Call To Order
· Beth Bush called the meeting to order at 9:57.
· Board Members present: Beth Bush, John Hedstrom, Jim Henderson, Ed Hummelt, Jim Nagle, Jeff Price, Julie Verhaalen, Beth Wells.
Action Items
· Beth Bush reviewed action items from the last meeting.
January Meeting Minutes
· January meeting minutes were approved as published
Treasurer’s Report
· Jim Henderson gave a detailed report of the PLPOA finances.
· Dues continue to come in.
· Received $800 from online merchandise sales.
· Remaining in a liquid state due in expectation of upcoming potential expenses for milfoil management.
Lake Health
· The DNR denied our grant application for funding milfoil management for three years from 2026-2029.
· The board had an extensive discussion about the implications of the loss of this revenue source, and next steps to improve our application for the grant next year to cover 2027-2030.
· The DNR scoring report of our application was transparent, giving clearer direction on what aspects of our application were weak.
· The feedback should give us good direction for reapplying for the funds.
· Surprisingly, we received a low score for Clean Boats Clean Water, indicating that we need to document our activities better this year.
· We will continue to work with Lake and Pond Resources to write the grant application for 2027.
· We agreed we should do a more formal review of the feedback we received and how we fell short.
· The Lake Health Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for March 14.
By-Laws
· The By-Laws Committee has worked through changes to the By-Laws in several areas.
· Julie walked us through a PowerPoint which highlighted changes in some key areas that the By-Laws Committee is recommending. These include:
o Eliminating the “nominating committee” for new board members.
o Changing the period of time that the new board will convene following its election at the Annual Meeting.
o What constitutes “quorum” for decision-making. After extensive discussion we agreed on verbiage that the committee presented.
o In Article 5, which details the duties of the board officers, the duties of the Secretary need to be revised, in large part because in the past 50 years, we have moved from “paper and postal” to online communication and record-keeping.
· As next steps, Jeff Price and Julie Verhaalen will discuss the future Secretary and Communications roles at the next meeting.
· All board members will review prior to the next meeting.
· Based on Board comments and suggestions, the sub-committee will draft a “final” document which be brought to the membership for approval.
· Once the Board is in agreement, we plan to put the board’s “final” document on the website with “key changes” noted.
· The spring newsletter will announce the potential changes and solicit membership comments.
· Certification will be done after membership approves with 51%
Lake Water Testing
· Jim Nagel has gathered all data available going back to 1953.
· We will use a testing method called Scecchi testing.
· Ground water testing of well water will provide us with data that we can monitor.
· UWSP will do the testing on April 8 and can recommend treatment options.
· ***I had trouble keeping up with the well testing conversation. This what I wrote, but I can’t figure out what it means***
Talked to Scecchi testing. Fred will bring a Cit Lake Mon Network who will do scecchi test on April 8. After sampling will do a lake management plan for a grant. Paul will recommend a treatment plan as needed.
Town of Springwater
· Beth Bush is checking on Porta Potties
· Waushara County will be brush cutting.
New Business
· Julie Verhaalen has revised and reorganized the PLPOA website to make it clearer and more navigable.
· We have an old lake map, with out-of-date membership rolls. Jeff Price will get new maps with updated membership rolls printed for distribution at the Annual Meeting.
· Picnic will be held on July 25. Bouncy house, dunk tank, and grill are reserved at Wood Street Rental.
· We will begin Annual Meeting planning at our April meeting.
Adjournment
· The next board meeting will take place at 10:00 on March 28 at Beth Bush’s house.
· The meeting concluded at 12:05.