May 1, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes

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

May 1, 2022

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, Carolyn Dindorf (via zoom), Linda Burns (via zoom), Dodi Sletten, Becky Seemann, Tim Marr, Scott Agre, and Shannon Klundt (via Zoom), attended the meeting. Barbie Laughlin was absent. A quorum was present for the meeting.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 8:37 a.m. by Board Chairman, Lloyd Thielmann.

Approval of Agenda

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

                                           Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the September 26, 2021 BOD’s meeting minutes were distributed by Dodi Sletten previously via email and reviewed by the board prior to this meeting. After review by the board which, upon a motion duly made and seconded, the minutes were approved unanimously.     

Treasurer’s Report

      Linda Burns provided the board with the BLA General Fund financial summary reports via email prior to the meeting. Linda reported a balance of $5232.37 in the General Fund; a balance of $11,973 in the Lake Protection Fund, and a total of 131 members to date. As a reminder to all, dues are now at $40.00. Linda asked for a review of all the invoices and donations that are paid that had been given board preapproval previously and asked for that we continue to grant her preapproval to pay those invoices. Linda asked the board to consider changing our annual membership from Conservation MN/MN to MN Cola as that serves a broader of Minnesota counties and lakes (associations). After discussion, the board approved this move and granted Linda the ability to pay all preapproved invoices and donations including:

  • 4 of July Boat Parade
  • Woodrow Townhall rental
  • Beaver control
  • RMB Environmental Labs
  • MLR Website expenses
  • Donation – NWLT- $1 per BLA membership
  • Donation – Lakes Area First Responders
  • Dues – MN COLA (replaced Conservation MN/MN Waters)
  • Dues – ACCL-Association of Cass County Lake Associations
  • Dues – MLR-MN Lakes and Rivers Advocates

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

 NEW Business

  1. Seedlings Report: Lloyd reported that Pat McKee has scheduled the seedlings pickup at her lake place on May 13th, 14th, and 15th. An average number of members participated in this year’s seedling program.  
  2. Annual Meeting: Lloyd reported the Woodrow Township Townhall has been reserved for the annual meeting. After discussion by the board, we plan to hold the silent auction and will provide lunch pending final decisions for both in the June 26th board meeting. We will assess any Covid19 concerns at that time. A recommendation was made to have a speaker who could talk about septic system maintenance. Carolyn will check into possibilities of who might be able to do speak. The inspector for Cass County was suggested and Lloyd will check with them to see if anyone might be available. Jackie Hughes our MN/DNR Conservation Officer, was also suggested as a possible speaker. Becky asked to be considered as a second speaker to talk about plastics use and replacement of it in our daily lives.
  3. 4th of July boat parade: The board agreed to continue with the $100.00 prize. After last year’s parade, it was suggested we allow voting by text to include the members on shore as well as those in the parade. Lloyd will confirm with Cindy Larson that they will chair the parade again and also ask her to organize the vote by text process. This change will need to be communicated in the short version of the Blurb at end of June.
  4. Blurb Newsletter:  Becky presented the articles recommend for the Blurb with the main theme – Water Matters. Judy Leeds will continue as graphic designer. Becky requested that all articles be completed by May 7th to allow Judy time to complete the design. The following articles will be included:
    • Water Matters-Carolyn
    • Chairman’s Message-Lloyd
    • Treasurers Report-Linda
    • Thank you to the Staley’s-Lloyd and Becky
    • Are You Ready (prepared for a medical emergency)-Becky
    • Thank you to the membership-Linda 
    • Blackwater Lake Association at Work/Membership form-Becky
  • Cabin coffee: Lloyd asked the board if we should resume cabin coffee and all agreed to proceed and confirm with the homes owners who have volunteered. Cabin coffee is held on the second Friday in the months of June-August. Those dates would be June 10th, July 8th, and August 12th and will need to be published in an email or in the Blurb. 
  • DNR Walleye Stocking: Lloyd reported Walleye egg harvest is tentatively scheduled for May 5th. He also noted the Walleye stocking fund will be donation specific and no funds taken out of the General or Water Protection fund accounts. Lloyd will cover this in his chairman’s message. As noted, the membership form will have a selection for the Walleye Stocking donation fund. The first opportunity for self-stocking would be in 2023 and require DNR approval. We are due to receive our normal semi-annual DNR stocking this fall.
  • BOD Re-elections: The following board members are up for re-election.  Dodi Sletten-Secretary, Tim Marr-Director, Shannon Klundt-Director, Becky Seemann-Director, and Scott Agre-Director at Large. All have agree to run for re-election. Becky mentioned she will be distributing the new lake owner packets on Memorial Day weekend in person and will judge potential interest in being active members and potentially serve on the board. Dodi will confirm with Becky the list of new owners as of the transition from Tom Staley last fall.
  • ACCL meetings: Lloyd asked that we attend these meetings when possible. The meetings are held at the Cass County Land Office in Backus and will they continue to have Zoom as an option to attend. The meetings are held on the last Friday of the month; May-August. Lloyd also mentioned an AIS course by the UMN to be a boat inspector if anyone was interested in taking the course.  This includes 8 hours online and a training day at Backus.
  • Help a Neighbor: Lloyd asked all of us to be aware of and reach out to help our neighbors with any assistance they may need medical or otherwise.
  • AIS response team: Lloyd asked Carolyn if she would like bags made with some of the donated Sea Grant material for the AIS volunteer team. Carolyn will confirm the list of volunteers and would welcome materials bagged for them.
  • New Membership packets: Lloyd and Becky will go through the new membership packets and update as needed. Lloyd noted that ice out lists and dates are open to anyone. Becky would like a note of that for the Blurb. Carolyn will confirm the site that reports ice out dates/information as www.pca.state.mn.us.
  • Early Detector hand outs: Lloyd placed the materials he received from Sea Grant on a table for the meeting and asked the board members to look through and take material as we wish.
  • MLR website. Linda reported that our website needed to be updated and checked for current information. She suggested adding our newsletter and updating the site with the new membership form. The AIS Early detection team should be listed on the site. The new website was published in the 2021 fall Blurb. Dodi will also check on updates that may be needed.

        Next Board Meetings and Annual Meeting

         The two remaining Board of Directors meetings for 2022 will be held on June 26th, and October 2nd.  The annual meeting will be held on 7/16/2022.

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 10:02 a.m.

Dated as of the date first written above.

       ____________________________________

         Dodi Sletten, Secretary