April 2024 General Membership Meeting Minutes

LOWPOA Meeting Minutes April 6, 2024

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

1. The Lake of the Woods Property Owners Association met on April 6, 2024 at Connections Lane.

2. Mike Nate called the meeting to order at 9:00 am.

3. Pledge of Allegiance

4. Board of Directors Roll Call:

A. Present: Julie Boynton, Elaine Keller, Rodney Kitchen, Deb Lane, Mike Nate, Joe Skelton, Neika Smeassaert

B. Absent: Rob Cross, Tim Legge

5. Review and Approval of Minutes

A. The March 9, 2024 General Membership meeting minutes were reviewed.

i) Joe Skelton made a motion to approve the March 9th minutes. Neika Smessaert seconded the motion and all

board members agreed.

6. Treasurer’s Report

A. Julie Boynton made a motion to approve the March treasurer’s report. Elain Keller seconded the motion and all

board members agreed.

7. Events and Fundraisers

A. Earth Day will be celebrated with the annual Clean the Lake Day on Saturday April 20th from approximately 8:00

am to 12:00 noon

i) The Marshall County Recycling trailer will be here with trash grabbers, gloves, bags, etc.

ii) Two food trucks will be present:

(1) Pa’Lantojo Taco: 9:00 - 10:00 am for breakfast and 11:00 am to 2:00 pm for lunch

(2) T&C Cheesecakes will also be present from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

(3) 10% of the proceeds from these food trucks will be given to LOWPOA for the weed fund.

iii) The BCC will partner with LOWPOA for Clean the Lake Day this year.

B. Memorial Day – Lake Wide Garage Sales

i) 3 food trucks will be present:

(1) Pa’Lantojo at the Keller’s residence on West Shore Dr.

(2) Chubby Buddies at Connections Lane on West Shore Drive

(3) La Parilla Dessert & Margaritas at the Nate’s Residence on North Shore Dr.

ii) 10% to 20% of sales will be donated to the LOWPOA Weed Fund.

iii) Reminder to put your yard American Flags out for Memorial Day weekend.

(1) The Keller’s still have 30 to 40 flags to sell. Please see Elaine or Rick after the meeting if you are

interested in purchasing some.

(a) We will also consider selling these at the Earth Day/Lake Clean Up event.

C. Hunt for Summer Spirits - June 15th

i) The theme is “Dad’s Day Out.”

ii) A flyer with details was provided at this meeting.

D. There will be a flower fundraising sale this year.

i) Tickets are $20 each and available for purchase from Deb Lane.2 | P a g e

ii) Each ticket is for either one flat of flowers OR one 10” hanging basket.

iii) Hahn’s Nursery in Walkerton, will honor the tickets through May.

iv) All proceeds will go to the weed fund.

8. LOWPOA Communications

A. Please let any board member know of new residents at the lake to ensure they receive a LOWPOA welcome bag.

B. Mike encouraged the membership to continue to review the Facebook page and the website which both provide

regular updates.

i) Website: Lakeofthewoodsindiana.com

9. Conservancy Update

A. Mike Nate provided the following update on the Conservancy District efforts:

i) The 1st Natural Resource Commission (NRD) hearing took place on March 12th

.

(1) There will be a 2nd hearing but the date has not yet been announced.

(2) The date will be communicated via FB & website when the board is made of aware.

(3) Anyone can speak at the hearing either in favor or against the forming of a Conservancy District at Lake

of the Woods.

ii) Following the next public hearing, the NRC, DNR, and IDEM will follow-up with a report and recommendation

to Marshall County Judge Palmer so he can make a ruling.

iii) Carol Skelton asked about getting a recap of the March 12th public hearing to share with folks who could not

attend.

(1) Mike Nate will check to see if he can get a copy of Dr. Jones’ presentation.

iv) Both DNR & IDEM representatives were present at the March 12th hearing.

v) Marlys Power asked if the recommendation is always a Yes or No, OR have, they ever provided a Yes, but

with specific recommendations?

(1) No one on the board was able to answer this question specifically.

vi) Tom Power asked how we might get new residents involved with the scientific study report?

(1) Mike noted that the report file is too large for the website but we could post Dr. Jones’ public hearing

presentation slides.

(2) Members can also request the full report via an email to Tim Legge.

vii) Another member asked how can we educate people when we can’t tell them at this time what the cost is?

(1) Mike reminded all present that the Conservancy Board, once appointed, will set the budget and rate type;

Two rate types are possible; an assessed value rate OR a flat rate.

(2) The annual budget has to be reviewed and approved by the county.

viii) Any projects or work being considered has to be reviewed, approved, and permitted by the DNR.

ix) The Conservancy Board does not have carte blanche to do whatever they want.

x) Mike Nate reminded everyone that a conservancy district provides a reliable source of funding to deal with the

ongoing lake issues.

10. Weeds Update

A. For 2024, Lake of the Woods will receive up to $18,000 in LARE Grant funds for weed remediation. This is 50%

less than 2 years ago.

i) The DNR funds are matching funds. LOWPOA has to have available matching funds.

ii) Aquatic Weed Control (AWC) will come in late April or early May to do the weed mapping assessment. Exact

timing will depend on the water temperature.

(1) Results of the weed mapping will be shared when they become available.

iii) A report and spraying recommendation will be applied for through AWC to the DNR for their review and

approval on what we are able to proceed with for this year.

B. A member asked if we would be getting an early spray again this year.

i) Mike noted that we won’t know this until the mapping assessment comes in to determine what is necessary

and what the DNR approves.

C. Until we have a conservancy in place, we have to rely on membership dues, donations and fundraisers.

D. Starry Stonewort (SSW) will continue to be present in our lake. It is critical that we stay ahead of it and keep it

“burned back” as much as possible or it will take over. SSW is an algae that can be treated but not killed.

i) The DNR caps allotments to treat SSW at $5,000

(1) We will have to spray 3 times minimum per year at about $10K per application.

(2) Remaining funds after the $5,000 from the DNR (if approved) for SSW treatments, have to come from the

LOWPOA weed fund.3 | P a g e

E. RK asked if the current weed fund balance includes the $18,000 from LARE/DNR.

i) Joe Skelton responded, no. Only $3,376 has been provided thus far from the DNR for their portion of the

weed mapping.

F. Mike again reminded those present that all out of pocket/LOWPOA matching funds have to come from the weed

fund.

G. Carol Skelton reminded everyone that spraying weeds is a band aid each year to knock out weeds so the lake is

somewhat usable. A conservancy would allow us to get to the root of the problem and address the phosphorous

and nutrients coming into the lake.

H. Arrowhead Grant Update

i) As reported last month, LOWPOA received a $4,500 Arrowhead grant to be used towards the cost of adding

additional ditch bag filters.

ii) 80 bags cost around $6,300. LOWPOA is hoping to partner with BCC to cover the additional costs as they

provided funding for the first ditch filter bags that are already in place.

iii) The bags reduce phosphorous coming into the lake and have been shown to drop phosphorous levels by

50% - 78% percent.

iv) 80 bags will do one wide ditch.

v) Mike Nate noted that he is also looking at another vendor that has a more cost-effective approach that we

might try and see how it works versus the current bag filters.

vi) Rick Keller noted that this is a fantastic solution vs something that would back up the flow of water.

vii) Joe noted that this is just a small step in dealing with the phosphorous coming into the lake. A Conservancy

would allow for a more thorough approach.

viii) A Conservancy would be considered a governmental entity and would provide eligibility and access to more

grants.

11. Lake of the Woods Entrance Signs

A. A generous donation was made to add two more “Welcome to Lake of the Woods” entrance signs around the

lake.

B. These will be placed at 4th Rd on the East side, at North Shore/West Shore (double sided), and one at 4th on the

West side.

C. Installation will take place in the coming weeks.

12. Old Business

A. Apparel orders are placed on the 15th of the month.

i) Paula Nate is taking over the LOW merchandise and apparel and will soon have new items to share.

13. New Business

A. Ray Dillon was welcomed as a new resident to the lake

i) Mike again reminded the membership to let us know if there are any other new folks moving in and we will get

the welcome bag out to them

B. BCC Update from Brian Denk.

i) The BCC is looking into a seed library.

(1) In the spring you take seeds to use; in the fall you bring seeds back.

(2) The Bremen Public Library already does this and the BCC would like to consider doing something similar

in the lake community.

ii) The BCC ordered trees from the Arbor Day organization. They may have some to sell or give out.

(1) There will be three types of trees

14. Julie Boynton made a motion to adjourn. Rodney King seconded the motion and all board members agreed.

A. The meeting adjourned at 9:46 am.

15. The next LOWPOA meeting will take place on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 9:00 am at the BCC building.

Respectfully submitted by Julie Boynton, LOWPOA Secretary