Bill Martins also reported that 14 nests and 68 Canada Goose eggs have been treated. Additionally, he indicated that buoys will be returned to the water beginning this week. Twelve new buoys have been ordered at a cost of $87 each.

Tom Blood reported on the Steuben County Lakes Council. A current concern has to do with fertilizers used on lake properties. The Council encourages lakers to use non-phosphorus or low phosphorus fertilizer. Steuben County soils do not need phosphorus. There will be a survey conducted at the HLA annual meeting on June 21 at Gnagy Park. The meeting will begin at 8:00 with coffee and donuts. The general meeting will begin at 8:30.

Work on the Black Creek grant continues. Beth Neilson reports that 24,000 cubic yards of material should be dredged from the mouth of the creek and the area at the mouth of the Clark’s Landing channel. We are working on determining where this material can be placed. The grant for the construction phase of the project has not yet been granted.

Under old business it was reported that we have obtained and up-to-date GSI listing of all Hamilton Lake area residents. Koozies ordered in the fall for distribution via the Hamilton Welcome committee along with a brochure explaining the purpose of the HLA have been obtained and will be provided to the Welcome committee.

Membership stickers to 2008 members are being hand delivered by board members---

We are checking on the construction of a series of docks immediately south of the public boat landing at Circle Park. A request has been made to rebuild and expand this dock area. At this time approval is still pending.

Under new business it was decided to purchase and install a “No Wake” sign at the entrance to Crystal Bay. The commercial no wake sign that had been located on the east side of the entrance has been taken down. A new sign, sponsored by the HLA, will be installed soon. At the annual meeting we will introduce the 2008/09 board. Two members are leaving the board, Kay Nims and Mike Roop. We are currently looking for replacements who can be introduced and elected at the annual meeting. Members up for re-election who have indicated a willingness to continue to serve include Janet Albright, Tom Blood and Bill Dillon. The board also approved purchase of new instruments for the weather station which is used on the hamiltonlake.org website. There was also a lengthy discussion of the situation of the Callender property on the north end of the lake. The HLA will work with area conservation groups to aggressively pursue acquisition of the property by an area land trust.

Finally, it was agreed that the HLA would work together with the Hamilton Improvement Team in sponsoring a silent auction on August 2 as a fundraiser for both organizations’ projects. As there will be no wine tasting this year, the silent auction will be held at the Clark’s Landing Marina. Donations of articles for the silent auction are urgently solicited. You can contact any board member regarding the auction which will be held from 6-9 p.m. at the marina. There will be an auction, a silent auction, cash bar, hors d’ oeuvres by TGM Catering and the Little Big Band will be there. Cost is $20 per person. The event is entitled “Celebrate Hamilton.”

The next meeting of the HLA board will take place at 7 pm at the Fish and Game on Tuesday, June 10. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20.
 

HAMILTON LAKE ASSOCIATION
Minutes of the Board of Directors July 10, 2007

Bill Dillon called the meeting to order with the following present: Jack Thompson, Ro Pape, Linda Skelly, Jim Honiotes, Tom Blood, and Tony Hile.

Minutes of the June meeting were approved as read. Note: Since the June meeting, the meeting concerning the Millpond Conservancy has been changed to July 17 at 6:00 p.m.

Steuben County Lakes Council: SCLC Annual Meeting is August 4, 8:30 a.m. The proposed non-phosphorus ordinance is going to the county commissioners. Clear Lake has passed a no phosphorus ordinance. West Otter is having a lake fair on August 11, 10 – 2:00 p.m. located at the public ramp on US 20. The Northeast Indiana Solid Waste District is accepting electronics for recycling on Fridays, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 Noon.

Treasurers Report: Weed Account $12,891.13, Regular Account $20,407.78, total in the Checking Account $33,298.91. $175.00 was paid to have the 2006 Tax Return (Long Form) completed. All outstanding bills have been paid. We received a donation of $138.00 from Randy Pape as a result of the 50/50 Drawing held at our annual meeting.

Black Creek: William’s Creek Engineering has submitted their first report to the DNR. They also have followed up on our annual meeting and spoke to a number of members.

Old Business: Scott has been working with the county GSI to get address updates.

Computer Equipment: We continue to research our options of different computer equipment and software. Many members said they have not been receiving mailings or they have been billed twice or not acknowledged for their contribution. There is a concern that our old system could crash so it is hopeful that we can upgrade this fall. We have volunteers who have offered to help enter membership data.

It was suggested that we again print a list of paid members and those who have paid weed spray in the Hamilton Newspaper. Board members in attendance are in favor of doing this again.

There is still interest in a bingo operation as a fundraiser. We will talk about this more in August.

New Business: Election of officers: A recommendation was made to have the same slate of officers for 2007-2008. Current officers agreed to remain in their position. A motion to accept election slate as presented was made by Tom Blood and seconded by Tony Hile. The election results are as follows:

Bill Dillon, President Jeff Bireley, Vice President Jack Thompson, Treasurer Linda Skelly, Secretary

Board members up for re-election in 2008 are: Tom Blood, Bill Dillon, Kay Nims, Mike Roop, and Open.

Website Reporting: Bill asked for volunteers from the board to write articles or contribute information to the website.

A motion to adjourn was made by Jack Thompson and seconded by Tony Hile. Motion carried.

Linda Skelly Secretary

Summary
Hamilton Lake Association meeting, July 10, 2007

Call to Order: Bill Dillon

Present: Linda Skelly, Jack Thompson, Jim Honiotes, Ro Pape, Tony Hile, Tom Blood, Bill Dillon. Because there were two board resignations in June and no one has yet been appointed to fill those positions, the quorum was met

Approval of Minutes: Linda Skelly Some question about two meetings set for July 17.  There is definitely a meeting at the Headstart Building at 6 pm on the Millpond Conservancy. We need representation there and several board members gave assurances of their intentions to attend. The other meeting is sponsored by the DNR and will take place at Pokagen State Park.

Treasurer’s Report: Jack Thompson. The Association currently has $33,298.91 in the treasury with all bills paid. A decision will be made on how much to invest in a CD once we know what our LARE grant amount will be.

Committee Reports

Weed Control and Buoys: Bill Martins/LARE grant concerns. No report at this time.  

Steuben County Lakes Council: Tom Blood reiterated the Lake Council’s position on the use of non-phosphorus fertilizer and its notation that Clear Lake has passed an ordinance encouraging the use of non-phosphorus products. Also, NE Indiana Solid Waste Management is sponsoring a recyclables day at the West Otter Lake ramp on US 20 on August 11 from 10 am to 2 pm.

Black Creek Grant: Bill Dillon. Williams Creek Engineering representatives have submitted their first report to the DNR and have interviewed a number of landowners about the Black Creek streambed stabilization and about tentative plans for dredging near the mouth of Black Creek. Bill Martins noted after the July meeting that Eurasian milfoil has been found in Black Creek and efforts will be made to treat it before it re-enters Hamilton Lake.   Old Business

Status regarding accessing different computer for website and association data; software issues on rebuilding our data base??? Many members have complained that they have not been contacted for annual membership and weed control or they have been billed twice or their contributions have not been noted. Usually, these issues are handled individually and promptly but there is a concern that our old computer and software could crash and we would be left in a situation where our data base could be ruined. It is hoped that the board and volunteers within the board will be able to replace the equipment and software by this fall. Several board members have volunteered to key in all necessary information about membership. A major obstacle continues to be the difficulty in gaining information on new residents in the lake community.

The issue of using bingo as a fund-raising method was brought up again. After visiting Sylvan Lake and being extremely impressed with their organization and bingo operation which has allowed many improvements to the area, a member felt the subject should be explored more fully. We hope to continue exploring this possibility in coming months. It was noted that the area on the north side of the lake is currently up for sale and the hope was expressed that this area could be set aside as a nature conservancy. Obviously, not without a lot of money available for its purchase. Hope springs eternal.

New Business   Election of officers for 2008: All current officers have agreed to remain in their positions for the ensuing year. They include:   Bill Dillon, President Jeff Bireley, Vice President Jack Thompson, Treasurer Linda Stucky, Secretary

Replacement candidates for resigned board positions are needed from Districts 2 and 4

Board members up for re-election in 2008: Tom Blood, Bill Dillon, Mike Roop, Kay Nims, Open

Website reporting assignments. Bill Dillon asked for volunteers from the board to write articles for the website in order to keep information on www.hamiltonlake.org as timely as possible.

Additional concerns?    Many questions were asked at the annual meeting in June about zebra mussels. Suffice it to say that there is little or nothing that can be done to eradicate them. The best we can do is make sure we don’t allow them to infest new locations. An excellent website on the zebra mussel is  http://www-atlas.usgs.gov/articles/biology/a_zm.html - 35k - Cached   Motion to Adjourn

Next meeting: 7 p.m. Fish and Game, Tuesday, August 14, 2007