Horseshoe Lake Public Inland Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District Commissioner Meeting

May 13, 2023 at Beaver Town Hall

Call to order at 9:00 AM by Commissioner Steve Eichman with all commissioners in attendance.

2022 Annual Meeting Minutes: meetings were reviewed and approved. They are posted on the hlake.org website.

Treasurers report:
Current check balance is $20,133.52 in addition to the $12.717.83 currently in CDs. Joe also shared the final report on actual 2002 expenses. No surprises, just moved the boat landing dollars into 2023 as it hasn't been completed yet.

Wrapping up 2020-21 Planning Grant:
We had been granted a 12-month extension to complete this (due to delays resulting from COVID). All of the activities and expenses were completed by the end of 2022 and are in the process of preparing final expense and volunteer hour document so they can be submitted for reimbursement by June 30. We are expecting approximately $9,000 in additional reimbursement (had received an advance back in 2020).

Milfoil Control and Research Grant:
We did submit and received a Milfoil control grant for 2023 to cover the use of ProxellaCOR, DASH Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting or manual removal (if needed), pre- and post-surveys (Berg) and LEAPS time. The total grant cost requested was $39,297.79, with 75% of this will be covered by the DNR (already got $7,368.34 advance). We may not spend all of this, but the big pieces of this are the ProxellaCOR treatment, surveys and water testing associated with the research part of the project (on how effective ProxellaCOR vs the less expensive granular 2,4-D product we have used on the past). We can use volunteer time to cover part of our share of the cash expenses and do not expect our overall cost to be more than the $6000 we had budgeted for 2023 treatment costs. Expecting treatment cost will be around $11,000 for 6+ acres of treatment.

Clean Waters, Clean Boats Grant:
We submitted and received a grant again for boat landing monitoring (up to $4000, with a 75% cost-share). Pam Nelson has agreed to be the CWCB volunteer coordinator for 2023. This is part of our 5-year lake plan - to put in at least 200 hours of monitoring at the boat landing. However - since we have not been able to secure enough volunteers the past three years, we have contracted with LEAPS for 160 hours of their time with a young man from the area. Our goal will be to have enough volunteer hours to cover most or all of that cost.

Boat Landing Update:
Beaver Township board is still committed to moving forward on getting the boat landing work done. The project has been signed off on, but will need to go out for formal bids (due to township rules). The other challenge will be how to replace the upper concrete pads that ice has damaged (and what the cost of that will be). We also need to find a way to remove the old No Power Loading sign on the right of the dock).

Directory/address changes:
We were in the final stages of updating the directory (with Mike updating the map with new numbers and properties), when we received the notice that Polk County is changing many of the fire numbers and street names as part of their 911 compliance requirements. So, we will put this on hold until we get complete information from Polk County Zoning and Turtle Lake Post Office.

Social and Training Activities:
We continue to look for social opportunities to involve lake owners. Currently planning BYOB Cocktail party at Waldo's on June 10th and the 1st Annual Horseshoe Lake Greased Watermelon Tournament coordinated by Pam Nelson. Will also have Lake Day training with LEAPS in July as well. Craig Nackerud continues to take the lead on our FaceBook page and Mike Foster on the website.

New business

Postcard mailing:
We have emails from about 60% of owners, but decided not to rely totally on the website or Facebook to communicate summer activities. So we are going to do a postcard mailing yet this month.

High Water Issues:
With the record high water levels from the fast snow melt, we put up a temporary sign at the landing to maintain Slow Wake on the entire lake and No Wake in narrows to minimize damage to the shoreline. We cannot "require" it, but we can "recommend" it. We also contracted for removal of some additional beavers this spring as the dams were contributing to the high-water levels.

Discussed researching what process what permanent ordinance we could put in place for restricting wake under emergency situations. Question would be how to document when water levels are too high and how/if we could enforce any wake restrictions.

Lake Level/Guage:
This is placed annually by Polk County to track water levels annually from May to October. Thanks to Tom Ludy for taking the lead on this for the past three years. This will be installed at Joe Waldo's dock sometime in the next week or two. This is a more accessible location and the volunteer time spent doing the regular readings is part of our control grant.

Dog Control Issues:
The township asked us to remind everyone about dog licenses and the requirements to keep dogs in yards and under control. This is especially an issue in the summer. The township has animal control ordinances that allow for unlicensed and/or uncontrolled animals to be picked up by animal control person, with a cost of up to $250 plus boarding costs. Roxy will check to see if the township is okay with giving out that phone number.

Long-Term Lake Support:
Dave Blumer is planning to discontinue his business at the end of 2023. Once we know for sure what his plans our, we can discuss this at a future time.

Property Cleanup Issue:
Polk County is working with a property owner on the northeast corner of the lake to secure a voluntary agreement to cleanup the old boats, vehicle and other debris on property.

Meeting adjourned at 10:15 AM.
Next commissioner meeting will be held in July or August to finalize plans for annual meeting.

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