Lakes & Parks Committee Minutes: November 14, 2018

Lakes and Parks Committee

Meeting Minutes

November 14, 2018

Meeting was called to order by Dave Patterson at 7:28 pm.

Members Present: Dan Beckman, Jim Conner, Tom Derrick, Eric Fox, Jill King, Alan Kohlhaas, George Lortz, Dave Patterson, Dave Ryberg, Gerald Young

Members Absent:  Joe Stocker

Community Manager:  Bruce Keller – Present

Board Liaison: Pat Hawkins – Excused

Guests Present: Ken Horn, Adam and Katie Maurer, Sam Maxfield

Minutes from the October meeting were presented by Dave Patterson.  Corrections required: None.  Motion to accept by:  Eric Fox; Seconded by:  Jill King.  Vote count: for 9, against 0, abstain 0.

Guest Issues: There were no specific issues from any of the guests.  All were attending to learn.

Chairman’s Report –  

Dave reported that Jim Conner had indicated that he had to resign from the committee due to conflicts with other obligations that were scheduled for the same time as our meetings. He did express a desire to serve as a back-up for Tom and Dave if they were both absent and he was available.  Dave also indicated that Jim would not be replaced because the committee size was set at 10 many years ago.  Jim was added to the committee to replace Bill Cox.  George Lortz was brought on to represent the Parks and Recreation committee after that committee was merged with the Lakes Committee.  At that time, we said that as openings occurred we would try and fill them with members from the Parks and Rec Committee in order to maintain representation and focus from that area, but we didn’t want to exceed the size of 10.  Mike Boyce and Lou Ann Roberts were two who had expressed interest.

A couple of members were not happy with this as they wanted to nominate Ken Horn to replace Jim.  Ken has attended at least 3 meetings, which meets the requirement.  None of the Parks and Rec committee members have attended any meetings except for George and Lou Ann who attended one right after the committees were merged.  

No action was taken at the meeting. George was going to contact the members from the old Parks and Rec committee to see if there were any who still had any interest in being on the Lakes and Parks Committee.  

A motion was made and passed to accept Jim’s resignation.

Board Meeting Report:  There was no report.

Fish & Game Club Comments: Tom and Dave reported that the club was discussing the fish study and the members were awaiting those results.  

Lake Patrol Report:  No Report.  

Lake Statistics Report:  No Report.  

Small Lake Maintenance report:  Bruce Keller reported that the emergency overflow at Crystal Lake should be completed in several weeks, depending on weather.  It will be a grassed over swale to control overflow should the lake level approach the top of the dam.

Current/Active Business –   

Review of motions   – George prepared a proposal for new Lakes & Parks By-Laws Reorganization.  There were a few modifications needed, and much of it had to do with fish limits.  Therefore until we get the fish quantity and length rules finalized, I think it best to hold off on presenting this to the board.  

Sluice Gate Bridge Project update – Still waiting for the paving project to commence so that we can add asphalt to complete ramp.

Lifeguard Shelter – No Change.  This should be completed in the spring.

Fish limit Rule – The fish study is complete and we are evaluating the results.  Signs at lakes and marina will be adjusted to reflect revised limits.

Marina layout – No change.  Waiting for responses from vendors.

Fish Study   The main item on the agenda was the  Fish Survey.  The full report is available at the POA office.

There was quite a bit of discussion regarding the report and the recommendations.  We will be discussing it further at the next meeting before we make any formal recommendations to the board regarding size and quantity limits.  

Overall, they recommended that we continue with the slot limit to remove the largemouth bass between 9 and 13 inches.  This has always been difficult to enforce.  It was suggested that perhaps we could set up a program to move any bass in this length range to one or more of the smaller lakes, perhaps Crystal or Kathy.  However, before we undertake a program like this we need to have a study done of the small lake to determine the fish population make up of that lake.  We don’t want to create additional problems in the small lakes.

They also recommended that we continue to add additional structure, and continue with spot treatment for weeds in the summer.  They had additional recommendations regarding quantity and size limits that we will be discussing.  They also mentioned a feeding program for pan fish, adding shiners as forage fish, and planting of preferred emergent species of aquatic plants in shallow, un-used areas of the lake. These topics will also be discussed further.

They also recommended that the Fish and Game Club keep statistics from their tournaments and submit the data to ATAC for incorporation into their analyses.  Dave and Tom agreed that they could and that they would contact Chris Ludwig regarding this. 

Marina Parking Lot marking – Waiting for suggestions from our engineer, Peter Soltys.    We will do more investigating into this and the associated cost.

New cameras   – Bruce is considering them for the front entrance, the marina, other entrances, and playgrounds.

Land Use Plan Task Force update – We received a preliminary result from the survey for discussion, since quite a few of the projects will come through this committee.  The task force is working on putting together the final report and plan for the annual meeting.

Parks and Recreation Subcommittee/Task Force report – No Report.  

CMP (Community Master Plan) Update – No Report. 

New Business:  

Community Manager’s Report: 

Deer cull – At the time of the meeting, 16 deer had been taken.

Pickle ball court – Waiting on the paving.

Upper beach rest rooms and marina shelter – Awaiting bids and should be complete by the spring.

New docks at marina  – Awaiting bids.  There are several potential styles/configurations that are under consideration.  All of them will be floating docks.  We will still have pontoon and runabout docks instead of having all docks be capable of handling either style.

Lake draw down  – Still waiting for the lake to reach normal winter pool.  We are looking at several options/locations for the process.  We only want to lower the lake by a foot per week at a maximum.  We will maintain the lower lake level until the docks at the marina are replaced.  We also discussed keeping the lake at no wake while the lake is at the lower level.  If we get it back to normal winter pool, then we could go back to the regular cycle.  We still need to be sure that anyone who had a geothermal system in the lake was notified and that they were able to take appropriate steps to insure their systems weren’t damaged and continued to function as required.

Main dam   Bruce noticed evidence of moles on the face of the dam.  Maintenance has placed about a half a dozen mole traps on the visible tunnels.  Bruce has also investigated special worms for the dam that are poisonous for the moles.  He is also planning on rolling the dam. 

Adjournment –  Motion to adjourn by Dan.     Seconded by Alan.   Passed + 6 ; – 0

Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.  Thanks to everyone for their time and dedication.  

Respectfully submitted by Dave Patterson, Chairman