Lake Washington Association Board Meeting August 13, 2013
Board Members Present:

John Fink Ken Klehr Mike Wosmek Sandy Wosmek

Cathy Klehr Pat Hanson Tom Hauer Rick Fernstrom

Ron Bubany Lyle Walker Steve Grotbo Steve Ullom

Board Members please let someone know if you are not able to attend.

Treasurer Report: Invasive Species Fund $15,417 ; General Fund $81,900

PAID MEMBERSHIPS: 213

1) Call Meeting to order 7PM – by President Ken Klehr

2) Secretary’s July Board Meeting Report – approved for publication on our website with spelling corrections.

3) Treasurer’s July Report – Lyle transferred $22,000 from savings account to Invasive account to pay $31,468 cost for milfoil treatments in July. Joined Conservation MN at a cost of $150. We took in $160 for ads from the summer newsletter. Board approved treasurer’s report.

4) Shoreline Captains Committee Update – Cathy reports 220 surveys have been turned in and this is equivalent to about 68% of the 320 passed out. Rick F. will send out a mass email reminding people to please get their surveys turned in so they can be counted. It was decided doing follow up contacts to those not turning in their surveys was not a productive use of our time. People not turning in their surveys are choosing to not be part of this survey process.

5) Cormorants & Pelicans Committee Status- Discussed extensive article in the Dassel Newspaper that detailed the Cormorant and Pelican issues on Pigeon Lake from the local lake associations and DNR perspective. Jack Lawer, DNR supervisor for Lee Sundmark called Ken Klehr today, explaining they are trying to free up money and time for the local fisheries people to do more work on gathering data. They are proposing fish surveys every other year. They will get back to us about a date for the next meeting. They are looking at a neutral party to lead the discussion for this group. Rick F reported George Cramer did some preliminary testing of the water quality on Pigeon Lake, showing high levels in many areas. George talked about looking for money to pay for professional testing of the water quality on Pigeon Lake. Rick F. will check with George about what to test for, who can do the testing, and how to pay for it. Rick F. shared some information about fish tournaments on Lake Washington since 2003. At that time they reported catching 3 fish per angler and in 2013 1.47 fish per angler, Rick do more in depth analysis of this information for the next board meeting.

6) Membership Survey Committee Report- An excel spread sheet has been set up and data from 209 surveys is being entered. Steve U. shared at the Pot Luck Dinner some preliminary numbers from the surveys: 42% of the respondents have written the word Cormorants on their survey, 61% checked fewer big fish or fewer fish than in the past, 27 people moved on the lake in the 1980’s, 46 in the 1990’s, 44 in the 2000’s, and 10 since the 2010.

7) Website & Facebook Activity- Steve G. reported on average there were 2.5 hits per day on our website for the month of July. There was a discussion about people making t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. with the Lake Washington logo being on our website. It was noted these people could buy advertisements or even advertise on our Facebook page. Lyle will check with our tax people about any legal issues there may be with us sanctioning someone and our making money from these transactions.

8) Invasive Species Committee Update- 145 acres of milfoil were treated on July 23 by PLM and Lake Restoration. Ken K has submitted a request for state grant money that should be $14,950. Post treatment analysis will begin next week to verify success of 2013 treatments. Ken K. will wait until we get the bill for water testing from PLM before submitting the grant request to MCAL; this has been $2500 per year in the past.

9) Watershed Committee Report- Ken K. reported they are tracking culverts and farm tiles in the area around the southwest project they have been working on this year. They have not come up with a plan yet. Rick F heard that (Darwin) is going to clean out a culvert in the north-west bay of Cedar Point.

10) Summer Newsletter Review- There was a discussion about logistics of getting the newsletters to the group that stuffs them. The board suggested that Crow River contact Kim Winter and at least one other person (Rick F.) when they are completed, because there was a delay in getting the newsletter to the stuffers this time. The discussion also included looking at the costs of the newsletters. The board decided to look at increasing the price of ads in the newsletter in Feb. 2014. Tom Hauer is going to explore costs of printing the newsletters with other area printers.

11) Pot Luck Review- There were 80 people in attendance. We collected 80 door prizes this year to raffle off. There was a discussion about publishing the names of the businesses that contributed door prizes; the Board approved publishing these names in the Fall Newsletter. Some comments reported from the meeting were: need to use the PA system to be better understood, people liked the pulled pork better than the sloppy jo’s, look at how we award the door prizes.

12) Open Discussion- The board had a discussion about an email from a Lake member regarding their concern about some of the wording used in the summer newsletter. The board members acknowledged we need to be sure we are accurately reporting information and that this is good information for us to consider what and how we report things in our newsletter.

   Had a discussion about an email Steve U. sent to the DNR about black sludge and many dead perch washed ashore during high winds in July. Mike Wosmek reported (3) 12-14 inch dead snapping turtles washed ashore during this time. The DNR were not certain about what caused this and would need more information to better explain why the black sludge and so many dead perch only.

   In response to a question from the Pot Luck Dinner: How many year round homes do we have on Lake Washington? Ken K. reviewed the list of properties on the Lake. He was able to determine that 187 people of the 325 we have on our mailing list, had a mailing address on Lake Washington, this would mean that 58% of the properties are year round homes.

Next Board Meeting Tuesday, September 3rd @ 7 PM Dassel Rod & Gun Club