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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6747
January Session, 2019
AN ACT AMENDING THE CHARTER OF THE GROVE BEACH POINT
ASSOCIATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 3 of number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 1
amended by section 2 of number 223 of the special acts of 1947 and 2
section 15 of public act 05-247, is amended to read as follows (Effective 3
from passage): 4
The objects of said association shall be: To provide for the 5
improvement of the land within the limits of said association, its 6
maintenance as a residential community and for the health, comfort, 7
protection, safety and welfare of the inhabitants thereof. All owners of 8
a cottage or dwelling or other real estate within said limits shall, 9
provided they are twenty-one years of age, be members of said Grove 10
Beach Point Association and shall be entitled to vote in any meeting of 11
such members and shall be eligible to any office provided for in this 12
charter. Joint owners of any cottage, dwelling or other real estate 13
within said limits shall be considered for voting purposes as one 14
member of said association. The husband or wife of an owner shall be 15
a member of said association but shall not be empowered to vote at 16
any meeting of said association except [by proxy of such owner] as an 17
authorized proxy for such owner. The beneficiaries of a trust shall be 18
members of said association but shall not be empowered to vote at any 19 Substitute Bill No. 6747
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meeting except as an authorized proxy of the trustee. Not more than 20
one vote may be cast per property in said association, and if a person is 21
the owner or trustee of multiple properties in said association, such 22
person is entitled to only one vote, whether in person or by proxy, at 23
any meeting of said association. Non-natural persons, such as limited 24
liability companies or corporations, are not entitled to a vote at any 25
meeting. 26
Sec. 2. Section 5 of number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 27
amended by section 17 of public act 05-247, is amended to read as 28
follows (Effective from passage): 29
Annual meetings of said association shall be held during the month 30
of May in each year, at such time and place within the limits of the 31
[association] Town of Westbrook as the Board of Governors shall 32
direct. Such meeting shall choose a moderator and clerk for such 33
meeting and shall elect members of the board by ballot, unless 34
otherwise specified by a majority of those members present. 35
Sec. 3. Section 6 of number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 36
amended by section 4 of number 223 of the special acts of 1947 and 37
section 18 of public act 05-247, is amended to read as follows (Effective 38
from passage): 39
Any vacancy occurring in the membership of The Board of 40
Governors between annual meetings shall be filled by [a majority of] 41
the remaining members of the Board of Governors, [until the next 42
annual meeting, at which time the members of the association shall 43
elect as above prescribed, a member of the Board of Governors for the 44
unexpired portion of the term] which remaining members shall 45
appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. Any 46
vacancy occurring in any office between annual meetings, shall be 47
filled by the Board of Governors for the unexpired portion of the term. 48
If there is a tie vote among the remaining members, the vote of the 49
chairman shall determine the outcome. 50 Substitute Bill No. 6747
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Sec. 4. Section 8 of number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 51
amended by section 5 of number 223 of the special acts of 1947 and 52
section 20 of public act 05-247, is amended to read as follows (Effective 53
from passage): 54
The Board of Governors shall prepare and submit to said association 55
at each annual meeting a budget and shall recommend a tax for the 56
purposes of and based on such budget, of not more than five mills on 57
the dollar of the total value of real estate within the limits of said 58
association as shown by the last-completed grand list of the [town] 59
Town of Westbrook, which budget and tax rate shall be [posted on a 60
sign-post of said association and] mailed to each member of said 61
association not less than five days before such annual meeting. Said 62
association, according to its best judgment of the best interests of all, 63
shall have the power to decrease such budget and rate of taxation 64
recommended by said board, but in no case shall it have power to 65
increase such budget and rate of taxation. Said board shall appoint a 66
tax collector to collect such taxes, and a rate [book] bill shall be made 67
out [and signed by the clerk of said board] on or before the third 68
Saturday of June, each year, and warrants may be issued for the 69
collection of money due on such rate [bills] bill, pursuant to the 70
provisions of the general statutes. Said board shall have the power to 71
transfer expenditures from the sums adopted in the annual budget 72
from any one item to any other item in the budget. Said board shall 73
have the power to borrow money from a bank with interest if 74
necessary, on account of anticipated collection of taxes, but not 75
exceeding a sum equal to fifty per cent of the anticipated collection of 76
taxes for any one year. 77
Sec. 5. Section 9 of number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 78
amended by section 21 of public act 05-247, is amended to read as 79
follows (Effective from passage): 80
Written notice of the rate of such tax and of the amount apportioned 81
to each member of the association shall be sent by the tax collector on 82
or before the thirtieth of June following the annual meeting and such 83 Substitute Bill No. 6747
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tax shall be due and payable on July first thereafter. If such tax is not 84
paid on or before the following August first, it shall bear interest from 85
the July first due date at the same rate per annum, until paid, as 86
imposed on delinquent taxes by the Town of Westbrook. The tax 87
collector shall have all the powers of collectors of town taxes and shall 88
pay over the taxes as soon as collected to the treasurer of the 89
association. Each such tax, if not paid when due, shall be subject to a 90
lien upon the property [upon which it shall be laid for one year from 91
the time of the laying of such tax] that shall be laid at such time as 92
determined by the Board of Governors. 93
Sec. 6. Section 12 of number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 94
amended by section 24 of public act 05-247, is amended to read as 95
follows (Effective from passage): 96
Notice in writing of each meeting of the association stating the 97
purpose of the meeting shall be given by the clerk by letter [of] or card, 98
postage prepaid, [addressed] or via electronic communication to each 99
member of the association [and mailed to the address of property 100
owners appearing on the records of the tax collector of the Town of 101
Westbrook, at least five] at least ten days before such meeting. If such 102
notice is sent by letter or card, the addresses used by the clerk shall be 103
those appearing on the records of the tax collector of the Town of 104
Westbrook. If such notice is sent via electronic communication, the 105
electronic addresses used by the clerk shall be those filed with such 106
clerk by the property owners of the association. 107
Sec. 7. Section 15 of number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 108
amended by section 25 of public act 05-247, is amended to read as 109
follows (Effective from passage): 110
[By-laws] The Charter, bylaws, rules and regulations of [said] the 111
association may be enacted, altered, amended or repealed at any 112
meeting of the association provided due notice of the same is properly 113
given in the call for such meeting. The Board of Governors shall 114
enforce such charter, bylaws, rules and regulations in the name of the 115 Substitute Bill No. 6747
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association. 116
Sec. 8. Section 1 of special act 18-19 is amended to read as follows 117
(Effective from passage): 118
[An Act Incorporating The Grove Beach Point Association, as 119
adopted by number] Number 148 of the special acts of 1945, as 120
amended by number 223 of the special acts of 1947 and public act 05-121
247, is amended to add the following: 122
[Sec. 18.] To promote and maintain the objects of said [Association] 123
association, to secure safety and promote health and the general 124
welfare of the community, to conserve the value of buildings and 125
encourage the most appropriate use of the land, the following 126
restrictions and conditions have been imposed upon all of the land 127
within the territorial limits of said [Association] association: 128
[Said conditions and restrictions are as follows:] Said conditions and 129
restrictions are as follows: 130
1. No more than one single-family dwelling house, for use and 131
occupancy of one family only, and one private garage shall be erected 132
on any one of the lots within the limits of said [Association; no] 133
association. No garage shall be erected on any lot until the dwelling 134
house on said lot has been completed. Such garage shall not include 135
living quarters. 136
2. No tents or temporary buildings, or mobile homes shall be 137
erected, located, or maintained on any lot. 138
3. Houses, cottages or dwellings shall be restricted to location and 139
erected only on the main numbered lots, thus 1, 121, etc. No house, 140
cottage or dwelling shall be located or erected on sub-lettered lots, thus 141
95-A, 121-A, etc., 95-B, 101-B, etc. These lots are available only for 142
garages, docks, etc., depending upon location. 143
4. No land or buildings constructed thereon shall be used for any 144 Substitute Bill No. 6747
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other purposes than occupancy as a residence. Advertising signs of 145
any nature shall not be erected thereon. 146
5. Property use shall be restricted to use as a single-family residence. 147
The owner of any property owned by a trust or non-natural person, 148
such as a limited liability company or corporation, shall provide a 149
written list of the names of the natural persons constituting the single 150
family occupying the dwelling, which natural persons shall have the 151
rights of members to use property or facilities of said association. No 152
property owner shall grant shares, memberships or other means to 153
allow non-members to use property or facilities of said association. 154
Nothing in this section limits the rights of members to personally host 155
non-member guests, as is customary and incidental to residents of 156
residential dwellings. 157
Said conditions or restrictions may be altered or amended in whole 158
or in part by a two-thirds vote of the [Association] association at a 159
meeting duly warned, if new or additional facts appear or other 160
considerations materially affecting the merits thereof have intervened, 161
provided, at said meeting, the owner of any land within the limits of 162
said [Association] association shall be entitled to a hearing thereon, 163
and provided any person aggrieved by the vote of said [Association] 164
association may appeal therefrom with ten days of such vote to a court 165
of competent jurisdiction. Said [Association] association or any 166
member thereof shall have the right to restrain any violation of the 167
above restrictions by way of injunction and recovery of damages, or 168
both, by the institution of legal action in a court of competent 169
jurisdiction. 170
In the event any condition or restriction adopted by the 171
[Association] association shall conflict with any ordinance of the Town 172
of Westbrook, the more restrictive condition or ordinance shall prevail. 173
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Substitute Bill No. 6747
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Section 1 from passage Number 148 of the
special acts of 1945, Sec.
3
Sec. 2 from passage Number 148 of the
special acts of 1945, Sec.
5
Sec. 3 from passage Number 148 of the
special acts of 1945, Sec.
6
Sec. 4 from passage Number 148 of the
special acts of 1945, Sec.
8
Sec. 5 from passage Number 148 of the
special acts of 1945, Sec.
9
Sec. 6 from passage Number 148 of the
special acts of 1945, Sec.
12
Sec. 7 from passage Number 148 of the
special acts of 1945, Sec.
15
Sec. 8 from passage SA 18-19, Sec. 1
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 4, "town of Westbrook" was changed to "[town] Town of
Westbrook" for consistency; and in Section 7, "by-laws" was changed to
"bylaws" for consistency.
PD Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO