2016

Countryside Lake Association

Mundelein, Illinois 60060

2016 Annual Meeting Minutes

March 21, 2016

CALL TO ORDER

BOARD ATTENDANCE: J. Miller, C. Aspegren, S. Parmley, T. Richter, J. Wilkins, L. Erickson, L. Jezuit and T. Caldwell. Absent: D. Hupp.

CLA Members present 21

Member proxies to others present: 5

Member proxy to the Board: 57

A quorum was met and President Sean Parmley called the meeting to order at 8:05 PM.

SECRETARY’S REPORT

M. Theobald moved and A. Zych seconded the motion to approve the Secretary’s Report of the October 2015 Semi-Annual meeting as published. All in favor, the motion carried.

TREASURER’S REPORT

    • J. Miller reviewed the 2015 fiscal year, 2016 budget and year -to-date expenses as presented in the report dated March 7, 2016, and discussed the following items of interest in the fiscal report.

    • Increased income shown for 2015 is largely due to the increased number of property sales and parcel transfer payments. (We had 25 parcel transfers last year and had only budgeted for 10 sales).

    • The Association currently has 347 members.

    • The transfer of $ 62,000.00 from the operating account to the Capital Fund Reserves is shown for 2015.

    • 2015 actual operating expenditures were on or below budget, the 2 items shown over budget are the toilet rental, which was due to a new contract amount, and the dam inspection cost, which due to their billing schedule actually covers 2 years, so it represents is payment for the 2014 and 2015 inspections.

    • Capital expenditures included purchase of the additional hardware to complete the lake draw down system to meet Illinois DNR requirements, improvements to the swim area, and the replacement of boat storage racks at both the beach and boat launch.

    • J. Miller commented that long term delinquencies will continue to be handled by our attorney for legal action and collection.

    • The audited financial report will be available after April 1st, anyone interested in receiving a copy let J. Miller know.

M. Theobald moved and L. Graber seconded the motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report. All in favor, the motion carried.

NOMINATIONS AND ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS

    • S. Parmley announced that the terms of 3 Director positions were expiring. The terms of S. Parmley, J. Wilkins and T. Richter are expiring. Nominations from the floor will be accepted to fill the 3-year Director positions.

    • S. Parmley opened the nominations to the floor.

Member L Graber nominated S. Parmley, J. Wilkins and T. Richter, to each serve for an additional 3-year term. Member M. Theobald seconded the nominations. There were no other nominations from the floor and S. Parmley called for a voice vote to elect the 3 nominated members. All in favor, with none opposed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Beach & Picnic

    • S. Parmley will discuss the improvements undertaken at the beach and swim area. Hopefully it will provide a better swim experience especially for the new crop of young children as well as the older kids using the beach this season.

    • J. Wilkins reported that the beach season will begin Memorial Day weekend with guard coverage from 10:30am to 6 pm daily through the Labor Day weekend.

    • A 2016 contract has been signed with Aqua Guard to provide certified lifeguard service again this season.

    • New ropes and floats have been received as well as replacement buoys for the swim area. They will be installed the Saturday morning of Memorial Day weekend, the first day that we will have guard coverage. Randy Miller has for years taken responsibility for getting everything in place for the swim season and would appreciate help for an hour or 2, hauling and getting the raft out of the shed and anchored on that Saturday morning if anyone is available.

    • Trash cans will be put out early May for the boating season start, and spring use of the picnic facilities if the weather is good year.

    • Sue Nierman has agreed to handle party reservations for the beach and picnic area again this year. Her contact information is in the front of the directory.

Facilities & Grounds

S. Parmley reported on the maintenance for association owned areas this year. Highlighted were:

    • The installation of a new beach liner was undertaken. It is about 100 feet wide and 50 feet out and was weighted down with about 500 sand bags. The application of approximately 15 loads of additional sand in early spring using a long reach bucket loader, as ice cover was never sufficient to allow safe spreading and distribution this winter as originally planned.

    • The remaining sandbags will be slit, emptied and removed this spring and some raking will be done to cover and provide a pleasant base for the shallow swim areas.

    • The previous liner was about 20 years old and prior to the new liner installation about 2 truckloads of muck, clam and mussel shells, and dead branches were raked and removed from the area. Thanks to Chris Aspegren for his help in the installation.

    • The yearly dam inspection has been completed and no major issues were found. The report did recommend sealing the spillway walls which we will seek bids for and complete the work this year.

    • The aeration system will be turned on as soon as ice is out on the lake.

    • All 3 boat buoys survived the winter and ready for use this season

    • Maintenance including oil and air filter changes for the compressors as well as cleaning of the aeration heads is scheduled.

    • Spring activities of getting the tennis court up and running, removal of the snow fencing at the beach, activating the lightning detection warning system, grading the sand and gravel at the beach and patching of any fencing as needed, will begin as soon as weather permits.

    • The halogen lights at the beach and the dam have been changed out to LED. There is some electrical repair work needed at the dam and in Fred’s shed to get everything up and running this season.

Lake Improvement Management

(L. Jezuit reporting for D. Hupp)

Weeds and Algae

    • The board has contracted with McCloud Aquatics for a 2016 Bio Treatment Program for one year in the amount of $37,554.00.

    • The program includes an additional treatment to try and reduce the July algae bloom that we suffered last years with the change to hot weather conditions.

    • Treatment locations and frequency will match the 2015 program, and Bio Treatments will begin mid-April.

    • The treatment schedule includes the use of different formulations of the Bio Treatments based on water temperature for spring, summer and fall conditions.

    • The herbicide Gallion will be applied this spring by McCloud Aquatics to reduce the invasive curly leaf pond weed. An alternating annual herbicide schedule will continue as planned. McCloud is entering year 2 of a 3year herbicide application contract.

    • A muck study will be conducted at the end of the 2016 season to assess restoration progress, with reference to the previous study done at the initiation of the project.

    • The back-bay frequency and location for bio-treatments and algae control will continue the same as in 2015.

Fishery

    • The 2015 stocking consisted of: 200 Sterile Tiger Muskie

1175 Walleye

1000 Black Crappy

440 Yellow Perch

    • 2016 will see little change in the stocking as conditions and budget remain unchanged.

    • We have plenty of bass and blue gill for fishing populations.

Reforestation

    • C. Aspegren reported that the Association did plant 9 maple trees last fall, 6 in the beach and picnic area and 3 at the tennis courts, to replace dead or storm damaged trees. We have budgeted for additional 2016 fall plantings.

Water Quality

    • J. Wilkins reported that storm water monitoring program will be re-evaluated with respect to the information gathered from the monitoring efforts and samples submitted for lab testing during storm events.

    • The system that we have relied upon to measure rainfall accumulation and to trigger the off- site equipment is out of date and needs redesign to provide better programming capabilities and component reliability.

    • The value of the information to be gathered will need to be determined, and other options for continuing any monitoring will be considered as the current volunteers and program are unable to continue as is.

    • It is hoped that B. Donahoe will continue to maintain and gather data each season from a flow meter installed at the Chevy Chase culvert. The unit records flow volume, velocity and temperature of water entering the lake from Indian Creek. That data has its own value in documenting the inlet flow for reference if circumstances significantly change in the watershed resulting in reduced flow necessary to sustain the lake.

Long Range Planning

    • The Maintenance Dredging project proposed by the long range planning committee has focused on phase one which involves dredging a 50 x80 foot shore area between the foot bridge and the bridge to Morningside Island at the beach.

    • This improvement will allow for installation of additional Association boat docks.

    • The $12,900.00 expense shown in the 2015 budget was to prepare an engineering site and project plan for that dredging. The plan is currently under review by the Army Corp of Engineers, which is required for Lake County permitting.

Boat Assignments

    • Lee Erickson discussed the replacement boat racks installed this winter, and the resulting shuffle of boat storage locations.

    • Members that have boats stored in the association racks will be notified of new locations once identifying numbers have been applied to the racks.

    • Members who have questions or are unhappy with assigned placement location please contact Lee.

    • Members are reminded that the display of registered CLA green decals are required of all boats on the lake or stored in the racks on association property.

Dock Maintenance

    • Lee Erickson reported that the association docks all look good except for one pier at the boat launch that will need a bit of adjustment for the upcoming season.

Special Projects

Conservation Area

    • Tom Richter discussed the contracted maintenance services for the conservation area this season, which include control of invasive species such as garlic mustard, canary reed grass, thistle and Canadian goldenrod. McGinty will make several different herbicide applications over the season toward that goal.

    • A spring burn is scheduled for mid-April, which also helps maintain the native plantings environment.

    • Volunteer days will continue as needed. Watch for posted signs and website announcements. Planned activities will again be mostly maintenance and general improvement of the existing plantings, woodchip pathways and general brush clean up and removal

Website

    • J. Wilkins reminded members that the website address is listed in the front of the directory and access to the member section is available to any resident who provides an email address for reference.

    • There is a button with instructions on the general site to request member access. It will notify me and I will give the email address you provide access. You use it and the password you establish for the account to access the private section of the website.

    • It was also explained that security alerts as well a broadcast CLA announcements are sent to the membership via the Association Gmail account. All members are encouraged to provide a contact address for that purpose, even if you chose not to include one in the association directory.

    • The CLA directory is not available on the website, if you are a member and need a copy, let us know and it will be provided.

    • Any questions concerning the website or association email account can be directed to either Julie Wilkins, Les Jezuit or any board member.

    • Members are encouraged to visit and explore the many aspects of the website.

Architectural Review

    • T. Caldwell reminded the members the requirement for CLA approval of any new house construction. These are very minimal requirements but you will need approval to build on a parcel contained within the Countryside Lake Association boundaries.

Rules and Regulations

    • Current rules and regulations are mailed out to each member each year. Please review them and if you have any questions or would like to address anything that you feel should be updated, missing or needs amending please feel free to contact any board member.

Security

    • T. Richter discussed the current contract hours with Howe Security for patrol of our 5 Association neighborhoods, and the variability of on duty hours. Increasing patrol hours as the summer season approaches, May -10 hours and June through August- 12 hours/day.

    • The membership was reminded that for any emergency situation call 911, for non-emergency you may call Lake County’s non-emergency number, as well as call the CLA security number and leave a message. They will return your call as soon as they are back on duty. All numbers are listed in the front of the CLA directory.

    • Security officer Rick Eckenstahler introduced himself to the members present and gave an overview of Howe Security, their staff backgrounds in law enforcement and the services provided for the Association and homeowners.

    • Howe’s primary services are to provide security services for Association owned properties, to patrol Countryside Lake neighborhoods and preform requested house watches.

    • All members were reminded to follow rules and parking regulations for the upcoming beach and boating season, Security asks members to please use the CLA boat and car stickers.

    • Members were asked to please keep track of and use the CLA guest pass appropriately.

    • All members were reminded to please call if and when you see questionable activity in your neighborhood, and please be aware of the threat of Ruse burglary activity and other con artist tactics to assess vulnerability to burglary.

    • Members leaving town were urged to use the CLA house watch services provided, and to make sure that contact numbers for any security alarm systems are current and directed to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.

    • A question from the membership concerning how to handle 4 wheel vehicles being used on open areas or other vacant property. Members were advised to call the sheriff’s office to report the activity and request additional patrol of the neighborhood streets, cul-de-sacs and to report any trespass.

OLD BUSINESS

    • A social group for neighborhood activities has been set up by member Sarah Roy. This group is not a CLA board sponsored committee and they have set up their own google group for emailing information and invitations to scheduled events.

    • The group has been very respectful of membership privacy and access information. All emailed contact messages do have opt out buttons and state clearly that this is an independent social group not funded or sponsored by the Association board.

    • They have many children/family activities such as the egg hunt, fishing derby and July 4th bike parade on their calendar already, as well as adult neighborhood get-togethers.

    • They invite all members to participate and would welcome any volunteers to help with planned activities.

NEW BUSINESS

    • A member asked if the path which runs between the oaks and the dam road, could be better maintained to provide a more accessible walking path for those who like to walk the full lake circuit.

    • It was explained that while it is a road easement available for members use and cannot be blocked, it is private property and there is no required responsibility to maintain it by the property owner. Misuse of it by motorized vehicles has been a problem in the past.

    • L. Graber thanked the board for their continued service to the membership and our neighborhood community.

ADJOURNMENT

A. Zych moved and M. Theobald seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:05PM. All in favor, motion carried.