Yahara Lakes Association, Ltd.
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Thursday, April 9, 2020 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
The Yahara Lakes Association Board of Directors held its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, April 9, 2020, via a conference call.
The following members participated: Dick Adler, Stuart Allbaugh, Caroline Fribance, Annette Hellmer, Tamara Knickmeier, Allan Levin, Eric Olson, Nancy Peckham, Dan Schultz, Scott Seymour, Dave Silverberg, Jim St. Vincent, Sal Troia, Eric Vieth, and Brenda Matthias
Members and advisors not present: Eric Englund, Dick Person, Bill Fitzpatrick, and James Tye
11:32 a.m. Call to Order: President – Eric Olson called the meeting to order at 11:32 a.m.
11:35 a.m. March Minutes:
· Allan Levin made a motion to accept the March 12, 2020 meeting minutes. Caroline Fribance seconded the motion. Motion passed.
11:45 a.m. Treasurer Report – Sal Troia
· Financials are positive with the current membership renewals and new member count.
· Dan Schultz made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Dave Silverberg seconded the motion. Motion passed.
11:55 a.m. YLA Lakes Alert Proposal – Dan Schultz & Eric Vieth
· The main objective of the proposal is to develop a communication system where YLA can quickly inform the broader universe of lake users of changing situations on the Yahara Lakes. To do this we would need to create a robust email list of lake users. A good place to start would be to reach out to the organizations on the Watershed Contact list to establish a partnership and then hopefully obtain their membership database.
· Once the full database has been created we would meet with John Reimer and Sgt. Thomas Sankey of the Sherriff’s department to create a partnership for the Lake Alerts.
· Dan asked the full board to review the proposal and contact list and provide feedback to him.
12:15 p.m. Marketing & Membership Committee (M&M) – Nancy Peckham
· Second new member letter was sent out by USPS on March 27th.
· Renewal letter went out by USPS on March 3rd. The March newsletter included a “call to renew” and an email blast to those who have not yet renewed was sent on April 2nd.
· Renewal/New revenue status – New Membership/Renewals: $12,100 / Contributions: $5,820 Total membership revenue: $17,920
· YLA membership by lake as of Thursday, April 9th
2020 Renewals 2020 New Total 2020 Members 2020 Non-Renewed
Kegonsa 20 16 36 7
Mendota 75 26 101 17
Monona 58 21 79 33
Waubesa 26 11 37 13
Yahara/other 2 0 2 8
Totals 181 74 255 78
· Lakeside Listening Socials – Jim St. Vincent
o Main focus of the socials is to invite members and their riparian guest to one of two socials that includes a listening session to learn more on how YLA can provide value to them.
o The socials will be held at Buck & Honeys (Monona) and Mariner’s Inn (Westport).
o Both venues have agreed to provide a cash bar with hosted appetizers. They have also agreed to waive their room fees.
o Due to the coronavirus pandemic the socials will be delayed until the end of August/early September. Proposed timeframe is 4:00 – 6:00 pm.
o Agenda for the socials –
§ Social for the first hour – cash bar and hosted appetizers
§ Second hour – Eric will provide an overview of YLA, our value proposition, current issues for the lakes and what we’re involved in, resources available (links, etc.), and then have John Reimer would be invited to share a few comments.
§ Last part to include board members facilitating conversations at each table around a few predetermined questions.
· Marketing & Membership Plan
o The committee terminated the contract with Julia Block’s marketing firm due to the dissatisfaction with the services they provided. In light of this the monthly newsletter items will be handled in house and we will save $2,240 in contractor fees.
o To date the budgeted 40 administrative hours for the marketing/membership activities have been used and the committee is requesting an additional 40 administrative hours.
o Expenses to date include –
§ Value proposition, new member mailings, Feb/March newsletter management, logo redesign with new tag line, contractor fees - $3,931.66
§ Mail order services for membership drive thru March 31st - $1,146.99
§ Second new member mailing - $1,706.98
§ Total expenses to date - $6,785.63
§ Remaining budget balance of $3,214.37 to be used for Lakeside Listening Socials, Lake Alerts, Sponsorship drive (which has been delayed due to the effects of coronavirus on local businesses)
· Website and Facebook page revisions since the last board meeting:
o YLA website/FB page revisions based on value proposition
o Added March minutes and financials to Board area
o Added link to March’s newsletter on Facebook
o Updated Annette’s bio
· Nancy Peckham made a motion to approve an additional 40 administrative hour for the marketing/membership activities. Sal Troia seconded the motion. Motion passed.
12:40 p.m. Water Quality, Lake Levels & Flow Committee – Eric Vieth
· Eric Vieth has been contact with John Reimer regarding the dredging project and hopes to have an update for the April newsletter.
· The proposed Stoughton Dam project public meetings on hold pending COVID restrictions.
· Eric Vieth is gathering photos and property owner feedback to take to the County to help streamline the process of getting a permit as it relates to shoreline erosion control and permitting.
· Eric Vieth will work with Brenda to make it easier to find the Lake level conditions on the YLA website.
1:10 p.m. Legislative & Legal Committee – Caroline Fribance & Scott Seymour
· Action items that the committee is currently working on –
o Riparian rights – Supreme Court decision regarding piers.
o County and municipal stormwater and infiltration regulations and shoreline zoning.
o Scott will writing an article about the legislation and DNR involvement with PFAs in the next several weeks.
o Eric Englund is working on a shoreline repair and restoration regulations article for the April newsletter.
1:13 p.m. Events
· Due to the coronavirus pandemic the Annual Dinner set for June 16th will be postponed to the fall. Sal Troia will contact Joe Tisserand to explore alternative dates with Blackhawk Country Club.
· Sal Troia made a motion to let the membership know we will not be holding the Annual Dinner in June and we are exploring fall dates. Dan Schultz seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1:14 p.m. Other Business
· Allan Levin made a motion to purchase the Zoom platform for $14.99 per month for our May Board meeting. Nancy Peckham seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1:15 p.m. Allan Levin made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Nancy Peckham seconded the motion. Motion passed.
Next meeting date is May 14th via Zoom conference call.