ESSLA Executive Board Meeting- October 28, 2010

Present:  Bill McGhie, Jane Smith, Vince Blando, Joanne McGhie, Anne Pieper, Chrys Matterson, Kim Frazier, and Sally Paland.  Absent: Bob Colegrove, Mike Purdy, and Steve Fahey.

Jane made a motion to accept the September 23rd minutes as written.  Joanne seconded the motion and the motion passed.  Joanne reported that we have $13,922 in our checking account..  We now have 426 active ESSLA members.

Anne reported that our fundraising has brought in approximately $8,000 this year with about $6,000 coming from calendar sales.  Jane will email a promotional flyer to encourage all ESSLA members to buy additional calendars at the reduced rate of $5.00 each.

Bill reported that all the paperwork for the 501C3 has been completed and submitted.  Bill also said he is making Schroon Lake Watershed Management Plan books available free of charge.  Bill, Jane, and Vince attended a meeting about the SLWMP.  The formation of a 12 person committee is being pursued.  The committee would provide surveillance and recommendations supporting the SLWMP.  The committee would also look into obtaining grant money.  At Horicon’s September town meeting, a resolution was passed  to move this committee forward.  It is hoped that this committee will meet in November and periodically thereafter.

Our ESSLA website was discussed.  Several suggestions were made to improve it.  Chrys asked that we all log on and let her know if we have any difficulties.  She is also deciding how best to display pictures.

NYSFOLA (New York Sate Federation of Lake Associations) has a conference every spring.  Bill asked if anyone was interested in going.  The conference will be the first weekend in May.  It was suggested some members might like to go for the day, rather than overnight.  We will continue this discussion at the next meeting.  Bill received communication from Nancy Mueller of the Citizens’ State Lake Assessment Program.  Training and improvement is needed for our CSLAP reports.

ESSLA wants to check different areas of the lake for pollution and phosphorus levels.  Bill would like to see Word of Life, Blue Sky, and the Lodges tested in 2011.  At the recent Adirondack Lakes Association meeting, there was a presentation on the use of  Renevate at Lake Luzerne.  The project was very successful in removing milfoil.

There was a discussion about the Crown Point Fish Hatchery.  ESSLA supports restocking the lakes and rivers so as not to lose tourism in the area. Because this hatchery needs a lot of work, it will be quite expensive to keep it open.  It was suggested that perhaps services could be combined with another fish hatchery and close Crown Point.  Bill is going to write a letter to the county expressing our concerns.

Vince asked for approval to have a Super Scout Breakfast Meeting next June for 25-30 people.  This would provide training and materials for the scouts and kick off the 2011 season.  The Board approved the expense.  There was discussion about expanding our Board to include a person to write grants and someone to do publicity.  Sally offered to do publicity for the time being and Jane will help with contact information.  Additional members may be added at a later date.

Jane suggested having our Board meetings in a public place so members of the community would feel more comfortable attending, if they so desired.  It was suggested that we continue to meet in private homes during the winter months and perhaps the Adirondack School in the summer.  This will be addressed further at our November meeting.  Bill wants to know how to avoid paying sales tax when shopping for materials.  Jane said she would check into this.

As there was no further business, Jane made a motion to adjourn, Vince seconded it and the meeting was adjourned.  Our next meeting is November 18^th, 9:30 at Wakonda.

Respectfully submitted,

Sally Paland, Secretary