PLEASE READ
Before your lease begins
ON THE DAY YOU MOVE IN
when you’re settled in
leash laws & FAQ
4 months before your lease ends
*The most important step is setting up gas and electric one week before the first day of your lease.
Before your lease begins »»»»»»»»»
Pay rent automatically
To schedule your payment to be automatically deducted from your checking or savings account, please complete and sign a one-time [ACH Recurring Payment Authorization Form] and return to hello@boicevillecottages.com along with your signed lease. [If you’ve already moved in, drop off the form in the Rent Drop Box located in the Meeting House.]
Set up gas & electric (important)
One week prior to the start of your lease, please contact New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) to ensure the gas and electric meters are transferred to your name. It takes a week to set up. Per the lease: "Tenant agrees to have the Electric and Gas kept in their name from the first day of the lease to midnight of the last day of the lease until the last day of the lease" — not the first day you move in nor the day that you move out. Contact NYSEG: 1-800-572-1111 & remember that you need gas/ propane to heat up your water!
If you do not have natural gas service, please contact Ehrhart Energy (one week prior to the start of your lease) to have the propane put in your name. Only cottages with odd numbers 303 - 459 use propane. Contact Ehrhart Energy: 607-387-8881
your address
Once you have your three-digit cottage number "###", you have your address! All are written in the same format: ### Boiceville Road, Brooktondale, NY 14817. For example, 123 Boiceville Road, Brooktondale, NY 14817. Please note that all odd numbers are on one side of the road, even numbers on the other side - just like any house and mailbox!
find your home on the map
With this online map, locate your cottage and get a real sense of its placement within the community (helpful photos on the map, too).
Join the Facebook community
Join the Boiceville Community Group to connect with your neighbors, hear about events, and sell items.
Follow Boiceville Cottages on Facebook and Instagram, and share photos with #BoicevilleCottages, #BoicevilleDogs, or #BoicevilleCats (tag us with @boiceville_) to be featured.
Subscribe for the Boiceville Cottages newsletter at the bottom of the website.
On the day you move in »»»»»»»»»
Parking
Try your best to park close to other cars and allow the maximum number of cars in each lot. Please be considerate about parking: If you own several cars, park some in a lot farther from your cottage to allow your neighbors to park close to their homes.
Find your house key
When you arrive, the door will be unlocked. Keys will be left over the door or on the counter inside the house. There will be two keys — one to the front door and one to your mail box located in the Meeting House. If you don't see your keys, check the back of the door/ kitchen drawers. If you don't see them, contact Bruno at 607-227-4791 and email service@boicevillecottages.com.
Find your mail box
Each cottage comes with a personal brass mail box located in the community center Meeting House. There you can find a slot for outgoing mail as well. Your mail key will be on your kitchen counter and should have a number engraved on it. If you don't see a number, use this chart to determine your mail box number.
FOR COTTAGES #201 - #346
**CLICK TO ENLARGE**
FOR COTTAGES 347-459
**CLICK TO ENLARGE**
Go online: Wifi and cell providers
Many tenants use Time Warner Cable, Satelite, or Spectrum as the internet provider in their apartment. There is also free Wifi in the Meeting House.
Boiceville Cottages is located in the valley, so cell reception can be iffy at times. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have mixed reviews - but residents offer two solutions when asked in our community Facebook group: use WiFi calling through your provider (most popular), or purchase a Network Extender or booster (more expensive).
When you're settled in »»»»»»»»»
Take out trash, recycling, and compost
Place household trash in the provided dumpsters provided (no tags necessary).
Beige and circular compost bins are located in many areas around the Boiceville community. Here you can place yard wastes, such as leaves, grass clippings, weeds, fruit and vegetable scraps, and food wastes, such as coffee grounds, tea bags, and egg shells. Do not add meat, bones, fatty food wastes, such as cheese, grease, oils, dog and cat litter, diseased plants, invasive weeds, nor weeds that have gone to seed to the pile.
All recycling should be placed in single-stream recycling dumpster. Please break boxes down to save space.
Submit maintenance requests
We know that maintenance issues can arise occasionally. Our on-site team, led by George, is ready to help. Schedule an appointment via the online form, and we'll reach out to you ASAP. (Please use the form so that we can track issues.)
Clean copper counters and not smoke
To clean your kitchen's copper counters: Many residents have recommended Bar Keepers Friend, or, for an all-natural option, lemon and salt, or a flour paste with vinegar and salt. Here's a good DIY guide for the all-natural option. Also, please remember that there is no smoking inside the houses nor in the community Meeting House.
Use garden boxes and complimentary tools
Each cottage comes with its own raised garden bed. Please note that there's only one allocated per cottage, so even if the bed is empty realize that a new tenant may be moving in shortly.
Residents are welcome to use our tools, including brooms, carts, and other equipment like shovels - free of charge. We kindly ask that you return the tools immediately after use for other residents to use as well. All tools are found by the Boiceville Cottages' Office & Maintenance Garage - the yellow x stucco garage behind the dog park.
If you need more dirt for your garden, help yourself to the large pile of dark dirt by the second entrance to Boiceville Cottages. If the pile's empty, we're done for the season and will add more next year.
Leash laws & pet owner information »»»»»»»»»
Leash dogs and cats
DOGS: When outdoors dogs must be kept on a leash at all times. This is a rule even if your dogs and cats are well-trained, even if you're only walking from your car to the cottage, and even if it's cold outside and you're only letting your dog or cat outside for a minute or two. Off-leash times are only permitted in the dog park. Otherwise, your pup must be on a leash.
CATS: If outdoors, cats must always be walked on leash. [Here's what happens if your dog/cat is off-leash: Cat will find your neighbor's garden box and go to town on their rutabaga and tomato plant. It's gross, and your neighbor will be upset. Dog will inevitably defecate when you're not looking and you won't pick the feces up. It's gross, and your neighbor will be upset. For everyone's safety, your pets' safety, and our sanity, please keep your pets on a leash every time you're outside (unless in dog park).
CLEAN UP YOUR PETS’ POO
Pick up after your pets and deposit bags in the trash bins. It's no fun sending out community-wide email reminders about this. Be good to each other, please.
KEEP THE DOG PARK POO-FREE
Only in the parks are dogs allowed to be off leash. When leaving the dog park, please remember any/ all dog poop bags and deposit these in the trash bin. In one year we received 27 emails from dog owners about others leaving poo bags behind. We get that someones you can leave and accidentally forget the poo bag; if that happens, come back and deposit the bag!
ALLOW SERVICE DOGS TO DO THEIR JOBs
Be mindful of service dogs and their owners. Service dogs will have vests on and are trained to help their owners live with ease. Please respect the fact that even though these dogs are beloved by their owners and very happy doing what they are trained to do, they are not pets. Service dogs are working dogs trained to do specific things to enable their owners to live as normally as possible. Some service dogs are trained to warn their owners when people, objects, or animals are approaching, and to warn those approaching to keep their distance. Other dogs must not be allowed to approach service dogs — even to "meet and greet". Understand that if an owner of a service dog says, "Please do not approach my dogs", or "Please do not try to pet my dogs", they're not being rude! And this is in no way a judgement on you or your dog. This is simply a way to keep everyone happy and safe.
Address barking problems
In order to keep the peace/ quiet in the community, we ask that you ensure your dogs are comfortable and not barking while you're out of the house. Some tips: Try closing your curtains, turning music/ tv on, and buying a citronella bark collar to help your dog cope with your absence/ new environment. Email us other tips at hello@boicevillecottages.com.
4 months before your lease ends »»»»»»»»»
renew your lease
Please inform us re: your decision to renew at least four months before your lease ends. If you know before then, please do let us know. After this time, we cannot guarantee availability.
END LEASE EARLY
No, we don’t allow sublets nor early lease terminations.
MOVe OUT
Review our move-out checklist, with steps for cleaning your cottage, leaving keys, and returning your security deposit.