Category: Club Business

Barnes Lake Club Board Meeting Minutes for August 07, 2024 (submitted by Brian Menard)

Meeting called to order at 19:03 PM

Board Members Present: Pam Reid, Pat Betcher, Cece Stramsak, Teresa Rolland, Alex Nikora, Brian Menard, Tom Petts, and via Google Meeting: Derek Morey
Absent: Lacy Minard

Brian Menard led the meeting participants in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance

Introduction of Guests: Ryan Tedesco, Kim Tedesco, John Rickord, Chris Tluczek, Karen Codrea, John Codrea, Karen Uetz, Kim McClain, Linda Zukonik, Theresa Herrick, Kelli Lovasz, Steve Lovasz, Jodi DeVuyst, Burns Rolland and via Google Meeting: Mary Bentley.

Minutes of the Last Meeting (on July 3, 2024) submitted by Lacy Minard via email prior to this meeting presented by Pam Reid: Cece Stramsak made a motion to accept the minutes of the last meeting and was seconded by Alex Nikora. All said “Aye”, motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report presented by Cece Stramsak: Brian Menard made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report and was seconded by Tom Petts. All said “Aye”, motion carried.

Membership Update presented by Cece Stramsak: 228 members currently.
Pam Reid intends to draft a questionnaire to be sent to non-members, asking why they choose not to join.

Discussion about the format of the Barnes Lake Club Special Events:
Pam Reid asked if the Board agreed to the consolidation of the Barnes Lake Club Board Meetings into a single line on the Events Calendar. All agreed.

Teresa Rolland indicated the Bike and Golf Cart Line-up should be listed on the Events Calendar as starting at 11:30 am, and the parade starts at 12:00 pm.

Cece Stramsak noted the rain date for the fireworks on the Events Calendar for 2025 should be listed as July 5, 2025.

Pat Betcher suggested a change from 8 qualifying homes down to three for the 4th of July Home Décor Contest, and keep the budget t $200 for prizes. Discussion ensued and the Bord agreed the prizes should be $100 for 1st place, $75 for 2nd place and $50 for 3rd place. Since this is a change in dollar amount, a motion was needed. Teresa Rolland motioned to make the changes and Cece Stramsak seconded the motion. All said “Aye”, motion carried.

Further discussion was held regarding the adjudication of the 4th of July and Christmas Décor Contests and whether or not both the roadside and lakeside of the homes re to be judged. The decision reached was for the 4th of July Home Décor Contest, homes on the lake would have their lakeside judged and homes not on the lake would have their roadside judged. For the Christmas Home Décor Contest, all homes would have their roadside judged.

Teresa Rolland reported there were 63 golf carts and 32 bikes in this year’s 4th of July Parade.

The Board did not receive an update regarding the Boat Parade because Lacy Minard was absent.

Pat Betcher indicated all went well with the fireworks and the general consensus is that they were well-received. Cece Stramsak noted the Club has already received $1,000 in donations earmarked for the fireworks. Several ideas were discussed regarding raising funds during the fireworks next year.

Tom Petts indicted that the previous month’s Coffee Hour saw a decrease in attendance and discussed increasing the requested donation amount. It’s not an official Bord-run event, so no motion was necessary, but it was agreed that requesting $3.00 was reasonable.

Derek Morey indicted that the previous month’s Concert At The Beach went well and three concerts next year was still doable.

Tom Petts and Linda Zukonik reported that the Annual Barnes Lake Club Picnic went very well, with record attendance (203 adults and 49 kids), over $5,000 collected from the raffle and silent auction. Food was once again be catered by Bryan’s and they did an excellent job. Teri Herrick put together all of the donation items for the raffle and although the picnic once again went over the scheduled time, it was well-received.

Discussion about other Board items:
Pam Reid proposed that although the Club procuring a purchasing card iz an item in the current draft of the By-Laws, it should be considered sooner than next year’s Annual Meeting. Brian Menard made a motion that the Board should get the purchasing card before the draft By-Laws are presented and accepted because that is more of a procedural item than a By-Law. The motion was seconded by Alex Nikora and carried with a vote from the Board.

Pam Reid informed the Board that deadline to submit their articles for inclusion in the Observer is August 16th, Brian Menard then has until August 23rd to prepare the Observer and Cece Stramsak will then, label and mail it to the members.

Brian Menard gave an update regarding the progress made at the first meeting of the By-Laws Subcommittee. Good conversation was had and the subcommittee got through Article I.

Pam Reid discussed the method with which one can submit a complaint to EGLE.

With regard to pavilion and park lot maintenance, Alex Nikora informed the Board that the new camera security system is in progress. There are 69 watercraft registered to park lot docks, with 9 remaining open slips. The steps have been started in Park Lot E. The sea wall collapse on Park Lot P is still being addressed.

Teresa Rolland provided the Boy Scouts Troop 214 update: All 6 scouts attended their latest camp experience and representatives from the Troop will attend the Board’s November meeting to provide an update on the future of the Troop.
Burns Rolland from the Barnes Lake Improvement Board indicated there was a very recent spray and thus far year-to-date, the costs has been $40,000. There will be new assessment levels and weed control survey analysis soon. Pat Betcher started a spirited discussion, asking why he and Pam Reid were unceremoniously removed from the Barnes Lake Improvement Board. Pat asserted he felt there was no conflict of interest. Pat and Pam felt they were removed outside of protocol set forth by the State of Michigan and Burns disagreed.

Cece Stramsak indicated the 2024 Directories have been mailed to the members and Teresa Rolland indicated she is continuing to deliver welcome packets to new residents.

No other items were brought to discussion.

Motion to adjourn was made by Alex Nikora at 20:35, seconded by Teresa Rolland.