Home

Cedar Lake Improvement District (CLID) Annual Meeting Minutes held on April 8, 2019, 7:00-9:00 pm at the New Prague Fire and Emergency Services Building.

Attendees: Marie Jaeger, Dave Nielsen, Joel Larson, Tim Singleton, Tim Schroeder, Amy Rude (board appointee), Paul Hoyt (board appointee) and Pam Caselius (board appointee) and approximately 30 district residents.

Agenda Items discussed:

• Introduction
• Board Member Elections
• Carp
• Curly Leaf Pondweed Treatment Costs to Date
• 2018 Expenses and Budget
• Future Treatment Costs/Funding
• Approval of Proposed 2019 Budget
• No wake marker Buoys

Tim Schroeder opened the meeting with introductions by current board directors to include a map showing the CLID boundaries. He also indicated that Cedar Lake was located in both Helena and Cedar Lake Townships. He then went on to review board requirements and election terms. Three board directors’ terms expired in 2018. Marie Jaeger retired from the board but will still remain at large for help as needed. Marie was our board president for many years and contributed greatly to the success of the CLID and we thank her for her service. Tim advised he would be the new Board Chair taking over for Marie. Jeff Gorman moved out of the district so he was no longer eligible to serve on the board and Paul Hoyt would be taking over the remaining 2 years of his term. Pam Caselius would be taking over the vacancy left by Marie. All three were unanimously elected by a vote from the property owners in attendance. Tim expressed the dire need for residents of the District to apply to join the board. Without more applicants, we will not be able to fill vacancies as they occur. Applications are available on the website.

Tim Singleton presented again this year on carp removal. As he explained that the box netting program was not successful last summer but that a full refund was granted by the contractor as a result. He also advised that the CLID plans to continue to focus on ways to control carp and the carp bow-hunting tournament would not take place this year but would be reviewed again next year along with any other possibilities for carp control.

SWMO conducted a new request for bids and a contract for 2019-2021 for invasive weed treatment contractors since the current contract had expired in 2018. The same contractor who had treated the lake in prior years won the bid for 2019-2021.

Tim Schroeder presented an overview of hypothetical worst-case scenario treatment costs and projected budgeted funding for 2012 through 2021. Annually we rely on the lake surveys in April to determine the number of acres to be treated and cost per acre. Prior projections were based on a continued use of Aquathol on approximately 350 acres of the lake and a 3% increase in treatment cost per acre. Starting in 2019 the CLID has moved to a new chemical treatment called Sonar. Sonar is a different type of treatment then Aquathol in that the whole lake is treated at once with treatment cost per application being about 30% less than Aquathol. The hope is that the Sonar treatment will be a success as it has in other Minnesota lakes similar to Cedar and treatment costs will continue to decrease with its use instead of Aquathol thus requiring less funds. Tim also noted that the CLID’s funding continues via the approved 10-year tax levy through 2021 when new funding will need to be discussed.

Joel reviewed a yearly breakdown of budgeted and actual costs to date since 2012 showing actual contributions by the DNR, SWMO and the CLID. The funds from the DNR over the last few years have assisted both the SWMO and CLID with keeping budgeted costs lower than anticipated since the DNR contribution was never in the expected funding due to changing legislative priorities/funding.

Tim Singleton reviewed 2018 (1/1/2018-12/31/2018) expenses. Due to careful management, the budget approved from last year’s annual meeting exceeded the actual expenses paid out in 2018. The 2019 budget including expenses for the estimated 2019 Curly Leaf Pondweed treatment, required liability insurance, and general administrative costs (website, annual meeting mailing, etc.). Also requested was an additional $20,000 to be set aside in a reserve fund to be available for any new unexpected invasive species found in Cedar or additional areas of controlling CLP beyond estimated areas. No objections were raised to the proposed budget/reserve fund and it was approved by meeting attendees.

The final portion of the presentation was around no wake marker buoys where it was noted that these buoys are available for placement 150 feet from a shoreline owners shore to indicate a no wake zone between the buoy and the shoreline. For property owners who are interested they need to obtain a permit from the Scott County Sherriff’s office.

The annual meeting concluded with a question/answer segment and was adjourned by 9:00 p.m. Next Board of Directors meeting is at 6:30 pm at the New Prague Library on May 6, 2019.