BARBEE LAKES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION                                      

 Board of Directors Meeting

August 16, 2008

The August, 2008 meeting of the Board of Directors of the Barbee Lakes Property Owners Association was called to order by President, Dan Bell.  The following were present:

Board Members—John Duncan, Jim Bechstein, Charles Parr, Don Harris, Dan Bell, Mory Weyand, Bill Keith, Kenny Hill, Ron Miller, Kathy Schlotterback, Lisa Clough, George Hiatt, Gena Hastings Perry Hastings, Chuck Brinkman, Patt Klein, and Bob Trout.  Lew Huston, Larry Link, Bill Thompson and Jack Sell were excused.

Guests: Fred Schlotterback Mike DeWald

The minutes of the July meeting were approved.

Ron Miller reported we have 566 paid members and a balance in our checking account of $72,686.20.  He announced that Mike DeWald volunteered to assist him with accounting responsibilities. The board members gave Mike a round of applause to show their appreciation for assisting Ron.  The treasurer’s report was approved.

Perry Hastings shared that the DNR has approved plans for the phase 2 dredging on Kuhn Lake .  The spoils site at the Barbee Christian Camp has also been approved.  Perry was instructed to proceed with development of an agreement with the camp for the spoils site. On behalf of BLPOA, Perry was instructed to offer a “gift” to the camp of $4,000 for use of land for the spoils basin. He was also given permission to increase the offer up to $2000 if it became necessary. After an agreement has been reached with the camp manager, the agreement will be forwarded to the church camp council for final approval. The board agreed that we need to contact our insurance agent to make sure we have liability insurance during the time the spoils site pit is open.   

Perry agreed to talk with J.F. New about additional dredging in the channel between Little and Big Barbee Lakes .

Lew Huston reported that Jeff Krevda, Dredging Technologies, recently met with the property owners who live at the southwest corner of Little Barbee. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss in detail the final phase of dredging this fall.  Jeff will map out the 0.7 acres at this site to determine the dredging strategy as stated in the permit.  The property owners discussed each area in front of their homes with Jeff and were satisfied with his dredging plan. Jeff plans to mobilize the dredging equipment during the first week of September.  Piers must be removed and boaters must use caution in the dredging area.  Signs will be posted, buoys installed, and newspaper releases will notify boaters of the caution they must take during the dredging process.

Kenny Hill suggested that board members should be reimbursed mileage and gas expenses for their boats when conducting board business. The board agreed with this proposal.

Chuck Brinkman requested a description of Phase 2 dredging projects so it could be included on our website.

Bill Keith reminded board members that now is the time to obtain a permit to spray weeds on lake front properties if property owners wish to spray in excess of the 625 square feet of lake front which is presently permitted. Tony Cunningham, owner of  Weed Patrol  (1-800-201-9333),  is willing to  contact DNR for inspection and apply chemicals for interested property owners.  Additional Eurasian milfoil was discovered and treated in July; however, it was determined that an additional lake-wide algae treatment before Labor Day was not necessary.

The board was informed that we only received 57% of needed funds from channel owners to cover channel spraying expenses for the 2008 lake season. The possibility of appointing “captains” to collect needed funds for each individual lake channel before spraying commenced was discussed; however, no action was taken.

Weed Patrol shared with Bill that chemicals for weed control had increased in cost by 30%.  Containers for chemicals had increased from $1.00 to $7.50. 

If we do not wish Weed Patrol to continue as our applicator, we must notify him by March, 31, 2009 .

President Dan Bell appealed for board members to volunteer to assist with the weed control program for 2009.

There was discussion concerning raising the amount of dues and suggested weed control donations for 2009.  It was suggested that perhaps we needed a more organized membership drive.  No action was taken.

Kathy Schlotterback reported a net profit of $6,808.19 for the 3 week-ends of the hotdog boat operation.  Looking ahead to 2009, she proposed that we have week-end managers of the boat for the four sessions of its operation.  The Schlotterback's, Duncan 's, and Sell's have volunteered; however we need another couple or couples to step forward to manage the fourth week. The week-end managers will be responsible for contacting and scheduling workers to operate the boat. Kathy will continue to purchase the supplies. She also announced that because many property owners were busy closing their residents during the Labor Day week-end, we would operate the boat only one day.   

Kathy suggested we consider conducting a raffle during 2009.  Possible prizes might include a vacation, a patio set, or gas cards.  She believes we could sell advertising on the back of each ticket.

Jim Bechstein, Lisa Clough, and Ron Miller continue their work on an updated directory.  Able Printing has agreed to sell the necessary advertising to cover the expense of publication.  The cost of mailing each directory is $0.44.  The following ideas were discussed: (1) sending directories only to contributors, (2) including a channel map, (3) including a newsletter, (4) including membership information, (4) including e-mail addresses, (5) including information concerning the Grassy Creek Foundation, (6) condensing the present two listings into one list with a designation for those who made a contribution. (7) changing the procedure for designating the date on the front cover. Final action on the directory will take place at the September board meeting.

It was agreed that BLPOA should publish 3 or 4 newsletters annually. Suggested dates and possible content:  March-(membership information and weed control plans, BLPOA projects), June-membership information, fund raising activities, BLPOA projects, annual meeting announcement), and October-Water quality, foundation information)     

The meeting was adjourned.

Bob Trout, Secretary