LIA Membership Meeting
10:00 a.m. April 1, 2017 Celina Moose Lodge
Minutes:
Tim Lovett welcomed everyone to the members meeting and stood for the pledge of allegiance.
Tim Lovett gave the treasurers report for Ted Bertke. Tim said there is a checkbook balance of $46,169.53 as of now and around $9000 in the St. Marys Community Foundation.
Stan Wilker talked about the February dance which was held on February 25, 2017. Stan briefly spoke about the disappointing early end to this years music at the dance by saying the band technically met its obligation with the contract but would have liked to see them play a little longer. Stan noted that despite the bands early out the event had a huge turnout and did very well. Stan then thanked the community for all the donations and support for the event and asked for suggestions for next years band. Stan also noted on the Kids Fishing Derby for 2017.
Jeff Vossler & Mark Piening updated attendees on the new membership brochure and pricing model. Tim also noted that The LIA membership numbers are important and asked that Mark talk a bit about it. Mark talked about the email blasts and mailings that are going out. Mark said that 3 separate mailings will go out this year. 1. Personalized letter for current membership, 2nd. Personalized letter for members who have not renewed since 2014, and the 3rd. EDDM & every door direct mailing.
Mark Piening spoke about the upcoming Summer Kickoff which will be held on June 3rd. Mark said music will play all day with 3 bands including Mustang Sally and two local bands. He said there will be a 5k Color Run, Car Cruise In, Corn Hole and Beer Pong Tournaments, as well as vendors and beer sales. Mark wished for good weather and asked for volunteers.
Tom Knapke with The LRC: Tom talked about the LRC’s plans to add signage to stop 4 wheelers from damaging property. He also talked about carp removal and the plan to net them effectively since the last attempt failed due to nets getting caught on stumps. Tom said he plans to have plans for these items and others about water quality formed by the end of May. Tom also talked about aeration and areas of interest to install the aeration systems.
Teresa Dirksen with Ag Solutions was present to speak about her group and their progress. Teresa talked about manure removal and pilot projects. She noted on the successful Digestive Organics Pilot which was done back in December. She mentioned that she was approached by a group with a “Quick Wash Technology” that uses acid and lime to remove phosphorous in fertilizer for fields. She talked about the challenges and costs facing the new tech and sale of byproducts from it. She said she is working with the company to perform a full scale pilot in the area including a small scale pilot in the near future. Teresa also talked about the company named Fournier who wants to do a similar pilot. She said the processes from both pilots are similar and she needs to determine if it is worth performing due to their similarities. Teresa noted on a third pilot from the company Trident Process LLC which uses a process in Indiana and is perfecting it in hopes to bring it here to test. Teresa noted on a recent trip to North Carolina where she learned of a 35 Million Dollar facility that burns turkey manure and is funded by the government. She said the trips purpose was to check the plant out with some local farmers to determine the feasibility of doing the same thing locally. Teresa then talked about the pilots she has performed with Pit Additives saying results appeared to have little effect on phosphorous removal. Teresa talked about several other opportunities she is pursuing including St. Marys River testing, Saturated Buffet Tile research, Bioreactor research, Chickasaw Creek data research with WSU, and Habitat Monitoring in feeder Creeks. Teresa also covered for Jeff Keller with Soil and Water. She talked about the 9 element plan including projects to reduce phosphorous in soil and ultimately the lake. She noted on several projects including stream restoration and the incentivization of installing wetlands and buffers as well as the composting of manure. Teresa answered questions from members and said the power point from today’s meetings would go on The LIA’s website for everyone to check out.
Tom Grabow talked about dredge season. Tom said the dredges are being prepared and will be going out on the lake within the next week. He said Brutus is going to Coldwater Creek, Hoedag is going to the Boat Club and, Bayview is getting Pump a Little. He said the salt traps in Montezuma Bay along with several other areas will be worked on this year. He said he has two bids for new material pumps which pump twice as far as they are able to now and will allow for better and more efficient dredging. Tom asked the membership to inform him of any properties to use as DMRA’s in the future. He said he would entertain anything over 5 acres. Tom said he is looking forward to another successful year.
Dave Faler with ODNR updated the membership on lake developments. He said lake level is +2.44 Inches above the notch. He noted the crappie fishing is great. Dave said Dock Fees are due in May. Dave said mowing will start next week and the new facilities are now open. Dave said there are over 70 fishing tournaments on the lake this year which consist of Carppie and Bass not including any cat fish tournaments which is a great thing. Dave talked about Lake Cleanup Day whish is to be held on April 22. He said the event is an event where people bring trash bags and help clean up the lake areas and asked that members let him know if they can think of any ways to make the day more successful.
President Tim Lovett noted on his and Vice Presidents Mark Piening’s retirement from the LIA and their potential new replacements. The replacements that he has found to date consist of: potential President and current LIA Trustee Nick Rentz and potential Vice President and current Trustee Brian Morris. Tim said Nick and Brian are planning to run for the positions in November and he believes they will make great replacements for them to continue the tradition of the LIA.
Tim Lovett held a Q&A session for the membership.
Jeff Vossler drew the winner of the 50/50. Jeff Vossler won and donated his cut 35$ to the Kids Fishing Derby.
The Members Meeting concluded at 11:35am
Submitted by,
Eric Morris
Secretary
Lake Improvement Association