Yahara Lakes Association, Ltd.
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Thursday, November 12, 2020 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
The Yahara Lakes Association Board of Directors held its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, November12, 2020, via a Zoom meeting.
The following members participated: Stuart Allbaugh, Caroline Fribance, Annette Hellmer, Tamara Knickmeier, Allan Levin, Dick Pearson, Nancy Peckham, Scott Seymour, Jim St. Vincent, Sal Troia, Eric Vieth, and Brenda Matthias
Members and advisors not present: Eric Englund, Eric Olson, Dan Schultz, and Dave Silverberg
11:30 a.m. Call to Order: In the President’s (Eric Olson) absence Sal Troia called the meeting to order at 11:30 a.m.
11:31 a.m. Presentation on the Swan Creek Monitoring Station by Ron French -
Based upon discussions with regional governmental entities who are supportive protecting Waubesa Wetlands, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has offered to provide financial and analytical support to the City of Fitchburg in establishing a long-term monitoring station on Swan Creek. The purpose of this station is to collect continuous streamflow data which can be used to calculate annual loadings to the Waubesa Wetlands (and Lake Waubesa), develop a baseline dataset that can be used for trend analysis, and in the long term identify potential storm water control measures that may reduce pollutant loading to the wetlands.
Installation costs will be around $15,000 (one-time fee), maintenance costs should be in the neighborhood of $14,500 and sampling and analysis costs will be around $5,500. These costs will cover the station operation for 2021. Continual funding will need to be secured to ensure operation of the monitoring station into the future.
Ron provided a brief presentation on the project and where the monitoring station will be located and what he will be monitoring and collecting. He also mentioned that they will be looking for future funding to continue the monitoring station beyond 2021. Will need approximately $20,000 in 2021 and hopefully City of Fitchburg will cover most to the cost.
11:51 a.m. October Minutes:
· Stuart Allbaugh made a motion to accept the October 8, 2020 meeting minutes. Tamara Knickmeier seconded the motion. Motion passed.
11:53 a.m. Treasurer Report – Sal Troia
· The financials were reviewed –
o No change in membership since the last meeting.
o Projected to have a $2,100 loss for the year
· Scott Seymour made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Nancy Peckham seconded the motion. Motion passed.
· 2021 budget was presented to the Board. Nancy Peckham made a motion to approve the 2021 budget. Jim St. Vincent seconded the motion. Motion passed.
12:00 p.m. Marketing & Membership Committee (M&M) – Nancy Peckham
YLA membership by lake as of November 12, 2020
2020 Renewals 2020 New Total 2020 Members 2020 Non-Renewed
Kegonsa 26 29 55 2
Mendota 90 33 123 8
Monona 80 28 108 12
Waubesa 32 20 52 12
Yahara/other 2 0 2 7
Totals 230 109 340 41
· SquareSpace security issue -
o Brenda has been working on a recent security issue we are having with Square Space where some of the documents on the “For Board Members” site have been able to be accessed through Google without a password. This was the same issue that Rhonda put a significant amount of time on with our previous platform. We hired a technical expert, Josh Swan (YLA Administrator candidate), to look into it and he came up with the idea of moving everything to Dropbox (easy for board members to access through an app or website) and off of the public website. Marketing websites are not designed to house confidential internal documents. Cost are as shown in the marketing plan below.
· 2021 Marketing Plan –
o Proposed Budget -
§ Membership Drive mailings
· New members – 3 for $3,100 total
· Renewal – 2 for $500 total (in addition to email blasts)
· Sponsor/lake organization membership drive – 2 for $500 total
§ $3,600 budget for Lakeside Learning & Listening sessions, targeting 3 events
§ $1,000 budget for promotional items (ie. giveaways, caps, signs)
§ $412 budget to increase our Facebook/social media presence next year
§ $138 budget for Dropbox to secure access to board documents
§ Total Budget amount is $9,250 which was included in the 2021 approved budget.
o Membership:
§ 60 net new members (340 current total increasing to 400 next year) -
· 88% retention goal (up from the 2020 retention rate of 85%)
· Stretch M&M goal of 75 new members which is not reflected in the 2021 budget
§ Dues – will remain at $50 in 2021 to monitor retention and continue to demonstrate value.
§ If the 400 members goal is reached @ $50 each = $20,000 in collected dues.
§ Committee will likely propose dues increase for 2022 - tentative $60/member.
§ Contributions and Sponsors goal is to maintain current levels -
· Contributions in 2020 - $7,400
· Sponsors – will try to possibly bump sponsors to a higher tier (currently 1 Gold/5 Silver/10 Bronze) – budget amount of $3,000 which is the same amount in 2020.
· Newsletters -
o Sal Troia led the effort in October
o Jim St. Vincent will be leading the effort in November. The goal is to send the newsletter out the week of November 16th. Articles that will be included - President’s message, dredging update, Thanksgiving article, updated on PFAs, Fitchburg development & water monitoring update, and Manke sponsor article.
o December newsletter will be led by Tamara Knickmeier which will include a holiday greeting and will be sent out the week of December 14th.
· Website and Facebook page revisions since the last board meeting:
o Added October newsletter to website and Facebook
o Added September financials to Board area
o Added October minutes and financials to Board area
o Removed Dick Adler from the Board page on the YLA website
12:15 p.m. Water Quality, Lake Levels & Flow Committee – Eric Vieth
· All lakes are at Summer Max due the recent amount of rain we have had.
· For the Yellow Zone Slow No Wake signage – Eric Vieth will discuss with the committee as to what the signs will look like and how many are needed. The signage that the County has out at the boat launches could be used as a template. Once the signage details have been finalized the committee will bring the proposal back to the board for funding.
· An YL-Alert will be sent that the County budget has been approved.
· Dredging update – Dredging has been completed for approximately 3,500 feet of the Yahara River between Lakes Monona and Waubesa. Progress has been slowed since the contractor has encountered debris in the river bottom and has struggled to remove this debris with their hydraulic dredging equipment. The contractor is currently finishing up sediment removal between Bridge Road and Broadway and should have all dredge piping, buoys and equipment removed by the end of November. Dane County is currently working with the contractor and WDNR to explore options for debris removal in the future between Bridge Road and Broadway. A brief update will be included in the November newsletter.
12:25 p.m. Legislative & Legal Committee – Caroline Fribance & Scott Seymour
· To satisfy the statutes listed in the bylaws, an annual meeting that needs to be held that provides a President’s report and Treasurer’s financial report during this calendar year. Electronic notice to be given to the members 10 days prior to the meeting.
· Allan Levin made a motion to hold the annual meeting on the second Thursday of December at 6:30 pm. Caroline Fribance seconded the motion.
· Nancy Peckham made a motion to amend the above to hold the annual meeting on December 10th at 11:30 am. Tamara Knickmeier seconded the motion. Motion passed.
12:45 p.m. Ad hoc Human Resources/Nominating Committee
· Jim St Vincent made a motion to nominate Caroline Fribance, Eric Olson, Nancy Peckham, and Sal Troia for election by the members at the Annual Meeting in December. Annette Hellmer seconded the motion. Motion passed.
· Jim St. Vincent made a motion to approve Scott Seymour as President Elect/Vice President. Nancy Peckham seconded the motion. Motion passed.
· Allan Levin made a motion to hire Josh Swan as the new YLA administrator. Annette Hellmer seconded the motion. Motion passed.
12:55 p.m. Events – no report.
12:56 p.m. Other Business -
· Allan Levin made a motion to thank Dan Schultz for his many years of service to the YLA Board. Jim St. Vincent seconded the motion. Motion passed.
1:00 p.m. Allan Levin made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jim St. Vincent seconded the motion. Motion passed.