RLAA Board Meeting Minute from May 26, 2010 meeting

Location: Maple Grove Government Center (Room 105)                                                                              Time: 7:00 pm

Call to Order at 7:15

No Quorum (4 of 8): George Schneider, Rick Stulac, Larry Bick, Bill Kidder (conference call)

Absent: Wade Quale, Nika Rybinski, Joy Roeglin, Scott Roeglin

Approve this Agenda

Approved as written

Introduction of Board Members and Guests

No guests were present

Treasurer Report

Current finances

Any more new members since our last meeting?

No new members since Annual Meeting on May 4th

Dues received to date

Have $2,610 collected in dues to date; some more dues are in PayPal account from on-line submissions.

Still well short of expected dues revenue of over $6,000. Need to contact those who have paid in the past to remind them.

Will send out a Dues Notice with a target deadline date of July 5 (2 months after Annual Meeting) to those who have not yet paid.

Budget for 2010 vs. Projects

Priority

Project Name

Project Description

RLAA $

City $

Total $

Comments

1

Dredge Boat Ramp Channel

Sediment backfill has reduced clearance. Has not been dredged in past

$3,500

$2,500

$6,000

Estimate based on City sources; will be a 2011 project cost

2

Carp/Bullhead removal

Netting by commercial fisherman

$3,500

$3,500

$7,000

Estimate s/b on high side; will be a 2011 project cost

3

Zooplankton Monitoring

Determines capability for both improving water quality and young fish survival

$475

$500

$975

FSS Project which is in alignment with Lake Management Plan

4

Carp Enclosure

Determine influence of carp presence on vegetation

$4,250

0

$4,250

This project came in after 2010 LIPs were submitted

TOTALS

$11,725

$6,500

$18,225

Old Business

Annual Meeting follow-ups

Review notes from Larry/Ann Bick

What went well? What didn't? What needs further clarification?

Drawdowns - There was considerable interest in what a drawdown would do, but there seemed to be confusion among the audience on the benefits and goals of doing one. Need to better educate the membership on what a drawdown would do for the lake and why it would be done.

Core Aeration - Randy Lehr from TRPD had mentioned lawn aeration as a positive influence on keeping our soils "pervious" (allow moisture to be absorbed by the soil, rather than run off). There was interest in members on how this benefits the watershed. This information would be useful as part of a Member Good Practices brochure.

RLAAA Membership Education- We definitely need to educate the membership on good environmental practices and what they mean to our watershed. Some areas of concern:

Good Weeds vs. Bad Weeds

Lake Management Plan vs. Watershed Project Plan

Good watershed practices

Once members understand the projects and their benefits, they will be more willing to join the effort.

Annual Dues notice - Need to remind the membership the dues payments are expected. For next year (2011), establish an "early payment" date for dues, with a "late payment" fee for those missing the due date.

For 2010, we should not charge a late fee, but strongly encourage participation to help us support our goals and objectives from our Lake Management Plan.

"New Members"- Show appreciation to new members with a discount for 1st time membership.

Board Member Elections - We neglected to conduct the Board Member elections for 3 whose terms expired in 2010: George Schneider, Wade Quale, Nika Rybinski.

Conduct elections by e-mail among Board Members.

Post results on website

Logistics

Location worked out well, although room we had was much larger than needed.

Facility did good job hosting.

PA system was not working properly; check that out prior to next meeting.

Had an abundance of pizza left over; could reduce the amount by 10-20%.

Rough Fish Removal project (All)

Is Jeff Riedemann going to get out on the lake this open water season (2010) to check for stumps, etc? Has anyone heard from him recently?

This would help determine where to set nets during the Winter carp removal (2010-11).

Carp netting - Will be delayed until winter 2010-2011. Will come out of  2011 LIP budget.

Nika - Can you follow up with Jeff on his plans to get out on the lake this summer?

Bullhead netting - Should we wait and see what the Lake Nokomis project with Channel Catfish as natural predators brings? Should have a good idea before end of the summer (Blue Water Science project).

Our original expectation was to have Jeff to a single Bullhead netting just to get an idea of their density and to check the area for stumps/obstacles/etc. There was no intention of removing bullheads to the extent where there would be multiple nettings. We need to make sure Jeff is on board with this.

Carp removal is the primary focus of this project.

2010 LIPs were approved by City Council OK at April 5 meeting

Carp Enclosure project missed the LIP deadline. This project will need to be covered by 100% RLAA funds.

Slalom Ski Course Permit request (George)

Approved at May 17 City Council meeting

Requesting party (Bob Shimpa/Shane Mason) will put course up in June

On-Going Business

Q1 2010 Newsletter - We did abbreviated version for Q4 2009. Should we get a complete one done for Q2 (due out in July)?

Would include Annual Meeting as feature story

Other topics to include?

"Green" update? (Joy)

Membership update? (based on info from Membership Committee)

Yes, we will work on a Newsletter for Q2 to be out by July.

Monitoring Programs for 2010

CLMP+ program (West Bay only - includes DO monitoring device so we don’t need our own)

CAMP (East Bay only - chemical measurements done by George & paid for by Elm Creek)

Bottom line = Will be chemical monitoring to capture nutrient levels for both East and West.

May 14 - George Schneider/Marshal Alsaker participated in CLMP+ Training on Rice Lake with MPCA coordinator Johanna Schussler.

Water sampling done monthly (George/Marshal)

Secchi and DO done weekly (George)

We can use the DO monitor to measure main lake as well for our own records and to share with the City.

All readings taken by RLAA Volunteer will be posted on RLAA website.

Elm Creek Watershed TMDL Project Plan (George)

Stakeholders meeting not yet scheduled, but should be late spring/early summer

Storm Water Drain Inventory (Bill)

Anything new with the City on this project?

Bill is working with Brett from the City on getting latest maps matched up against the photo database we have built since last year. Will work with City to clarify any unknown drain locations and confirm all are working according to specifications.

New Business

Funding opportunities - Star Lakes project and how Rice Lake could benefit (Nika)

Nika forwarded information she got from Star Lakes on funding opportunities after this board meeting was held. Board needs to review this off-line and discuss at next board meeting.

We need to provide our members with scenarios of what we "could" do if we had the appropriate funding for projects:

Plan A - Existing Lake Management Plan goals and objectives.

Plan B - If we had xxxx in funds, what else could we do?

New Member Recruiting - Need to move forward on this (George/Rick)

Review draft of Dues Notice letter (with deadline)

Approved with modifications to remove Late Fee charges.

Send out to those who have contributed in the past who have not yet paid.

Next phase in dues collection will be to solicit "door to door".

Overview on the Membership Committee - First meeting scheduled June 4th.

Canvas the neighborhoods for those who have not paid dues yet?

This could be a joint effort between Board and Membership Committee.

Project Updates

New Website redesign (George)

Other lakes projects to keep track of (George)

Iron Filings on Eagle/Pike Lake for "nutrient control"

Lake Nokomis Bullhead control with Channel Catfish

Task Team Updates

Lake Management (George)

Membership (Rick/George)

Other Business?

Need to hold Board Member elections (do this by e-mail before end of May)

Next Meeting date

Not yet set

Adjournment at 8:30

Minutes Draft written by George Schneider 5/29/10

Minutes approved by Board 6/2/10

Rice Lake Area Association website = http://www.ricelakemn.com