RLAA Board Meeting Minutes for Sunday, August 10, 2008

Meeting location: Onboard George Schneider's pontoon on Rice Lake.

Meeting time: 7:00 pm

Present at Meeting

Eric Lind (President)                             Molly Kridel                  Tom Dechmann                        Wade Quale

Rick Stulac (Treasurer)                         Jim Kridel                     Nika Rybinski

George Schneider (Secretary)                Joni Stulac                    Jami Stromberg

Absent

Matthew Coumbe

Mark Mitchell (out of state)

Quorum

A quorum is present (10 of 11 Board Members)

Meeting Agenda

Discuss the desire to treat or not treat present algae blooms

Discuss RLAA financial status

Ways to increase membership

Communications

RLAA 501c3 status

Insure members understand RLAA goals & objectives

Current projects update

Algae Treatment

Discussion keyed on what were the members' expectations at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting held on May 6, 2008. Tom Dechmann said some residents told him they expected algae treatment to be done if it was necessary. Residents signed the Algae Treatment Approval form (see excerpt below at the end of these meeting minutes) if they wanted to give their permission to do a treatment (a DNR requirement to have more than 50% of the lakeshore owners give approval).

It was also mentioned that the approval forms were not the final factor in deciding to do a treatment or not. The authorization text attached to the form specifically states "By giving your approval, you are authorizing the RLAA Board of Directors to make the decision if action is required." The ultimate decision to request treatment is still made by the Board members of RLAA.

Based on several factors including RLAA's current financial situation, the lateness of the summer season, the cooler nights, and the gradually-improving water quality conditions recently, a motion was made by Molly Kridel to conduct another vote among the Board members if an algae treatment with copper sulfate was worth pursuing. Jim Kridel 2nd the motion and a vote of 9 against and 1 in favor was cast.

The RLAA Board will not pursue an algae treatment on Rice Lake at this time.

RLAA Financial Status

The association has been spending more money that it has taken in over the past several years. This is resulting in a reduction in the savings account and a genuine concern about monies available for expensive projects such as the copper sulfate algae treatment. We need to increase our membership and revenue that we take in to cover both long-term and short-term projects. We need to emphasize to the membership what the association's long term goals are, and how we expect to reach those goals.

We can increase membership by demonstrating how the long term projects fit into the association's mission statement outlined in our corporate by-laws:

RLAA needs to communicate this mission statement to its members and help educate them to understand what we can realistically control to improve our lake. When the members see the plan come into action, they will want to become more involved by becoming active members. Joni Stulac suggested we create a News Release for our members to educate them and welcome them into the association. We can follow that News Release up with quarterly newsletters. These documents can be hosted on the RLAA website (http://ricelake.homestead.com) for easy access. E-mail addresses can be submitted by all members so rapid communications can be distributed throughout the association. Both Joni and Jami Stromberg agreed to help facilitate this effort as part of the newly-formed Media subcommittee. Tom Dechmann and George Schneider will both offer their services to the committee as well. The objective is to get this News Release drafted, approved by the Board, and distributed to the members as soon as possible. It will include content such as:

Reiterate the association's Mission Statement

Make the document fun and easy to read

Describe both the long-term and short-term projects

Provide general overview on the type of water body Rice Lake is (shallow, man-made, non-public access, etc.)

Demonstrate how our finances have declined over the recent years and what % of membership participates in paying their dues

Create a map showing which properties have paid dues (green) and those who haven't (red). Do not show any names, addresses, or phone numbers on these addresses; owners will be able to tell by physical location which is which. Post this map on the RLAA website and maybe include in a RLAA Newsletter. (Rick and George to work on this)

RLAA 501c3 status

Eric Lind confirmed that the paperwork has been completed and RLAA is legally classified as a 501c3 corporate, non-profit entity. This means that any contributions made to RLAA, whether they are in the form of donations or dues payments, are fully tax deductible. This non-profit classification should also be more appealing to local corporations who may have an interest in contributing to RLAA to improve our waters.

RLAA Projects Update

Aquatic Plant Survey - The 2nd of two visits is scheduled for late August/early September.

Fish Survey - Scheduled for a 3 day period beginning August 18. Steve McComas will let me know details as we get closer so those of you who are interested can observe.

Barley Straw project - Steve McComas placed 300 lbs of pellets in the 2 storm water ponds on the east side of the lake. Objective is to see if the water filtered through those ponds is cleaner as it enters the lake after treatment.

Carp Exclosure - Project put on hold this year as the plant population seems to be doing better each year. Very little bare spots seem to exist in the shallows this season, which is the requirement for conducting this study.

Monitor Sediment in Lake Bottom - Project put on hold since consultant (James Johnson) didn't have time to conduct it this year.

Other RLAA Possible Projects

Algae busters ultra-sonic product - Tom Dechmann and Wade Quale mentioned this relatively new product from a local company in Plymouth, MN. The goal is to remove algae from the water column with an ultra-sonic device which runs on 120 volt power. Tom will do some checking with his employer (Medtronic) to see if they may be interested in helping RLAA fund such a project. Some possible test areas would include: boat ramp bay; Stromberg/Coumbe bay; Tristan Bay.

Xcel Energy bill for Aeration meter - RLAA is being charged $11.90 per month (auto-pay) to maintain the meter located off 91st Avenue North. This comes out to $143 per year. Do we want to suspend this service until we need it again (when the aerator is activated if we conduct a drawdown)? (Rick will find out what the disconnect fee is to see if it is worthwhile to turn off service.)

Random notes

The latest Dissolved Oxygen (DO) level taken on Rice Lake on 7/23/08 ranged from 13.3mg/l (surface) to 3.84mg/l (bottom).  Last year on 8/9/07, the DO ranged from 6.44mg/l (surface) to 2.73mg/l (bottom).

This basically indicates that the level of oxygen in the water is greater now than it was last year between the 2 Copper Sulfate applications for the algae blooms.

This may be another reason to support not treating the algae blooms this year.

Meeting adjourned by 9:10 pm while the Board completed a rescue mission for a vessel that ran out of gas. The vessel was towed to its dock without incident.

Algae Treatment Authorization form (attached to RLAA 2008 Annual Meeting notice):