Crystal Lake Improvement Association Board Meeting

November 29th 2022 – 7pm

Present: Brian Carlson, Bob Johnston, Cheryl Leitschuh, Dave Perron, Mike Robole, Paul Hillmer

Absent: Tom Harmening, Jeannine Currie, Brooke Fox

  • Meeting called to order (Brian) 7:03pm
  • Committee Updates & Ongoing Business

o Governance (Brian/Cheryl/Tom/Bob)

 

▪ Secretary’s review of prior meeting minutes -unanimously approved

▪ Treasurer’s report -unanimously approved

▪ Membership mailing is done and will be mailed Dec. 26ish.

▪ Neighborhood updates & member feedback – no new feedback

 

  • New houses up for sale/sold – no new listings/sales
  • Upcoming Calendar Updates -Annual mailing will go out Christmas week
  • External Relations

o The results of an 11/7/22 meeting to discuss lake level and the impact the new outlet may have

had was discussed. It was noted that Daryl Jacobson (Burnsville Natural Resources Manager)

confirmed that the consultants who designed the new outlet determined that lake level

averaged around 3” higher for the period of 2010 to 2020 with the old outlet in place than

levels after the outlet was replaced (earlier data was not analyzed). The old outlet was clogged

with significant accumulation of logs and debris that acted somewhat like a dam, keeping water

level higher than the intended elevation.

In 2 meetings with Daryl, it was made clear that neither the city nor the DNR would be open to

raising the lake level back to where it was with the old outlet in place. Daryl explained that the

DNR sets lake levels based on flood potential for homes and, even though the lake was higher

than intended for several years, there would not be support for raising the target level. Based

on this information, it was the opinion of the board that it would be fruitless to pursue this

further.

The board discussed the fact that the change that would occur to the lake level when the old

outlet and associated debris was removed was known by the engineering project team but not

communicated to lake residents/CLIA. It was decided that the CLIA should formally express

concerns about lack of transparency over this issue to the city and Tom Harmening will contact

the City Manager to follow up.

  • Communications (Jeannine/Tom/Paul)

o Digital Directory Update – Mike spoke with Kyle Bahr about the new digital directory and

determined what would be needed to create the online directory and set up advertising space

for the website. A motion was passed and unanimously approved to offer Kyle $600 as token

compensation for work on the directory. Security was discussed and it was decided that there

 

would be no direct link to the resident information database online but rather that it would be

present as a table that would be pasted into the site after each update. Additionally, Mike has

developed a draft policy for managing advertising that will be reviewed at the January board

meeting.

 

  • Algae, Weeds & Aquatic Invasive Plants

o The outcome of a meeting held on 11/7/22 with city staff (Daryl Jacobson and Caleb Ashling)

and Blue Water Science (Steve McComas) was reviewed. Crystal Lake has the benefit of a very

diverse aquatic plant population that has kept Eurasian Milfoil from becoming problematic.

Once present in a lake, Milfoil is very difficult to eradicate and treatment with herbicides will

also eliminate desirable plants. Neither Steve McComas nor Daryl Jacobson thought it was

worth treating for Milfoil and felt that it should be controlled in the future if it is present at the

lake surface in sufficient quantities to hamper boating.

o Mike is getting quotes for algae treatment for 2023 and is looking into whether grant money

may be available to offset some of that cost.

  • Fish & Aquatic Invasive Animals – no new updates
  • Social (Brooke/Jeannine)

o Brooke proposed an “ice out contest” where paid CLIA members could guess when ice will leave

the lake. She proposed a $30 budget for coffee shop gift cards for winners. A motion was made

and unanimously approved for the $30 budget with the caveat that an annual plan and budget

for social events be developed and approved.

 

  • New business & topics for future meetings (Brian) – Review draft advertising policy at January meeting
  • Meeting adjourned at 8:12