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Cedar Lake Improvement District (CLID) Meeting Minutes held on October 19, 2020, 6:30-8:00 pm via Zoom video conference due to COVID.  

Attendees: Dave Nielsen, Joel Larsen, Tim Schroeder, Paul Hoyt, Amy Gallagher and Tim Singleton

Agenda:
-Treasurer's report
-Levy process
-DNR meeting
-Carp Seining
-Phosphorous control

Tim Singleton advised he had nothing new to report on the treasurer’s report other than interest earned from the savings accounts.

Tim Schroeder advised that he had a meeting with Cindy Geis from Scott County regarding the process for county commissioner levy reviews. As the CLID is preps for the levy renewal vote in 2021 Tim advised we need to make sure we were ready to accommodate. One of the biggest concerns is around the CLID’s budget as it is difficult to develop with so many unknowns around future weed treatments.

Cindy was very helpful and advised Tim of the process would like all LIDs to follow now which is as follows:
1. Provide annual report for the county commissioners to review.
2. Provide next year’s budget based on expected expenditures.
3. Provide 5 year forecasted budget which we may or may not have to the best of our ability.

Schroeder went on to say that there has been an increase in demand for LIDs and the county was looking for more structure to accommodate the demand but he felt very good about the process and that it would be easy to follow. He is going to circle back with Cindy to see if she can provide report examples of what exactly it is they are looking for so we can best accommodate.

Schroeder also advised the CLID completed their virtual meeting with Melissa Bokman from Scott County and the DNR on October 15th to discuss future weed treatment, on-going water quality and native plant growth. All board were present except Dave and Amy who had other commitments. The outcome of the meeting was the DNR is concerned about lack of native plant growth and wants to more closely monitor them for the 2021 season. They also advised they want to reduce chemical treatment levels to further enhance growth by moving toward a spot treatment program. This program could be with Endothal or with a new product called Diquat.

The DNRs concern with the current treatment with Sonar is the lack of native plants. Without these algae can become a problem with blue-green being the most serious. After much discussion the board agreed we need better plan surveys to be able to determine where we are at with this issue and if it is a serious concern at this point. The only way we could accomplish this is with our own survey. Schroeder advised he has a list of contractors who provide these services and is providing it to Amy who is going to reach out for quotes from them for spring surveys. More discussion will be needed after we get additional information on the cost and scope of this project.

Joel brought up carp seining and asked if this was something we wanted to consider again in 2021. Tim Singleton mentioned that the carp do stir up the phosphorous but so do many other things and the problem was much bigger than just carp. Singleton suggested we refocus on creating a phosphorous reduction program as the majority of the phosphorous is already in the lake and the goal should be to provide homeowners with education on ways to keep from stirring it up as well as it entering into the lake. Scott County has a program which provides educational materials around this issue that Singleton advised we could take advantage of via social media and direct mailings. All agreed this was a good idea and Singleton is going to reach back out to them for additional information. It was also agreed Joel would reach out to the local carp seining fisherman to gauge interest on another seining in 2021.

Motion to adjourn was made by Paul and seconded by Amy.

Next meeting set for November 9, 2020 6:30 pm via zoom or at a board member’s home in their heated garage. Decision yet to be determined based on COVID situation at the time.