HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION DAY SEPTEMBER 15TH

Lake Washington Association Board Meeting August 14, 2012
Board Members Present

John Fink Ken Klehr Mike Wosmek Sandy Wosmek

Lyle Walker Cathy Klehr Pat Hanson Tom Hauer

Rick Fernstrom Steve Ullom

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

Treasurer Report: Invasive Species Fund $39,934.39 ; General Fund $60,582.91

PAID MEMBERSHIPS: 217

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

2) Secretary’s July 3rd Report – approved for publication by the Board with corrections.

3) Treasurer’s July Report – Received $10500 grant from MNDNR for our EWM treatments. Paid Peel, Hanson, & Beckman audit and preparation of State and Federal forms at the cost of $436.00. Cathy K. presented itemized costs for Shoreline Captains meeting and other supplies.

4) Potluck Dinner Review – 62 people attended the Pot Luck dinner on Aug. 4.Board agreed that having two members meetings a year are very good ideas for getting lake people together and there are also some historical reasons to continue this practice. Discussed the cost of renting the Rod ‘n Gun Club for the two meetings nights. John will book the same days for next years meeting with the Rod �n Gun Club.

5) Summer Newsletter Review – Everyone agreed this newsletter was very well done. The cost was higher because of the extra pages to be printed and additional postage needed to mail this larger version, with more advertising and membership pages added to this mailing.

6) Shoreline Captains Committee Update – Cathy will be sending out emails to Captains with status of their unique areas. Talked about getting Membership plaques similar to those we gave out in the early 2000’s, Mike Wosmek volunteered to check out if this is possible and costs for these.

7) Cormorants & Pelicans Committee Update – Rick F. sent out fish survey information he just got from the DNR. He reported the survey appeared to be the same as the previous surveys in netting places and methods. Rick did a preliminary analysis comparing 2012 survey to previous ones completed by the DNR. He reported the surveys appear to be similar in numbers but, the gill net data showed the fish populations went down.

The DNR has documented many cormorants have died this summer as the result of an outbreak of Newcastle Disease in this colony. They are still burning the dead birds in an attempt to slow the spread of this disease. Rick has asked them for the number of carcasses that have been burned, but has not gotten this information from the DNR. It should also be noted that this disease has affected other birds that live in or near Pigeon Lake. For the record it was reported that in 2004 there were 1500 nests, 2010 2100 nests, and 2012 2300 nests of cormorants on Pigeon Lake.

Rick will be scheduling a meeting with the DNR to talk about the fish counts and number of bird carcasses that were infected and burned so far this year. He has received reports from lake residents that fishing has not been as good as before the cormorant population increased.

8) Membership Survey Committee Report – tabled

9) Website Activity Level Facebook, Emailing Newsletters – Steve G. sent Ken information on the activity for the past month. He will forward this to the board.

10) LWIA Clean up day – Bill O.

11) Invasive Committee Update – After recent lake survey by the Committee and PLM it was determined 25 acres on the east side of the lake did not respond positively to treatments this year. They will retreat this area next year under their warranty guarantee of 80% coverage at no cost to LWIA. The DNR determined the EWM appeared to be in a dormant state and would not respond to treatments at this date. Ken K. has talked with Rick Brown about next years EWM treatments and agrees we will be able to treat 70 acres next year in addition to the retreating 25 acres.

Ken reported this is our last year of a five year contract we have with PLM to do lake treatments. Ken will check out some other treatment companies and report back to the Board.

12) MCAL July Meeting Update – The MCAL has put together a booklet about the lakes in this organization. Ken submitted paperwork for the $3500.00 grant MCAL has agreed to pay us for water testing and EWM treatments.

13) Reminder October 2nd Meeting Nick Brown, DNR Invasive Species Specialist covering Lake Washington Vegetation Assessment of 2012.

14) Open Discussion – There is an Invasive Species conference in La Crosse, WI on October 29-31 that Ken K. hopes to attend and others are invited.

Discussion about some people on Lake Washington are reporting that they are being asked to pay Flood Insurance by mortgage holders, because of FEMA’s new flood plain maps.

Next Board Meeting is Tuesday, September 4th @ 7PM Tuesday Dassel Rod & Gun Club.