Minutes oftheOctober 17, 2015
Regular Commissioners Meeting of the
JOHN’S LAKE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
The John’s Lake Management District commissioners meeting was held at First Merit Bank.
The meeting was called to order by Mark Theis at 9:00 am
Commissioners present: Mark Theis,Ted Miller, George Louthain, Paul Jarvis and Bernadette Krenz.
The agenda was presented as published for approval. Motion to approve/second/passed.
The minutes from the May 23, 2015 meeting have been mailed. A motion was made to approve/second/passed.
Treasurer’s report: Presented. Our current account balance is stable at over $8,000.
Accounts payable: George has no outstanding bills.
Old Business:
Budget planning: no substantial changes are anticipated in next year’s budget and the tax assessment of around $ 50 per property will remain stable.
New Business:
Meeting Frequency: It isn’t required that we meet more than once per year. Our bylaws state four meetings will occur annually. It’s proposed that the bylaws be updated to reflect one annual meeting per year and additional district meetings to be scheduled as needed. A motion was made to approve/second/passed.
Johnslake.org website: We own this address and pay a small fee every ten years to Godaddy. John Schmidt has turned over site maintenance to Ted who is uploading meeting minutes and other relevant material. It will continue to be maintained as an online source to view district documents.
Central Sands Water Action Coalition (CSWAC): Raymond “Skip” Hansen from Porters Lake was present to describe this organization’s purpose. They would like to preserve and maintain our beautiful lakes while recognizing the economic need to irrigate crops responsibly. Some lakes have suffered due to deep wells that aren’t getting replenished. Skip suggests that legislative decisions be based on science. There is no cost to our district if we join. Paul Jarvis and Bernadette have wells; Paul irrigates cropland and Bernadette has a well for their cows. It was helpful to have Paul provide perspective from the farmer who also wants to preserve our water resource. It was motioned that Johns Lake join CSWAC. This was seconded and passed.
Monitoring Well: This subject was on the agenda but it was quickly agreed that we don’t need to pursue this. The county has several monitoring wells which are already in place. Paul pointed out that well owners report their pumping output to the DNR.
Johns Lake Management Plan: Several corrections were suggested to the first draft and these were included in the circulated plan. We agreed that we don’t anticipate converting a fixed portion of homeowner frontage to native land. That would be up to individuals to accomplish. We discussed our district efforts to battle invasive species. This plan is being developed at no cost to our district. Should we ever need to pursue grant funding for any project, a lake plan that is current will go a long way towards getting state support. In summary we have a healthy lake with minimal invasive species issues that we want to keep in check. The updated Lake Plan was accepted and will be forwarded to the County for approval.
Individual Commissioner’s Comments:
Paul Jarvis noted that Town assessments are generally less than previous years. Members will wait to see if the mill rate changes to compensate for the lower property values. Costs to maintain roads continues to increase. The town bought a wood chipper to offset rental costs and decrease labor costs. It was suggested that the county consider providing a drop off location possibly at a waste site where residents could bring brush. This would also fit in with our plan to reduce the risk of wildfires.
Bernadette also noted that costs are increasing to perform county services.
Individual Members Comments: None offered.
10:15 am Motion to adjourn/second/passed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ted Miller, Secretary
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