Lake Washington Association Board Meeting October 3, 2017
Board Members Present:
| Sandy Wosmek Mike Wosmek Lyle Walker Cathy Klehr | Pat Hanson Ron Bubany Skip Sustacek Steve Grotbo | Steve Ullom Mark Johnson David Rathe Sharon Daniels |
Board Members please let someone know if you are not able to attend.
Treasurer Report: Invasive Species Fund $52,790 General Fund $66,186
Paid Memberships: 210
1) Call Meeting to Order 7 PM – by President Steve Grotbo
2) Secretary’s September Board Meeting Report – approved for publication on our website.
3) Treasurer’s September Financial Reports – Lyle W. reported major expenses this month were for Annual Liability Insurance premium of $1438.00, new Helix GPS devices $1441.28, (Ron B did get a 20% discount, a $250 gift card, $50 discount for opening a Sheels card and $160 for ad in our Directory also received a 2 year warranty) and Constant Contact Software $378.00. LWIA collected donations of $1840 for the Dassel Fire Department and Lyle will present them with a check at their annual fundraiser.
4) Committee Reports:
Aquatic Invasive Species:
A. Water Quality Testing – Dave R. reported the last water testing (for phosphorus and chlorophyll A) was completed in September. He will do the last seechi disk reading next week and send data to MPCA.
B. Vegetation Survey – Ron reported there appears to be very little vegetation noted in the lake at this time.
C. I-LIDS/Watercraft Inspection – Dave R reported over 6000 launches were reviewed by Eric and the I-LIDS company. Dave R has been reviewing some of the video lately and will pull the unit around Halloween.
D. Cormorants & Pelicans – Steve G talked with Rick F about any new data or information we have on cormorants. Steve G did write an article for the newsletter.
E. Zebra Mussels – All the hotels pulled on Labor Day were cleaned and repaired by Dave R. Mike Wosmek has them now and will do some work on getting them ready for next year. We did get a report from D. Karlson on the north side of the lake that he found zebra mussels on his dock and lifts. Steve U (northside) reported several zebra mussels on concrete blocks that were pulled from the lake on Saturday. Dave R wrote an article for the newsletter on zebra mussels, letting people know that they should contact him if they see any zebra mussels on equipment removed from the water this fall.
Watershed – Skip S reported that 5 board members spent 25+ hours (Saturday Sept 30) cleaning up brush and trees from the ditch on the east side of the landing. Christie from the DNR will have a crew pick up the piles of brush, pull out the stumps and rough of the surface so a dormant planting of flowers and plants can be done this fall. Joe Morgan (Meeker Co Soil and Water) has agreed to cost share the purchase of seeds for this planting. The Board had a discussion about what it would take to clean up the northside/lakeside of the landing that it propagated with invasive species – buckthorn and wild grape vines – numerous dead trees and over grown brush/shrubs. Skip had talked to Butch Peterson about cleaning up the trees and brush in the area between the east side ditch and the boat landing. There are many dead trees and overgrown brush in this area. Skip will get a written estimate for this work and get the ok from the DNR to have this work done. The Board approved spending up to $2000 to trim trees and cleanup the area along the lake side of the Ellsworth Landing.
***Since the meeting Skip has talked with the DNR and they set a very high liability insurance request for anyone to do work on the northside of landing and they were not particularly willing for LWIA to do something with this area of dead trees, invasive species, and over grown vegetation. *****
With the heavy rainfall last week, Dave R and Skip S reported the culverts, on the south side of the lake, that have been modified to control the flow of runoff appear to be working very well. The water running into the lake from these culverts appeared to be flowing, but with very little silt present in this water.
Membership / Shoreline Captains – Cathy K. reported there are 210 memberships at this time and are still getting some in. Most Shore Line Captains have turned in rosters. She is doing follow up calls and contacts to get the remaining rosters. Mark J has current roster from Cathy of lake residents to publish in the Directory. She will give Shore Line Captains one more chance to verify names and addresses. Cathy has a complete list of fire numbers that she will use to double check the names and addresses we have.
Education & Public Relations:
A. Fall Newsletter – Because there is new information Ron B would like to have included in the Fall newsletter, he is extending the dead line for articles until Oct 9. He has 3 ads for the newsletter.
B. Website, Facebook, and Email Activity – We are getting 5 hits a day to the website, have 161 likes on Facebook, and Steve G will update the website and better align it to the three areas people can email us general issues, memberships, and lost & found.
C. New Directory Update – Mark J. reported we have 25 advertisers that have committed to placing and ad in the Directory. So far three ads have been paid for. Mark J will send out email invoices to those that have submitted ads for the Directory. Mark’s goal is to have a rough draft ready for a committee to review by January 2018. The long-range goal is to have directories ready to pass out by Memorial Day.
Social Committee – Lyle W has reserved on the Dassel Rod n Gun Club calendar: May 5, 2018 for Membership Meeting (Pork Chop Dinner) and August 4, 2018 for the Pot Luck Dinner.
Financial / Grants – Sharon D. shared an article from the Mpls Tribune written by George Kraemer that summarized a survey of Lake Associations in Minnesota, conducted by Concordia College in the summer of 2017 “Minnesota’s Lake Associations: Who they are and what they do.” This groundbreaking report, sponsored by MLR, finds that Lake Associations voluntarily contribute more than $6.25 million and 1.2 million volunteer hours annually in lake preservation and management activities, BUT FEEL SHUT OUT ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY MAKING AND DECISIONS. The top concerns of lake associations include aquatic invasive species, overall water quality, runoff control, aging of lake property owners and lack of trust in and connection to the MN DNR. Of special interest – lake association members, are also the largest angling group in Minnesota, responsible for nearly 550,000 fishing license sales and nearly $400,000 spent towards fish stocking. Steve U. will email a link to Board members for this report.
Sharon reported MCAL Grant Applications opened on 10/3 and are due by 10/30
Meeker Co AIS Grant Applications are out and the deadline is 11/15. Sharon wants to remind all of us to get our volunteer/in kind hours we have spent working on Lake Association Activities this year.
MCAL – Representatives/meeting dates – Pat Hanson reported the meeting date has been changed to Oct 12 at the Meeker County Offices. Steve G emailed George Kraemer the names of our representatives: Pat Hanson, Sharon Daniels, and alternate Dave R.
5) Open Discussion – Ron B introduced the Board to the new GPS device he purchased from Sheels in St. Cloud. The many options available and others we can purchase. Ron proposed a goal for 2018 of doing contour mapping of the entire lake using this device.
Talked about article on cormorants in the Mpls. Newspaper, but did not provide any new information we felt would be useful to us.
The MN Jr. Bass High School Fishing Tournament on Sept. 10 (sponsored by the Dassel Rod n Gun Club) had 52 boats with 2 fisher persons per boat. They were allowed to bring in 5 fish for the weigh in. There were many fish caught during this tournament. Several teams total weigh-in were near 20 lbs.
Next (first of the season) Board Meeting Scheduled for February (looking at the 2nd week)TBA by Steve G