Meeting was called to order at 9:30 AM by president Harlan Meints. Harlan Madsen and Margaret Johnson were introduced as our guests.
The minutes of the 2016 annual meeting were read and approved.
The Treasurer’s Report was as follows:
We have 252 members presently.
We have $12,315.36 in savings and $7,767.52 in checking.
We have $14,286.97 in CDs for a total of $34,369.85
The report was approved.
Board members were introduced. The ones who were present were Bob
Meyerson, Harlan Meints, Gordy Behm, Tim Groshens, Ken Gutzweiler,
Becky Ricklefs, Diane Rivard. Board members to yet be approved and
present were Eric Hohman and Mark Streed.
Bills to be paid are $45.25 for toner, paper, and coffee and $65,50 for
mileage to Harlan. The doughnuts will also need to be paid for. All were
approved.
Harlan Madsen reported on the fact that broadband in the area was
dropped from the grant because Frontier and other providers have
promised they will upgrade their service to meet state standards within 2
years. There is no penalty if they don’t. There are not enough users in
some areas to get them to provide services.
The new road on County Road 4 from Highway 12 will be done in 2018.
Community meetings will be held at the Community Center in Atwater in
early to late August. There will be one-on-one communication with property
owners who will be affected. Funding is not 100% available yet. They got
$300 million this year to be shared statewide. The county is $2 million
short every year to maintain and improve roads. Other options for funding
are bonding and borrowing. A trail has been requested and has been
applied for federal grant money. This is best done in conjunction with the
building of the road. The county is also looking at doing something on the
east side of the lake. They are hoping to get a trail on that side also. If
people have questions, there are drawings available on the Kandiyohi
County website. It will take an additional $400,000 for a trail on the south
and west side of the lake. The East side would have to be a local effort. A
state grant could be applied for to help with that.
Margaret reported on the Hubbard/Wheeler/Schultz project. Diamond Lake
was declared impaired in 2006. The project will reverse the flow of water
through an underground piping system into County Ditch 28. Phase I was
completed last fall. Phase II will be done this fall. July 1 or later will be the
beginning of the drawdown. They are working to make sure they don’t
overflow Ditch 28. It is estimated that it will require a drawdown every 15
years. They are hoping to hold the drawdown to one year—can take up to
two years maximum. It will take 18 months to refill. Middle Fork Watershed
District will maintain the structure. Schultz will be the first drawdown, then
North Wheeler, South Wheeler, etc. They will not be totally dry—but nearly.
The drawdown will be in the winter when they hope for a hard freeze.
Schultz Lake will also be dredged.
Harlan reported that directories have been updated and can be
downloaded from the DLARA website. If residents to not have internet
access, they can pick up directories from Harv at 14249 Breezy Point
Road.
Becky, Bob, and Tim were reelected as board members. Eric Hohman and
Bob Schimerowski were elected to the board after being temporarily
appointed at an earlier meeting. Mark Street was also elected to the board.
Margaret showed a video of how the walleye eggs are collected on
Diamond Lake. 7.8 million eggs were harvested from Diamond this year
compared to 21 million last year. Harlan reported that 2 to 3 percent of
fertilized eggs make if when left in the lake. We get 10% of the total eggs
back as fry from the hatchery. 1.1 million fry and 21,000 fingerlings were
put back in Diamond this year. In 2016, 1.3 million fry and 47,000
fingerlings were put in Diamond. Some reasons for people catching less
walleye is the water is clearer and the number of predators in the lake is
high.
It was decided to get an updated list of people to call about sewer problems
and plumbers available in the area. Also a list of companies who will
maintain grinders will be compiled. This should be done every three to five
years.
PLM is the company who sprayed for curlyleaf pondweed this year.
Everyone helps pay for this with their taxes. We spent $8700 out of
$20000 available this year. We are still paying for the viewers and the state
—$25,000 over five years. The project is assessed for 15 years. We
received half of the $8700 cost was paid by the county AIS and the other
half from the Watershed. The spraying takes place before the other plants
are growing and we are not allowed to spray where native vegetation is
mixed in with the curlyleaf.
Tim went over the changes made in the bylaws.
Membership is open to any person that supports the mission of the
DLARA corporation.
Dues are valid through December 31 of each year.
The annual meeting will be the third Saturday of June each year with
the board having the discretion to change the date.
Notices of meetings of the board will be posted on the website and to
member of the board no less than 5 or more than 30 days prior.
A quorum will be 1/3 of the board members.
Directors can be reimbursed for expenses.
The changes to the bylaws were approved.
In other questions, an aerator is available for use by members and is at the
county park. Harlan has the key to the shed. Larry Stranberg inquired
about having a lake wide garage sale day. It was advised that he advertise
it in the paper.
It was moved, seconded, and approved to adjourn before 11:00
