May 7, 2023 Meeting Minutes

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

May 7, 2023

A meeting of the board of directors of the Blackwater Lake Association (“the BLA”) was held on the above date at the home of Lloyd Thielmann at and also via video conference. Board of Directors Lloyd Thielmann, Carolyn Dindorf (via video), Linda Burns (via video), Dodi Sletten, Barbie Laughlin (via video), Becky Seemann, Tim Marr, Scott Agre, Shannon Klundt and Brian Roos (Treasurer Elect), were present at the meeting. All board members were present.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 8:31 a.m. by Board Chairman, Lloyd Thielmann.

Approval of Agenda

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

Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes

The minutes of the October 22, 2022 BOD’s meeting 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 treasurers report and updates prior to the meeting. Linda’s reported the final membership count at 114. Linda noted no outstanding dues/bills are owed before the year end conclusion. The Lake Protection Fund has a balance of $14,910. The board discussed moving some of the funds into CD’s. Brian will follow-up on the options available. The general fund has a current balance of $8,292 which includes $3,235 set aside for Walleye Stocking. Becky recommended we pay Judy Leads $200 per issue for the graphic design work on the Blackwater Blurb. The board approved this expenditure. Lloyd reminded the board that the annual dues are now at $40.

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

NEW Business

Seedlings: Pat McKee will be distributing the seedlings on May 11-13^th. 18 people participated in the tree orders. The budget was exceeded by $32 – $432 versus 400 as budgeted. This was primarily due to taxes and the board agreed to the payment in full to Pat.
Board member update: Lloyd updated the board on the new board nominees. Brian Roos has agreed to run as Treasurer Elect and Shannon Klundt as Chairman elect. Scott Agree would replace Shannon as a full director and Rick Zbikowsi will run as Director at Large. All these will be voted on at the annual meeting.
AIS Tools: Carolyn updated the group on an opportunity for cleaning tool kit. The tools include a brush grabber and a plug wrench. More information and some funding toward these tools will be discussed at the ACCL meeting on May 26^th. The board agreed that any expenses for tools would come from the Lake Protection Fund.
MLRA Seminar: Carolyn detailed the AIS Seminar offered by MLRA June 23^rd and 24 at the Cedar Lakes Cassino-Cass Lake, MN. The first day will be classroom instruction covering the identification of invasive species, panel discussions and presentations by AIS experts. Day two will be at different sites and attendees will have hands on experience in identifying invasive species. The cost for both days is $45 and $30 if attending Friday only. The board agreed to open this up to the AIS monitors. Lloyd will also encourage members to join MLRA at the annual meeting. Lloyd also asked the board whether we should pass on the MLRA emails to everyone in the association. After discussion, the board thought this might be overuse of communication in this way.
Annual Meeting: The annual meeting is scheduled for July 15^th and we will hold the Silent Auction again. Costco sandwiches, potato salad and cookies was discussed as the lunch menu. Lloyd mentioned the need for extra help in set-up so ask for volunteers to aid in that effort. Coffee will be at 9:00 with doughnuts with the meeting starting at 10:00. Lloyd asked for recommendations for speakers. Carolyn suggested getting someone who could talk about Septic systems health-perhaps someone from the extension office would know who we could contact. Jackie Hughes-DNR was also suggested. Lloyd will follow-up.
Boat Parade: CindyLarson will again host the boat parade. She noted that the vote by text worked out very well last year. There will be detailed information in the blurb for the folks that are entering a boat as well as how to vote. $100 prize will be for the prize for the winner.
Blackwater Blurb: Lloyd thanked Becky and Judy for all the work they put into the blurb. Becky reported that Judy Leeds redesigned the layout and look and is now 8 pages. The blurb is scheduled to go out next week. Dodi will print two sets of labels for this mailing and the June short Blurb.
Cabin coffee: Cabin coffee will be hosted by Lloyd and Terry Thielmann on June 9^th and Doug and Taimi Liepert on August 11^th. There is no July cabin coffee as that is the day before the annual meeting.
Walleye Stocking: Lloyd noted that there would be no DNR stocking this year so the fishing committee is looking to utilize the Walleye stocking fund to stock the lake this year ourselves. Lloyd has contacted the company who stocked it in 2021 and is waiting to hear from them as to options now or fall. We have state DNR approval for 336 lbs. Scott asked if we could tell if the stocking was successful. Lloyd mentioned that Rick Zbikowski will be coordinating getting a Walleye survey done.
Board of Directors Election: The followingboard nominees and board members are up for re-election. Shannon Klundt-Chairman elect, Brian Roos-Treasurer elect, Scott Agre-Director elect, Rick Zbikowki-Director at Large. These will be voted on at the annual meeting.
ACCL Meetings: Lloyd reminded the board members to attend these meetings either by video or in person. They are held on the last Friday of the month at the Backus Land office.
Ask Letter: Lloyd asked the board to consider sending out a physical blurb copy – fall addition to everyone with the membership sheet to encourage more to join. After discussion, the board felt that not having the annual meeting may have been some of the cause for low membership sign-up. The board tabled the plan for the fall full print until we see where membership is at after the annual meeting. Linda suggested adding – Time To Join on the email subject line when the Blurb goes out.
AIS Early Response Team: Carolyn reported a need for one spot potentially two to replace current team volunteers. Carolyn will confirm the number needed. She also mentioned giving everyone a bag with AIS materials as they sign-in at the annual meeting.
Beaver Control: Lloyd reported that there was early beaver activity and the trapper was able to open the culvert and trap 6 beavers so far. He also mentioned Cass County would need to open up the entire culvert and dam area if needed
Wake Board Webinar: Tim mentioned a webinar to be held on May 31st that Jeff Marr will be presenting the findings of the UMN Wake boat study and its effect on lakes. Tim mentioned there are two other phases of studies being conducted that will study the impacts on lake shore.
Youth Fishing Education: Tim and Lloyd mentioned needing to have a plan for the donated funds the One Stop designated to be used for youth fishing education. They mentioned some ideas that Mule Lake did that included providing fishing rods for each youth participating and a seminar about fishing. Carolyn mentioned a seminar given by the DNR that showed how to fishing and then took them out on the lake for hands on time.

Next Board Meetings and Annual Meeting

The Board of Director’s meetings for the remainder of 2023 will be held on, June 25^th and October 1^st. The Annual meeting is scheduled for 7/15//2023.

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 10:31 a.m.

Dated as of the date first written above.

____________________________________

Dodi Sletten, Secretary