Lake Washington Association Board Meeting September 7, 2017
Board Members Present:
| Sandy Wosmek Mike Wosmek Lyle Walker Cathy Klehr Dean Shaner | 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 $52,753 General Fund $$68,757 Total $121,510
Paid Memberships: 206
1) Call Meeting to Order 7 PM – by President Steve Grotbo
2) Secretary’s August Board Meeting Report – Approved with changes Steve will make and send to the Board.
3) Treasurer’s August Financial Reports – Lyle W reported the most significant expense in Aug was $1955.81 annual cost for the I-LIDS system, also 67 people have contributed $1840 for the Dassel Fire Dept. The monthly financial report for August 2017 was approved by the Board.
4) Committee Reports:
Aquatic Invasive Species:
A. Water Quality Testing – Dave R reported one more water testing is scheduled for this year and will be completed in the next few weeks. Seechi disk readings will continue for the next few weeks.
B. Vegetation Survey – The last vegetation survey was completed in August. Mark J volunteered at the AIS State Fair Booth as part keeping his AIS status for inspections with the DNR. Ron B. has been looking at new GPS devices and estimates the cost of the new one he would recommend is about $1000. The Board is in favor of purchasing a device that will be useful for years and is easier to operate.
C. I-LIDS/Watercraft Inspection – Dave R reported we are getting close to maxing out the number of videos they will review based on our contract with them. It looks like we will be getting the magnetic sensor installed on the device by next spring. Dave R believes the I-LIDS doing exactly what we hoped, by “making people more aware of AIS and boaters role in helping to control AIS.”
D. Cormorants & Pelicans – Seeing many fewer cormorants, some did see brown pelicans on the lake in the past week. Steve G. will write an article for the newsletter about cormorants and pelicans.
E. Zebra Mussels – Mike W pulled the hotels on 9/1. Dave R inspected the plates finding 61 zebra mussels on a plate from Ron Bubany’s dock. He did not find any large ones (like the one found last summer) many of the ones on the plates were about 3/8 inch in size. Dave has frozen 35 zebra mussels that he will take to Dr. McCartney at UM AIS research. Of interest Dave noted that there were some plates that had no zebra mussels on them. He does expect that there will be many more reports as docks and lifts start coming out of the lake. There will need to be some repair to the hotels before putting them back out next year.
Watershed – Skip S. has been working on leveling out a driving path that exists between SE. Washington and W. side of Stella. For the ditch on the east side of the culvert Skip S has the DNR willing to bring in their back hoe and trailer to haul away all the trees, brush and weeds from the culvert. They will scratch the surface to help with dormant planting. Meeker Co. is willing to pay the cost of the seeds for replanting this ditch. Skip will send out a notice to all when he plans to clean out the ditch. Will have Joe be the guide regarding what trees to take out of the ditch. With the recent heavy rains, Skip assessed the effectiveness of the culverts on the south side that were modified. He is pleased to report they all are working just the way we would like them too, slowing down the flow into the lake.
Membership / Shoreline Captains – Cathy K. reported she is getting more rosters in from Shore Line Captains. She will start contacting Captains to get the rosters. Cathy has a list of every fire number on the lake as a way of double checking the names and addresses and will work with Mark to get the names in the directory.
Education & Public Relations:
A. Fall Newsletter – Have all articles turned in to Ron B by September 30
B. Website, Facebook, and Email Activity – Getting 5 hits a day on website. 159 likes on Facebook. Steve G. reported the Sheriff’s Dept. has called twice this summer to try and identify the owners of Pontoons that have broken loose. Getting updated addresses would help to better identify owners.
C. New Directory Update – Mark J is looking at updating the Associations Goals. Discussion about making wording better reflect the actions we are taking. Mark will send them out for all to give input. Steve U volunteered to update the history from 2011-2017. Looked at the advertisers list Mark has put together. Board members volunteered to ask some more of the businesses on the list. Mark J will design and send out an invoice for the ads. Mark is looking for pictures of Lake Washington to use on the cover of the Directory. Please email them to him.
Social Committee – Have next year’s meeting dates on our website: May 5 Membership Meeting, August 4 Pot Luck Dinner. Lyle will be sure to get these on the Rod n Gun Club calendar.
Financial / Grants – MCAL grant applications came out on September 6 they are due Oct. 30. AIS grant applications are not out yet usually due in mid November. Sharon reminded us to send in all the hours we spend doing volunteer work for the Lake Association, as we get in kind credit on the grant applications. We should include the time spent on the directory and other Board functions.
MCAL – Representatives/meeting dates – Next meeting date Oct. 12. They need a memo from the Lake Association’s President with the names of people representing the Association: Pat Hanson, Sharon Daniels, alternate Dave Rathe.
5) Open Discussion – On Sept 10th Mn Jr. Bass National High School statewide youth fishing contest will occurring on Lake Washington and Stella Lake, it is sponsored by the Dassel Rod n Gun Club.
There was a discussion about membership lake plaques, similar to the ones we had in the early 2000’s, as people are again asking about getting them to post on their properties. It was decided to put this on our agenda for 2018.
Dave R. reported he will be unable to attend the AIS show case at UM (St.Paul Campus) on Oct. 13 and was wondering if anyone else would be interested in going.
Dave R. shared a thank you letter Dr. McCartney sent regarding his attending the Pork Chop Dinner, sharing his study on zebra mussels, and our cooperation with the ongoing study.
Next (last of the season) Board Meeting Scheduled for 7 PM October 3rd (Tuesday) at Dassel Rod and Gun