Yahara Lakes Association, Ltd. Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Thursday, January 10, 2019 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

The Yahara Lakes Association Board of Directors held its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, January 10, 2019, in the Verex Building (150 E. Gilman Street) Yahara Conference room.

The following members and advisors were present: Dick Adler, Caroline Fribance, Annette Hellmer, Allan Levin, Eric Olson, Nancy Peckham, Dave Silverberg (via phone), Joe Tisserand, Sal Troia, James Tye and Rhonda Arries

Members and advisors not present: Stuart Allbaugh, Roy Carter, Bill Fitzpatrick, Carol Gillen, Dick Pearson, Jerry Rekowski, Dan Schultz and Eric Vieth

11:32 a.m. Call to Order: President Elect, Sal Troia, called the meeting to order at 11:32 a.m.

11:33 a.m. Minutes: Joe Tisserand made a motion to accept the November 8, 2018 meeting minutes. Annette Helllmer seconded the motion. Motion passed.

11:34 a.m. Sal Troia noted that Dan Schultz, Nancy Peckham, Carol Gillen and he met in November and December to prep for calendar year 2019. Sal’s objective in 2019 is to get board members much more involved than in the past. There are a lot of talented individuals on the board and that talent can be better utilized. Each board member will be asked to proactively be involved on one (or more) of the Working Board Committees to be discussed later in the meeting.

11:40 a.m. Board of Directors election results and 2019 Proposed Officers:

  • Board members elected for 2019 – 2021: Dick Adler (Monona), Annette Hellmer (Monona), Dave Silverberg (Waubesa) and Eric Vieth (Kegonsa)

  • Dave Silverberg introduced himself to the board stating he’s a lifelong Madison resident, currently has a home on Lake Waubesa and enjoys watersports. For the last 35 years, he’s run the QTI Group (a staffing business). He has known Nancy Peckham since college. He joined the YLA board because he’s interested in working on lake level issues. He believes “flow” is a key factor in managing lake levels and believes the lakes are generally (albeit slowly) becoming cleaner and clearer in his opinion. All welcomed Dave to the board.

  • Bill Fitpatrick will henceforth become a YLA Advisor (non-voting position)

  • Nancy Peckham and Eric Olson were confirmed to replace Mike Jensen and Debbie Waite whose terms expired on 12/31/17.

  • 2019 Slate of Officers: Sal Troia – President; Nancy Peckham – President Elect; Dan Schultz – Treasurer; Annette Hellmer – Secretary. Allan Levin made a motion to accept the slate of 2019 Officers. Joe Tisserand seconded the motion. Motion passed.

  • Newsletter Editor – Carol Gillen has served as Newsletter Editor since 2011 and has announced this will be her last year. Sal Troia asked for a volunteer to come forward to fill this position sometime in 2019 to allow for cross-training.

  • Board Meetings - Sal Troia confirmed Board Meetings will be held on the 2nd Thursday of the month (excluding June, August and December) in the Verex building. There has typically not Page 2 of 4 been a February board meeting due to low attendance (i.e. vacations) but there will be a February 14 board meeting this year to review the Technical Group’s findings which will be presented to the Lake Level Task Force on February 4. Allan Levin noted that the Technical Group and Lake Level Task Force will hold presentation meetings each Monday night throughout February. YLA board members are encouraged to attend these presentationonly meetings (i.e. no Q&A will be allowed by attendees). Allan asked Rhonda Arries to email board members with the meeting dates and location details. Allan will ask John Reimer to present the Technical Group’s findings at the February 14 YLA board meeting. James Tye noted that Clean Lakes will not go to the lake level meetings but will support any recommendations that support their mission to decrease phosphorous in our area lakes.

  • Lake Level Task Force – Dan Schultz and Sal Troia met separately with Laura Hicklin, the Director of the Land & Resources Dept and Pam Porter, Chair of the Lakes & Watershed Commission - Executive Committee to ask why YLA doesn’t have an appointee on the Lake Levels Task Force. Pam made all the appointments to the Lake Levels Task Force & Dan & Sal were told by Laura that this is who they had to see (as edited by Sal Troia). Mike Gerner is an appointee on the Lake Levels Task Force and Pam STATED that she assumed that Mike would represent YLA (although Mike is no longer a YLA board member as of 2019) (as edited by Sal Troia). Sal noted that Eric Vieth is an appointee on the Lake Level Task Force and serves on both the YLA and FOLKS boards and has agreed to keep the YLA board abreast of current issues.

  • James Tye noted that government offices and committees need written communications to keep track of organization’s various contacts and leaders. James suggested YLA write a letter to the Dane County Executive (Joe Parisi), the Lakes & Watershed chairperson (Pam Porter & Laura Hicklin) and the County Board lake-rep (Sharon Corrigan) contacts each year to ensure they make the YLA Lakes & Watershed appointee (i.e. Allan Levin) their first point of contact for lake-related affairs. The current President and Officers can be noted but should be referred by “generic” email and phone contacts since YLA leadership changes each year.

  • Caroline Fribance made a motion that YLA send a letter to the above government officials regarding YLA contacts and inclusion regarding lake-related committees and issues. Annette Hellmer seconded motion. Motion passed. Caroline will write a draft letter for YLA offices to review. Rhonda Arries will set-up “generic” YLA contact information and provide to Caroline for inclusion in her letter.

12:00 p.m. Sal Troia discussed the Working Board Committees which will guide how YLA is organized and how activities will be conducted in 2019 (and hopefully in the years to follow) (as edited by Sal Troia): 2019 Working Board Committees:

  • Communications & Marketing Chair: Nancy Peckham Members: Stuart Allbaugh, Carol Gillen, Annette Hellmer, Dave Silverberg o Redesign website and freshen content o Newsletters (Feb, May, Aug, Nov): Carol Gillen and new replacement o Email blasts

  • Membership Promotion & Interest Chair: Jerry Rekowski Members: Stuart Allbaugh, Roy Carter, Eric Olson o Lakeside chats – schedule 8 chats in partnership with Clean Lakes o Help reinvigorate membership – retain and grow Page 3 of 4

  • Lake Levels & Flow Chair: Dan Schultz Members: Roy Carter, Eric Olson, Dave Silverberg, Eric Vieth o Eric Vieth is an appointee on the Lake Level Task Force for both FOLKS & now YLA. He’s an environmental engineer with Strand

  • Legislative & Legal Chair: Caroline Fribance Members: Dan Schultz o Follow water legislation for the state, regional and local areas

  • Events Chair: Dick Adler & Joe Tisserand Members: Jerry Rekowski o Annual dinner meeting scheduled for June 18, 2019 at Blackhawk Country Club o Seminars at AMFAM Hdqtrs (i.e. Technical Group recommendations) o Lakeside chats – schedule 8 chats in partnership with Clean Lakes

12:30 p.m. Lakes & Watershed Report – Allan Levin is the YLA appointee (2018-2020)

  • Allan provided a historical recap of the Lakes & Watershed Committee (L&W) which began in 1989 and stemmed from a legislative initiative to create a large lake authority. Chuck Dykman and Mike Pernitz (both YLA board members at the time) worked to veto the large lake authority and instead successfully petitioned the legislature to form L&W which consists of 10 appointed commissioners (including a YLA appointee who is appointed by the Dane County Executive and approved by the Dane County Board). L&W is part of county government but is a separate entity from the county board. L&W’s budget and staffing is approved from the county board. L&W can form advisory committees but there is no executive committee. Currently, the chairperson is Pam Porter (Allan noted she is likely to step down shortly).

  • Generally, Allan Levin and James Tye believe that YLA should be involved in the “sifting” of the data from the Technical Group regarding how to manage lake levels before they put together presentations and recommendations. James noted that it’s in YLA’s best interest to understand and help guide the Technical Group. Sal Troia believes that YLA should wait until the Technical Group’s actions are provided to the Lake Levels Task Force and stated that Eric Vieth (who’s on the Lake Levels Task Force) will keep YLA in the loop regarding the Technical Group’s findings as the Lake Levels Task Force determines what actions should be advanced (as edited by Sal Troia). It’s believed that the Technical Group’s, John Reimer, is generally not interested in lowering lake levels but rather in hydraulics and bypassing.

1:00 p.m. Sal Troia provided the Treasurer’s report:

  • Net Income for 2018 is $7,832 which was buoyed by donations.

  • Membership dues income fell short of budget and will be a focus for Jerry Rekowski’s Membership Promotion & Interest Working Committee in 2019

  • The 2019 Budget will be provided in the February 14, 2019 board meeting.

  • Sal asked for board approval to fund $375 for the President Elect to attend UW Nelson Institute Yahara Watershed Academy in 2019 and on an ongoing basis. Dick Adler made a motion to approve the funding as noted. Allan Levin seconded the motion. Motion passed.

  • Rhonda Arrries asked for the board to approve 2019 Membership dues & web ad rates (2018 Indidvidual $40 Email / $50 Std Mail; Corporate $100; 2018 Web Ad rates $125 (5 advertisers). Dick Adler made a motion to keep membership dues and web ad rates the same as 2018. Joe Tisserand seconded the motion. Motion passed.

  • Rhonda asked for board approval to compensate her for the additional February board meeting (note: previously, an additional board meeting was an additional coordinator Page 4 of 4 month’s standard pay i.e. $800). Allan Levin made a motion to pay $800 to Rhonda for additional the February meeting. Dick Adler seconded the motion. Motion passed.

  • Caroline Fribance made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Dick Adler seconded the motion. Motion passed.

1:10 p.m. Marketing & Communications – Nancy Peckham

  • Website redesign to improve value to members, search engine optimization and freshen o Nancy presented her notes on redesign options including Wordpress and Squarespace platforms

  • Squarespace $1,500 web redesign + $216 subscription annually = $1,716

  • Budget estimate of $150/month to add new content

  • Wordpress options included a Bangladesh web designer ($1,500) or high cost web developer ($2,500+). Rhonda Arries noted that she’s been maintaining the site using Wordpress (which is the most popular web platform used today) for free (no annual fees, no developer fees). She agrees the site needs a refresh but feels the options as presented were not true apples-to-apples comparisons.

  • Nancy Peckham asked for approval to move the web platform to Squarespace for $1,500 plus an annual subscription fee of $216 for a total of $1,716. Dave Silverberg made a motion to approve this project and funding. Joe Tisserand seconded the motion. Allan Levin voted No; all others voted Yes to approve. Motion passed.

  • Newsletter: Publishing schedule is February, May, August and November o February Newsletter: Dan Schultz and Sal Troia asked that the February newsletter be published after the February 4 Technical Group presentation and after the February 14 board meeting so the newsletter includes updates on this important information.

1:20 p.m. Membership Promotion & Interest – Sal Troia for Jerry Rekowski

  • Lakeside chats – Sal noted that Jerry is working to schedule 8 chats in 2019 in partnership with Clean Lakes. Clean Lakes has been holding Lakeside Chats for a few years so the difference will be to invite riparians from lake neighborhoods and hold meetings at public lakeside establishments with a presenter from Clean Lakes and YLA. Clean Lakes has previously had 15 or so attendees per event and has asked Sal for funding support for costs such as appetizers, etc. Allan Levin asked to table this discussion due to time constraints.

1:35 p.m. Allan Levin made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Dick Adler seconded the motion. Motion passed.

Next meeting date is February 14, 2019