October Board Meeting

WHITE SAND LAKE ASSOCIATION MEETING MINUTES
OCT. 25, 2021

Call to order

Present: Brian Wallace, Bob Nelson, Dan Larson, Bill Samardich, Jennifer Pedersen
Not Present: Mike Bialka, Derek Hendrickson, Matt Pecharich

Approval of the September meeting minutes

Approved

President’s report: Brian Wallace

  • Presentation of clothing options (Joel Clough)

    • Brian shared the document from Joel with the clothing and merchandise. 25% of proceeds will be paid back to the association.

    • Board approved moving forward with this

    • Facebook, website and email will be sent to promote

    • Flyers to 27 residents that don’t have emails will be sent snail mail

    • If successful we could do this again in the spring and raise the price some to make if more of a fundraiser

  • Thoughts on milfoil treatment

    • The treatment went well and it appears that a lot of milfoil has disappeared. We will know more in the spring and early summer. David Hillstrom has been very helpful in this process and is open to all questions.

Reports of the board

  • Bob Nelson (Treasurer)

    •  2021 Income: $19,535 (Grant money of $3K still coming)

    • Expenses: $23,280

    • PLM has been paid for 2021 work

    • 27 non email residents: has list to send info only to them cutting mailing costs for regular updates

    • Sent mail to some owners that don’t live on the property and received some donations. There are 4-6 VRBO properties.

    • We will need to get creative in order to raise significant money for AIS treatment each year. Please be thinking!

  • Dan Larson (AIS) 

    • Has submitted all documents to receive county grant

    • Will look into other grants and grant cycles. May need to start the application process early if we are looking for money from the DNR.

    • Spring or early summer treatment is something that we are all very interested in.

    • December 15th is the Lakes and Rivers Association online meeting. 

  • Loren Beilke (Water Level/Shoreline Care) 

    • Ditch 10: This issue is not going away. There will need to be maintenance on the ditch to keep water coming in during dry spells and water going out during high water spells. Can we solicit the county for maintenance costs or explore an assessment district? 

    • Tim Brey is a possible contact guy at the county level

    • Would like to see a membership meeting this winter. This would be a chance to describe ditch 10 and update on milfoil treatments. We can also invite someone like Landsburg to demonstrate what can and cannot be done to lakeshores and possibly give some ballpark figures on costs.

    • Should we invite Red Sand Residents to the meeting? 

  • Matt Pecharich (Membership) 

  • Derek Hendrickson (Fishery/Water Quality) 

    • Many people are taking max limits and residents are seeing a quick decline in the fishery. Requests have been made to the DNR for possible local bag limits but nothing has been proposed at the DNR level. 

    • Walleyes are becoming very hard to find

    • Can we get an updated stocking report from the DNR? The only info available from the DNR website is 20+ years old.

    • Secchi Disk readings and water samples were taken. This information was submitted to the laboratory. 

  • Jennifer Pedersen (Social) 

    • Merchandise created by Jennifer and Shari Nelson will be set up on the website for purchase. Bill will make it active when he receives the info.

    • A social is planned for Dec. 5th lakeside at the Pedersen’s house. Info will be emailed, mailed and posted on Facebook and our website. 

  • Bill Samardich (Communications)

    • Information was shared about the usage of the website. Very detailed information is garnered on how many hits and from where they are coming from. May and Sept. were the busiest months but overall the usage is low.

    • 65 people used the site to make payments to the association.

    • An open for comment Blog has been set up on the site. More people using the site builds a stronger association

    • A lost and found tab may be set up soon. 

    • The site could be used as a place to auction items for fundraising. This has great potential to raise money for the association!

Old Business

New Business or Action Items

  • Fundraisers? Would someone be willing to organize a tour of White Sand resident homes for Christmas and promote it as a fundraiser? 

  • Call Baxter city hall to inquire about VRBO type properties on the lake to see if there is an ordinance in place to regulate.

  • Set up a membership meeting at Baxter City Hall and organize a guest speaker. We should include David Hillstrom from PLM for Q&A.

  • Request DNR updated information on stocking and survey numbers.

  • Can we round up some items to auction on the site by late winter? I know Bill mentioned something about hitting up a few sports businesses. Do we as board members have items to donate to an auction fundraiser?