BLUE SPRING LAKE MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

Board of Commissioners Meeting

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Palmyra Town Hall

MEETING MINUTES

ROLL CALL: Jim Hochman, Jim Roland, Joe Nuspl, Larry Larson and Chris Hodges were present.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

A Motion was made to approve the Agenda and Minutes from May 28, 2011 Informational Meeting by Larry Larson, 2nd Joe Nuspl by and approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT –

We are currently doing well on our 2011 budget and our numbers are down to date.

Proposed 2012 budget – the board reviewed the proposed numbers, noting a small increase of 3% on the tax levy to help us be able to put money back into our funds that have been cut into in the past few years. Jim Hochman will look into whether or not 3% tax increase can be done according to state laws at this time.

One problem we have right now is that we have a couple of jet skis that are causing problems when Dick cuts the weeds. We need to address boating safety issues with residents at the Annual Meeting.

SEWER REPORT

ITT Flygt is coming in 2 weeks for the annual maintenance with Greg. This fall is the sewer testing and draw down test. The WPDES report is completed and needs approval to send in.

A Motion was made by Joe Nuspl, 2nd by Jim Roland and passed to amend the 2010 Annual Meeting Minutes to reflect the Motion that was made, 2nd and passed regarding the Proposal to Amend User Charge System for Municipal Waste Water Treatment Services Dated February 21, 1990.

Greg needs 14 new locks for the lift stations as we’ve had somebody using electricity off of the stations.

Jim Hochman has been in contact with Paul Schmidt and asked him questions about the sewer contract negotiations. The current Agreement is dated April 3, 1993 and expires on April 3, 2013. We need a committee of people including Greg because he knows the system. We need counsel, Paul Schmidt, or others as well to ask about intergovernmental cooperation and experience they may have with this. The committee should also have the District treasurer and president and possibly Frank Shuler as well – as an advisor to the committee for historical purposes. Greg suggests it would be beneficial to the district to look into obtaining new flow monitoring equipment that will help with calculations. He will obtain proposals for submission to the Board.

OPERATIONS REPORT

Lake and Pond Solutions Co. report was presented. They came out and did a study on the types of weeds in the lake and the problem areas. The report suggests that we can do something about the milfoil problem areas for approximately $9,000. Another weed they noted was Chara (carpet weed). We cannot harvest this weed because it is protected. Chara absorbs minerals and becomes crunchy A cloudy orange scum had been on the lake in early summer and was probably present because of the late summer.

If we are going to seriously think about spraying, we should look into getting additional bids. (We used to use Marine BioChemists) We are not suggesting that we spray at this time, but we would put a line item into the 2012 budget so that if we choose to spray, it is something that will be able to be done when we need the money. If we spray it will be beneficial for a few years and it will cut down on some labor costs for each of those years.

In future communications – emphasize to residents that that rocks cannot go into the weeds that are on the piers. Residents should put cut weeds on piers and not on the shoreline. It is hard for the harvester to get into the shoreline if it is too shallow. If there are areas where picking up weeds is a problem, the weed harvester will communicate this to the residents.

Labor costs this year are significantly down. According to our DNR harvesting permit, we cannot cut weeds in less than 3 feet of water. This makes our small weed cutter’s use lessened significantly. In the future we may have to have the small harvester working 2 or 3 days instead of 5. The hours of labor are down because the small harvester cannot be used to cut certain areas of 3 feet or less. The weather has been a factor in weed growth and cutting necessity. The weed harvesting crew is also working more efficiently and didn’t start cutting until June because of the late summer.

The compost site is cleaned up significantly. Some of the problems we were having with people dumping large branches have been cleared up.

DAM REPORT

We need to have a hydraulic shadow report completed for the dam pursuant to the DNR regulations for dams. It is something that needs to be done. Chris Hodges acquired one quote and will look into getting additional quotes. It may be beneficial to call Rob Davis to find out what others companies would do hydraulic shadows and what kind of report is most beneficial for our lake.

By January 1 we need the Inspection, Operation and Maintenance plan updated. Jim Olson has a template for this that he is working on. We also have to have 2 permanent benchmark markers off the dam so that during a flood all benchmarks can be safely accessed.

Letters did go to the residents regarding changes they needed to make on their embankments.

OLD BUSINESS

The Annual Meeting Agenda was looked at and finalized. Jim Hochman and Joe Nuspl will run again. Anybody is welcome to be a write-in candidate.

Lake research on the narrows: the buoys have been moved and safety issues have been lessened at this time. We should wait at this time to do the research since the buoys seemed to have helped.