Spring 2026 association meeting notesLipsett Lake Association Spring Meeting 2026 May 23, 2026 The general meeting of the Lipsett Lake Association was called to order by the President, Mark Hansen, at 8:58 AM at the Lipsie Pines Tavern. Approximately 37 members were in attendance. Committee Reports President Report – Mark Hansen: Welcome, new lake members! Mark Hansen is looking for someone to replace him as Lake Association President after nearly 20 years. Please reach out if you are interested. We thank Mark for his many years of service! Treasury Report – Mark Schlitter: • Treasury report sent out due to Mark Schlitter’s absence. • Motion by Chuck Edwards to approve Treasury Report and seconded by John Hansen. Memorial Garden – Mary Hansen: • Delayed plans for Memorial Garden. • Working with company out of Florida making the bricks. • If you’ve been to the landing and see a round circle; people have thought was a fire pit—cleaning up and making it look different to prevent misuse. • Looking at acquiring 300 bricks and sell 50 of them—they would be a different color for the memorial. • To put in all at one time—reached out to Dan Drays for advice (has done brick work in the past for John and Sally). • Once you put in sand, the top layer is porous and is not meant to be moved again so you can’t really do it in stages. Might not put them in until next spring but will take brick orders earlier. The more bricks we can order at one time, the less expensive they will be and easier to install and complete in one swoop. • Site set up in a few weeks. Will put a post out later for the bricks. Water Quality – Emily Moore via Mark/John Hansen: • Emily Moore reached out to Mark and John about adding Lipsett Lake to a study (and Mackenzie chain) to look into the water quality, such as the algae blooms. • Approved by Mark to be put in for a grant. • John Hansen has been doing the training for that. Lake Management – John Hansen: • Landing overview from fishing opener through Labor Day weekend. • Algae Bloom Study o Algae blooms appear to be coming earlier and more widespread. Have been doing studies since 1995 to try and figure out why on all these lakes. o Part of that reading is water phosphorous and chlorophyl A and sending to Wisconsin university. The more phosphorous, the more chlorophyl A—which causes the algae blooms; trying to figure out what causes that. o Every Monday, they take samples from the lake. 6 or 7 boxes trying to fill in with a meter. You’ve likely seen a yellow buoy to mark for a consistent sample collection—please leave it alone and let others know so they can leave it there. o Also checking for oxygen levels and put into a database. John and Lisa get their samples, and Emily sends them to the site through October. May take a while to get samples back; Emily is not sure when they’ll know. o Need to know as soon as possible when algae bloom appears. Need to get ahold of Emily Moore to get samples of algae bloom to see if it’s E. coli or algae bad for dogs, etc. One occurs naturally, the other two are not. It’s important to know what’s on our lake and what we as an Association can do to minimize it. • John has been here for a long time and it’s progressively getting worse. It’s been consistent in August. If it’s naturally occurring, may not be much we can do. • Composition of all the lake waters is different. Some have zebra mussels makes it even more intriguing for the state. They reached out to the Association specifically to test the lake and want to continue to do those things. • $2,000 cost to Association. Matching hours and volunteer work to mail them out. Pretty well covered so shouldn’t be more than that. Has been going on for 2 years; money is not funded yet for 2027; if so, will roll over to next year. • You can go to the website (will post on blog) to see what the chlorophyl and phosphorous has been in 1995, fish stocked in lake, etc. • Question: Is there any correlation about the lack of snow? They’re looking more at the lake bloom species; snow may impact how soon the blooms appear. • Landing: o Pressure reel has been broken for a while. Jesse Hansen put in a new one recently. Originally ordered an extra pressure washer and hose reel, so was able to put the new one in right away. o Pressure washer is from Italy, not sure if all the things will integrate well unless we buy the exact same one. Could update to the commercial metal one; may take different fittings and stuff and worry about mix-and-matching. Pressure washer is 5 years old, so far so good. If anyone is looking into replacing what we have and something more current.  Motion by Aaron Tempel seconded by Chris Schneider for a more durable metal reel before this one breaks. • Grant due not until 2028. Invasive zebra mussels and milfoil pond weed are what we’re really on the look out for. Clam Lake has a really bad curly leaf pond weed problem; had to get the giant rake to remove. Part of why workers down at the landing are so important to keep this stuff out of our lake for as long as we can. • Lisa and John are retiring this year; not sure if they’ll be around much next spring. Will talk more in the fall about workers at the landing. It’s a really hard sell—reached out to churches, schools, etc. Pay wasn’t the problem but need to find someone willing to work it late winter/early spring. o Mark and Mary Hansen, Jona, Chuck, Brett and John have all volunteered for some days. Thank you for volunteering to protect our lake! o Did people find last year better than previous three years? Group agreement that it was a bit better. • Question: Do they give you any indication if there’s anything that can be done? Need to wait for results. Hopefully study goes through next year as well and can get a steady base on what’s happening. If it’s natural, just stuff from rain and runoff, etc., there’s not much we can do. • Brett: as far as the tank leak in Menomonie has a terrible algae bloom due to fertilizer runoff. Years ago, their association researched and bought barley bales and gets ride of the blooms, but they’re expensive. Not sure how much they cost. 2 barley things in front of his house and they seem to work pretty well depending on the size to cover. o Just like a straw bale but for barley. Same thing as wheat, have the stalks and they bale it. Not sure how the barley attracts the algae, but it works! Eventually, they disintegrate into the water. 2 small ones only cover one cubic feet. Small ones run an average $30. o Lake does have an in-flow and out-flow. Would be interesting to know what’s getting in. Could it be the cranberry bog? Would be interesting to know what they’re spraying. Supposedly the cranberry bogs are all organic and not spraying anything, but can’t say for sure about fertilizers, etc. o Aaron: “Phos Lock” out in Washington lakes that goes into and binds to the phosphorous. Incredibly expensive (quarter of million). o Our Lake History of Phosphorous: 2008 study just based on the land around Lipsett Lake, Bob Baker said it basically sits on phosphorous bed. In a heavy rain year, we may be getting more phosphorous. On top of lake usage and stirring the bottom make, makes phosphorous more available to algae. Would be interesting to do a soil study as well on some of the properties. Come up with a plan to do something with those properties. In the 2008 study, people weren’t even fertilizing yet the levels were huge. • Muskrats and Beaver: Brett: Muskrats trying to get into area. Huge beaver got on the shoreline. May need to revisit someone to trap the new beaver. o Mark: Have a name of a trapper who helped a couple of years ago. DNR may need viable reason to trap (last time was impeding traffic at landing). Mark can look into what the threshold is to take action. • Otters have also been seen on the south side. They’re fine and not a nuisance. Gifts for Grace • At the landing (as well as Forest Lake or White Bear), there is a new kiosk called Gifts for Grace. Life jackets for people who forget. They have already been used a couple of times. • Thank you, Scott and Angie, for adding this gift to our lake. Membership Committee – Julie Miller (& Carolyn Schlitter out): • 104 cabins on the lake; 84% currently active (paid from 2024 and forward). • 9 of those are Lifetime memberships: $1,000 and $50 current dues. • Check on the blog to see what year you’re paid up to. • If somebody sells, please let Carolyn Schlitter know and encourage the new neighbor to reach out to update the membership list (which is on the website). Loon – Diane Margo: • Saw 2 loons floating past their dock side-by-side, heading south toward nesting area. • Fun history: Monitoring began in 1978, the Loon Watch, in Wisconsin. o Common Loon protected as a migratory, non-hunted bird. Estimated 3,131 nesting adults in Wisconsin; 12,000 in Minnesota; 800 in Michigan. o Indicator of healthy aquatic systems. o Babies stay on their lakes for 3 years then migrate south. o Loons can live an average of 25-30 years. o Most primitive bird on earth; haven’t changed in at least 1 million years. • If anyone has sighted the loons, please let Diane know! • We are ambassadors of loons on Lipsett Lake! Fundraising – Lisa Hansen: • Fourth of July Weekend: o Pancake breakfast is Friday, July 3 at 8:30–10:30 at Schlitter cabin. o Fireworks likely Saturday, July 4; need to confirm. • Dock In/Dock Out: Most volunteers we’ve ever had, thank you! o Raised about $2,100 for the Association; 12 docks, 7 lifts from 8–10:15 AM. We’ll see you this fall! • Cozies: $5 per cozie still for sale and available. • Coffee mugs: Don’t have any right now, but if there is interest, can order more of those. Can also consider other colors (original red or blue). The more you order, the bigger the discount. • Ceramic mugs: Can also order more of those from the designer out of Wisconsin if there is any interest. • John Hansen motion seconded by Bob Miller for $1,000 budget to acquire tools for dock in/dock out, such as a ramp. It saves a lot of backs! • REMEMBER: Fundraising should accommodate a variety of interests on the lake. Reach out to Lisa with any fundraising ideas. We need to get young people and kids involved to show how special the lake is to them and everyone on the lake. Board Membership – Mark Hansen: • Mark Dumke volunteered to replace John Canny. Will need to vote for someone; new member every year. Not sure who is up. Will be done on Labor Day. 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. The Lake Association is trying to protect your property value! Closing – Mark Hansen Check your email to get a link to the blog and meeting minutes, or follow along here: https://lipsettlakeassociation.blogspot.com/?m=1 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 9:54. Report is submitted by Mari Yell, Secretary.

Lipsett Lake Association Spring Meeting 2026

 

May 23, 2026

The general meeting of the Lipsett Lake Association was called to order by the President, Mark Hansen, at 8:58 AM at the Lipsie Pines Tavern. Approximately 37 members were in attendance.

 

Committee Reports

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

 

Mark Hansen is looking for someone to replace him as Lake Association President after nearly 20 years. Please reach out if you are interested. We thank Mark for his many years of service!

 

Treasury Report – Mark Schlitter:

·       Treasury report sent out due to Mark Schlitter’s absence.

·       Motion by Chuck Edwards to approve Treasury Report and seconded by John Hansen.

 

 

Memorial Garden – Mary Hansen:

·       Delayed plans for Memorial Garden.

·       Working with company out of Florida making the bricks.

·       If you’ve been to the landing and see a round circle; people have thought was a fire pit—cleaning up and making it look different to prevent misuse.

·       Looking at acquiring 300 bricks and sell 50 of them—they would be a different color for the memorial.

·       To put in all at one time—reached out to Dan Drays for advice (has done brick work in the past for John and Sally).

·       Once you put in sand, the top layer is porous and is not meant to be moved again so you can’t really do it in stages. Might not put them in until next spring but will take brick orders earlier. The more bricks we can order at one time, the less expensive they will be and easier to install and complete in one swoop.

·       Site set up in a few weeks. Will put a post out later for the bricks.

 

 

Water Quality – Emily Moore via Mark/John Hansen:

·       Emily Moore reached out to Mark and John about adding Lipsett Lake to a study (and Mackenzie chain) to look into the water quality, such as the algae blooms.

·       Approved by Mark to be put in for a grant.

·       John Hansen has been doing the training for that.

 

 

Lake Management – John Hansen:

·       Landing overview from fishing opener through Labor Day weekend.

·       Algae Bloom Study

o   Algae blooms appear to be coming earlier and more widespread. Have been doing studies since 1995 to try and figure out why on all these lakes.

o   Part of that reading is water phosphorous and chlorophyl A and sending to Wisconsin university. The more phosphorous, the more chlorophyl A—which causes the algae blooms; trying to figure out what causes that.

o   Every Monday, they take samples from the lake. 6 or 7 boxes trying to fill in with a meter. You’ve likely seen a yellow buoy to mark for a consistent sample collection—please leave it alone and let others know so they can leave it there.

o   Also checking for oxygen levels and put into a database. John and Lisa get their samples, and Emily sends them to the site through October. May take a while to get samples back; Emily is not sure when they’ll know.

o   Need to know as soon as possible when algae bloom appears. Need to get ahold of Emily Moore to get samples of algae bloom to see if it’s E. coli or algae bad for dogs, etc. One occurs naturally, the other two are not. It’s important to know what’s on our lake and what we as an Association can do to minimize it.

·       John has been here for a long time and it’s progressively getting worse. It’s been consistent in August. If it’s naturally occurring, may not be much we can do.

·       Composition of all the lake waters is different. Some have zebra mussels makes it even more intriguing for the state. They reached out to the Association specifically to test the lake and want to continue to do those things.

·       $2,000 cost to Association. Matching hours and volunteer work to mail them out. Pretty well covered so shouldn’t be more than that. Has been going on for 2 years; money is not funded yet for 2027; if so, will roll over to next year.

·       You can go to the website (will post on blog) to see what the chlorophyl and phosphorous has been in 1995, fish stocked in lake, etc.

·       Question: Is there any correlation about the lack of snow? They’re looking more at the lake bloom species; snow may impact how soon the blooms appear.

·       Landing:

o   Pressure reel has been broken for a while. Jesse Hansen put in a new one recently. Originally ordered an extra pressure washer and hose reel, so was able to put the new one in right away.

o   Pressure washer is from Italy, not sure if all the things will integrate well unless we buy the exact same one. Could update to the commercial metal one; may take different fittings and stuff and worry about mix-and-matching. Pressure washer is 5 years old, so far so good. If anyone is looking into replacing what we have and something more current.

§  Motion by Aaron Tempel seconded by Chris Schneider for a more durable metal reel before this one breaks.

·       Grant due not until 2028. Invasive zebra mussels and milfoil pond weed are what we’re really on the look out for. Clam Lake has a really bad curly leaf pond weed problem; had to get the giant rake to remove. Part of why workers down at the landing are so important to keep this stuff out of our lake for as long as we can.

·       Lisa and John are retiring this year; not sure if they’ll be around much next spring. Will talk more in the fall about workers at the landing. It’s a really hard sell—reached out to churches, schools, etc. Pay wasn’t the problem but need to find someone willing to work it late winter/early spring.

o   Mark and Mary Hansen, Jona, Chuck, Brett and John have all volunteered for some days. Thank you for volunteering to protect our lake!

o   Did people find last year better than previous three years? Group agreement that it was a bit better.

·       Question: Do they give you any indication if there’s anything that can be done? Need to wait for results. Hopefully study goes through next year as well and can get a steady base on what’s happening. If it’s natural, just stuff from rain and runoff, etc., there’s not much we can do.

·       Brett: as far as the tank leak in Menomonie has a terrible algae bloom due to fertilizer runoff. Years ago, their association researched and bought barley bales and gets ride of the blooms, but they’re expensive. Not sure how much they cost. 2 barley things in front of his house and they seem to work pretty well depending on the size to cover.

o   Just like a straw bale but for barley. Same thing as wheat, have the stalks and they bale it. Not sure how the barley attracts the algae, but it works! Eventually, they disintegrate into the water. 2 small ones only cover one cubic feet. Small ones run an average $30.

o   Lake does have an in-flow and out-flow. Would be interesting to know what’s getting in. Could it be the cranberry bog? Would be interesting to know what they’re spraying. Supposedly the cranberry bogs are all organic and not spraying anything, but can’t say for sure about fertilizers, etc.

o   Aaron: “Phos Lock” out in Washington lakes that goes into and binds to the phosphorous. Incredibly expensive (quarter of million).

o   Our Lake History of Phosphorous: 2008 study just based on the land around Lipsett Lake, Bob Baker said it basically sits on phosphorous bed. In a heavy rain year, we may be getting more phosphorous. On top of lake usage and stirring the bottom make, makes phosphorous more available to algae. Would be interesting to do a soil study as well on some of the properties. Come up with a plan to do something with those properties. In the 2008 study, people weren’t even fertilizing yet the levels were huge.

·       Muskrats and Beaver: Brett: Muskrats trying to get into area. Huge beaver got on the shoreline. May need to revisit someone to trap the new beaver.

o   Mark: Have a name of a trapper who helped a couple of years ago. DNR may need viable reason to trap (last time was impeding traffic at landing). Mark can look into what the threshold is to take action.

·       Otters have also been seen on the south side. They’re fine and not a nuisance.

 

 

Gifts for Grace

·       At the landing (as well as Forest Lake or White Bear), there is a new kiosk called Gifts for Grace. Life jackets for people who forget. They have already been used a couple of times.

·       Thank you, Scott and Angie, for adding this gift to our lake.

 

 

Membership Committee – Julie Miller (& Carolyn Schlitter out):

• 104 cabins on the lake; 84% currently active (paid from 2024 and forward).
• 9 of those are Lifetime memberships: $1,000 and $50 current dues.
• Check on the blog to see what year you’re paid up to.
• If somebody sells, please let Carolyn Schlitter know and encourage the new neighbor to reach out to update the membership list (which is on the website).

 

 

Loon – Diane Margo:

·       Saw 2 loons floating past their dock side-by-side, heading south toward nesting area.

·       Fun history: Monitoring began in 1978, the Loon Watch, in Wisconsin.

o   Common Loon protected as a migratory, non-hunted bird. Estimated 3,131 nesting adults in Wisconsin; 12,000 in Minnesota; 800 in Michigan.

o   Indicator of healthy aquatic systems.

o   Babies stay on their lakes for 3 years then migrate south.

o   Loons can live an average of 25-30 years.

o   Most primitive bird on earth; haven’t changed in at least 1 million years.

·       If anyone has sighted the loons, please let Diane know!

·       We are ambassadors of loons on Lipsett Lake!

 

 

Fundraising – Lisa Hansen:

·       Fourth of July Weekend:

o   Pancake breakfast is Friday, July 3 at 8:30–10:30 at Schlitter cabin.

o   Fireworks likely Saturday, July 4; need to confirm.

·       Dock In/Dock Out: Most volunteers we’ve ever had, thank you!

o   Raised about $2,100 for the Association; 12 docks, 7 lifts from 8–10:15 AM. We’ll see you this fall!

·       Cozies: $5 per cozie still for sale and available.

·       Coffee mugs: Don’t have any right now, but if there is interest, can order more of those. Can also consider other colors (original red or blue). The more you order, the bigger the discount.

·       Ceramic mugs: Can also order more of those from the designer out of Wisconsin if there is any interest.

·       John Hansen motion seconded by Bob Miller for $1,000 budget to acquire tools for dock in/dock out, such as a ramp. It saves a lot of backs!

·       REMEMBER: Fundraising should accommodate a variety of interests on the lake. Reach out to Lisa with any fundraising ideas. We need to get young people and kids involved to show how special the lake is to them and everyone on the lake.

 

 

Board Membership – Mark Hansen:

·       Mark Dumke volunteered to replace John Canny. Will need to vote for someone; new member every year. Not sure who is up. Will be done on Labor Day.

 

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.

 

The Lake Association is trying to protect your property value!

 

Closing – Mark Hansen

Check your email to get a link to the blog and meeting minutes, or follow along here: https://lipsettlakeassociation.blogspot.com/?m=1

 

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 9:54.

 

Report is submitted by Mari Yell, Secretary.