MINUTES OF A MEETING
OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE BLACKWATER LAKE ASSOC.

October 6, 2019

A meeting of the board of directors of the Blackwater Lake Association (“the BLA”) was held on the above date at 3058 4th Avenue North, Longville, MN 56655, at the home of Chairman Lloyd Thielmann. Board of Directors Lloyd Thielmann, Linda Burns (via phone), Dodi Sletten, Barbie Laughlin, Tim Marr, and Shannon Klundt were present at the meeting.  Carolyn Dindorf and Becky Seemann were not in attendance. Scott Agre attended as a nominated director.  A quorum was present at the meeting.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by Board Chairman, Lloyd Thielmann.

Approval of Agenda

Lloyd distributed the agenda prior to the meeting which, upon motion duly made and seconded, was unanimously approved.

Approval of Prior Minutes

The minutes of the June 30, 2019 BOD’s meeting and the July 20^th BLA Annual meeting minutes were distributed by Dodi Sletten previously via email and approved by the board prior to this meeting. The minutes were posted to the website by webmaster Travis Skalicky. The board made a motion which was seconded and the meeting minutes were unanimously approved as submitted.

Treasurer’s Report

Linda Burns provided an email to the board prior to the meeting with both the detail and summary of the budget as of October 6^th, 2019. She also provided the current membership numbers.

The beginning balance in the general account was approximately $5,657.  Income was $6,258 and expenses $7,556 bringing the balance to $4,359.

Linda opened the new AIS/Lake Protection fund account beginning 7/1/2019 to segregate our funds donated and earmarked for protecting our lake. $2,187 was transferred from the general account to the AIS/Lake protection account. Since 7/1/2019, income in the form of donations of $1,800, the Silent Auction proceeds of $959, and sale of BLA wear of $199, was received for a total of $2,958. Minus expenses for the monitoring tools; the current balance in that account is $5,098.

The combined total of both accounts is $9,457.

Prior to the meeting, Linda had provided a link and information on applying for 501c3 status for our lake association. The board agreed to move that discussion to the spring meeting to allow for more members to review the information.

Current membership is at 123.

After review by the board which, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Treasurer’s report was approved unanimously.

   New Business

1. Blurb progress and volunteering: Becky has all articles under wraps and she is working with Judy Leeds to get the Blurb published. They are targeting mid-October for delivery and printing. Becky suggested giving Judy a $100 gift card in thanks for the Blurb design work. The board agreed with this suggestion. Shannon suggested that a separate email be sent to all members prior to the mailing to encourage them to sign up to receive the Blurb electronically.
2. Beaver Control: The trapper has agreed to contract with us again. Water levels are high which has caused water flow issues but he did find some beaver activity and has trapped a few. He also opened the culvert. Lloyd will make sure the DNR application for trapping is completed along with the homeowner permission to trap on their property is secured for 2020.
3. BOD Elections: The following board and officer positons are up for election in 2020. Lloyd Thielmann-Chairman, Carolyn Dindorf-Vice Chairman, Linda Burns-Treasurer, and Barbie Laughlin-Director. All have agreed to rerun for their positions with the exception of Linda who is undecided at this time. Scott Agre has been appointed for Director at Large by Chairman – Lloyd Thielmann and approved by the board of directors. All will be up for reelection at the 2020 annual meeting.
4. AIS Early detection: All the volunteers did a great job. Carolyn found purple loosestrife this summer in both the bog and creek areas of the lake. Shannon indicated the AIS sign went up at Lake Haven. Lloyd printed up larger AIS cards to be put in each resort folder. We donate $400 yearly to Cass County Environmental Services and Lloyd learned that we are the only lake association who donates. The current AIS technician was unsure how the donation should be categorized. After discussion, the board agreed to discontinue.
5. ACCL reports: Lloyd reported on the July, August, and September meetings with some input from Dodi and Linda on the July meeting. Lloyd reported that three to one match grants are available from the US Department of Agriculture. Lloyd relayed the difficulty of obtaining these grants as he’s applied numerous times in the past without success. Lloyd also talked to the concerns of raising levels of salt in our lake water driven by three main contributors; winter maintenance, road dust control, and water softening. Carolyn was a contributor at this presentation. The July meeting focused on making information easier for members to understand by providing links and education through member directories and websites.
6. Cabin Coffee: Cabin coffee will be hosted on Fridays at 10:00 a.m. the second week of the month. Tom and Robin Shannon will host on June12th. The Ian Beleniuc and Wes Ceausceac families have volunteered to host on August 14^th. July 10^th is still open.
7. Membership Application Feedback: The following questions and comments were relayed to the board via the membership application:
   • Lake damage caused by large engines in shallow water: Discussion on this was not something the board could control.
   • Request to place special buoys to mark the channel into Normans Bay: All agreed this was a great idea as vegetation is destroyed as it’s not always clear where the channel begins and ends. The discussion on this centered on who would be responsible for placing the buoys. Lloyd mentioned that he thought it was the Coast Guard; others mentioned DNR. Lloyd has agreed to check with the local DNR to get a read on who has responsibility.
   • Beaver control on private land: Private land owner beaver control is not covered under our lake association contract but they can contract with the trapper directly.
   • AIS water clarity/Walleye stocking: The question was in regard to bass control in the lake, walleye stocking and what we are doing to monitor the levels. Lloyd explained what the DNR has done from a stocking perspective and monitoring the process to see if that has been successful. The DNR had doubled the stocking ratio but had concluded in a study that it was not successful in many lakes. In those lakes, the stocking went back to its original ratio and Blackwater was one of those lakes. Lloyd agreed to follow up with the DRR on the stocking ratio.
   • Bear control: The question was around the number of bears seen and also captured on game and other cameras close to cabins and inhabited sites. The message that was relayed at the annual meeting and in general is to not attract bears via birdfeeders or garbage or feed the bears.
   • Lake Quality: This was a thank you to the board for all they do as well as doing everything to be diligent on water quality.
   • Weeds taking over the lake: There is not a lot the board can do to control weed growth.

  New Business

8. Linda suggested we give a $100 Gift card to Travis Skalicky for being our webmaster. The board approved this suggestion. Linda will purchase both cards for Judy and Travis and give the cards to Lloyd for distribution. Barbie asked the board to consider not soliciting donations from the local business for our Silent Auction. She relayed having a very negative experience with one of them and was concerned that all the businesses are getting requests continually and the follow-up was time consuming. After discussion, the board recommended we continue to solicit donations from the businesses we as lake home owners do a considerable amount of business with but exclude the business who didn’t want to support. Lloyd covered the membership process. Tim mentioned that Blackwater Lakes had a Facebook site/page that is still open but with no activity and maintenance. The board thought it was opened by a previous board member. After discussion, the board recommended closing it. Dodi will follow-up and close it.

   Next Board Meetings and Annual Meeting 

The BLA Annual meeting for 2020 will be held on July 18^th. The Board of Directors meetings for 2020 will be held on May 3rd, June 28^th, and September 27^th.

Adjournment

There being no further business to come before the Board, and upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned by unanimous approval at 10:15 a.m.

Dated as of the date first written above.

____________________________________

Dodi Sletten, Secretary

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