2017 Board Meeting Notes

Big Fish Lake Association Board

January 25, 2017 meeting minutes

6:30 PM – home of Kit Ferber

Meeting called to order by President Kit Ferber.

Board members present:  Kit Ferber – President, Matt Peters – Treasurer, Allen Schmitz, Bill Unger and Joel Meyer.  Absent: Jim Sand, Doug Adamek, Joe Fox and Fr. Jack

  1. Kit called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm and extended a welcome to Paul Steil, resident lawyer, who is advising us on updating our Bylaws.  A huge thank you was said to Paul. Minutes from the previous meeting on September 20, 2016 were approved.
  2. Present Bylaws were looked over with Paul’s recommended changes. There was a motion made as suggested by Paul by Kit to move the principal office from Jim Sand’s address (27736 Jessica Lane, Cold Spring) to Matt’s address at 17044 Harbor Road, Cold Spring.  Seconded by Joel.

Note:  all Bylaws are staying the same unless noted below.  Some wording may change to eliminate typing errors, etc.

Article 2.1:  There was a lot of discussion regarding the membership Bylaws and the Board decided to leave everything as is.  Only property owners that are paying members are eligible to be regular members. The majority of the Board felt that renters and friends of the lake do not have as high of a stake in the lake as property owners have. Only regular members shall have the right to vote at the annual meeting and any special meetings of the general membership.

Article 2.2: Any individual who is NOT a property owner but is a paying member shall be eligible for a special membership and would be eligible to be on the Board but would not have voting privileges.  Special members are also eligible to be officers and voting members of special committee.  A comparison was made.  Think of each of the property owners as a stock holder of a corporation and the non-property owners would be compared to an employee of a corporation without voting privileges.  Again, non-property owners can be an officer and member of special committees with voting rights and be on the Board but not have voting rights.

Side note:  Kit will draft a letter to Steve Schack to explaining this and his other concerns.  She will get it approved by Paul before I send it to Steve.

Article 3.1:  There will no longer be bi-annual meetings for the entire lake membership.  There will only be one meeting a year which will be the second Saturday of June where the Board of Directors and Officers shall be elected.  Notice of the date, time and place of the annual meeting shall by mailed to all members 30 days prior to the meeting. The wording “bi-annual” will be switch to “annual meeting” throughout the Bylaws.

Article 6.2:  Change wording of 2011 to “one year” and then 2012 to “the next year”.

6.3:  Eliminate the wording “with or without cause”.

Article 7.1:  Change wording to say, “The Board of Directors may establish and appoint individuals to serve on” committees as ……

Article 8.2:  All checks, drafts or other orders for the payment of money issued in the name of the Corporation shall be signed by two officers of the Corporation or done with written authority from the second individual if that person is not readily available.

Article 8.4:  Reword to say that the majority of the membership can order an audit if they deem it necessary by an independent third party accounting firm.

Article 8.5:  Reword to say, “Annual dues shall be determined by the Board of Directors” rather than set an actual amount.

Article X:  Reword to say, “The Corporation’s Articles and these Bylaws may be amended only by the vote of the majority of the members in attendance at the annual meeting.”

Paul will rewrite these Bylaws and then send them to us with red lines to show what he has changed. These changes will be presented in writing at the annual meeting and then voted on.  Once the changes are passed then Paul will submit the changes to the State.

  1. It was voted to change the wording of our tax deductible portion of our membership drive. In the past we have said that anything over the membership dues was tax deductible.  A member complained and it said it was not correct.  Paul researched the IRS regulations and reworded that portion to now say, “Your payment of dues and donation are detailed in the attached receipt and are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.  No goods or services will be provided in exchange for your dues and donation.”  Bill made the motion to approve this wording and Joel seconded it.  All were in favor to pass the motion.
  2. Kit gave the Board an update on what the Stearns County AIS committee has been doing.  Our grant proposal for $24,822 for 2017 boat inspections was approved.  We will pay $12,411 out of our funds since it is a matching grant.  LAMB will be doing the boat inspections again along with the decontaminations. We will be charged $15.75 an hour vs. the 2016 rate of $16.00 per hour.  One of the biggest concerns facing the committee is to make sure that boat inspections and the decon unit will be present at fishing tournaments where lakes have infestations.  Not all tournaments are large enough (15 and under participants) to be reported to the DNR so the AIS committee will be asking members to spread the word and to let the committee know if and when they hear about a tournament. The Board asked if Jim would be able to ask his son how we can find out about tourneys on our lake or if there is a site on the internet or find another source.  Kit will ask a friend that used to be quite involved with fishing tourneys in the past.                                                                                                                                                                                                      The AIS committee has agreed to allow us to keep all of our grant funds from them until we get the final DNR report at the end of the year so that we do not lose any inspections hours if the DNR can’t fulfill their grant hours.  The DNR report showed that one boat had Zebra Mussels on it and they were pulled off by hand.  This is unacceptable and Kit has notified the DNR to find out their exact protocol.  This boat should have been turned away and decontaminated before it was allowed to come into our lake.  The DNR has not responded to Kit’s email yet.
  3. Kit reported on the membership drive for 2017.  To date, we have collected $19,381 which includes the loon contributions ($2,085) as well.  Gentle reminders were sent out on January 17th to solicit funds from those that have not contributed thus far.  We hope to gain at least another $2,000 from this mailing.  We have 15 new members this year which brings our membership to 68%! This year Patti would like to contact potential members personally to encourage them to join and find out their reason for not joining.  We will not be pushy!  Kit will be contacting our business members to see if they want to advertise again in our newsletter and our emails. She will also call Buecker’s Sanitation to see if they are willing to donate a dumpster at the public access again this year in exchange for free advertising.
  4. Annual meeting is set for June 10, 2017. Matt has reserved the township hall from 8 am – 11 am to give us plenty of time to meet with the members and not be rushed like we were last year.  Kit will ask Kevin Farnum to speak at the meeting regarding Starry Stonewort and we will also go through the Stearns County AIS pamphlet that was sent out in 2015.  Allen has agreed to open up the hall and lock it up again. We also agreed that we need to make sure that we have only members voting and to have them check in when they come into the meeting.  We need to have more people sit at the check in desk.
  5. Matt went over the 2017 budget. Thanks to Jim for helping with the update and working on the correct formulas.  The budget now agrees with the bank penny for penny.
  6. The loon nest fund will be set aside for future maintenance.
  7. It has been decided that we need to set aside a portion of our “War Chest” funds to hopefully make a higher interest rate. Kit will contact the Initiative Foundation to see if we can invest with them to make the 5% – 7% without locking the money in for years and without being part of the principal. Upon Jim’s suggestion, we have decided not to take the 5% out of the Conservancy Fund this year since we don’t need it at this point in time.  Motion was made by Bill, seconded by Joel.  Motion was passed.  Kit will double check to see how long we can “bank” the dividends without it turning into principal.
  8. Loon Nests – The response was wonderful and with the funds, Matt is going to make an experimental 4th nest with new materials made out of PVC piping.  The other three will remain the same but will have extra buoys and anchors (Thanks Jim!) to protect the perimeter of each of the nests.  This was made into a motion by Kit and seconded by Bill.  The motion passes.  It was also decided that the experimental nest will go north of the sand bar and the other two where they normally go.  The 4th nest will go in the North Bay where the rearing pond was earlier.  Matt and Bill will look into getting more buoys and anchors.  Kit will be gone to Australia starting April 5th to May 7th.  If the nests have to go in the lake during that time, Matt will contact Kit’s daughter and son-in-law to get their boat ready to help put the nests in again. If Jim is home when the ice goes out, he would be happy to do it with help!
  9. There was a question whether we needed a vegetation survey done on the lake.  Matt and Jim said that there was one done just a couple of years ago.  Matt will forward the report to all of the Board members. After viewing the report, we will see if and when we need another survey done.
  10. Thanks to Hailey Wachlarowicz-Bayer for transferring out website to Minnesota Lakes and Rivers who is a huge advocate for lake associations.  We will need to update several items on the new website but we will do that at a later time.
  11. Newsletter needs to be sent out in February and articles will need to be written.  Kit will send out a tentative list of articles for the Board to approve and/or add to.
  12. It was suggested by Joel that we set our future meetings now so that we all can plan ahead of time.  Hopefully, this will allow us to have shorter agendas and shorter meetings.  This meeting was too long because our last meeting was 4 months ago due to the Holiday season.  Thus, meeting times have been set as follows so please record these on your calendars!  They will all approximately every two months on the last Wednesday evening of the month at Kit’s at 6:30 pm except, of course, the annual meeting.  If there is no reason to meet, then we will cancel and you will be notified via email by Kit.

March 29, 2017

May 31, 2017 (to discuss what the annual meeting agenda will be)

June 10, 2017 – Saturday, 8:30 am at the Township Hall, be there at 8 am to help set up

No meeting in August

September 27, 2017

November 29, 2017

January 31, 2018

Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.

Minutes written by Kit Ferber based on Matt’s notes.

 

Big Fish Lake Association Board Meeting

Monday, April 3, 2017

6:30 – home of Kit Ferber

*Kit called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm.  Those present were:  Kit Ferber – President, Joe Fox – VP, Jim Sand – Past President, Father Jack Brunner – Secretary, Matt Peters – Treasurer, Allen Schmitz, Doug Adamek and Joel Meyer. Paul Steil was also there. Absent:  Bill Unger

*Approved minutes from the last meeting on January 25, 2017.

*Matt presented the finance report.  Budgeted to date:  $3,195.00.  We have spent $811.57.  On hand:  $2,383.43.  Bank balance as of 3/31/17 is $1,419.77.  Loon Nest balance:  $1,731.63.  Purchased new next materials and buoys for $624.62.  Boat inspection fund now has $12,805 on hand.  Conservancy Fund has $50,640.69.  Non-dedication fund is at $4,404.45.

*Paul Steil introduced the final draft of the revised bylaws. Since Kit was leaving for a month, Jim will put together a letter to introduce these new changes so that the members could read about them 15 to 30 days ahead of time before the annual meeting. The approval of amending the physical address of the lake association from Jim’s to Matt’s was approved. Also, an absentee ballot will need to be included in the by law information as well. There are 189 parcels on the lake and 143 members plus two renters that have paid their dues.  All of changes will be discussed at the annual meeting on June 10, 2017.

*In order to establish a quorum at the annual meeting it was decided that each paying member will check in and will receive a colored voting card.

*To make it official, it was passed unanimously to invest $15,000 into the Conservancy Fund as a fund that can be drawn from at any time.  We also added our annual interest fund of $2500 to go into the non-endowment fund or “emergency fund” as well.

*Discuss CD or Savings rates for remaining balance.

~ 1 year CD: will make $40, but money locked in

~ 2 year CD:  will make $150, but money is locked in

~ Savings/Money market:  Can make $20 in one year but have to have a minimum of $2,500

It was decided not to put the extra money into a CD where it not be accessible.

*Resignation of Father Jack and Joe.  Please spread the word and get more people to join us.

Team 1:  Jim, Kit, Doug, Bill and Joel

Team 2:  Allen, Matt, Joe and Father Jack

*DNR Boat Inspection Grant ~ not available yet.  Joe and Jim, please write grant when it becomes available to apply for it

*Stearns Electric ~ Kit will apply for that when she gets back.  The next app is due June 26th.

*LAMB is accepting apps for boat inspectors at the landing.  DNR does not know when the access will be fixed after the ice damage.

*It was approved to send $60 to Stearns County Coalition of Lake Association for their yearly dues.  No motion was needed.

*Letters from Dee and Joe Peters were discussed.   Board has done all that it can legally do at this point.

*Loon nests are out and there are loons around.  None are nesting that we know of at this time.

*Picnic:  Rena said ok not to have music.

*Volunteer Water Patrol ~ Steve Schack will contact Sheriff’s Department to find out more information.

*Next Meeting ~ Set for May 31st at 6:30. Figure out agenda for annual meeting on June 10th.

*Meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm                                Minutes by Father Jack Brunner

 

Big Fish Lake Association Board Meeting

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

6:30 – home of Kit Ferber

Meeting called to order by President Kit Ferber at 6:32 pm.

Board Members present: Kit Ferber – President, Jim Sand – Past President, Jack Brunner – Secretary, Matt Peters – Treasurer, Joel Meyer, Allen Schmitz and Doug Adamek. Absent: Bill Unger and Joe Fox

  1. President Kit Ferber called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm.
  2. Treasurer’s report by Matt Peters: $27,011.52 Bank Balance. $26,975.00 from dues and advertising fees.
  3. Meeting was interrupted by a group who wanted to discuss the ‘alleyway”. They were invited to forward a request asking for board time to discuss their intentions.  If their request is within the scope of the association we will then set up a special meeting with them.
  4. Treasurer report continues: 158 members plus 7 businesses. Loon nest requests brought in $2,085.00.  Boat inspections: Our matching portion to the County AIS Grant portion of $12,416 has been paid.  Remaining in this account is $12,805.00.  Project ending balance of about $11,000. Other income $10,721.22. Budget report expense $3,195.00.  Motion to approve the report was made by Jim and 2nd by Joel. Loon nest upgrade fund will be removed from annual budget and put into its own category.  Approved 100%. Second Motion to revise the budget of 2017 by $1,000. Passed 100%.
  5. Good reaction from people about the newsletter.
  6. By laws: Jim and Kit can vote as proxies for two lake members.
  7. The Sisters of the former Timberlee property donated $5,000 to the association. The funds will go into the non-endowment Conservancy Fund for now.
  8. New candidates for board membership: Dr. Chris Wenner, Mark Backes and Nina Steil.
  9. Len Gilmore, owner of LAMB, will work with the DNR boat inspectors on adjusting LAMB’s schedule. Jim estimates that we will have $11,000 remaining after bills are paid.

Kit applied to Stearns Electric for a grant. Pending.

  1. Shoreline maintenance booklet: motion and 2nd to order 200 for the lake membership
  2. Permission has been granted from the DNR to have the boat inspectors rake floating weeds around the access. All fishing tournaments are regulated by the DNR.
  3. Annual meeting is scheduled for June 10th at the Township hall.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM

Minutes by Jack H. Brunner

 

BIG FISH LAKE ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

6:30 p.m. – Cold Spring, MN

Board Members present: Kit Ferber – President, Jim Sand – Past President, Matt Peters – Treasurer, Allen Schmitz, Doug Adamek, Bill Unger,, Chris Wenner, Nina Steil

Absent:  Mark Backes and Joel Meyer

*Meeting called to order by President, Kit Ferber at 6:30 p.m. at her residence in Cold Spring, MN.

*Minutes were approved from last meeting on June 10, 2017.  Matt Peters made the motion, Doug Adamek seconded.  All present were in favor.

1. Introduction of new BFLA Board Members

      1. Chris Wenner – introduced himself, gave background
      2. Nina Steil – introduced herself, gave background
      3. Action Item: Chris & Nina need to send their bios – along with their photos to Kit for the BFLA website.
      4. Discussed other information that is on the BFLA website – e.g. bi-laws, bios, etc.

2. New Officers on the BFLA Board Needed

      1. In Mark Backes’ absence – Kit told the Board that Mark had said he would take the position of Vice President.
      2. Matt then officially nominated Mark Backes as Vice President, and Bill Unger seconded the motion.  Those present voted, and all were in favor.
      3. Kit also mentioned needing a Secretary for the Board (formerly Jack Brunner’s position).  Nina Steil (new Board member) volunteered.
      4. Jim Sand then officially nominated Nina Steil as Secretary, Doug Adamek seconded the motion.  Those present voted, and all were in favor.
      5. Team for BFLA Board at present are:
        1. Team 1: Jim, Kit, Doug, Bill, Joel
        2. Team 2: Allen, Matt, Mark, Chris, Nina

3. Treasurer’s Report from Matt Peters

      1. Matt Peters gave the financial report.
      2. All checks have been received for the 2017 membership dues.
      3. We received $27,161.00 in dues, contributions and business ads.
      4. Matt reported what is left in the account which is currently $21,394.85
      5. Very good participation from BFLA members.
      6. Jim Sand made a motion to except the report, Allen Schmitz seconded the motion. All present voted and were in favor.

4.Alleyway Discussion

      1. Jim Sand explained history of the alleyway issue.
      2. Testing has been done to check for phosphorus from run-off from local farm.
      3. Township has ownership of this alleyway, and continues to want to keep control of it.
      4. Reviews have been done – determined it is a wetland.  Additional grasses have been planted by BFLA Board.
      5. Alleyway is sometimes used by snowmobiles, 4 wheelers, etc.
      6. Parcel owners on either side of alleyway would like it closed.
      7. At this time the township and county have control of alleyway.

5. Update from Stearns County Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Committee

      1. There is a strong possibility the DNR will discontinue their boat inspection grant program for all lake associations, due to lack of funding.
      2. BFLA has used this grant to help supplement the inspections at the public access (approx. $3500).
      3. LAMB, the third party boat inspectors presently employed through the County AIS Committee, will still be available to continue boat inspections for BFL this fall in light of Starry Stonewort being found in nearby Grand Lake. County will make the decision based on bids this fall for the third party inspectors in 2018.  Decontamination Units:  LAMB has one now and is considering buying another one if he can get the additional hours to support the unit.  Big Fish Lake would benefit from this.
      4. Wright County has a pilot program having shared inspections between several lake accesses in tagging boats.  Some local lake-to-lake fisherman are upset. The program now is in the hands of the DNR to make a decision.

6. Vegetation Report

      1. June 2017 – Kit, Allen and Matt pulled weeds in numerous spots around the lake. (Kit is a certified AIS inspector through the U of M).
      2. Findings: Curly leaf pondweed, and Chinese mystery snail (both invasive, but not a threat per the DNR). Curly leaf pondweed is something the lake has had for over 15 years.  Usually gone by June.
      3. Kit, Allen and Matt will continue to check for the serious invasive species, Starry Stonewort and other invasives in our lake.
      4. Big Fish Lake also has native species (e.g – northern water milfoil) but all are native, and healthy for the lake.
      5. Matt also checked Hermit Lake (small lake across the road on County Rd 50).  Nothing was found.
      6. Kit will post the latest Vegetation Report on website and will also try to put the Starry Stonewort video on there as well.
      7. DNR does vegetation surveys on area lakes as well.
      8. AIS Committee is setting up a spreadsheet of area lakes and their vegetation surveys.
      9. Also discussed benefit to having buffers of trees and grasses on lake shores of Big Fish which helps the lake weed control in the lake.

7. Surveying the Lake for invasive species

      1. Discussed Kit, Allen and Matt continuing to survey the lake twice during each summer.
      2. Cost to have third party testing done professionally is $1300 – $1500.

8. Boat Inspections on Big Fish Lake

      1. Jim Sand presented the 2018 hours needed for boat inspections. Kit will apply for the 2018 AIS Grant in October.
      2. Summer 2017: 1,576 hours of inspections were scheduled and we have added more this fall.
      3. Summer 2018: we are proposing 1,728 hours of inspecting to be done (approx.  200 more hours).
      4. Boat inspecting at the landing would start Fishing Opener (2nd Saturday in May) and continue through MEA weekend (usually October 15-19).
      5. May need to have inspections earlier than this because of crappie fishing that starts at the beginning of May.   May need “floating” hours to cover for this.  Kit will include this in the grant application.
      6. Discussed grant from AIS and how we as a lake association need to “match” this grant. (Approx. $15,000). If we don’t receive the grant amount to meet our inspection hours, we may need to dip into our regular funds.

9. Loon Nests

      1. Loon nests have now been pulled out of the water for the season.
      2. Nests are heavy, and also need some repair (wood is rotting, etc).
      3. St. Cloud Tech College (welding class with Chuck House) builds aluminum loon nests.  Lighter, low maintenance, and reasonably priced.
      4. Need to get on the list for the 2018-2019 season. Matt will order three new loon nests to replace the old nests.
      5. Bill Unger motioned to purchase the new loon nests, Doug Adamek seconded the motion.  All present were in favor.

10. Variance for a new construction/addition on the lake

      1. Andrew & Kristi Hoffman applying for variance for an addition to their home on Jennifer Drive.
      2. Board discussed.  This variance involves the road side of their home, not the lake side.  A non-issue.

11. Boat Safety Card?

      1. Discussed an idea a property owner on the lake had regarding creating a “boat safety card” to hand out on the lake if we feel there is a safety issue.
      2. Board decided not to pursue this since it would be a liability issue for the association.

12. Greg Berg – Shoreline Grant

      1. Stearns County Soil & Water District offering assistance if you are interested in restoring, restructuring your shoreline.  They are offering technical info, help with design, cost share, and help with the implementation of the project.
      2. Restoring shoreline is essential to our lake’s health, and providing fish and wildlife natural habitat.
      3. Often referred to as a “buffer” or “lake-scaping”
      4. Having a buffer on your shoreline controls erosion, protects water quality by filtering runoff, reduces flooding, helps with fish and wildlife habitat, discourages nuisance geese, is low maintenance, and provides privacy.
      5. BFLA Board will be sending out pamphlets to all BFLA members regarding this project.  Board will also be distributing personally to non-members of the Association.

13. 2018 Membership Drive

      1. Kit will start working on the 2018 membership drive in October.  Will send out letters to BFLA members for approval first.
      2. Discussed when is a good time to also send out Conservancy Fund information (separate fund).  Decided to send out in the Spring- and not with the annual drive information.

14. Future Meetings

    1. Wednesday, November 29, 2017 – Kit’s house. 6:30 p.m.
    2. Wednesday, January 31, 2017 – Kit’s house. 6:30 p.m.

Meeting adjourned 9:30 p.m.                                                        Minutes written by Nina Steil, Secretary

 

 

BIG FISH LAKE ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

6:30 p.m. – Cold Spring, MN

 

Board Members present:

Kit Ferber – President

Jim Sand – Past president

Allen Schmitz

Doug Adamek

Matt Peters -Treasurer

Chris Wenner

Mark Backes

Joel Meyer

Nina Steil – Secretary

 

*Meeting called to order by Kit Ferber.

 

  1. Finances
    1. Matt Peters explained two checks that were deposited, one was unused boat inspection money, and the other check was from Stearns Electric.
    2. Jim Sand explained that AIS/Stearns County gave us a refund. The DNR actually worked the hours inspecting boats.
    3. Jim Sand suggested we look at the budget spreadsheet and clean up (e.g. where we have misc. expenses, move to different category where we did use the expenses).
      • Jim voted to clean up annual budget spreadsheet, Joel Meyer seconded the motion.
    4. Membership dues will remain the same ($60.00 -basic level for membership yearly fee). We will list other levels of membership for the annual membership letter that is going out soon.
    5. Business Memberships
      1. Should we increase fees?
      2. Businesses are promoted in our newsletter
      3. Approximately 10 businesses
      4. Joel Meyer suggested we offer tiers/choices as well for payment. (E.g. premier level (possibly $150), basic level, etc).
      5. Jim Sand suggested we perhaps use the money that is collected for Business Memberships into our Conservatory Fund. This would perhaps be the best way to use this money.
      6. Mark Backes suggested we look at this for consideration.
    6. Budget Discussion
      1. Postage: change to $250 for yearly budget (sending out receipts mailings, and second mailings). This should cover costs.
      2. Social/Picnic: $500 to cover costs?  Need to discuss further.  Chicken from Short Stop cost was higher than last year’s budget of $400.
      3. Constant Contact: Keep at $240 for yearly budget.
      4. Board Conferences: Move to change to $400
      5. MN Lakes: leave at $300
      6. Stearns County Coalition of Lakes: leave at $60
      7. President Discretionary Fund: move to change to $300
      8. Membership Mailings: move to change to $500
      9. Annual Meetings: leave at $75
      10. Expenses: leave at $200
    7. Jim Sand discussed the Initiative Foundation, and how BFLA had $5000 5 years ago for Water Quality Monitoring. Jim suggested we add $200 to the budget for 2018 for this.

 

  1. Collegeville Township Meeting – Jim Sand gave update
    1. BFLA will not receive a check this year
    2. If County bills township – then might be ok for us to receive a check
    3. $2000 – for a “green fund”
    4. Still pending whether the township will bill for boat inspections
    5. Township wants to work with BFLA. Jim will continue to attend meetings

 

  • Boat Inspections Grants
    1. DNR no longer has grant
    2. LAMB will do most of the boat inspections on Big Fish
    3. Discussed having a decontamination unit… The numbers do not justify spending money on this expensive unit
    4. A grant was submitted to the county AIS Committee. Evaluation will be done on January 3, 2018.

 

  1. Stearns County AIS Update
    1. AIS Committee meets once a month
    2. A budget has been prepared for 2018
    3. Short on RFP’s
    4. AIS is trying to even out the money that is distributed
    5. Inspectors will continue to remove weeds from the shoreline and around the docks to evaluate
    6. Local law enforcement is starting to see the value and will continue to make keeping our lake clean a high priority (conversation officers and sheriff)
    7. There is a pilot project in the works to try out “unmanned” cleaning stations for boats
    8. Collapsible rakes being used to help with checking the weeks

 

  1. Upcoming Conferences
    1. AIS Summit III on Feb 28, 2018 – March 1st at Earle Brown Center in Minneapolis. $169 per person.  This event is sponsored by the Minnesota Lakes & River Advocates.
    2. State of the Water Conference – April 12 – 14 at Breezy Point Resort. Registration not open yet. Not sure of cost.
    3. BFLA discussed having some board members attend. Kit for sure plans on going to one.
    4. Nina possibly attend AIS Summit?

 

 

 

 

  1. Water Test Results – from Bill Unger
    1. Water on Big Fish is tested 3 x per year
    2. Check for Total Phosphorus, Micro group per liter, chlorophyll, Secchi, TSI Phosphorus, etc.
    3. The lower the numbers the better
    4. We now have 7 years of data. The trend of the findings is good for Big Fish.
    5. Helps that tree lines of Evergreens have been planted on 50 acres of the lake.

 

  • Conservancy information for Big Fish
    1. BFLA discussed reviewing, re-printing the flyers/information (updating) and distributing to BFL residents sometime in the spring. Will need volunteer to coordinate effort.
    2. BFLA board discussed possibly having a “Legacy” type campaign. Donation form included would be included with this brochure. Talk about people donating stock, etc.
    3. There also may be a grant available for this fund.
    4. BFLA board members would distribute door to door (split up – and each member take approx. 20 houses).
    5. Will discuss again at next meeting.
    6. Doug Adamek asked if perhaps the Initiative Foundation could help us with this?

 

  • Curly Leaf Pondweed Assessment at Big Fish
    1. Big Fish definitely has this weed – and it is growing
    2. Need to discuss if we want to have an official assessment of this weed and talk about managing it.
    3. Big Watab also has, and they have been cutting.
    4. Should Big Fish have a chemical treatment?
    5. BFLA will look into quotes for doing this (3 quotes).
    6. Normally is expensive – approx. $1200 per acre.

 

  1. Next meeting: Wednesday, January 31, 2018, 6:30 p.m. at Kit’s house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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