RLAA Board Meeting Minutes                                    Friday, January 23, 2009

Meeting Location: Barbara English-Belanger's home at 8660 Terraceview Lane

Attendees: Barbara English-Belanger, George Schneider, Wade Quale, Joni & Rick Stulac, Molly & Jim Kridel, Eric Lind

Absent: Tom Dechmann, Jami Stromberg, Matthew Coumbe, Nika Rybinski

Out of state: Mark Mitchell

Quorum is present

NOTE: Agenda Items are listed in Regular font; Meeting responses and action plans are in italics

Project updates

§       Steve McComas Project update should be available by this meeting date

§         Steve e-mailed an "almost finished" version of the project results for Aquatic Plant, Fish and Barley straw studies he conducted in 2008. There were no surprises with his findings, but we would like to get him to give us more direction on what do to next.

§         Fish Survey - Carp dominating fish population and would be considered #1 phosphorous cause at this time.

§         Plant Survey - Results similar to 2007 - little Curlyleaf Pondweed growth with native plant density still low. Need to encourage native plant growth and variety.

§         Barley in Storm Water Ponds - The 2 ponds tested on the east side of the lake both experienced improved water clarity during the treatment. However, the impact on the lake quality is minimal, due to the high number of other inflows into the lake.

§       Algae Buster (Tom Dechmann/Wade Quale)

Wade has been doing some research and had conversations with the local distributor in Plymouth, MN. There is a model listed for $2,995 which covers up to 4.5 acres named LG Sonic. There may be a "lease to buy" option we could use to see if successful. Intention is to locate the device in controlled area (bay) to measure results.

Possible locations include the Boat Ramp bay (off 87th) and Tristan Bay.

If Tristan Bay to be used as a test area, additional funding should come directly from Tristan Bay to support the project.

Maybe also have the City fund 1 unit for use at the Arboretum?

Unanswered Question: If a unit is placed on the northeast end of the lake where Elm Creek exits, would this improve the quality of the water up the creek to the dam?

Wade to get more info from distributor and also check with Steve McComas for his insights into what this could do for reducing algae on the lake.

§       501c3 - Are we registered? (Eric)

Eric has already filed a request with the state for 501c3 status. Needs to locate the necessary paperwork to finish the task. Eric said he should get this done by the end of January 2009.

§       Elect a VP (Articles call for one but we haven't had one in years)

Jim Kridel reminded us that at the conclusion of our last Board meeting on 4/8/08 at his home, he had offered to take the position of Vice President. Several of us did agree that we heard the same, but to make it official, we conducted a vote at the meeting.

Board voted unanimously to have Jim fill the position of Vice President

Current officers: President - Eric Lind; Vice President - Jim Kridel; Treasurer - Rick Stulac; Secretary - George Schneider

SPECIAL NOTE: There is apparently nothing governing the term for an Office in the association, based on our current bylaws. Should we make an amendment at our next Board meeting to institute a term for office?

The Board asked Eric if he felt he would be able to continue to serve as President, since he was not readily available in the recent past. Eric stated due to his business retooling to meet the current economic times, he was very busy. Since that time, his business has stabilized and he will be more readily available to address his association duties.

§       Local Business Involvement (Fundraising committee)

Maury Rahi ([email-masked] or (612) 205-0155) is employed by Boston Scientific and has knowledge and information on how the company can help RLAA and visa versa. He is interested on being on the Fundraising Team. Barbara will reach out to Maury to invite him to be part of the Fundraising team.

o      Committee/Task Team organization

§       New

§       Environmental Team (Barbara)

·         Team started and ready to move forward

·         Barbara offered to serve as team chairperson

·         Barbara handed out team mission statement, member info, etc.

§       Cleanup Team (not set up yet)

This team hasn't been set up yet, but the Board thought it was a good idea. We will entertain this via e-mail and start up a team with a signup sheet at the Annual Meeting this spring.

§       Winter Activity Team (not set up yet)

The Board thought this was also an idea which would benefit the lake and its members. As it is too late to start up this team with action items for this winter, we will initiate setting up the team with a signup sheet at the Annual Meeting.

§       Existing

§       Fundraising Committee (Rick)

Barbara to work with Rick to get Maury on board with the committee so they can have a meeting.

§       Summer Activity Committee (Molly?)

Another candidate for a signup at the 2009 Annual Meeting.

§       Media Committee (George)

Basically looking input on changes to the site. Several board members said they would take a look and provide feedback if better way to organize and maintain the site. All agreed it was necessary to continue maintaining the website and providing a quarterly newsletter to residents.

New Membership Packet

Barbara introduced some ideas for inclusion in a hardcopy packet which would be given to new members of RLAA. We haven't had anything like this in the recent past; it would be good to create this.

George mentioned that the Weaver Lake association had a membership packet which they would be able to share with the other Maple Grove lakes. He will follow up with the LQC rep from Weaver (Nancy Bergstrand) and see if we can build off their offering.

Once George has the materials from Weaver, he will forward to Barbara so she can tell the Board what is necessary to generate a RLAA packet.

Each Board Member should serve on a least one (1) Task Team/Committee

It was agreed by all present that everyone on the Board of Directors should serve on at least one (1) Task Team/Committee. This will help demonstrate to members that the Board is supportive and involved in those team efforts.

o      Plan a Winter Activity event on the lake

§       Brainstorm some ideas

§       May be a good time to meet the new Shadow Creek residents - they showed interest in such an activity

§       Ice Fishing? Maybe find that concentration of carp and haul them out?

§       Decided to postpone for 2008-2009 winter and wait until next year.

o      Benefits of being a member of Rice Lake Area Association

Molly asked that each of the Board members come up with what they believe is the primary benefit for being a member of RLAA. This will help the Board in determining priorities for projects in the future.

o      2009 Budget

§       Update on where we are at

Rick said we have $13,100 currently in the bank (Savings & Checking).

We owe $8.900 in bills (Steve McComas projects for 2008)

We will have $4,500 reimbursed by the City after we pay the $8,900 in bills.

§       Should we set up Emergency Fund for unplanned events like Algae Treatment?

We could set aside a portion of the current Savings to start up an "emergency fund". However, the Board members present agreed that using that fund for a copper sulfate treatment for algae may not be the best use of those funds.

We should resume this discussion at our next Board meeting, which will take place prior to the 2009 Annual Meeting.

o      RLAA Member Database

§       George built one in Microsoft Access which can be exported to Excel.

§       Serves as a master database for resident information, including dues payments

§       Share output with Treasurer to track membership

Jim suggested a master copy be maintained somewhere so we can all access a current version, without having to update our own copies. George offered to continue maintaining the master copy in MS-Access and sharing the output with the Board through the private pages on our website for Board Members only.

o      Q4 2008 Newsletter content

§       Give blessing to our 2nd issue, which should be completed and ready for distribution

Will do this by e-mail during the next week with the rest of the Board. All articles have been finalized and are being published to the final draft for review by the Board no later than 1/27/09.

o      Other business?

Plans for 2009 Lake Improvement Projects (LIP) to submit to Lake Quality Commission

Wade reminded the Board that LIP submissions will be done at the March LQC meeting. RLAA should have their projects ready for discussion/approval by that time.

·         Possible 2009 LIPs

o        Algae Buster (Wade to find out cost)

o        Aquatic Plant Survey (George to get cost from Steve McComas)

o        Monitor Sediment in Catch-basin Sumps (George to get from James Johnson)

o        Lawn Runoff Samplers (George to get from James Johnson)

o        Sediment Nutrient Release Study (George to get from James Johnson)

o        New Member Packet (Barbara/Joni to figure cost estimate)

o        Carp out cage to see if sediment capable of producing native vegetation (George)

o        Dredging channel by Boat Bay channel (Eric to check with Matt Coumbe for this)

o        Spring cleanup activity (did anyone volunteer for this one yet?)

Plan our next Board meeting

This meeting will consist of follow ups from our January 23rd meeting plus finalization for our plans for the 2009 Annual Member Meeting.

Eric offered to host the meeting for Thursday, April 16th at his home. Details will be distributed to Board members prior to that meeting date.

Plan for the RLAA Annual Members Meeting to be held prior to May 15, 2009

Board suggested either May 5 (Tuesday) or 7 (Thursday).

Board agreed the location should be something other than Angeno's restaurant, so we can portray a new image of a new Board to our members. We have conducted meetings at Angenos the past several years, and although the accommodations with food were relatively inexpensive, the background noise and other distractions took away from the meeting intentions.

Board also agreed the meeting must be conducted in a more organized and formal process than in the recent past. We will use a PowerPoint deck to conduct the meeting events and run a slide show of lake activities before/after the meeting agenda.

Joni will check out locations for the meeting.

Action Items for Board Members

Next Board Meeting will be Thursday, April 16th at Eric Lind's home. (ALL BOARD MEMBERS)

Complete the paperwork for registering RLAA as a 501c3 organization (Eric Lind)

Follow up with Algae Busters for LG Sonic on Rice Lake (Wade Quale)

Inquiry to Steve McComas his thoughts on LG Sonic use on Rice Lake (George Schneider/Wade)

Have Maury Rahi join the Fundraising Team (Barbara English-Belanger/Rick Stulac)

Create a rough draft for other RLAA Teams, including Cleanup, Activity, Fishing (George)

Secure date/time/location for 2009 Annual Member Meeting in a more private locale (Joni Stulac)

Each Board Member define what you think is the Primary Benefit of being a member of RLAA (ALL BOARD MEMBERS FOR OUR NEXT BOARD MEETING ON 4/16/09)

If not on a Task Team/Committee, sign up for one before April 16 Board meeting (ALL BOARD)

Fundraising Team - Rick Stulac, Jim Kridel

Environmental Team - Barbara English-Belanger, George Schneider, Joni Stulac

Cleanup Team - Need Members

Activity Team - Need Members

Media Team - George Schneider

2009 Lake Improvement Projects - Each of the following need to be priced out prior to 3/1/09:

Algae Buster (Wade to find out cost)

Aquatic Plant Survey (George to get cost from Steve McComas)

Monitor Sediment in Catch-basin Sumps (George to get from James Johnson)

Lawn Runoff Samplers (George to get from James Johnson)

Sediment Nutrient Release Study (George to get from James Johnson)

New Member Packet (Barbara/Joni to figure cost estimate)

Carp out cage to see if sediment capable of producing native vegetation (George)

Dredging channel by Boat Bay channel (Eric to check with Matt Coumbe for this)

Spring cleanup activity (did anyone volunteer for this one yet?)

Send out the 2009 LIP template to the Board for understanding of criteria needed (George)

Send out 2008 Project Bids from Steve McComas to Board to clarify what was requested (George)

Q4 Newsletter final proofing by Board (George)

Newsletter paper assembly and distribution prior to 2/15/09 (Joni/Kridels?)

RLAA Bylaws - Terms of Officers (ALL BOARD MEMBERS)

Based on our current bylaws, it doesn't indicate the duration for the terms for our elected officers. Should we amend the bylaws to clarify a term?

Note: Board members are on 3 year terms which begin at each Annual Meeting.