(July 13, 2019) Meeting was called to order at 9:50AM by MLIA President Mick Braman. Board members in attendance were; Mr. Braman, Don Blackmon Sr., Cynthia Polk Muller - Treasurer, Jim Dudley, Nick Barnes - Secretary, and Todd Tirotta. Absent were Dan Kuruzar - Vice President. President Braman asked Ms. Polk Muller to give the Treasures report. She reported that the association general fund currently had $18,729.21. This included the 2019 membership dues which are still incoming. She shared that through the GoFundMe and outside donations, the Associated raised $14,350 for the fireworks. The 2019 show cost $12,000 so the remaining would be placed in a separate account and used towards a 2020 fireworks display - If that was indeed what the association members wanted to do. 

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The members in attendance responded with resounding support of the fireworks and look forward to having them again next year. Next up Mr. Braman asked Mr. Barnes to share our membership report. Mr. Barnes reported that we currently have 285 members and have a modest goal of 300 we are looking to achieve by year end. He asked current members to reach out to their neighbors, particularly the new ones moving in and inviting them to join. Membership application are available through the Association website.

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Mr. Braman thanked former President Jim Sullivan for his years to the Association. His countless hours of service are a direct reflection of the board’s positive outlook.

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Mr. Sullivan thanked Mick and made a motion to appoint Bill Boehnlein to the Association board, filling the open seat. All were in favor!

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Mr. Braman asked all the board members to introduce themselves and mention where they reside along the lake. Ms. Polk Muller made sure to thank all those were able to attend the lake picnic on the Polk property and noted that next year’s picnic would be July 11, 2020.

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Mr. Braman then highlighted some of the accomplishments of the board within the last year.

• Established the new social media platform. Which included the new website and a Facebook account, which now has over 300 “friends”.

• Continued the water testing.

• Lake survey for invasive weeds and subsequent treatment for the invasive weeks.

• New Magician Lake rules sign at the public access.

• Refrigerator magnets sent out to residents to reinforce the rules.

• 4th of July fireworks.

• Attended the Michigan Lake Stewardship Association Congress

• Mr. Blackmond and Mr. Braman attended the conference and shared their highlight. For Mr. Blackmond that was the drone surveying of lakes and drainage issues. He mentioned that might be something we could look at doing to investigate if there were blockage issues along the Magician Lake outlet.

 

Mr. Braman added that that PFAS concerns that are impacting Michigan waterways and water tables, were alarming and certainly a topic we would be monitoring going forward.

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Mr. Tirotta noted that we are looking to add more events to do on the lake and asked members to share those ideas through the website, Facebook, or direct to board members.

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Undersheriff Clint Roach of the Cass County Sheriff’s marine patrol shared with us the importance of making sure safety was a top concern for boaters. He stressed the importance of making sure boaters have taken the proper boaters safety class and encourage anyone with kids and young adult to take the boaters safety class offered through the sheriff’s department.

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Ronnie Kay of Restorative Lake Sciences introduced herself and express her excitement to be working on our lake. She resides on Dewey Lake so the connection is close in proximity and the Sister Lake has a special place in her heart. She updated attendees on the current 5 acres of Eurasian water milfoil that was treated in Magician Lake. That was very encouraging considering Magician Lake is one of the larger lakes they treat and has some of the smallest treatment areas.

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Ronnie also commented that we are very lucky to have a channel system that we do, as it adds vital nursery habit for fish, frogs, and turtles.

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Questions for the crowd: What can we do to control the geese population - and specifically the mess they leave behind? The Dori pole and flag have been successful for some members around the lake.

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How can we continue to connect with members (and non-members) who don’t use facebook?

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The possibility of additional printed and mailed newsletters is NOT off the table. In addition maybe we could look into creating an email database to send out the newsletter.

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Does Keeler have a similar SAD? Not a “SAD” but members did create a fund so portions of lake in Keeler Twp. could be treated. We’d check with Dan Kuruzar to see what the status of that fund is today.

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Will we continue to utilize the GoFundMe site to take donations for fireworks? Board felt it was the easiest but we could explore other options.

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Mr. Braman thanked all who attended and encouraged them all to enjoy the lake. Meeting was adjourned at 10:50.