Barron Lake Association
Meeting Minutes
June 13, 2020
OFFICERS PRESENT
Bruno Eidietis, president; Rick Marneris, vice president; Tom Hable, treasurer.
24 members were in attendance, including officers
Meeting called to order at 10 a.m.
In light of Pat Kelley stepping down as treasurer, Bruno asked for a vote to install Tom Hable as treasurer. All in attendance voted in favor of this motion.
MEETING MINUTES
Minutes from the September 2019 meeting were not available. They will be presented at the July 2020 meeting for approval.
LAKE LEVEL
Bruno reported the lake level is as high as it can be legally and near the overflow point. It is expected the level will go down as we near the end of the summer as it does every year.
STOCKING LAKE WITH FISH
Tom Hable said walleye were stocked in the lake in the fall. A new state law allows 1 fish per quarter-acre, which would allow Barron Lake to purchase and stock 800 fish. He noted there is better pricing once you hit 1,000 fish. He is looking into getting prices.
BOAT PARADE
Debby Koulentes said she and Mary Jo Markworth would coordinate the annual boat parade this year, hosting it on Aug. 8 at 3 p.m. The theme will be TV shows from any era. As in the past, there will be a captain’s meeting that will coincide with the August lake association meeting. More details will be forthcoming and will be posted on the lake association website.
LAKE PUMP
Bruno noted there was a meeting during the winter to discuss the possibility of a second pump on the lake. A study shows the pump should not constantly run; instead run three to five days, then turn it off for a few days.
Bruno said a location for a second pump–if it is determined there will be one–would be on the west side of the lake. He also noted the drain commissioner has enough money to cover the cost making it unlikely the lake residents would have to pay for it. More discussion will be held at a later date.
CASS COUNTY FAIR
Tom reported the fair organizers are discussing whether or not there will be a fair, and if so, if it will be a full fair. Organizers inquired with Tom about BLA working gates, if there will be gates. Tom will report their findings at a later date.
WEED CONTROL
Tom met in February with the application personnel from Pine Crest, who are our applicators and an inspection was completed in May. needed. We expanded our permit from 20 acres to 100 acres because Eagle took over the oversite on this process and we needed to be sure we could cover any blow ups during the summer. The previous supplier always got a 199 acre permit just because, so our cost at $100 was still half from previous. Tom also met with the lake management company in May.
The application personnel will continue to inspect monthly. Tom also noted the lake association permit does not allow servicing the area within 100 feet of the shoreline. If a homeowner wants to treat weeds within 100 feet of their shoreline, they can. He also said he would provide contact information if anyone wanted to use the same company.
In 2019, 18.5 acres were treated—that’s all that was needed. Tom is going to ask Jennifer (from company) to come to the July meeting to discuss the services. He is looking to change the contract to run from June to June instead of January to January.
LAKE ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP
Membership drive for the lake association is in gear. Tom sent out postcards asking people to pay their $20 dues by July 1. He said there are 209 members, and as of before the start of the meeting, there were 88 paid memberships. An additional six people paid at the meeting, putting paid memberships just shy of the halfway mark.
FINANCIAL REPORT
Balance on hand: $46,498.96
Broken down:
$770.91 in savings account earning .09%
$11,008.63 in Premier Share Account earning .15%
$8,000 in a six-month CD earning 1% with monthly dividend (6.78) going into savings account
$20,227.86 in 12-month CD earning 2.5% ($42.74 a month)
$18,271.10 fluid available cash
Tom noted he moved $20,000 to the 12-month CD in December to have staggered expiring CD for cash flow. When the six-month CD expires on Aug. 16, 2020, he will revisit the options.
Expenditures: $30 for 990N filing $279.99 for post cards, stamps and labels
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There was discussion on the increased numbers of boaters on the lake, some who are paying a fee to Bruno to drop in their boats from his land. It also was noted many are not following the counter clockwise directions and are driving too close to other boaters. It was suggested Bruno print copies of the PDF of the Barron Lake boating safety guidelines that is available on the lake association website. These guidelines have been announced on the Barron Lake Facebook page and to date, there have been hundreds of views of this PDF.
It also was brought to Bruno’s attention there was an evening the previous week where there were a lot of people and a large number of trucks on his property well after midnight. Bruno thanked the residents for bringing this to his attention as he was not aware of this and said he will look into it. At the present time, persons who want to fish, boat or swim, pay a fee to Bruno and they are given the code to the padlock he has on his property.
The meeting was adjourned at 11 a.m.
The next meeting will be held July 11, 2020.
Respectfully submitted,
Jodi Marneris
(In absence of Debbie Floor, Secretary)
