2010 Annual Meeting

Long Lake Association Annual Meeting Minutes

August 23, 2010 at 5:30 PM

Boone’s Long Lake Inn

Board Members present: Jo Marie Marks, Dennis Wiand, Tanya Berg, Kendra Smith, Brad Oleson, Dan Marks, Pug Rundio, Joy Tobin, Gerald Chefalo, Jake Kaberle, Walter Kraimer, Dean Templeton, Charles Conville

Absent: Makayla Vitous

Call to Order and Welcome at 5:30 PM – Jo Marie Marks, President

  • Acknowledgement Frank Stulen, long-time friend and supporter of Long Lake and co-founder of Long Lake Foundation.  Frank recently passed away.
  • Appreciation to Boone’s for use of facility
  • Introduction of current board members
  • Confirmation that Hugh Simmons & John Tobin will conduct official vote count for newly elected board after 6:00 PM deadline for ballots submission.

Acceptance of 2009 Annual Meeting Minutes

  • Marks requested approval of minutes from 2009 annual meeting (August 24, 2009).  Motion by Roger Watson and second by Hugh Simmons.  Motion approved.

President’s Message – Jo Marie Marks

  • Encouraged LLA members to become involved on a board committee to gain experience in working with the board and to help further the work of the LLA.
  • Members that serve on committees can become a great source for candidates for elected board positions in the future.
  • Marks asked interested members to contact her or Kendra Smith.  New committee assignments will be made at the next LLA board meeting on 9/13/10.

Water Safety – Gerry Chefalo, Committee Chair

  • Explained primary purpose of water safety committee and introduced Marine Patrol Officer, Chris Oosse – Grand Traverse Sherriff Department
  • Marine patrol logged 309 hours on Long Lake as in 2009 and 250 hours year to date as of 8/23/09.  Reviewed 2010 stats:
    • 480 Contacts
    • 110 Warnings
    • 10 Citations
      • Written for more dangerous infractions
      • 5  Complaints
      • 1 Drunken Boater Arrest
  • Dennis Davidson inquired about drinking and open alcohol on boats.  Sergeant Oosse confirmed open alcohol is allowed on boats and it is legal to drink onboard, but driver cannot exceed blood alcohol limit.
  • Pug Rundio thanked Sergeant Oosse for enforcing the no wake restriction with jet skiers on Mickey Lake.
  • Member Roger Watson shared that a 22 foot pontoon boat had been secured and will be converted to a fire boat to protect the islands by next spring.  Long Lake Foundation has been providing funding along with private donors.

Treasurer’s Report – Jo Marie Marks

  • Reported a total of $31,826 in LLA deposit accounts.  Copies of a detailed report were made available to members at the meeting.

Audit Report – Ron Albers, Past LLA Board Member

  • Confirmed independent verification of LLA financial records and that all records are in order.

Community Affairs – Pug Rundio, Committee Chair

  • Long Lake Township is developing a long-range parks and recreation plan.  Fifteen community members attended a planning meeting on 8/12/10.  If you have ideas or input, please contact Trish Mehney at the LLT.
  • A parks brochure is under development that will include maps and information on all LLT parks.
  • LLA Adopt a Road project has been successful.  Last clean up date was July 19.  A final clean up will be scheduled this fall.
  • Encouraged LLA members to visit the LLT website to get information on upcoming meetings and to attend when possible.
  • LLT Planning Commission meeting on 8/24/10 to review lakefront property standards.

Membership – Kendra Smith, Committee Chair

  • Reported 254 paid LLA members as of 8/23/10.
  • Paid dues of $8,890 and additional contributions of $3,883 for a total of $12,773.
  • Membership is down from 294 members in August 2009.
  • Member Pam Kaiser suggested using email to communicate with members to improve membership and volunteerism.  Pam offered to assist in that area.

Lake Management – Dennis Wiand, Committee Chair

Milfoil:

  • Approximately 4,000 acres of milfoil was chemically treated on June 9, 2010
  • Members that are interested are encouraged to join the lake management committee when they are on the lake conducting surveys, research, or treatments.
  • An updated map with milfoil locations was made available for review at the meeting.
  • Silver Lake Association is interested in LLA’s lake management approach and both associations are sharing information and best practices.

Phragmites:

  • Phragmites has been positively identified in five locations around Long Lake.  100% of the six affected property owners are cooperating with LLA in treating the phragmites this fall.   LLA is providing oversight and coordination and property owners are responsible for the cost.
  • Wiand encouraged riparians and others to be on the lookout for phragmites and to report it to the LLA board if found.  (Live samples of phragmites plants were available to see at the meeting.)

Water Quality:

  • Additional water quality testing will conducted in 2011.  It is expected that Ruth Lake will be included in the testing.

Watershed Signs:

  • Long Lake has a 14,456 acre watershed.
  • Ron Kennedy approached the LLA Board with the idea of installing watershed signs.  Wiand thanked Kennedy for researching cost and helping coordinate the project.
  • Signs were recently installed in eight visible locations around the watershed.
  • LLT is paying for the cost as part of their water quality protection program.

Member Comments:

  • Margaret Strong indicated a stand of milfoil was seen in front of the Lemcool’s property approximately 250 yards out.  Wiand acknowledged it and said it is in the milfoil map.
  • Carol Hoffman (LLT) asked who will be responsible for the cost of phragmites treatment.
  • Wiand responded that phragmites is a shoreline plant versus an invasive aquatic plant and thus the decision has been made at this time to leave financial responsibility for treatment to the property owners.  LLA has helped secure the permit for treatment and will remain involved in helping property owners identify and assess phragmites on their property.  In addition, LLA will also help coordinate cooperative treatment when needed which results in lower costs to the individual property owners.
  • Wiand indicated that the property owners involved in the fall phragmites treatment will incur $125 in costs each.
  • Pam Kaiser advised that she’s noticing what she believes to be a spiral weed in the lake when she is kayaking.  Wiand noted that it may be pondweed, which is a native plant and it is somewhat cyclical in terms of how prolific it is.
  • Tim Peterson stated that he was a former board member and chaired the lake management committee in the past.  Peterson noted the committee was very aggressive in those days with chemical treatment of the lake and he has expressed concern in the past about what he thought may be too passive of an approach on the part of the current board.  Peterson noted that he has spent time with Dennis Wiand recently and learned more about the integrated approach that is currently being used.  Peterson further stated that he was impressed with the work of the current lake management committee and he feels that Long Lake riparians are in good hands.
  • Stuart Gallagher asked about the periodic sudsing that occurs on the lake near the shoreline.  Wiand noted that while he did not have a definitive answer for this periodic occurrence, it could be micro-organisms decomposing.

Island Maintenance – Jo Marie Marks (on behalf of Dan Marks, Committee Chair)

  • Thanked Dan Marks for the cleanup and repair work done this season, including the out houses on Oleson Island.

Fishing and Loon Management – Brad Oleson, Committee Chair

  • Input for monitoring comes primarily from riparians and others using the lake.
  • Fishing appears to have been good this season.
  • DNR may do another (net) fish study on Long Lake in 2011.
  • Several loon pairs on the lake and unfortunately an injured adolescent loon has been spotted that will likely not be able to migrate this fall.
  • Bill Miller commented about a loon that was trapped on the ice on Long Lake near Church Rd last year was rescued and relocated to GT Bay so it could fly off for migration.
  • Some discussion ensued about the lack of area resources that are certified to rescue injured wildlife, including loons.

Communications and Long Range Planning – Joy Tobin and Jake Kaberle, Committee Chair and Member

  • Tobin indicated that board member Jake Kaberle was managing the LLA website and had several ideas to share with the membership.
  • Kaberle noted that in addition to posting board and membership meeting minutes on the website, LLA is working to add lake treatment schedule and plant identification descriptions/photos.
  • A process will be developed so members can submit fun photos from Long Lake to be posted on the LLA website.

Long Lake Foundation – Roger Watson, LLF Board

  • Fire boat is completed and moored at Brad Oleson’s home.
  • Fire department has been practicing and training crews on use of boat and pumping equipment so we are prepared in the event of a fire on one of the islands.
  • LLF will not be conducting a formal fund-raising campaign this year as there are not urgent projects in need of funding. However, contributions are always welcome.

  • Election of Officers – Hugh Simmons
  • Confirmed 57 ballots were cast and votes were verified.  All nominees were elected.
  • President:  Jo Marie Marks
  • Vice President:  Dennis Wiand
  • Kendra Smith – three year term
  • Dan Marks – three year term
  • Tanya Berg – three year term

General Member Comments:

  • Inge Kraimer asked when and why the annual meeting was moved from Saturday morning to Monday evening. 
  • Hugh Simmons indicated it was 6 years ago when the Welcome Back to Paradise event was introduced.  Attendance at Monday meetings at Boone’s has approximately doubled from the attendance at the previous Saturday morning meetings at the church.
  • It was suggested that LLA should periodically revisit meeting dates and times to confirm what works best for the majority of the membership.  A show of hands indicated that the majority of those in attendance at the 8/23 annual meeting preferred a Monday meeting date.
  • It may be appropriate and beneficial to survey the broader LLA membership periodically through email to confirm the most convenient days and times for future meetings.

President’s Closing Remarks and Motion to Adjourn– Jo Marks

  • Marks thanked Brad Oleson for the time he has served as a Board member.  She also reported that Charlie Conville has concluded his one year commitment to serve as Immediate Past President and thanked Charlie again for his leadership, dedication, and service.
  • Motion to adjourn by Lois Feichtenbiner and second by Pug Rundio.  Approved.

Adjournment at 6:35 PM

Respectfully submitted by Tanya Berg, Board Secretary

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