Spring lake association meeting notes

 Lipsett Lake Association Spring Meeting 2023

May 27, 2023

The general meeting of the Lipsett Lake Association was called to order by the President, Mark

Hansen, at 9:00 a.m. at the Lipsie Pines Tavern. Approximately 40 members were in

attendance.

Committee Reports

President Report – Mark Hansen: Welcome, new lake members! Approved Spring 2022

Meeting minutes (available at the meeting and online). Motion by Chris Schneider and

seconded by Mark Schlitter.

New members:

Meeting Minutes from 9/3/22 and Updates for 2023: Please review the Lipsett Lake

Association blog for updates in 2022 and 2023.

Nominating Committee – Doug Mulville (Covered by Mark Hansen):

 Open chairs for new nominees. John Canny has volunteered to succeed Chuck Pillsbury

as member director starting January 1. Approved nomination by Aaron Temple and

seconded by the Association attendees.

Membership Committee – Carolyn Schlitter and Julie Miller:

 81% of lake members are current and have paid their association dues.

 If you prefer, Aaron has a Venmo account and he will write a check to Carolyn Schlitter.

Treasury Report – Mark Schlitter:

 Received $4,000 for 2022 grant money and 2023 is running the same as last year.

 $8,000 donation from Rick Pierson in 2022 to maintain the lake for everyone’s use. This

is year 45 for their family and they said it’s been wonderful to be a part of it.

 Follow-up from Fall Meeting 2022: Mark Schlitter has looked into how to put money

aside and create various funds, such as “intermediate fund” and “emergency fund.”

 $22,000 is in the account and amount to run the lake.

 Intermediate Emergency fund: money market account $25,000 and 1% interest. What’s

nice is that if something happens, we can move the money over without any negative.

Emergency fund $25,000. Called Bank of the West 18 months CD 14.2%. $50/month

interest. Thought is, after we close out another season, evaluate checkbook and maybe

take another CD for another 12 months, etc.

o Motion for approval by Mark Hansen, seconded by Chuck Mentcalf.

 Last page of Treasurer report, bank reconciliation: end of July was $53,207.

 Where we are on the checkbook as of 2023 Memorial Day: $52,000.

o Will have one more payroll coming through Labor Day, then get the rest of the

$3,000 grant money before the end of the year and funds from dock out.

o Estimated end of year around $55,000–$56,000.

o We’re going to open that account and move some money over. For example,

could take half of that to add to our “rainy day” fund. Then our checkbook is

where we run the association from.

Motion to approve financials by Sally Nelson and seconded by Aaron Temple.

Fundraising – Aaron Temple:

Pancake Breakfast:

Boat parade will be Saturday, July 1 at 1 PM.

Pancake breakfast will be Sunday, July 2 at 8–10:30 AM.

Dock Out: Raised about $2,500. We have fun and everyone is there for the cause—our lake!

How volunteers are found: emails and texts to people who have helped prior, find available

dates that work for everyone, and go from there.

 If you want the dock where you want, you must be there! Usually meet around

7:30/8:30 Saturday morning.

Dock In: Over 13 people showed up, thank you! Quick way to earn a lot of money for the

Association. If things get too heavy, it’s either going to cost more or need a different crew to

make sure people don’t get injured.

Ice Out: April 17 th official ice out. Raised $410 and Steve was the winner!

Triathlon: Hosted by John Canny. This year will be Saturday, July 1 at 9 AM. $10 for bike, run,

and swim/paddleboard/kayak with long and short versions. Can participate solo or as a team.

Last year, was very low-key and for any fitness level—raised a few hundred dollars for the

Association!

 Ran by Indian Mound Road. Bike dock lake road, past Lipsie Pines, and around. Paddle

board/kayak out to the tube.

501c Organization Donations: If you’re employed by a company, see if they do a matching. If

you’re going to donate, we could double that money through an employer. Visit this site to see

if your company will match your donation.

Can Koozies: $5/each. Great for Christmas and stocking stuffers.

Maple Syrup: More available from Aaron Temple.

Future Idea: Winter Fest: Lake Ellsworth does a kickball tournament (would be something fun

to get younger people involved). Team pays a registration fee and would go to the Association.

Ideas to get people out together on the lake and meet their neighbors. Continue the sense of

community and build on that.

Road Cleanup:

We are losing volunteers for cleaning up the road. It’s a great volunteer option, especially if you

can’t or don’t want to participate in dock in/out—simply walk around the road and clean up

trash. Usually the end of April.

Reach out to Aaron Temple on other ideas.

Other Ideas:

 Michael Miller has donated portable firepits for future events/fundraisers. (Thank you!)

 Fishing Contest for adults and kids

 Golf tournament

REMEMBER: Fundraising should accommodate a variety of interests on the lake. We need to

get young people and kids involved to show how special the lake is to them and everyone on

the lake.

Lake Management – Bob Baker:

Bob has been chairing the Lake Management Committee for 25 years. He would like to start

phasing out some of his responsibilities; he would hate for something to happen and have no

one to cover. Please reach out to Bob if you would like to learn more about helping out with

lake management.

The Northwest Lakes Conference will be held June 23 at Spooner High School. It is an

informative meeting with concurrent talks on talks ranging from wild rice, to invasive species,

and more. Spooner High School is close and, if anyone, is interested, Bob can send the link. The

cost $45 this year to pay for members to go.

 Motion by John Hansen up to 4 members on an annual basis, seconded by Bob Baker.

Motion carried without dissent.

Kathy Hudsen is back for a third season and Curtis Lunde is back for a second season. We

appreciate their work, be sure to say hi and thank you!

Pressure Washer & Decontamination:

 Our pressure washer died late in the Fall and has been in a repair shop for the past 10

months with no improvement. We bought a new pressure washer so that once the old

one is fixed, we’ll have two! We’ll be good if anything happens to one or future

problems.

 Pressure washer often gets dropped in the sand and gets clogged (need hatpins to clean

them out). To solve that problem, we added decking to cover the sandy area next to the

pressure washer. That way, if someone drops it, it will fall on the deck instead of sand.

 Reminder of decontamination rules in the county: you MUST decontaminate every time

to put it in or take it out, whether it’s the first time or you just did it—it’s the LAW.

 Also means if it’s been in storage and is getting dropped off, you still must wash

everything. Trailers also need to be decontaminated. Zebra mussels can live out of the

water for weeks.

 If you have guests, make sure that they are also aware of decontamination. They could

bring in zebra mussels into our lake. We all need to be aware of the law.

Wake Boat: they stir up the sediment and will cause invasive blooms. In 2022, we had a lot of

wake boat traffic on the lake.

Aquatic Plant Management (APM) Plan:

 APM plan been in place for about 20 years. If we don’t update it, we wouldn’t be eligible

for grant help through the DNR. As a committee, we made revisions and sent back; all

we need to do is approve and move forward for the next 10 years.

 Chris Schneider sent out a lake to the APM plan a few weeks ago, hopefully everyone

has had a chance to take a look at it.

 Mark Hansen motion to pass it, seconded by Mark Schlitter. Motion passed

unanimously.

Northwest Wisconsin Lake Convention:

$45 this year to pay for members to go. Motion by John Hansen up to 4 members on an annual

basis, seconded by Bob Baker.

The Lake Association is trying to protect your property value!

Water Quality Update – Mark Spaes:

Since 2007, Mark Spaes and crew have been on the lake collecting data: water clarity,

temperatures, etc.

1. Affects depth that aquatic plants grow, oxygen content, and water temperature. Fish

and loons rely on water clarity to find food. Lake got really green last year, and the loons

leave to feed on other fish. Important aesthetically and can affect property values.

2. Suspended sediment, algae growth, wind mixing at the lake bottom, wetland runoff can

all affect water quality. Can fluctuate seasonally by wind, storms, and fish populations.

3. Phosphorous is important for freshwater plant growth. Under certain conditions, excess

phosphorus can cause algae to bloom and make the lake look like pea soup or paint on

the top (and smells).

a. Phosphorous can come from human activity, such as human and animal waste,

erosion, detergents, septic systems, and runoff from fertilizers. Nearby cranberry

marshes must use organic, but not sure if they do, which can affect our lake.

b. All of these can all also be altered by climate change.

How do they test the lake?

 Go to the same location, called the deep hole, where the lake is 24’.

1. Secchi disk reading lowered into the water to see how deep they can see it.

2. Temperature profile: digital and electronic results from 0’ every 3’ to the bottom

of 24’.

3. Send in samples for phosphorous and chlorophyl from 6’ in the water. Usine a

PVC pipe with a ball that pops out, fill it and filled with 6’ water sample and put

into a bucket. Take 200ml of that water and, through a special filter, put in a test

tube and send off to the state for analysis.

a. Chlorophyl analysis is the filter. For phosphorous, we have to send in a

bottle of water with sulfuric acid and see if it changes a certain color,

then goes to the State.

Provided a handout with a link to full access to all our reports from 1995–Present. View the

Lipsett Lake water quality reports.

Note for 2022: has a slight misreading. Last year was bad, but there weren’t enough

measurements provided due to Mark’s hip replacement.

What can we do to help?

Decrease items that hurt the lake. A

 If you need fertilizer, only use organic agricultural sources

 Healthy environment and healthy shoreline

 Protect and restore shoreland buffer, such as leaving natural weeds instead of mowing

to the bottom

 Plant trees and shrubs

 Capture and remove bad fluids using rain barrels or rain guards

 Reduce hard surfaces on your property to reduce runoff

 Monitor your lake for aquatic and invasive species, keep it up!

Water quality is seasonal, and some years are better than others. Mark Spaes has had property

since 1991 and moved here in 2006, and he has definitely noticed changes.

All we can do is our best, because there’s only so much we can do. We have a great lake but

would be great to see if we can get our algae under control.

Questions:

 On the reports, it will give all the measurements and will show numbers in comparison

to the state.

 Increase in freshwater sponge last year: a result of wake boats. Bottom gets turned up

which helps the algae go crazy and sponges eat algae. Piles of it were on boat landings

and pontoon services were frustrated.

 More questions? Ask Mark Spaes and he will reach out to our DNR representative.

Loon Observer – Donna: Sometimes see two or one, but haven’t seen any baby. No sighting yet

of a nest. Donna motion to donate to Northern College loon every year, seconded by Mark

Schlitter.

4-H Camp Sponsorship:

Aaron Temple suggested we sponsor a number of kids to go to show our support for the

community. Mark Hansen also saw that it educates people on noticing invasive species. We

could be training future protectors of our lake!

 Motion to sponsor 5 campers to 4-H camp by Aaron Temple ($350), seconded by Mark

Hansen.

Other Updates:

John Canny in real estate, property on west side coming out next week if you know anyone

interested. East side, he is meeting with an owner next week.

Other Voting Members of the Board:

Vice President: Lisa Hansen

Directors: Billy Voyles, John Canny, Scott Rhine

Closing – Mark Hansen

Check your email to get a link to the blog and meeting minutes.

REMINDER – Volunteers are extremely important for the Association and the lake, please

volunteer in any way that you can! Thank you and happy rest of your summer!

The meeting was adjourned at 9:49.

Report is submitted by Mari Yell, Secretary.