Horseshoe Lake Improvement Association

Spring Meeting: May 24, 2014

The meeting was called to order by president Steve Eichman at 9:35AM.

The treasurer's and secretary's reports were approved as written.

Pam Nelson reported that our last grant, scheduled to expire on July 31, was extended to December 31, 2014. She has a verbal agreement from the Wisconsin DNR to extend it again to December 31, 2015. This year 6.86 acres will be chemically treated. A map showing treatment sites was presented; a link to the map can be found on the website home page.

Our contract with SEH expires July 31. Dave Bloomer has left SEH to form his own company, LEAPS. MOTION made and passed unanimously that we sign a contract with LEAPS for $6,376. $3,800 of this will go for renewal of our aquatic plant management plan (due every 5 years).

LAKE DISTRICT INFORMATION:

Sue Rheingans spoke on the Lower Turtle Lake Management District, and Tom Schraeder spoke on the Beaver Dam district. It was especially interesting because the two lakes are so very different.

Lower Turtle has about 110 lakeshore homes and surrounding farmland is included in their management district totaling about 150 properties. They are in their 5th year of a $200,000 lake protection grant, whose main focus is to work with farmers to prevent runoff and shoreline improvement. Their annual budget is $6,000, which is divided equally among all district members. As members, the Rheingans' share is about $50/annually. They continue to have a lakeshore association, whose main function is social.

Beaver Dam has 541 parcels included in their management district, which was established in 1991. The lake is 4 miles long, with 19.8 miles of shoreline. Spring fed, it is 106" deep at its deepest. They have an annual budget of $180,000. Members pay by mil rate of .91-2, which is $92 on each $100,000 of taxable value.

The management district has a 7-member board, with rotation every 3 years. They have monthly meetings and an annual meeting, where the budget is presented. These are open meetings with attendance is going up. All members must receive a mailer 15 days before the meeting. They do not have a lakeshore association. They have control and boat monitoring grants. This year they have DNR approval for a weed control test program. They will heavily treat an approximately 700 acre bay, which will result in a lower concentration of chemicals throughout the lake. This is the first time this has been tried anywhere, and will be carefully documented.

Discussion followed the presentations.

We have about 100 paid members, or 40% of lake property owners. At present, our membership pays $50/year, covering 100% of costs to maintain the lake. Forming a Lake Management District would divide these costs fairly among all property owners and surrounding farms that directly affect water quality. A healthy lake improves property values.

Our interest survey for a management district had 127 responses of 131 surveys mailed.. Of the 69% of members responding, 100% said yes or maybe to considering forming a district. Of the 44% of non-members responding, 50% said yes/maybe. Many simply wanted more information.

It was suggested that members have small neighborhood "parties" to share information. There will be a "talking point" flyer posted on our web site. There are also links to more information on management districts.

Jim Perala reported that the collection box at the launch collected $10.00 (and $2 was his when he launched his pontoon!)

Landing cleanup is Saturday, May 31, 9:30AM. We need help! Mowers are Virginia, Joe, and Bruce. We hope to get Randy King to haul brush. Bring tools.

SNUBA is available through the Nackeruds.

Jack Sullivan passed a sign-up for volunteers to monitor the boat landing. He needs 20-25 people to commit to only 4 hours/season on Fridays. Saturdays, and Sundays. Contact Jack to sign up.

Jack is attending a Polk County class on monitoring on June 11 from 8:00AM-Noon at the Polk County Government Center. You are welcome to attend.

Tree drop permits have gone up from $25 to $303/site. Judy Mullin has 4 trees she would like dropped to provide fish habitat. MOTION made and passed that the association apply for a permit. Laura will do a presentation on shoreline restoration at the time. Plan to attend and we can fund it through our grant.

The buoys are out. We need a slow/no wake buoy for the entrance to Buckwalls Bay. Remember the slow/no wake buoys in the narrows are for PWCs only. Virginia Flo expressed concerns about the dangers of ski boats meeting in the channel. We will have information at our education fair.

Water clarity on 5/23/14 was 20 feet, good as ever seen!

With higher water levels, you can get a boat into Mud Lake.

Pam checked into the concern about weeds in Buckwalls. We would need a permit, but with current concerns about exotic species transfer permits are only issued where the township or association owns a harvester.

It was suggested that the fall meeting/picnic be moved to the County Line. Both Bone and Pipe Lakes hold their annual meetings there. Pam Nelson will check on cost and availability.

Meeting adjourned at 11:15AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Sam Lindquist, Secretary

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