Dear membership,

I am writing this on the day before fishing opener and the forecast low tonight is 25 degrees, yikes!  The good news is the ice is off the lake and the city dock is in at the landing.  I hope those that get out fishing are successful this weekend and remember to bring their snowmobile suit!!

The board met this past week using Zoom video conferencing and discussed the upcoming annual meeting, membership dues status and a few other topics.  Here is a summary of the meeting:

• The annual meeting will be held using Zoom video conferencing.  The meeting is scheduled for Saturday May 23^rd at 10:00 am.
  • We will hold a pre-meeting to allow you experience with Zoom on Thursday May 21^st between 6:00 and 7:00 pm.  You can visit a bit or just get connected and leave.  This meeting invite will be sent out on May 16.
  • We will be sending out the annual meeting invite with the Zoom log in procedures on May 21^st.
    • We will share our presentation along with this invite.
  • You can join by any of the following options:
• computer or tablet, using your internet browser via  www.zoom.us
• smartphone,  android or iOS free app for ZOOM found in the App store
• conference call via your cell phone or landline (Long distance charges may apply if using a landline.)
  • In this meeting we will be voting for three open director positions.  We are seeking members interested in joining the board to please contact us by May 9, 2020 and we can share more information on these positions.  The director term is 3 years.
• We discussed the dues collection status.   Currently only 40 of the 55 existing members have renewed so far.  Your continued membership support is critical to maintain the health of our lake with various testing and boat inspection activities.
• We discussed a possible application to the DNR on a Sunfish improvement project.  We will be seeking membership input on this in the coming months.
• We discussed the new website and how to expand it’s content.  Please visit www.garfieldlakeassociation.com.  We would appreciate your input on the current content and future additions.
• Please remember when you put your dock out to also hang your Zebra Mussel tube.  If you would like to be a part of the program, email the association and we will get one out to you.

Please stay safe and healthy during this challenging time.  We hope to see you this summer, at least from a safe distance.  Our many great local businesses will also be anxious to serve you again.

Respectfully,

Dear membership,

Sadly, the world has changed dramatically since our board last met in early January. However, last I checked, the ice is melting and soon the loons will be calling us.  And last I heard, we can wave from our docks as our neighbor’s boat past us.  I hope this update finds you and your family safe and healthy.

The board met this past week using video conferencing software and discussed how to proceed with the association’s activities this season.

Our primary concern was solving how to safely arrange the required annual member’s meeting scheduled for May 23^rd.  We decided to keep the meeting as scheduled, and cancel the in-person portion of this meeting at the church and instead use ZOOM video conferencing software.  While this option is not ideal, it allows us to conduct required association business, including voting for open board of director positions and sharing information on the association’s activities.  We also hope this option allows many more of you to attend remotely.

In this meeting we will be voting for three open director positions.  We are seeking members interested in joining the board to please contact us by May 9, 2020 and we can share more information on these positions.  The director term is 3 years.

The options to join this meeting will include: 

• computer or tablet, using your internet browser via  www.zoom.us
• smartphone,  android or iOS free app for ZOOM found in the App store
• conference call via your cell phone or landline  (Long distance charges may apply if using a landline

We will share more detailed information on this as we get closer to the meeting. 

The board meeting minutes for April 8, 2020 are attached for your review.  Highlights are listed below:

• ·         Annual dues notices have been sent via email and are due now.  Please remember, you must be a paid up member to vote at the annual meeting scheduled for May 23, 2020.
• We reported on our conversations with DNR regarding the unfilled Conservation Officer in our district.  The local DNR Enforcement Captain has offered coverage while they work on filling the open position.
• Lake water quality testing will continue this summer.  We encourage any of our members to join us on the sampling task.  If interested in joining us for one of these events, please send us an email.
• We reported updates on the local township financial support of the county run AIS boat landing inspections.
• We discussed the status of the loon nest project for this summer.  We have one wooden nest ready to go and another under construction, but the coronavirus crisis has delayed the construction of the new aluminum nest.  We have plans to have these placed as soon as the ice is out.
• We discussed a possible application to the DNR on a Sunfish improvement project.  We will be seeking membership input on this in the coming months.
• We published our new website at www.garfieldlakeassociation.com.  We encourage you to visit our site and share it with your neighbors.
• Ron had a suggestion on how membership might help support local businesses during this challenging time by buying gift cards from them now for future use.

 Please stay safe and healthy during this challenging time.  We hope to see you this summer, at least from a safe distance.  Our many great local businesses will also be anxious to serve you again.

Respectfully,

Bill Karsten, President

Happy New Year from Garfield Lake! 

The recent snow storm has created a big slush problem on the lake preventing ice fisherman from driving on the lake preventing in the Garfield Lake Ice Racer’s canceling their upcoming racing season.  At the same time, the Paul Bunyan Trail has never had so much snowmobiler traffic all enjoying stops at ‘The Base’ and ‘The Popple’.  This is truly a ‘Minnesota winter”!!

Your lake association board met last Saturday to close out 2019 and plan ahead for 2020.  I thought I would update you on our plans and challenges for 2020 as well as look back on numerous accomplishments in 2019.

Looking ahead in 2020:

·       We are challenged with maintaining our momentum and leadership within the association.  We welcome members interested in joining the board and contributing to our ongoing success.  Three board positions are up for election and we only have two incumbents interested at this time.  The election will be held during the annual meeting on Saturday, May 23, 2020.

·       Mark Warisch and Ron Ray are leading an artificial loon nest project with plans to have at least one nest placed, possibly two, this spring when the ice goes out.  We are receiving guidance from another local lake association with this program.  They reported that these nests have a dramatic impact on loon chick mortality rates.  We will be seeking donations and sponsorships to help fund the program.  Custom aluminum nests cost around $800.  We will share more information on this project as the year progresses.

·       Our area has lacked a DNR Conservation Officer (CO) for a number of years and there are concerns that our lake may be overfished.  Charlie Clark has been in contact with the DNR and we anticipated a new CO would be in place as of December 2019.  We were notified last week that this position was not filled this year.  We are working on a letter to voice our concern to the DNR and encourage them to fill the position as soon as possible.  We will share our letter with our local lake associations (Steamboat and Kabekona) and ask them to do likewise.

·       We will be holding our annual meeting on Saturday, May 23, 2020 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Laporte.  We plan on having an outside speaker, but have not decided on a topic yet.

·       We will start the annual dues collection process in April and market to non-members around the lake at the same time.

·       We will continue the lake water quality testing and monitoring program as in prior years.

·       Mark Warisch will continue his participation in the loon count and monitoring program run by the Hubbard County COLA organization.

·       We will continue to partner with the City of Laporte, Lakeport and Hart Lake Townships to enlist their support to continue the annual supplemental funding of the boat launch AIS Inspection program.

·       The next board meeting will be held Saturday, April 11, 2020.  Members are welcome to attend. The Exact time and location are yet to be determined.

Looking back at 2019:

·       Zero Zebra Mussel Veligers (larva) were found in this year’s testing!  Additionally, no adult Zebra Mussels have been found yet!!  This was very positive news for us.  An article in the Park Rapids Enterprise mentioned our lake and suggested our clear waters may be preventing them from taking hold.  Let’s hope this is true!

·       The boat launch was rebuilt and is a major improvement!  GLA members Mark Warisch and Ron Ray initiated and lead this project and formed a partnership with the City of Laporte, Frank Vogeltanz, DREC, Inc., Corey Honer, John’s Backhoe Service, the Garfield Lake Ice Racer’s Club and others to successfully rebuild the boat launch owned by the City of Laporte.  All the costs related to this project were donated to the City, at an estimated value of $15-$20K.  We are the direct beneficiaries of this effort and have the best boat launch in the county!

·       Boat landing AIS Inspections were increased almost 100%!  We successfully established a partnership with the local governmental entities to help fund supplemental AIS Inspection hours for 2020.  The state/county provides us 268 hours for 2020. Our partnership adds almost 250 additional hours.  This is considered our first line defense against the spread of AIS to our lake.

·       Successful fundraising programs raise enough to fund 3 years of our contribution to the AIS Inspection funding!  Our multiple fundraising programs helped us surpass our original goals in 2019.  Your generous support and purchases of this merchandise is very much appreciated.  Our programs included 2 t-shirt designs, a hat design, bike donations from Walmart, the 4^th of July garage sale and many other efforts.

·       Assisted the Laporte Area Take A Kid Fishing program held on our lake!  We played a minor role in helping them promote the program to our email list and solicited lake residents to serve as guides.  We hope to help support this successful program again in 2020.

In summary, our lake association has had tremendous successes since we formed in May 2017.  This is due to some extremely dedicated volunteers who have contributed both time and money to make things happen.  We are committed to the ongoing success of the association and enlist our membership to volunteer their time and leadership in 2020 to protect and enhance the quality of the lake. 

Thanks,

Bill Karsten

President