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

May 2, 2021

A meeting of the board of directors of the Blackwater Lake Association (“the BLA”) was held via video conference and hosted by Carolyn Dindorf on the above date. Lloyd Thielmann, Carolyn Dindorf, Linda Burns, Dodi Sletten, Becky Seemann, Tim Marr, Shannon Klundt, and Scott Agre were present at the meeting. Barbie Laughlin was not present. A quorum was present for the meeting.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 8:36 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 September 27th, 2020 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 was approved unanimously. 

Treasurer’s Report

      Due to technical issues with her computer, Linda Burns was unable to provide a written Treasurer’s report for the meeting but will do so as soon as she has that resolved. She provided a high level summary of the balance in the general fund at $5,334. Membership is currently at 117 members. The membership numbers and subsequent dues are likely down from previous years as a result of no annual meeting. A notice and membership form will go out in the newsletter and email. The board approved a subsequent follow-up email and letter in August to encourage membership. Lloyd and Becky will write and coordinate the follow-up email.

The balance in the general fund includes approximately $2,000 plus donated for Walleye restocking. A total of $4,050 was donated for Walleye stocking including a very generous donation of $1,950 from the One Stop in Longville.

      The board will hold approval of the final Treasurer’s report until which time Linda is able to provide the written report.

 Old Business

1. Seedlings: Pat Mckee is coordinating the seedlings giveaway program and has scheduled the distribution from May7th-9^th at her home.
2. Beaver Control: Lloyd reported that our trapper had a busy spring and trapped 17 beavers thus far. Activity has slowed in the past two weeks. The grate that was missing was found and restored.   
3. Annual Meeting: Lloyd sent out an email prior to the meeting with two site options for the annual meeting on July 17^th – Longville Park or Woodrow Town Hall. The board discussed the Longville Park option (reserved from 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) as not being ideal from a timing perspective as it would likely cut into family cabin and lake time. Other logistics including weather also made it less desirable to have the meeting there. After much discussion concerning Covid-19 safety concerns, the board approved holding it at Woodrow Town Hall with the following changes from previous years. The meeting will be shortened to just the meeting from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m., masks will be required, members will be asked to bring their own beverage, no lunch will be served, and no silent auction will be held. Because no silent auction will take place, we will ask the members for cash donations for our general fund. This ask will go out in the newsletter along with the details of the annual meeting. Further discussion and planning will take place in the June 27^th
4. 4^th of July Boat Parade: The board felt comfortable with holding the parade this year due to the fact it is an outdoor event. The board approved the parade and prize money at $100.
5. Blackwater Blurb: Lloyd and Becky reported the Blurb was primarily ready to go and needed the outcome of the decisions discussed in this meeting – Annual meeting details and the 4^th of July Parade – to be included. The request for general funds donations will also be included. Becky anticipates that the Blurb will go out next week assuming Judy has time to do the design work necessary.

Lloyd reported on the numerous hours he’s spent on the phone and emailing members to encourage and get permission to send the Blurb electronically.  He was very successful and reported the number is down to less than 100 members who will receive a paper copy. The cost for mailing has been reduced significantly due to his efforts.

Becky suggested we include an update on AIS in the Agenda email and letter. Carolyn will provide this update.

6. Cabin Coffee: The board agreed to not host Cabin coffee events this year due to safety concerns with Covid-19 with the plan to resume in 2022.
7. Walleye Stocking: Lloyd talked about the stocking program and reported that the DNR did do egg harvesting this year. He noted that Blackwater is on even numbered years for stocking and thus we are not scheduled to receive any walleye this year. The DNR however did came through for us last October and were able to stock yearlings which have a stronger change of survival. Lloyd educated the board on how the private Walleye stocking fund for this year transpired. The One Stop-Longville had advertising dollars they wanted to spend/contribute and they reached out to the DNR to consider lake stocking. The DNR gave them three lakes for consideration and Blackwater as one of the lakes received a $1,950 donation toward Walleye stocking. Through some personal and very generous additional contributions, the fund reached a target of around $4,000 which is the cost of private stocking. Lloyd worked with the DNR to get a permit to allow that stocking to take place and that is scheduled for May 2^nd.  The stocking contains yearlings up to 11 inches. Lloyd suggested we place a thank you note in the Pine Cone Press recognizing the One Stop donation. Lloyd also announced that the bass regulations have been lifted for Blackwater and is now the state limit of 6 fish and no size limit.
8. BOD Elections: As approved by the BLA BOD’s in the May 3, 2020 board meeting, an extension of a year was added to the service time for board members who were up for election. Since all board members will be up for reelection in 2021, it was proposed and approved by the board that we obtain approval at the Annual meeting for all members to add one year to their service. Lloyd asked the board members that were up for election in 2020, to reaffirm they were still committed to serving another term. Those board members are Lloyd Thielmann-Chairperson, Carolyn Dindorf-Vice Chairperson and Linda Burns-Treasurer, Barb Laughlin as Director, and Scott Agree-Director at Large. All confirmed running for re-election.
9. ACCL Meetings: Lloyd reported that a new chairperson has been elected along with several board member changes. The new chairperson will be setting a new direction for these meetings and the ACCL board members will be reaching out to the BLA board members monthly. The meetings will most likely continue to be via Zoom and Lloyd encouraged us to join them as we can.
10. Covid-19 Assistance: A notice of assistance from the board for Covid-19 related issues will be put into the Chairman’s update in the Blurb.
11. Water Level and Quality Testing: Scott Agre will take over the water level and quality testing from Court Lechert who has been doing this since 1990. Lloyd asked that we extend a big thank you to Court for his many years of doing this service.        

          New Business

12. Spiny Waterfleas: Carolyn reported that we had an opportunity to purchase Swedish wash cloth/sponges which are effective in cleaning Spiny Waterfleas from fishing gear and equipment. Carolyn noted that Blackwater currently does not have Spiny Waterfleas but other lakes such as Mille Lacs do have them. The board thought it would be good it to educate and get this information to the lake members.  The board recommended this information be a part of the AIS update Carolyn will provide for the annual meeting agenda email/letter.  Carolyn will also be reaching out to our AIS Lake monitoring crew to get them started.
13. Tim led the board in wishing Shannon continued very good wishes for his health and recovery.

  Next Board Meetings and Annual Meeting 

         The Board of Directors meetings for 2021 will be held on, June 27^th, and September 26^{th .}The annual meeting will be held on 7/17/2021.

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 10:05 a.m.

Dated as of the date first written above.

       ____________________________________

         Dodi Sletten, Secretary

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