Lake James Property Owners Association, Inc.

Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

LJPOA MEETING MINUTES
April 21, 2007

Call to Order:
LJPOA Board Meeting was called to order at 1:05pm by Tim Hughes. Meeting took place at the home of Tim Hughes.

Old Business:
November/2006 LJPOA Board Meeting minutes were presented for review and approval.

• Motion made by Al Walker to accept the November/2006 LJPOA Board Meeting minutes as written and presented.
• Motion Second by Dan Nelson
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Treasurer/Finance:
Cash Report and Check detail presented by Dorothy Yakes for the months of November, 2006 through April, 2007. Also distributed to all Board members and submitted for approval were copies of our monthly Balance Sheet and Revenue & Expense Statements for the months of November, 2006 through April, 2007. There were no current checks presented for approval.

• Motion made by Al Walker to accept the Treasurers report as submitted.
• Motion Second by Gary Varco
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Park Management:
Jim Preczewski reported on the status of the Moosehead Park dock repair. Completion of the repair is estimated for the week of April 30, 2007. Joe Wagner (lawn cutting contractor) has reduced his cost to cut the areas designated from $325 to $175. It was noted that the cost reduction was in order due to the reduced areas cut. Many areas previously cut by Joe Wagner is now cut by Lake James property owner/volunteers.

Lastly, the Lake James Spring Clean-Up weekend is scheduled for May 5, 2007. All volunteers are to meet at the Barn @ 8:30 AM to review areas to be cleaned up, etc.

Fish Management:
Gary Varko reported that the Spring planting of fish into Lake James is scheduled for May/2007. At our request, Imlay City Fish Farms provided LJPOA with an estimate to plant 22 pounds of Golden Shiner minnows (recommended in our most recent fish study) at a cost of $1,100. Imlay City Fish Farms has requested payment for the fish prior to planting in the Lake. Gary Varco will request that they submit a formal invoice so that it can be submitted to our accountant for payment. This invoice is needed by May 15, 2007.

• Motion made by Gary Varco to accept written estimate from Imlay City Fish Farms and to have them plant the recommended fish in the Lake.
• Motion Second by Dan Nelson
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Aquatic Plants/Weed Management:
Dan Nelson reported on a product he has been using in and around his lake front called AQUACLEAR pellets. AQUACLEAR pellets accelerate biological waste degradation and improve biological stability in surface waters. Rapidly and completely degrades a wide variety of organic waste common in surface waters including dead weeds. As waste is digested it passes off as gasses and soluble compounds. Crud and muck actually disappear from the water! Dan has found it to be quite effective. More information can be found on their website at www.killlakeweeds.com. The cost to treat ½ to 1 acre is approximately $52.00 annually.

Dan also received a request from a Lake James resident to spray the tube under Roscommon Road for spiders. Unfortunately, without DNR approval and permit, we cannot spray any type of chemical due to possible contamination of the water.

Lake Management:
Al Walker reported that due to funding issues, the Sherriff’s department may not be in a position to patrol our lake this summer. Further information is being sought along with an alternative plan for lake patrol in the event this becomes reality.

There will be a Marine Patrol Meeting on May 5, 2007 @ 2:00 PM. All Marine Patrol members should meet at the Barn. The main topic to be addressed is “How do we manage and control the guest and visitors of our Lake James Property owners that use and misuse our Lake?” Please mark your calendar!

A Boaters’ Safety Class will be held at the Barn in June/2007. Exact date and time will be announced and posted on the website.

Dam Management:
Kraig Britvec reported that all work on the dam has been completed. All outstanding monies have been paid. Kraig Britvec reported that the gates on the dam are now closed but the boards have not been put back in yet. The boards will be placed back in the dam the week of April 30, 2007 in order to keep the lake water level as high as possible for the summer.

The dam was inspected this month and found to be in good condition and working order. All repairs have been made.

New Business:

• At our mid-winter Board meeting, the Board decided to take on the task of doing some financial forecasting for the next two years. The conclusions of this forecasting were distributed in a hand-out at the meeting. It is apparent that although our forecast indicates our current dues structure and available funds are adequate for 2007, we will be running in a deficit by the end of 2008. Further discussion and review of this forecast will be done over the next few months.
   
• Gary Varco suggested that the Board evaluate and consider planting weevils in Lake James to combat the milfoil. After much discussion by the Board and input from Al Walker & Tim Hughes who attended Houghton Lake Townships' recent meetings, there is no conclusive data available that confirms the effectiveness of weevils. Houghton Lake has not had great success with them to date.
  
  
• Al Walker reported the final results of the dues increase vote. Final results are as follows:
  980 Home Owners
  620.5 votes received
  36.7% For
  26.5% Against
  37.0% Did not vote
  
  
• Al Walker reported on delinquent dues status. As of today, results are:
  11 Property owners have not paid either their special assessment or annual dues
  2 property owners are pending a sheriff’s sale / foreclosure
  2 property owners have submitted partial payments
  
  
• Property Sale Committee report:
  Tim Hughes reported the following:
  Sandy Swales @ ERA Houghton Higgins has listed two LJPOA owned lots (#80 & #30) for $23,900 and $97,900 respectively. Both lots have been surveyed.
   
• After investigating a few issues pertaining to the short term rental of homes around Lake James, it was determined that LJPOA by-laws prohibit the rental of a home on a short-term basis. Short-term is considered less than or equal to 30 days.

In our attempt to bring our by-laws in line with Denton Townships' property restrictions, the Board’s Blight Committee has been working with the Township and has slowly drafted revisions to the LJPOA property restrictions. They have not been finalized yet but are nearing completion. Currently, the Blight Committee is pursuing property issues with three different property owners around the lake. These properties are located on Waldenwood Circle, Springwood and Baywood. Due to the length of time to address and remedy these issues, other properties around the lake will not be pursued until these have been addressed and taken care of completely.

Jim Preczewski presented a plan install a new guardrail and fencing around the tube area that passes under Roscommon Road. This plan also addressed improvements and reconfiguration of the fencing to better utilize the Shed at the Dam versus renting tents, etc to accommodate our picnics, etc. The plan calls for reconfiguring the fencing around the shed and dam area to cordon off areas so they are not accessible to the public. This reconfiguration would allow us to use the LJPOA shed and area for other functions and become a usable piece of property. After much discussion, it was agreed that this made good financial sense and improved the usability of the property.

• Motion was made by Jim Van Vonderen to accept the proposal as presented for the guardrail and fencing at the tube subject to proposed cost of $840 and subject to approval of the Road Commission.
• Motion Second by Al Walker
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

• Motion was made by Dan Nelson to accept the proposal as presented for the reconfiguration of the fencing around the Shed and Dam area as presented. Total cost of $2,764 to be paid for with funds from the Dam Fund.
• Motion Second by Dorothy Yakes
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Other Miscellaneous Items:

• Presentation and review of the May 5, 2007 Clean-Up Day list.
• In the future, we will investigate and work with other area lake associations and Roscommon County to affect a ban on Phosphorous fertilizers due to their effect on our Lake.
• Jim Van Vonderen volunteered to research new Event signs (3) and provide cost estimates.
• Due to past issues on the lake pertaining to the ability to hunt, it was determined that the DNR has a 450’ rule that prohibits hunters from hunting within that distance of a residence. Due to the size of our lake, we are quite sure that there are no land masses that can be hunted from on our lake legally. If property owners have specific issues with this, they should contact Denton Township or the DNR.
• Tim Hughes was approached by Pam Bylica (LJPOA) property owner regarding her proposal to establish some type of philanthropy committee in order to improve or develop areas around the Lake. It was decided that the Board would invite Pam to our next monthly meeting to present her ideas.
• Dan Nelson noted that we still owe Little Willys for the Winter Picnic. It was also discussed that while the winter picnic was a success and the set-up was good, Coyles was not responsive and drinks were not warm. We will look at alternatives for next year.
• It was mentioned that 40-5- hot dogs were still needed for Clean-Up day on May 5, 2007.

Meeting Adjournment:

• Motion for meeting adjournment was made by Dan Nelson.
• Motion Second by Don Bleusch
• Board Motion Vote: I’s: All Nays: -0-

Meeting adjourned at 3:45 pm

Revised Tuesday April 15, 2008 4:11 PM