October 1, 2017 Board Meeting

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

October 1, 2017

A meeting of the board of directors of the Blackwater Lake Association (“the BLA”) was held on the above date at 2694 Blackwater Rd, Longville, MN 56655, at the home of Barb Laughlin. Board of Directors Lloyd Thielmann, Barbie Laughlin, Dodi Sletten, Becky Seemann, Jerry Franke, and Travis Skalicky, were present at the meeting. Linda Burns was not present.  Additionally, Carolyn Dindorf attended as a new nominee for a board member.  A quorum was present at the meeting.

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 8:40 a.m. by Board Chair, Lloyd Thielmann.

Approval of Agenda

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

Nomination of Officers

Lloyd introduced the nomination of Carolyn Dindorf (replacing Dick Clough) for Vice Chairman and Val Hyde for Director (replacing Claus Peukert). A motion was duly made and seconded, and the nominations were approved by the board. Lloyd will write a tribute to Dick and Claus which will be published as a separate article in the newsletter.

Approval of Prior Minutes

The minutes of the July 15, 2017 annual BOD’s meeting were distributed by Dodi Sletten via email and approved by the board prior to the meeting. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting minutes were unanimously approved as submitted.  

Treasurer’s Report

 Linda Burns sent the Treasurer’s Report to the board members via email prior to the meeting. Lloyd reviewed the report that showed a cash balance of $5,146.22 along with detailed income and expenditures from membership dues, clothing sales and donations. Paid membership to date is 93 down from 118 at this time last year. Linda reported two preapproved upcoming expenses: Beaver control at $850 and RMB Labs (awaiting invoice). The board also approved reimbursement for postage for Lloyd Thielmann.  Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting minutes were unanimously approved as submitted.

New Business

  1. Beaver Control and Waterway: Lloyd will negotiate the contract with Chaz Ratz for Beaver Control.
  2. Seedling Program: The budget for the Seedling Program was increased last year to $400 and was approved by the board to keep the budget at that for this year. Lloyd will contact Court to confirm his interest in continued management of this program. Craig and Barbie Laughlin indicated they can assist as needed. An article will be published in the newsletter outlining the program.
  3. Membership: Lloyd reported attending the Lakeview fall meeting to talk about the Blackwater Lake Association and encourage membership. He reported about 30-35 of their members were present. He collected one new membership and left a number of membership forms behind.
  4. Septic System Testing: Lloyd reported that no new requests for septic system testing have been received. The allowance reminder per homeowner stands at $100 toward having it independently tested.
  5. Board of Directors Elections: Lloyd asked board members Barb Laughlin and Jerry Franke whose terms are up this year of their interest in re-running again. Barb has indicated she will not seek another term.
  6. AIS Early detection Training: Becky indicated that she had not received any reports from any of the early detector volunteers. Becky will send out a thank you note and solicit reports from each of them. A discussion was held on whether or not training needed to be conducted again this year for the volunteers. Carolyn indicated that nothing new has emerged from when she conducted the training last year for the volunteers from Blackwater, Island, and Mule Lakes and recommended not to repeat the training.
  7. ACCL Meetings: Lloyd reported that he will continue to attend the meetings. Becky and Lloyd both attended the most recent meetings. Becky reported that a discussion was held on needing a bigger voice to make a difference. Membership from the lake associations is small versus the number of lakes in Cass County but may be due to the number of actual lake associations. Carolyn suggested Governor Dayton’s 25 by 25 is also a place to voice an opinion. Lloyd reported Nicole Kovar from the DNR talked about AIS and a report from RNB Laboratories was also given at the ACCL meeting.
  8. Blackwater Blurb: Becky talked about Val Hyde’s interest in assisting revamping the newsletter. Discussion ensued on ideas on how the Blackwater Blurb could be changed to be of more interest, more organized and ultimately help attract new members. Becky checked out Office Max to learn what printer costs might be versus what we paid previously. Becky also investigated color printing costs versus black and white and color seems cost prohibitive at this point. Becky will coordinate with Val and Lloyd in getting the fall Blackwater blurb completed. “Forests at the root of good fishing” article from the MN DNR was suggested as the lead article. Lloyd reminded everyone that all articles need to go through him. A decision was made by the board to not publish the list of prize winners but continue to list donors. Additionally, the Chairperson’s report, Treasurer’s and membership report, updated Officer and Committee membership lists, and the Seedlings procurement process will be part of the newsletter articles.
  9. Cabin Coffee Gatherings: Becky reported on lake associations that host cabin coffee gatherings for the purpose of engaging a broader spectrum of lake owners in a casual setting. The board agreed this would be a good idea to pursue. The decision was to hold these once a month starting at 10:00 a.m. starting in June 2018. The gathering on June14th will be at Becky Seemann’s, July12th at Barb Laughlin’s, and August 9th at Lloyd Thiemann’s. This invitation will be put in the newsletter and additionally sent via email to communicate to the lake cabin owners. Logistics to follow on any website RSVP and directions prior to the gatherings.
  10. New Silent auction: Barb introduced an idea that was presented to her by Jim Sletten on conducting a silent auction for the donated items instead of giving them away at the annual meeting. After a board discussion, it was agreed to try this next year. Publication of the Silent Auction along with some of the bigger auction items will be included in the June Newsletter. Barb volunteered to chair and Dodi will assist. Moneys will be designated to be used to further protect the water.
  11. DNR Fisheries Study: Lloyd reported that Doug Schultz from the DNR completed a 10 year study of Walleyes on the lake. The population of Walleyes has remained the same during that 10 year period even with the increase in stocking. We will be back to the normal ration from the fisheries.

Next Board Meetings

The next BLA board meetings will be held at Lloyd’s home at 3058 4th Avenue NW, Longville, MN at 8:30 a.m. on May 6, 2018, June 24, 2018 and October 7, 2018. The annual meeting will be held on July 21, 2018.

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 10:40 a.m.

Dated as of the date first written above.

____________________________________

Dodi Sletten, Secretary

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