Preliminary Meeting Minutes: October 26, 2022
Present: Dick Graham, Jeff Sanborn, Rich Russell, Joe Pellegreo, Ken and Robin Perry, Kay Yates, Robert Yates, Barb Farfsing
The meeting was called to order by President Dick Graham at 7:02 p.m. Dick led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Because there was not a quorum, the Approval of Agenda, Review of the Minutes of August 24, 2022, and the Treasurer’s Report were tabled until the next meeting.
Discussion on the following took place:
-Dick met with Sean Adams, BL Fire Chief, on Spill Control if something should happen.
-Drain Testing: 4 main drains within the village limits; orthophosphate was found only at the beginning of the drains going into the lake. Bear Lake is in the top 15% of all lakes in Michigan to be found the cleanest. Ecoli testing was performed at 6 locations around the lake. The samples were taken on 6 different dates during the months of June, July and August and were found to be well below the state levels.
-Rain Garden Planting: a group of volunteers planted approximately 200 seedlings st the new Rain Garden at the Buell Park on the corner of Butwell Rd. and Lakeside Avenue. Mulching will be applied in the spring.
-Wetland Preservation: primary goal is to make certain that Bear Lake is protected from wetland development. There is a 37/38 acre piece on Big Bay that needs to be kept from being developed.
New Business:
-Jeff Sanborn is looking at developing a new logo for the Watershed. More to come later.
-Agricultural, Forestry, and Orchards Outreach: Rich Russell is looking into developing this. It is felt that the BLWA needs to look at the bigger picture; the Greater Bear Watershed is approximately 130,000 acres and the BLWA is a small piece of this consisting of approximately 7,000-8,000 acres. More geography needs to be brought into the fold. BLWA is already in contact with the Riparians. Rich is suggesting that 3 new sets of stakeholders be considered:
-Farmers with orchards
-Forests
-Agricultural
He suggests that we bring a coordinator in from each of these sets of stakeholders. Keaton Foster from Brixstone Farms is willing to spearhead the Orchard group. Josh Shields from the Conservation District would be one coordinator for the Forests. The third set he suggested be represented would be the corn, wheat, etc. farm segment.
Website Update: Jeff Sanborn has been in contact with Laurie Hietanen concerning setting up a new website for BLWA. More to come.
Officer and Public Comment: a Thank you to the Triginta Club for their Lifetime Membership; it was suggested to put an ad in the Historical Museum calendar; question whether there will be a Spring Social or some kind of Fundraiser.
Meeting Adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Barb Farfsing, Acting Secretary
