Barnes Lake Club Board Meeting Minutes July 1st, 2026
Barnes Lake Club Board Meeting Minutes July 1, 2026
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Meeting called to order at 6:59 PM.
Board Members Present: Pam Reid, Tom Petts, Pat Betcher, Derek Morey, Teresa Marciniec, Brian Menard, Alex Nikora and interim board members Kelli Lovasz and Karen Uetz.
Guests: Burns Rolland, Jerry Gottschalk, Linda Zukonik, John Rickord, Kim McClain, Jerry Lirette, Doug Macha, Dawn Gottschalk, Marsha Bates, Burt Bentley, Janele Thompson and Holly Greenlaw.
Pledge of Allegiance: Held, all stood.
Guest Speaker: N/A
Agenda: Accepted. Motion to approve: Derek Morey, 2nd: Brian Menard. Vote to approve: All Aye votes, motion carried.
Minutes of Last Meeting: Karen Uetz published 6/3/26 Minutes as interim secretary.
- Motion to not read aloud 6/3/26 minutes: Derek Morey, 2nd: Alex Nikora. Vote to approve: All Aye votes, motion carried.
- Motion to approve 6/3/26 Minutes: Derek Morey, 2nd: Brian Menard. Vote to approve: All Aye votes, motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report: Brian Menard spent over 26 hours and long nights pulling together treasurer’s reports to bring to current. Brian Menard published the following Treasurer Reports and answered all questions. Big round of applause for Brian Menard’s efforts.
- Barnes Lake Club CASH FLOW STATEMENT: November 1, 2025, through April 30, 2026.
- Barnes Lake Club CASH FLOW STATEMENT: May 1, 2026, through May 31, 2026.
- Barnes Lake Club CASH FLOW STATEMENT: June 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026.
- Motion to approve all three CASH FLOW STATEMENTs: Derek Morey, 2nd: Tom Petts. Vote to approve: All Aye votes, motion carried.
Membership Update: Pam Reid reported 177 members so far, forty-two members short of 2025 membership. Members can join up to the End of October. Often members join at the Annual Meeting and the Annual Picnic. Prior membership ended 6/30/2026.
Special Events:
- Annual Membership Picnic: (August 1) Tom Petts: Tom Petts announced he is all set for the annual picnic, the food order is in, and the donations are actively being worked on. Karen Uetz will be picking up and running the three children’s games.
- Community Wide Garage Sale (June 4, 5 and 6) Brian Menard: Teresea Marciniec placed adds in the papers. Tom and Laurie Petts put out the signs. Brian Menard picked up the signs at the end. Brian Menard provided the following update on number of houses open for garage sales per day: Thursday June 4th: 20 Houses.
- Friday June 5th: 21 Houses.
- Saturday June 6th: 11 houses.
- World’s Greatest Coffee Hour: Tom Petts: Subs Scott & Teri Herrick ran the June 20th Coffee Hour. It was successful with view of the Statue of Liberty going up on the lake. Some great pictures followed. Next Coffee Hour is July 18th.
- Concert on the Beach: Derek Morey: There will be a flyer available at the Annual Meeting. Derek Morey will be getting a suitable sub for the concert, as he will be out of town.
- Fourth (4th) of July Fireworks: Pat Betcher: Pat Betcher communicated that the Fireworks total cost is $11,162 from $4,162 donations and $7,000 BLC funded. A $5,000 deposit has been paid. Pat will need a check for the balance of $6,162 for the week after the fireworks. Pat will reserve July 3rd, 2027, for Fireworks. Pat Betcher and Alex Nikora will shut the clubhouse beach at 8PM Friday 7/3/26 and Saturday, for the fireworks set up and safety. Pam Reid will send out email communication.
- Fourth July Boat Parade: Pam Reid asked someone to volunteer to run and head up the Boat Parade. Kelli Lovasz volunteered. She has received 6 volunteer judges from around the lake and is set to run. Derek Morey volunteered to be the head boat to lead the boat parade. Pam Reid published and reviewed the Boat Parade documents: Barnes Lake Boat Parade-Score Sheet
- Barnes Lake Boat Parade-Procedure
- Barnes Lake Boat Parade-Judge Form
- Barnes Lake Boat Parade-Participant Registration and Guidelines
- Each boat participating gets a Boat Number (paper plate) and a $5.00 Thank you gift, Lotto tickets were agreed on.
Barnes Lake Club Board Meeting Minutes July 1, 2026
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- Fourth July Golf Cart Decorations Contest: Pat Betcher: Pat Betcher communicated he will use the same Barnes Lake Judge Form as used for the boat parade for the golf cart contest. Golf cart judging starts at the beach at 11:30 AM where the golf carts will line up. Parade starts at Noon, behind the bikes. Bike Parade: Teresa Marciniec: Teresa Marciniec communicated that we are all set to go.
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- Annual Meeting: Pam Reid announced: Barnes Lake Club (BLC) Annual Meeting: Saturday July 11, 2026; 10:00AM Start; Location: Deerfield Township Hall; 30 East Burnside Rd., North Branch MI, 48461
- Barnes Lake Improvement Board (BLIB) Annual Meeting: Saturday July 11, 2026; 8:30AM to 10:00AM; Location: Deerfield Township Hall; 30 East Burnside Rd., North Branch MI, 48461
- BLC Board Positions Voting: Pam Reid responded to questions asked about the voting transparency. Given the four positions up for voting this year, with three positions having a 3-year term and one position having 2-year term, external counsel was sought and 2 recommendations provided that are legal. BLC will be following the easiest procedure, which is the nominees with eth top four highest number of votes will fill the 4 positions, with the fourth lowest votes being issued in the 2-year term. ▪ The number of votes received will be announced and published.
- ▪ Each Member household is given one vote.
- ▪ A re-count can be asked for by two additional people while the meeting is still in progress.
Welcome Packet Update: Teresa Marciniec: There are no new additions since last month. Goes to the township about monthly to see if there have been any new purchases.
- Brian Menard, working on Parcel List, will reach out to Lisa Hake at the township directly.
Beach Pavilion Maintenance Update: Alex Nikora: The gate is working on the Fire Department’s relay outlet right now.
- 2 estimates for new controller. $1,400, 2-door; ramp and beach gate
- $1,800, 4-door; BLC needs 2 doors, although getting the 4-door would allow for backups to switch the relay, when one fails. This would avoid down time.
- Motion to approve estimate two at $1,800 for 4-door: Brian Menard, 2nd: Derek Morey. Vote to approve: All Aye votes, motion carried.
Park Lot Maintenance Update: Alex Nikora:
- There are 65 watercrafts registered with 12 open slots that need work. Alex Nikora and Brian Menard agreed to work on the Park lots during the winter, so they could go out on the ice.
- Alex Nikora had to tow 2 boats, not registered. One did not belong on the lake, and the other owner, now knows what to do.
- Park Lot J = Forest Place is different than Out Lot J. Sign is needed. There are 4 signs ready to put up. 2 signs will be placed per post. Park Lot J – Forest Place was originally plated road, that is unusable, so turned into a park lot.
- Alex Nikora requires two heavy duty poles for Park Lot signs. Two heavy duty poles estimated at $85.00 each. Estimate of $170.00 plus Shipping, Taxes.
- Motion to approve 2 heavy duty poles purchase not to exceed $200: Derek Morey, 2nd: Brian Menard. Vote to approve: All Aye votes, motion carried.
Barnes Lake Improvement Board (BLIB) Update:
- BLIB Update: Burns Rolland: There have been 3 Sprays thus far. Effective 7/5/2026 the copper spray restrictions go away, and cheaper sprays are available to use again, so costs should go down. 2 Spring sprays at total cost of $22,000
- 3rd Spray in late June at cost of $10,000
- Multiple people noted how great the lake is and thanked Burns for his excellent leadership and work.
- Lady Liberty Update: Jerry Gottschalk: Lady Liberty and the 30 feet flagpole is up. Five 4’ x 6’ American Flags have been purchased, and 5 Barnes Lake Flags at 3’ x 5’ have been purchased. The American Flag will be raised Saturday at the ceremony and the Barnes Lake flag under it. Brian Cobb has also set the clips on the flagpole. If anyone sees Brian Cobb be sure to thank him as the engineer and master mind doing the most work to make this a reality. He has done an amazing job. All agreed.
Barnes Lake Club Board Meeting Minutes July 1, 2026
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- A Final Budget will be provided at Annual Meeting on costs.
- A maintenance fund is available, a tool kit, extra flags, etc., to make it easy to care for as we move forward. The Lady Liberty and flagpole maintenance kit will be stored at the BLC club house.
- The FM Broadcast (88.5FM) was purchased by the SOS committee and will be leveraged for the SOS ceremony from 5PM -5:15PM on 7/4/26, and then again to broadcast music for the fireworks. After this use, the SOS committee will give the FM to BLC to own for further use.
- Derek Morey will MC the SOS ceremony at 5:PM. The SOS Committee thanked Derek for his partnership.
- The SOS ceremony information has been communicated in email and will be published to the web site.
Old Business:
- All Board Members create Procedure Sheets for their events. Table review of remaining procedures until September meeting. Tom Petts to have his Procedures for the Picnic and coffee hour published before he leaves.
- Tabled until August Meeting: Internet Service Provider: Spectrum, (current) verses, Frontier, quote not ready.
- New sign for Beach area and Club house: Derek Morey, In-progress.
- Boy Scouts Assets: Derek Morey is creating an assets inventory.
- Capital Improvement list Pam Reid agreed to create a draft for August.
New Business: None.
New and Outstanding Issues (remain on the agenda until complete)
- 18.A: Survey Park Lot: Park Lot P: (Sewer), and E.(Wall): as needed to record encroachment on each. Park Lot M: Due to survey stakes, which no longer exist. Quote 1: Not related to the BLIB: Burns Rolland handed out a quote from Davis Land Surveying & Engineering, Inc. to perform the Park Lot Surveys. It was called out that Burns Rolland works for Davis Land Surveying & Engineering, Inc. Discussion tabled for more quotes
- 2 Additional Quotes required.
- 18.B: Club House and Beach Lawn at Retaining Wall: The yard has sunk at the retaining wall creating a hazard. Build up this area the entire length of the retaining wall so that the area is level.
Close:
- Next BLC Meeting: Wednesday August 5, 2026; 7:00PM Start; at the BLC Building, at the Beach.
Adjournment: Pam Reid proposed meeting close. Motion to approve: Derek Morey, 2nd: Brian Menard. Vote to approve: All Aye votes, motion carried.
BARNES LAKE CLUB 