Synopsis of July 13, 2004, Meeting

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and a brief presentation and plaque to Bruno Eidietis for his decades of service to the association and lake community.

Rick Marneris reminded everyone that Melissa DeSimone, Executive Director of the Michigan Lakes and Streams Association, will be a guest speaker at our August meeting. In her role with MLSA, Melissa has her pulse on legislation and policies that affect bodies of water in the state, especially small inland lakes. He encouraged everyone to remind their neighbors to bring any issues of concern for Melissa to address.

Tom Hable announced that the board election will be held following adjournment of the regular meeting on Saturday, Aug. 10. There will be three open positions. Persons who are interested in running or know of someone who is, should submit nominations to Tom Hable at THable4337@aol.com, prior to the meeting.

Rick suggested lake residents should be aware of their surroundings and keep car doors locked in light of theft complaints. He suggested residents remind their guests to keep their car doors locked, too, when visiting. The biggest complaint with the thefts is unknown person(s) taking change and other items from unlocked cars. Another resident discussed teens coming onto property and looking into windows. He was able to capture the occurrences on his security cameras.

Fred Fornell talked about all of the testing and studying that has been done in the past few weeks. Two companies—one in Niles and one in Muskegon, tested the water and weeds in the areas near the new well, the old well and other spots throughout the lake. Fred said the association has spent a lot of time and money from the testing prospective and the final report shows the water in our lake is very good—and all in line with standards set by the EPA and the state. He noted that some of the data shows it is within drinking water quality.

Fred said Norbert Wleklinski has been tracking the lake level for a very long time—years. In May the lake was down, but in June the lake was up.  It is too soon for July levels. He said this shows the augmentation seems to be working to prevent loss, and that so far we are happy with what we are seeing.

A motion was made and approved for the lake association to purchase and install a sensor to be able to get daily readings. If the lake levels go down again, this could help us know sooner than later and adjust the running of the well accordingly.

Tom reported on the weed situation and said this is the first month ever with no milfoil or curly pond. He was out on the lake with the service that maintains our lake two weeks ago and took weed and water samples from around the lake. We should have the results in another week or so, but given what we know at this point he does not believe we will have any problems. The board also approved asking the township to continue with another five-year assessment for weed treatment.

Tom also noted that neither the Barron Lake Association board nor the Howard Township officials can enact laws regarding the use of wake boats. He said there was talk that legislation passed regarding this issue. However, he noted nothing was passed and that people who are saying other lakes in Michigan have laws on their lakes like this have incorrect information. It is up to the state to enact these laws, not the township or the lake association.

 Marcia Hummel, who is chairing the Sausage and Corn Roast committee, updated those in attendance on how the event is going. We have a good number of people who have RSVP’d they will attend. Deadline is July 19 to let her know so the proper amount of food can be prepared. There also will be a live band, games and door prizes. She thanked her committee and all those who have donated prizes for the event.

A brief presentation was made by representatives of Surf Internet regarding providing fiber internet options to the lake. The representatives stayed after the meeting to talk with those who are interested in this option.

Township Supervisor Bill Kasprzak reported there are increased requests for use of the park where we currently hold meetings, so for next year we may need to use a different location.