Horseshoe Lake Public Inland Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District Annual Meeting

Meeting Date: September 19, 2020 at Beaver Town Hall

Call to order at 9:00 AM by President Steve Eichman with approximately 18 people in attendance and another 16 attending via Zoom. A moment of silence was held in memory of two long-time lake residents who have passed away: Jim Perala and Jack Sullivan - both who did so much to support lake activities for many years.

2019 minutes were not read, but posted on HLIA website and were approved.

Current Status of Lake
Steve gave a quick update on the status of Horseshoe Lake. The past 12 months have been focused on recovering from the tornado, with many repairs completed on homes and cabins, but still more to be done on several. For the most part - people were diligent on trying to minimum run-off into the lake as stumps were pulled and other repairs were made, but still need to focus on this. We know we have had more soil going into the lake then normal, so owners should look at this as an opportunity to do permanent shoreline improvements focus on the long-term needs of the lake.

Dave Blumer from LEAPS attended the meeting and presented a detailed update on the lake health and what can/should be done for its long-term care. A copy of his presentation has been posted on the hlake.org website. Deep snow cover on the ice this winter delayed spring plant growth of Milfoil and resulted in only very small areas of infestation this spring (which is great). Because it was under 2 acres (most in and around Buckwall Bay) - the DNR did not allow us to do any spraying in 2020. The high water levels most of the year also helped minimize milfoil growth and the summer whole]lake survey only saw scattered plants with the only larger are being to the left before you go into Mud Lake. He again reminded people to pull individual milfoil plants if they see any. A plant pulled today may save a $1,000 of spraying in two years.

Also seeing more Purple loosestrife on Horseshoe and spent an afternoon cutting plants on the east end of the lake along the public land and in Buckwalls Bay. Thanks for Craig and Laura Nackerud for also monitoring and cutting plants they found. Again - if you see plants on your lake shore, cut them before they go to seed and dispose of the plants (burn or landfill).

The other thing we need to be vigilant for is Zebra Mussels. Once they are in the lake - there is not a lot that can be done. We do have two zebra mussel plates in the lake (to see if we have them) and have been monitoring them this summer. With COVID - we were not able to do much for boat inspections at landing. But make sure your own boats and the boats of any of your lake guests are clean and live wells are empty before putting them into Horseshoe and do the same as you remove them. Also as you take out your docks and lifts this fall, make sure you (or whoever removed them) does a quick inspection to make sure you donft see any. We will be updating signage at boat landing next spring.

Financial Report
Current Balances: Lake District Money Market: $10,761.82 (which includes $6,933 in advances from CWCB and Lake Planning grants) and $17,840.85. in CDs (includes $12,500 Emergence Invasive Weed Fund).

Two major positive variances for 2020 are that we did not end up spraying for milfoil (spring survey did not show enough areas to qualify for permit) and that we were approved for a two year lake planning grant, which will cover 75% of the 2020 and 2021 expenses related to updating our lake management plan in 2021. Move and seconded. Approved Approved.

Shoreline Renovations
Just remember to use silt fence and erosion control mats when doing any renovations along your shoreline (and get permits if the amount of disturbed area requires it). There are many best practices owners can do to keep the lake clean. Rain gardens, native plantings (benefits include less water, better adapted, survive winter, feed wildlife), runoff diversion strips, and French drains (infiltration trenches) drains. If property owners are interested, there are Wisconsin's Healthy Water grants available from state See http://tinyurl.com/healthylakes. Potential cost - share grant award is $1,000 per project, with a maximum of $25,000.

Lake Management Plan and DNR Grants
Our five]year lake management plan is due to be updated by the end of 2022 and re-writing our Aquatic Plant Management Plan including whole-lake plant survey work will need to be done. We did get a planning grant for cost-sharing required work that needs to be done in 2020 and 2021. The planning grant also included funding for some other projects that will require volunteers. Again - some of this will get pushed off into 2021, so will be looking for volunteers. We also were awarded a Clean Water/Clean Boats grant, but landing inspections were restricted by DNR due to COVID. Remember - with grants, volunteer hours are important to minimize the amount of cash we need to spend vs what we get back.

Sewer and Sanitary Discussion
Tom Ludy lead a discussion on past experiences around discussion of sanitary and sewer issues on the lake. This was discussed years ago, but the idea did not go over well. But over the past 10 years – more and more of the “cabins” on the lake have turned into much larger permanent or seasonal homes and the majority still only have holding tanks. Constant pumping of holding tanks is required (sometimes more than monthly) and this is expensive and usually just mean your untreated waste is getting dumped on a field somewhere (and potentially finding its way into the water system). The Village of Turtle Lake is in the planning process for future expansion of its sanitary system (which is near or over capacity), so if we would ever be interested in tying into that in the future, we need to be having those discussions with the village now.

After significant discussion, a motion was made for Tom Ludy and the Lake District to investigate what sanitary options might be available and then pass that information on to Lake District residents for further discussion – up to the point of which a finance commitment would be required. Motion passed (again – no financial commitments, just have discussions, then education and inform lake district owners).

Boat Landing
The boat landing is a very important part of our lake. It is owned, managed and maintained by Beaver Township and is a public landing - open to anyone to use (neither township or lake district can restrict access). A dock was donated to the township this spring and they made the decision to put it out at the boat landing to aid boats getting in and out. There was discussion around the increased number of people fishing and swimming off the dock, with both pros and cons discussed.

The township paid to have the landing cleared of the down trees last summer, but their budget is stretched thin and they do not have resource available to do any more tree trimming or removal at this point. The TL Volunteer fire department cleaned up the branches still on the ground with local resident help and will burn those two piles of brush when appropriate. There was a brief discussion on whether the lake district should consider taking over ownership and maintenance of the boat landing, but that was not generally thought to be a good idea (partially due to liability).

B&Bs and Rentals
There was concern about the increase presence of rental properties on the lake and the potential impact this has from renters who do not know (or follow) boating regulations. Polk county does have shoreland ordinance for renters with a list of rules that is supposed to published and posted in each property. Sam Lindquist and Linda Christianson agreed to look into and maybe create a one-page "reminder" list of lake rules to share with all lake owners (and publish on website). We will also check into what our legal authority is, as a lake district, to create our own rules for our lake and also to be able to potentially do our own lake patrols to help enforce these (or at least stop people and remind them of the rules).

Commissioner Election
Tom Ludy's three-year commission term has expired. Tom and Craig Nackerud were nominated for the position and a vote was held among the members physically present at the meeting. Tom Ludy was reelected to a new three-year term in a close vote. Steve Eichman's term will expire in 2021 and Joe Waldo's in 2022.

Lake Directory
A lake member update form was included as part of the meeting announcement mailing to gather updated information to be included in a new lake directory. Over 70 forms have been returned so far. To reduce the cost of printing a paper copy of the directory, a PDF version will be created and distributed to those people who return the form. A list of all owners will be included (public information) plus the contact information received. This will be a winter project to be completed by March 1.

2021 Budget.
The main change for 2021 will be expenses related to required updating our Five-Year Lake Management Plan required by the DNR. However, we have been approved for a 75% DNR planning grant which will offset a significant portion of these expenses. Here is a link to the summary of activities: 2020-21 Planning Grant Activities.pdf. It is important to have volunteer hours in 2021 to increase our grant reimbursement and reduce our net expenses.

The budget was discussed and approved. A motion was made and passed to maintain the tax assessment at $9,300 for 2011 (average of appr. $17 per $100,000 property valuation across the $55MM in total valuation within lake district). We have cash reserves to cover the difference (while still maintaining our $12,500 emergency fund). Any additional volunteer hours will also increase our grant reimbursement. We will be reach out next spring for volunteers to help coordinate as assist in our 2021 activities and projects.

        

Formal meeting adjourned at 10:14.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Joe Waldo - Lake District Secretary/Treasurer
Horseshoe Lake Public Inland Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District

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