Lake Washington Association Board Meeting August 9, 2018
Board Members Present:
| Mike Wosmek Sandy Wosmek Lyle Walker Cathy Klehr | Tom Hauer Ron Bubany Skip Sustacek Sharon Daniels | Steve Grotbo Steve Ullom Pat Hanson Mark Johnson |
Board Members please let someone know if you are not able to attend.
Treasurer Report: Invasive Species Fund $59,869.00 General Fund $69,539.00
Paid Memberships: 222
1) Call Meeting to Order 7 PM – President Steve Grotbo
2) Secretary’s July Board Meeting Report board approved publishing July 2018 minutes on our web page.
3) Treasurer’s July 2018 Financial Report – Lyle W. reported we have 16 new memberships, total income for July was $1449.99 with expenses of $798.42 ($579.94 was the July newsletter). Contributions by 77 people to the Dassel Fire Dept. total $2025.00.
4) Committee assignments for 2018-19 will remain the same as they were for 2017-18.
5) Boat landing options – Mike W looked at helping smooth out the surface of the boat landing at the end of 233rd Street. There are many limits on what type of fill can be used (no crushed concrete, asphalt, or class 5 because it has too much clay. The options are washed class 5, crushed granite or redrock. After a discussion by the Board, it was pointed out there is no monitoring of this site, we may be supporting more traffic at this landing, and it is private property. The Board decided not be partners in this project because it would involve helping improve private property.
6) Committee Reports:
Aquatic Invasive Species:
A. Water Quality Testing – Dave R was not at the meeting but did email the following information: Water Quality – total phosphorus is 17.7 ug/L this year vs our average of 28 ug/L, – Chlorophyll A is 4.5 ug/L this year vs our average of 11.4 ug/L, last Secchi disk reading was ~6.0 feet Overall the lake is looking better this year.
B. Vegetation Survey – On July 9 the committee tested 59 way points and found no growing EWM. They did see a lot of EWM floating on the surface (Stella did recently treat for EWM).
Mark J reported LIMNOPRO will be providing underwater surveys for AIS species at areas near the Ellsworth and Rod ‘n Gun Club landings and other search areas around the lake. They will be doing the testing the week of August 13th.
C. I-LIDS/Watercraft Inspection – I-LIDS – Dave R reported he hasn’t changed any setting yet. Still plan to make some minor adjustments to the magnetic sensor to better capture launches in the far lane.
Report of dog poop on the Ellsworth landing dock, turned out to be goose poop. It was very thick and caused quite a stir.
D. Cormorants & Pelicans – tabled until next meeting Dean S was not at the meeting. Rick F followed up with questions about the bird counts on Pigeon Lake, we now understand the counts were in 2010, 2015 and the next count will be in 2020. The Board briefly talked about the Lake Washington fish survey (2018) draft report Scott Mackenthun shared with us. From what we can tell walleye and northern populations are down compared to past surveys, a trend that has been going on for many surveys. But he is saying we are within the normal range for other comparable lakes in our region of the state for our survey numbers. Of note sunfish populations look good.
E. Zebra Mussels – Mike W. reported he is getting some reports of zebra mussels and Stella is reporting high concentrations on the east side of their lake. Dave R. reported “seeing a lot of them on my hotel, maybe 100ish.” Approximately 1/4 inch long. Several reports/sightings of adults too.
F. Watershed – Skip S. and Ron B. are planning a meeting with Joe (Meeker Co SWCS) to look at the mapping information that Ron B has produced during the mapping of the lake bottom showing soft bottoms in certain areas near inlets that showed raised areas of sediment.
Membership / Shoreline Captains – Cathy K reports membership is on par to be about average for the year. She has a new Shoreline Captain on 218th Street. The campground owner wanted us to get additional directories that he could sell to camps. Lyle pointed out that the Association needs to be cautious about unrelated business income and if directories are sold this could be problematic for us. The message we sent to the campground is if campers want to join the association they would get a directory.
Education & Public Relations:
A. Fall Newsletter – Ron B will let us know the cutoff date for the fall newsletter at September meeting.
B. Website, Facebook, and Email Activity – Steve G reported the website is getting 6 hits per day and we have 190 likes on Facebook.
C. Lake Mapping – Ron B reports the survey has been completed. He is working on putting together options for publishing this information that make the most sense. There may be several different ways we put out this information. One goal is to have some form of map that the Shoreline Captains can pass out next spring.
Social Committee – Sandy W reported about 80 people were at the Pot Luck dinner with many great dishes. Fun door prizes were available for all.
Financial / Grants – No new grants at this time. Sharon D. will meet with Pat H about the criteria MCAL and Meeker AIS committees are following this year. They are asking for very specific information on the project parameters i.e. volunteer hours, dates, benefits, costs, etc. It appears they want grant applicants to appear at the Oct. meeting with all relevant data so it can be reviewed and make decisions at that time.
MCAL – Representatives/meeting dates – Pat H. shared the following information from the July MCAL meeting: Lake Association-Government Interactions Workshop – Save the Date – Sept 25th
MN COLA is the proud sponsor of a workshop on building community capacity as related to lake associations and to coalitions of those associations. Note that the facilitators include Paul Radomski (MN DNR) and Jeff Forester (MLR). Please see the details of the workshop below and help support this event with your attendance.
Who: Lake Association Members and Leaders Coalition of Lake Association members.
Why: The workshop is aimed at building additional community capacity by sharing information on local government responsibilities; by self-assessing your lake association’s individual, relational, and organizational capacity; and by providing some practical tips for with working with your local and state agencies.
Where: Douglas County Public Works Building 526 Willow Dr, Alexandria, MN.
Facilitators: Dr. Amit Pradhananga, Research Associate, University of Minnesota
Dave Rush, Douglas County Land & Resource Management Director
Jeff Forester, Minnesota Lakes & River Advocates
Chris Pence, Board Conservationist, BWSR
Paul Radomski, Lake Ecologist, DNR
Kris Carlson, Decision Support Specialist, DNR
Sponsor: Minnesota Coalition of Lake Associations.
If you’re interested please RSVP to paul.radomski@state.mn.us (the event is free)
7) Open Discussion
Next Board Meeting Scheduled for September 4th at Dassel Rod and Gun