Warner Lake Improvement Association February 2006 Minutes page

Minutes from the February 12th, 2006 meeting.

CALLED TO ORDER
The February 12th, 2006 meeting of the WLIA was called to order at 2:07 p.m. by President Osterhout. Approximately 41 members were present.

Secretaries report -
August 2005 minutes were read by Stacy Loucks. Willard Osterhout made a motion to receive the minutes as read, Jerri Osterhout seconded the motion. All members present were in favor.

Treasurers report -
The balance in the checking account is $2,250.23. The balance in the dam account is $17,507.89. Total of both accounts is $19,758.12. There are 77 paid member as of today, a record for this time of year. Raffle - expenses are already paid for the raffle and we have received a great deal of tickets back already so we are in good shape. Boat Launch - Total cost was $2,348.55. Could have been $500.00 cheaper but there was a lot of cleanup needed so we decided to pay to have it done so that Willard would not have a mess there. The launch is 100% now. Amy Anderson stated that they have not been able to sleigh ride down it yet to test it, but she would let us know. Willard made a motion to accept the Treasurers report, Zeb Pulliam seconded. All were in favor.

OLD BUSINESS-none

NEW BUSINESS
Willard Osterhout - The Boat races did not occur last September when gas prices went to over $3.00 a gallon. Mr. Boyle, President of SORA, is here today to speak to us about the boat races and what their thoughts are regarding them. We will discuss the races, but there is such a small cross section of association members here today because of the weather, that I'm not sure that we can make a decision on this until we contact, probably by telephone, a bigger majority of the lake association members to get a feeling on whatever he comes up with today. Mr. Boyle discussed the reasons the races were cancelled. Racers pay for everything themselves and they didn't want to come to the lake with only 10-15 boats. They felt that it would not be entertaining for the people who came to see the races with such a small number of boats. They are looking at racing June 10th and 11th because the September dates are already taken. We hope to be doing it early enough that there won't be a lot of swimming at that time. Mr. Boyle opened the floor to question. He also mentioned the donations to WLIA and the Helderberg Rescue Squad, and briefly discussed the water rescue team that will be there. They plan on doing some water rescue training with the Ambulance Squad prior to the races. Cheryl Jones asked how many boats and what sizes they were, SORA explained that there are a lot of different classes based on size and weight. They also discussed the different styles of boats and motor categories. Willard stated that a majority of this was discussed at our August meeting. Stacy Loucks stated that the details of the races were in the August minutes that were posted on the web site. Willard - the key issue was that we did away with September, is there opposition to doing it in June? We can't do it in September again. Those dates are gone. Are we receptive to having them that first week in June or are we not. If were not than it is a mute case. The other thing that concerns me is the number of members here today. It is not a true representation of the Lake Association. We would have to contact a lot more members of the Lake Association before a decision can be made. Willard asked for concerns about having the races the beginning of June. There was an open discussion about the kids getting out of school at the end of September. Residents start coming up Memorial Day weekend, but the Lake isn't busy until the kids get out of school. The races are 4-6 hours, depending on the number of entries. So if they start at 10:00 am, they would finish around 2:00 pm. Therefore there could be lake activity before and after the races. Keith Kodra asked if you could watch from a boat. SORA responded yes, but the number of boats would need to be limited. Willard stated that there are not that many boats on the lake at that time of year. SORA said that the race would cover most of the lake so you should be able to watch from your docks as well. Bill Lichliter will help with parking for the boats and trailers. Willard - parking was one of the main problems because we cannot have parking along the main road. Willard wanted to know what the member's feelings were on contacting the greater number of members that were not present. There was only one negative vote at the last meeting and we had over 30 members present at the August meeting. A discussion was held regarding the difference between September and June. Willard received a letter from a member in Long Island. The letter addressed all of the concerns that were discussed at the August meeting. He tried to explain the difference between past events on the lake and this one. He explained that this is a nice event and did not seem like a big deal and is not really destructive. They told him that they had heard a lot of people opposed when they were at the Maple Inn. Willard asked them why the opposed were not at the meetings. If they are Lake Association members, and don't come to meeting and support the association, then what are we suppose to do about that. Don't sit at the Maple Inn and say your not for it and not come to meetings. Willard feels that more input is needed. Phone calls need to made from an updated mailing list to find out members input. This needs to happen by the end of the month to let SORA know. Bob Dollar suggested a post card ballet. Willard - it would probably cost about $100 to do a post card mailing. Non-profit was discussed, but we are not a non profit Willard stated. The mailing would have to be returned by the end of the month as well. Jerri Osterhout pointed out again that there is not a lot of lake traffic until after school is out. Keith Kodra stated that he doesn't think that it is just a question of boats on the lake but people who own property on the lake. Willard was concerned that people that were not at the meetings would not know what we were talking about with the post card mailing. Bernie Nagengast mentioned that there would have to be time limit on the post cards return. Willard said that it would have to be the end of February. Stacy Loucks said she would put all of the information on the web site so that members who were not present at the meetings could access the information about the races. A suggestion was made to take a vote at this meeting. Willard didn't want to do that because he feels the weather played a role in the meetings attendance. Usually the February meeting has a good turn out. Willard stated that some of the members that are usually present were not here today and he feels that it is because of the weather. He would like to give them an opportunity to voice their opinion. Willard pointed out that every member of the association has an equal right to vote, whether they live on the lake or not. He also stated that members would have to go to the web site to get the details on the races. We just send out a detailed letter with the time frame that we have. SORA said that they would email pictures to the web master to add to the information that was on the web site. The way the votes would be counted was discussed. Willard stated that it would be a majority rules vote. The phone calls were mentioned again but as Willard pointed out, some members would not know what we were talking about and it would not be possible to have a detailed conversation about the races with each member. A discussion ensued about how to count the post cards. It was decided that a vote would not be counted unless we received a response. Bob Dollar made a motion that a post card mailing be done. There were concerns about which mailing list to use for the mailing. Willard stated that last years membership list be used because this years is not complete yet. Willard asked that any member present at the meeting vote in Lee's mailing list to save on post card costs. Willard stated that there was a motion on the floor. Keith Kodra seconded the motion. All were in favor. Last years membership will be used to do the post-card mailing. Lee will be preparing the post cards. A long discussion ensued as to how the post-cards should read. The end result was the post-cards will be sent with a short explanation and a yes or no to check off. The post-cards have to be returned by February 28th to be counted.

Walleye Committee - Keith stated they have been catching quite a few this winter despite the ice conditions. Last fall approximately 1200 were released. We don't know if they are breeding yet. This was the last year for stocking. We have about $300.00. It was mentioned why the lake is only stocked with Walleyes, Willard mentioned that walleyes seemed like the logical fish to stock, trout have not done well and there are plenty of bass.

Dam Committee - Willard stated that there was a repair that was completed.

Historical Committee - Willard watches for old postcards and pictures to purchase for the lake association. The collection is growing.

Family Day Committee - Willard mentioned that we were about 20 families shy last year for breaking even. A chair person is needed to coordinate the food and games so that Willard and Jerri can enjoy the picnic. They don't mind having it at their house. Suggestions were discussed about family day. Amy Anderson suggested planning by the alphabet. Willard asked if Family day should continue. We are losing $200-$300 a year. Willard asked that everyone think about it for the June meeting because there were not enough members present to make a decision. Pot-luck was suggested. Then we wouldn't have all the cooking to do. Stacy Loucks suggested a different time frame, possible 1-5 instead of all day. The ponies are cheaper late in the day when she is on her way home. Willard said we would discuss more details at the next meeting and we would keep Family Day on the 15th.

Dinner Dance - Willard - Again we took a beating on this. We expected more people than who showed. Price was discussed. Thompsons Lake only came with a few people. We can lower the count we give them. Keith suggested getting money ahead of time. A costume party was suggested. Hors de oeuvres were also suggested. Willard suggested that we revisit this in June.

Website - Many new items on site. Amy Carlson sent in a lot of pictures, dock removal, beach, flood, weed picking. There are Ice Shanty pictures up. There were 1, 227 hits as of 1:30 today. The guest book is down, to many people signing it that have nothing to do with the lake or lake association. A suggestion was made to have the entry sent by email first. Willard asked that people send in pictures to be put on the website. He also stated that there were pictures on the website of the launch work. He did not take pictures the day that Mr. Rockmore came down with his Kaboda Tractor and he and Bob Rivers worked all day spreading the crusher run so the launch would be ready for concrete.

Keith Kodra asked about the weeds, Willard stated that we used to have a weed committee but we don't any more. There is information on the website about pulling the water chestnuts. Keith said he knew someone that put an old box spring in his pond. Everyone has been picking the water chestnuts. They have to be picked all the time to keep any control of them.

Willard - We are approaching 350 copies of the first book. We are working on a second book titled Life along the way. It is encompassing all of the hamlets of Berne. Which includes Reidsville, Warners Lake, Thompsons Lake, East Berne, South Berne, West Berne, and Gallupville. This book will mainly be pictures. At present, we are about 250-275 pages. The cost of this book will be lower, we are eliminating all color. We are looking to sell it at a profit of 4-5 dollars for the Lake Association. It is a worthwhile project for the Lake Association to sponsor. I brought the section of Warners Lake for you to see today. By June, I will done with this. I will have a sample book made and have some idea of cost. Then I may entertain a motion that the Lake Association fund and print this. We made a little money on the last one. We will have a much larger audience this time with all of the hamlets of Berne being included. I also thought to put it on Ebay. Book stores take 30% or more of your sale. We have pictures of the first hotel built in Thompsons Lake in 1876. Built by Milton Harts great Grandfather. This book is going to be pretty impressive.

Willard - Is there any other business that anyone would like to discuss. There was no response.

A moment of silence was held for Elizabeth Purcell, Dr. Purcell's wife.

ADJOURNMENT
Willard Osterhout motioned that we adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Jerri Osterhout. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 3:20.

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