one year through July 31 of the following year.

For the Aug 2017 - July 2018 billing year Bruce Kelly negotiated that members be charged at the rate of $1.899 per gallon. For the following year, that is August 2018 – July 2019, Ed Dedic negotiated that members be charged at the rate of $1.799 per gallon.

Our Agreement with Amerigas also applies to meter charges. The negotiated rate for meter charges was reduced from $9 per month to $5 per month. It appears, however, that Amerigas has only been charging members $4 per month for the meter charge. We are not sure if this will change.

Using this information, you should review your Amerigas invoices for these two billing years but there is no need for you to contact Amerigas even if you find that you were charged incorrectly. Amerigas has begun the process of reviewing the invoices for members, will automatically adjust the invoices as needed, and will mail (for those receiving paper copies of bills) or email (for those receiving paperless invoices) to each member a packet with adjusted invoices.

Some members have already received their packets, but no explanation is included with these packets. Therefore, Ed has requested that the District Manager of the New Era office provide a letter explaining exactly what is happening.

Rates for Amerigas Gas Service

11/18/2018

Cobmoosa Shores Association has an agreement with Amerigas to provide gas to its members that use Amerigas. This agreement was originally negotiated by Bruce Kelly and was re-negotiated in June of 2017.

As per the agreement Ed Dedic represents the Board as the liaison with Amerigas. He and Rich Campbell, as President of the Board, are notified concerning any changes to or issues with this agreement.

Ed recently met with Chad Krouse, the area director at the New Era office, to review the rate offered to CSA by Amerigas. Chad disclosed that he made an error when he stated in September that the price for the Aug 2017-Jul 2018 season was $1.799 per gallon. Due to this miscommunication, the published minutes for the October board meeting state that “the Amerigas Area Director confirmed Cobmoosa Shores Association would be staying at last year’s price of $1.799. Members should review their bills to determine if they were paying the contract rate. If not, they should contact Amerigas directly.”

Chad stated that the correct negotiated price for Aug 2017-Jul 2018 season was $1.899 per gallon (which for the record is 95% of the regional rate in our area).

Chad further noted that the negotiated rate for current season of Aug 2018-Jul 2019 is $1.799 per gallon. Meter charges will remain the same at $5 per month.

There are 104 customers in the CSA using the metered service from Amerigas. Chad agreed to spot check 4 to 5 Cobmoosa bills out of the 104 to check to see if any are paying the $1.899 rate for last season instead of the new rate of $1.799. If an issue of overbilling is found, which we know there may be many, Chad will review this with his supervisors so that Amerigas can process a mass rate change and issue any credits due.

While each member should review his/her Amerigas bills to see if they are paying the correct rate for the current season, there is no need for each customer to individually contact Amerigas. The bill correction and credit will be handled by Amerigas automatically.

Lastly, CSA is the largest metered service out of the New Era office. Because of that Amerigas will designate and train a front desk person to handle any questions that arise from CSA metered customers who contact the office, so that any questions that arise can be correctly addressed.

Ed and Chad have already agreed to meet in late May or early June to review CSA pricing for the next season, that is the period of Aug 2019-Jul 2020.

<<Previous

Michigan's New Fireworks Law

Amerigas Update

Rates for Amerigas Gas Service

Archives

Categories