Lake Alpine Annual Meeting — Minutes

1 August 24, 2024 Lake Alpine Park Pavilion (combined with the annual picnic afterwards) ANNUAL Meeting 10:00 am PRESENT: Chris Schroeder (Chairman) Michael Baranowski John Manion (Interim Secretary) Eric Trater Amy Miler (Interim Treasurer) Mary Sue Braun GUESTS: Approximately 65 Lake Alpine Residents • Chris Schroeder called the meeting to order at 10:04 am. • Pledge of Allegiance • Statement of Public Posting – The Annual meeting notification was in the Fall Newsletter that was mailed via the USPS early August. • Approval of Agenda – Agenda was amended to remove the verbiage "Annual Lake Association Fees” and to correctly read “Annual Lake District Fees.” • Secretary’s Report – John Manion read the minutes from the 6/1/2024 Informational Meeting. • Committee Reports o Sunshine Committee – Eunie Ripp reported that Angeline Mikolajczyk passed away in March 2024 o Water Testing – Mary Sue reported that the lake water temperature (which is tested monthly) were in the low-70’s. Water visibility has declined noticeably in the last couple of years. • Annual Audit – Mary Sue Braun reported that an audit took place at her residence. Ingrid Kundinger, Sherri Manion, and Amy Miller reviewed the financial transactions, debits/credits, checks written and other accounting information for the past year. All transactions were acceptable and determined a successful audit. • Treasurer’s Report Current cash balance in the bank is $10,708.68 and the Government Investment Pool, including interest, is $119,134.88. Total accounts balance is $129,843.56. There are some more expenses to come out related to the picnic, volunteer dinner, and another cutting. • OLD BUSINESS Grant funding exploration o Chris contacted Christine Kozic from the DNR who works on lake treatment funding. He also said that no matter what we do, writing and receiving grants is a very long, slow process. One of the requirements for any grant is having a Lake Management Plan, which we have submitted but must be approved. o Chris was forwarded some information on an available surface treatment grant but Christine said that muck and sediment abatement is something this grant would generally cover. o Grant funding has a lot of requirements and needed documentation, plus many grants require a sustainment plan. This means we would have to explain how, once the grant money had been used up, we are going to keep the project going. This means we would probably have to pledge a good portion of our annual budget to this project. Lake treatment / muck abatement o One proposal included using barges and underwater divers and we felt this would be far too costly to pursue. 2 o Another suggestion was to do a trial on a small area but that might take several years to determine if the treatment was working? We can look at other options as well. o A member asked how much of the shoreline does the District (ALPRD) have control of? Does it include the shoreline along the county park? Or just private residential shoreline? Chris replied that he believes we cannot do anything on county shoreline without county approval. o Michael noted that cuttings are only in navigational lanes and we cannot cut near the park. Outlot maintenance / tree management / lot survey o A member contacted the board about some trees he thought were on outlot property that posed a risk because they are dead or dying. He wanted to know if the District (ALPRD) would pay for these trees to be removed? Chris noted that it is undetermined if in fact these trees are on the outlot or on the members property? He contacted a surveyor and are on a list for him to survey the property in question. Outlot usage / boat registration o Chris asked how many boats were actually registered? While we have a list, John was unsure of the actual number? All boats and kayaks are registered, except one. o The importance of registering your boat was emphasized. • 2025 Annual Budget o Mary Sue discussed the increase of the Lake District Fee from $125 up to $175 annually. She said over the last several years the fee has ranged from $75 up to as high as $200. o Our biggest expense item is the lake management treatment. We are proposing increasing the treatments and this will increase the cost. o Total projected expenditures for 2025 are $42,300. Even though raising the fee assessment $50 annually, we will have to pull money from the funds to cover the increased costs. o Motion to approve the annual budget made by Michael Baronowski, seconded by Sherri Manion. Motion approved. • NEW BUSINESS Lake Management Plan and Other Topics o Jason Kundinger said the lake management plan was submitted on May 24th and we have not heard back from the DNR yet. o There have been no questions from the DNR yet but if that occurs it may further delay approval. o Chris clarified that the 5-year plan does not begin until the day the plan is approved. o The question of hunting geese on the lake was asked again. The question was passed on to the new DNR agent, Ben Mott, but we have not heard back from o Can we post “No Wake” signs on the islands? The DNR said that because we may have to clear out brush on the island, we’d have to get permission from whoever owns the islands. o The water level is down again and people are questioning if we can reduce the outflow into the trout stream. The answer in no. The stream takes priority over the lake because it was there first. The flow is already at the slowest flow allowed. Portable Library Installation on Outlots o A member explained that his daughter wanted a small library (book exchange) built so he put one on his property. It is being used regularly and now he would like approval to put another one on one of the outlots. Membership agreed this was a good idea. Goose Egg Remediation for 2025 o This will begin once we get the permit. In 2024 we got it early and the geese then had a second hatching so we did not get them all. o If you see eggs on your property then give Michael Baranowski or Clyde Simonson a call. o We are down to about 30 geese on the lake compared to over 100 a couple years ago. 3 o Please feel free to sign up on the sheet to have your property checked for goose eggs, plus take a pink flag to mark your property. o Talk to your neighbors and encourage them to become part of the program. Annual Volunteer Dinner o It is September 16th at The Moose Lodge 6pm. The sign-up sheet is being passed around. o Volunteers can get a meal and anyone else is free to come and socialize. Election of commissioners for 2025 (Secretary) o John Manion was nominated for Secretary by Michael Baranowski, seconded by Mary Sue Braun. Motion approved. o Mary Sue Braun announced she was exiting her term early and Amy Miller was nominated to finish her term. The board had previously approved Amy as interim Treasurer. o Many thanks to Mary for her many years of dedicated service. • Public comment o What is the status of the dam? Is it in disrepair? John Manion replied that the dam is in good order and has not moved. The angle of the dam corresponds to the angle of the piping leading into the trout stream. The county does the inspections. Chris said he would reach out to the County to find out if there are any issues. o Tom Wood proposed we treat the entire lake to reduce the muck in it. He feels it is not safe in some areas as the muck can pull you under. He thinks we should treat the lake for an entire year as doing it piecemeal would not accomplish much and waste another year of opportunity to do something. He mentioned that the NewTech product for muck reduction also clarifies the lake so that is an added benefit. He also proposed putting a screen on the lake inlet to reduce future muck from entering the lake. Use a removable, cleanable screen. He would be agreeable to treating the north and south end of the lake, plus the navigation lane but would prefer to do the whole lake. He feels we have the money to do this and it would benefit future generations of Lake Alpine residents. o John responded to Tom’s comments by agreeing it would be great to have a muck-free lake and we all want this. However, we do not have the money or the resources to do all this. The lake treatment product is very costly, has to be done yearly, and the associated labor and costs are vast and mostly unknown. Eric Trater calculated that the cost to treat the entire lake would be $1,700,000 and that is only the beginning. Tom replied that NewTech said the cost was much less. Chris confirmed the NewTech estimate was $50,000 – $60,000 and would take 3 years to produce results but there is no guarantee of results. o Chris said one idea is to test the product on a smaller basis and monitor the results before we go all in on the entire lake. We would have to identify an area to test. Tom objected to this process as it would 6-8 years to make a determination if the product worked. This is a lot of lost time. He wants to do the entire treatment in one year. He agrees it’s a gamble but it could be worth the effort and cost. o One long-time member noted that she does not have a muck problem on her shoreline as it is cleaned regularly with a landscape rake. She believes that if everyone were to clean up their shoreline, this would greatly reduce the problem. o Tom noted that he cleans his shoreline but the neighbors on both sides of his property do not. o Ginny Schroeder commented that muck levels vary greatly on the lake as her property has a high level while the property across from hers does not. She said she does a lot of raking but the problem continues. Her husband actually got stuck in the muck. She is even looking into having her shoreline vacuumed out at a cost of $10,000. o Is there a minimum size for a sample area to test? Chris said he was not told of any minimum. o Marie Johnson asked if anyone had a connection with the county parks department regarding when they pull the county pier out for the season? The county pulled it out early last year and boats were still on the lake. Without the pier it is much more difficult to get your boat out. As long as we know the date the pier is being pulled out, we can work with that. Chris said he would try to find out. 4 o Another comment by Marie was about the condition of the cement pad on outlot 4. It has a long crack in it and it is lifting. It is now a trip hazard that will only get worse. It was discussed whether the pad should be repaired or removed? It is no longer needed as it was once a parking spot for the weed harvester which is long gone. o A member asked if anything was being done about the increase in lily pads along the shoreline? Michael replied that the cuttings we do will not help with this because the cuttings cannot get close to the shorelines. They can be pulled out with a rake and this works. She just wants to know if there is any way to treat them? Jason Kundinger answered that as lily pads are not an invasive species you would never get a permit from the DNR to treat them. o One member noted that if you do treat your own shoreline that you must be sure to use a product that does not impact aquatic life. Look for zero mortality life to marine impact sprays. o Jason noted that most muck removal is for navigation lanes and the middle of the lake will always have muck. Doing your own shoreline is a good thing but trying to do the entire lake is highly unlikely to get DNR approval. o A member mentioned there is a Facebook group for Lake Alpine residents and everyone is invited to join. It is a good resource for sharing information with your neighbors. Ginny S. is the administrator. You have to answer some questions to be allowed in. The District (ALPRD) does not use the FB page to communicate information to lake members. o Has there been any discussion on expanding the piers at the outlots? The piers are small and if they were increased there would be more room for kids to go fishing. These piers are 8 foot and were purchased and installed in 2015. The suggestion is to put an L-shape addition on these piers. First, we must determine if these additions would impact anything else? Plus, they would be more difficult to take in or out. o Amy Miller brought up the subject of fireworks. The use of fireworks has become excessive and it is loud and bothersome, especially to those who live and work on the lake full time. She feels most of the offenders are full time residents. Can we respect each other and send out a notice of intent to set off fireworks using the lake email distribution and keep it to a reasonable time. Another member mentioned how the debris from the fireworks falls on their roof and their pets get distressed. They also asked if a permit is needed for the fireworks, and it was confirmed by others it is. Tom W. said the police told him they will not respond to complaints about fireworks. o Tom Wood asked when will the muck issue be resolved one way or the other? He feels the board tables the issue every year. Chris replied that we cannot give an exact date as there is a lot of issues to consider before we move ahead. Another member suggested a committee be formed to study the issue and make recommendations to the board. Chris assured Tom that when we come up with a course of action, he will notify everyone. o Robin mentioned that our lake is functionally a stream and is shallower than other lakes, therefore, muck has a greater impact here. o Tom Wood offered his help on any committee or project we do. Jason said he did not see any way the DNR would even allow us to do an entire lake treatment for muck. This must be looked into before we proceed with anything. We must all share ideas and try to find out what other lakes are doing. o A member gave the group some history of how the DNR will not approve of any inlet screen or a retention pond. It has been asked before and denied. We can always ask again. o A member asked about updating the possibility of Bugtussle running a DSL line around the lake. Amy Miller said she talked to them and they have no knowledge of any list of people requesting this? If a list of lake members is made and submitted, Bugtussle would review it on a case-by- case basis. There is no minimum needed. A show of hands was taken and a list will be generated. Amy offered to coordinate this. An email will be sent to all members. • MOTION to Adjourn made by Jason Kundinger, seconded by Michael Baronowski at 11:26