RLAA Board Meeting Minutes                                    Thursday, April 16, 2009

Meeting Location: Eric Lind's home at 8635 Glacier Lane

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

Absent: Tom Dechmann, Joni Stulac

Resigned from Board since last meeting 1/23/09: Mark Mitchell (moved), Jami Stromberg (too busy), Matthew Coumbe

Quorum is present (8 of 10)

NOTE: There was no formal agenda, but this meeting was to basically prep for May 5th Annual Meeting

President responsibilities

Eric started off the meeting admitting he has not been able to give the board enough of his time as president recently. He has been busy with work and home life. Eric said he could stay on as president until after the May 5th annual meeting, at which time the board can hold a meeting to elect new officers.

Spring Clean up

Barbara stated that the cleanup effort is in jeopardy due to 3 factors:

Board commitment behind the project

Insurance coverage

East Bay Board members and representatives were not aligned with promotion needs

Project Updates

501c3 status

Eric said we are officially recognized and he showed the certificate to prove it.

George asked if he can scan it so we can post it on the website, in the event we are asked to prove membership.

Reviewed current board member projects per spreadsheet George handed out (RLAA 2009 Projects and Task for Board Members.xls).

Sonic Algae Treatment (Wade)

LIP was approved for 25% of the total rental cost ($1,200 out of $3,600 total)

Site visits with consultant planned on 4/17 with Wade and George

Expect to move forward shortly after that, since this has already been approved by board

Carp Removal (Wade)

Discussed with Dr. Peter Sorenson from U of Minn and they don't have staff or finances to work with us at this time.

Alternative is to seek out commercial fisherman, but DNR has indicated there is only one (Don Geyer). He was resistant to work with us as he damaged his nets in the past.

Will have to continue researching alternative methods.

Aquatic Plant Survey (George)

Not everyone had responded to recent poll sent by George.

Conducted vote at this time and tally was 6 for and 3 against (1 vote already secured from member not present tonight). Passed.

George will give FSS OK to proposal and inform Blue Water Science we are going with another provider.

Spring Clean up (Barbara)

See contents of Barbara's report to the board (Spring Cleanup concerns.pdf)

Discussion by the board indicated members are behind the effort and we can always postpone until another time this season. Eric, Barbara and George will continue pursuing insurance options and we should have answers within the next week. This will give us enough time to secure insurance and announce cleanup at the annual meeting on May 5th.

New Members Packet (Barbara)

See Barbara's report in New Member Packet.pdf

Carp Exclosure (Tom - not present)

Eric to check with Tom to see if we can set date to put it out. Unit is almost all set to go.

Dredging (Eric)

Checked with Veit Co. in Rogers who said the City should do this since it is a safety hazard to those who use the lake.

Jim Kridel will check with Dick Drangeid (boat ramp owner) to see if there is a special deal worked out with City for use of ramp. If so, maybe we can get them to help dredge the area.

LIPs for 2009 (George)

Completed and submitted for:

Sonic Algae units ($3,600 total; $2,400 reimbursement request to the City)

Aquatic Plant Survey ($3,550 total; $1,775 reimbursement request to the City)

LIP's for 2010 (George)

Need to get expected expenditures in 2010, as City Council sets budget in June 2009.

George to review with Lake Management Team and report to Board by end of May 2009.

Nika volunteered to serve on the Lake Management Team before she had to depart the meeting.

MAP Attorney Hotline service (Barbara)

Barbara handed out MAP info on the Legal Hotline by MAP for $250/year total cost. This is a great deal when you consider average attorney fee is $1,500 hour.

Motion by Barbara to purchase a plan for $250 for any Board Member to use with Map; seconded by George. Motion passed 7-0.

Treasurer Report (Rick)

$8,500 in the bank; $1,500 received in dues for 2009 so far

Notices sent to hard copy (non-e-mail) recipients only so far

Tom (through Eric) expressed concern about showing home values/taxes on our member database (even though not distributed outside of the board).

Annual Meeting/Dues Notices (George)

Will send out e-mail version to all electronic recipients this weekend

Annual Meeting Presentation (Jim/Molly)

Took us through the entire deck, where we critiqued content and discussed any changes.

Jim will send out the deck (modified) after the meeting for our review.

Submit any change requests back to Jim.

Objective for the PPT is to control the flow of the meeting and demonstrate a more professional presentation to the members.

Picked next Board Meeting date of Monday, May 18 at Kridel's home at 7:00pm

Terms expiring in 2009 (this meeting) for: Rick, Jim, Molly, Joni

Meeting adjourned at 10:15 pm

Just as a reference, here is our last To Do list from our last meeting

Action Items for Board Members from last meeting on January 23, 2009

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.