Crystal Lake Improvement Association Board Meeting Minutes

August 1, 2023 – 7:30pm 

Present: Dave Perron, Mike Robole, Ted Lukan, Janet McGrath Mullin, Mike Ouverson, Paul Hillmer

Absent: Brooke Fox, Tom Harmening, Bob Johnston

• Meeting called to order at 7:35pm

 

• Governance 
  • Prior meeting minutes – unanimously approved

 

• • Treasurer’s report –Treasurer’s report was unanimously approved. Membership dues total clarified

 

 

• Committee Updates & Ongoing Business

 

• Neighborhood updates & member feedback

 

• New houses up for sale/sold. All sold or pending. Currently none for sale
  • 9981 Oak Shore Moved in (interested in CLIA membership, Board)
  • 325 Maple Island Road Sold $679,900
  • 373 Maple Island Road $849 Pending
  • 321 Maple Island Road $1.6 Pending
  • 1013 Crystal Lake Road E Sold $1.19
  • 1001 Crystal Lake Road (off market)

 

• • New feedback

• Seen some weeds with twirling leaves blooming. Have seen in the past.  Low water, heat, sun all contributing to weed growth
• Concern about Jet skis after sunset. Ted will call the sheriff to see if they can keep watch
• Concern about heavy street parking on roads both near park and boat launch. Ted will talk with the city/sheriff to learn what can be done.

 

• External Relations: Comprehensive meeting notes with Caleb from the city attached as addendum at end of minutes

• • • Weed Harvest/pickup – To try to prevent somewhat early weed harvest this year, in the future in Feb/March board will contact Caleb to talk about timing. Few weeks prior to harvesting Caleb will contact board to adjust timing based on feedback. Overall board feels that later is generally better to try to maximize weed harvest.  Also that week pick-up be scheduled closer to 3 weeks post harvesting to allow ample time for weeds to roll to shore and homeowners to have time to collect 
    • Geese – At board’s request round-up occurred mid-July was lower than previous year. CLIA/residents can work with city next spring to help document where geese nests are (put on calendar)  
    • Beach closing – city now has our email listed and will notify CLIA of future treatments
    • CLIA sign at boat launch to contribute- city has policy concerns, decision by board not to pursue
    • City appreciation- Decision to draft a letter of commendation to Daryl thanking both he and Caleb and team for their help and responsiveness.  And invite them to attend picnic.  Paul will draft letter/ Dave will send

 

• Communications 
  • Calendar Updates:

• • • • Upcoming dates 9/9 Park clean up. 9/17 picnic
      • Put on calendar April/May residents help document location of geese nests. And March/April begin to talk with city about ideal time for weed harvesting. 

 

• Directory/Data
• Paul read note that Bob will send out to make sure information is correct. Board approved for Bob to send out.

• • • Member survey – Survey sent, reminder in newsletter and posted on Crystal Lake facebook page. Printed survey going out to 11 lake residents with no emails.  Good initial response. Will continue to work on getting more respondents.  Summary results will be ready in September

 

• Suggested newsletter items:
  • Save the dates -social activity dates: Park cleanup September 9 and September 17 picnic
  • Survey reminder

 

• Fish and Aquatics – Ted reported on-track to complete fish stocking end of October. 135 pounds will be stocked. Fish will be slightly smaller due to shortage of feed

 

• Weed and Algae – Algae treatment occurred as scheduled June 26, second treatment not planned

 

• Social

• • • • Third park cleanup September 9
      • Picnic plans/invites on track

 

• New business & topics for future meetings:
  • Discussed moving time of meeting, decision to remain at 7:30.
  • Discussed possibly skipping a quiet month or two of meetings and handling any business via email.  Never two months in a row. This would apply to quieter CLIA business months possibly September. Mike will email all a week or so before September meeting to see if can be handled via email.
  • Discussed advertising and sponsors. Potentials John Brick’s, realtors. Reviewed Lake Marion. Continue to consider and look into it
  • Potential future board members: Matt Uhle, Chris Burdick
  • Consider moving from Google docs to One Drive- Mike will look in to
  • Next meeting at Ted Lukan’s house. Possibly September 5 or October 3.

 

• Other items from previous meetings – Mike asked for copy of non-dues paying residents.  Bob will look in to pulling that list from his files

 

• Motion to adjourn 8:53pm – unanimously approved

Respectfully submitted,

Janet McGrath Mullin, CLIA Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes Addendum 

Dave’s Meeting notes with Caleb on July 31, 2023

Goose Round-Up

• When there are over 30 geese on the lake, the city is likely to contact the contractor to round-up as many birds as possible. The cost to mobilize the contractor is $2,000 and $20/bird.
• Early spring, the city hires the contractor to research nesting sites and oil the eggs to prevent incubation. This cost is much cheaper at $1,500 which covers the total process.
• Last spring season the contractor rounded up 40 birds. This year, early spring, the bird count was not sufficient enough. At the boards request, the round up happened mid July and only 12 birds were gathered.
• Items that would assist the city/contractor with the process:
  • Board members willing to offer their property for the round-up process.
  • Board members/residents plot nesting sites on a map. There were 3 on the island this year and the contractor did treat these eggs which reduced the number of goslings. (Put in newsletter April/May)
  •  

Weed Harvesting

• I did mention to Caleb that it didn’t appear the harvester covered as much territory as last year. He appreciated knowing this and will keep it in mind for next year. He indicated they harvest about the same amount of weeds every year.
• Best time to harvest? This is a difficult timing issue due to: heavy snow impact, ice out timing, temperature–all impacts speed of plant growth. The harvesting company has limited flexibility in their schedule due to other commitments. The cost to the city for weed harvesting is $30,000.
• Is a second treatment possible? The city wouldn’t prefer this, and the board would need to demonstrate need. If approved by the city, the cost would be split between the city and the association. The area to be harvested would be significantly reduced and the harvester would need to be available.
• Typically, Curley Leaf dies off early July
• Options:
  • Harvesting a week or two later in the season from past harvest dates reduces boat access in some areas until later in the season
    • This would create weeds floating from boat traffic before the weeds are harvested.
  • Caleb can contact a board member a few weeks prior to harvesting to evaluate weed growth from someone that lives on the lake. Adjust harvest date based on this information if possible. Generally board feels slightly later is better to maximize amount of weeds harvested, particularly when later ice-out dates

 

Weed Pick-Up

• Typically, weed pick-up is scheduled 2 weeks after the date has been set for the harvester. Again, this can be a bit tricky with scheduling because the city uses an outside contractor. Harvesting takes several days to complete and can be impacted by weather. This means the collection could be as soon as one week after the harvesting is completed. I mentioned to Caleb that maybe the date should be 2 or 3 weeks after the completion of harvesting. I told him I would let him know of the board’s decision. Board agrees closer to 3 weeks is better
  • Weeds are piled on the shore longer, if it’s hot there will be odor to contend with.

 

Beach Closing

• The beach could be closed for 2 main reasons
  • coli, the city has [email protected] for notifying the CLIA
  • City treats the beach area @ year, the area is closed for a day or two. They did not have the email listed for board notification. Caleb will add this address for future notifications.
• There was no beach closure this year due to E.coli

 

CLIA sign at the boat launch

• Questions from the city
  • Would other organizations request signage? If you let one……
  • Would contributors be included in association events/communication? I said no based on previous board discussions.
  • I mentioned the consideration of a lock box…..no comment
  • If CLIA is serious, the city would need to run past their attorney
  • Decision to drop idea due to complications

 

Eurasian Watermilfoil

• I received a map of the survey, no significant growth
• I did learn that milfoil will self-fragment. The milfoil is not just brought in by water craft, used docks/lifts or spread by weed harvesting.

 

City Apprceciation

• Some facts I gathered when considering if and how the board decides to show appreciation to city staff for all they do for Crystal Lake.
  • Individuals cannot receive outside gifts
  • There are 65 full time employees that work out of the public works department
  • The Natural Resources Division, 8 Staff
    • 4 staff in Forestry
    • 1 Coordinator
    • 2 Lakes, Habitat Management, Wildlife (Caleb coordinates this department)
    • 1 Supervisor, Daryl
  • Decision to write letter of appreciation and commendation and invite to picnic

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Dave Perron