2014 Annual Meeting Notes

BIG FISH LAKE ASSOCIATION

August 30, 2014 – Saturday

8:30 AM – Annual Meeting – Township Hall

Meeting called to order by President James Sand at 8;30 AM. Collegeville Township Hall.

Board Members present: Jim Sand, President, Jack Brunner Sec’t. Matt Peters, Treasurer, Allen Schmitz, Bill Schnettler, Mike Fandel, Joe Fox, Bryan Bjorkland and Rena Weber – Past President.

  1. Quorum established: 28 paid members present. Coffee and cake provided by Assoc. officers.

  2. Agenda reviewed and approved. Motion made, seconded and passed (MSP)

  3. Everyone received a copy of the minutes of 6/8/13. Read silently: MSP

Present membership is at 49 plus 6 new members. Last year we had 119 paid members.

In the future there will be a membership committee: Pattie and Kit will co-chair.

  1. Treasurer Report: Budgeted $1,965; spent $1,979.10; Deficit -$14.10.  Visionary Fund $391.70 (to be used for water clarity); Water Guard: on hand $10,332.  Final Bill will come this September. This sum will cover that expense); Membership: $1,225; Balance: $11,202.79 w/petty cash $11,471.79.  Conservancy Fund: as of 3/31/13: $50,477.{interest to be used only as needed for Water Guard}

  1. Elections: Mike Fandel and Rena Weber retiring. 4 openings: Bill Schnettler and Jim Sands re-running along with Bill Faber and Bill Schnettler. Motion made to accept these four for a new term. Seconded and passed (MSP). Officers will be elected at the next Association meeting.

  2. LID Did not pass: 113 Yes, 137 No, 57 not voting. Membership committee will determine future membership programs. Lengthy discussion regarding our financial future. Water Guard may cost $16,000 annually. In 2013 had over 1,200 boat inspections. About 10 violations. AIS is a state wide problem. Need to lobby for a charge to launch a boat on a Minnesota Lake or find a statewide method of protecting lakes from AIS. The BFLA belongs to an association that does lobby. State has given Stearns Co about $115 thousand for AIS. How this will be distributed is pending. There are many lakes in our county plus three major rivers.

  3. Water Quality: Ice on 11/27/13;Ice off 4/26/14; Total rain in 2013 19.84” ; So far rain in 2014 17.61”; Secchi Readings for 2014: 20.5” as of 5/17/14; 17.0” as of 8/27/14; Average Mean 17.5” as of 8/30/14.

  4. Loon Report: 3 nests two used and each had two chicks. Across the road another pair had chicks. One pair used the nest the day it was installed. 2nd week in July the nests were docked.

  5. Boat Parade: 3 boats only. Danny Westrup and Mrs ‘Big Red” will chair the program 2015.

  6. Rena: Hidden Cove Orchid Picnic. 3rd Thur in August. Bryan provided the chicken. 50 – 70 people attended. Started at 6 pm. And pretty much ended by 8:30 PM. Excellent success.

  7. Alexander property: has 7 wetland. Very well done development. The BFLA works to protect all wet lands.

  8. Fund Raising: a big job that is necessary. Jackie Opatz volunteered to develop the committee and to work with the group. Several ladies at this meeting volunteered to help her.

  9. Membership Fees: This is pending for the future. Hopefully the vast majority of property owners and their families will be members. Notices will be mailed.

  10. A round of appreciation was given to Jim Sands for his outstanding work as president of BFLA.

  11. Adjourned at 10:14 AM.

Minutes by Jack H. Brunner