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Meeting Minutes

Sage Lake Association Meeting

Sage Lake, Michigan

MINUTES OF MEETING ON August 27, 2022

In Person

Board members present: President Patti Rogers, Treasurer Mary Ellen Parrott, Secretary Sharon Green, Trustees Brian Hassell, Betsy Miner-Swartz and Randy Stump.

The meeting was called to order by President, Patti Rogers on August 27, 2022, at 10:01 am; 24 people in attendance.

Pledge of Allegiance

Secretary’s Report: Minutes from July 30, 2022, were sent by email and posted on website. Discussion Patti Rogers wanted to add some information on to the minutes about a question that Cassey from PLM had answered. Please add, Patti Rogers asked the question, are we putting agent orange into the lake? Cassey responded no it does not cause Agent Orange. The reason is Agent Orange has three main ingredients, water, 2,4-D, and 2,4,5-T. In Vietnam they also put kerosene and diesel in Agent Orange. 2,4,5-T is the main ingredient and carcinogen that caused so many problems. 2,4-D is an herbicide and defoliator which only seeks chlorophyll in plants, not humans. A motion was made to accept the July minutes as amended by Mary Ellen Parrott, 2^nd by William Drangin. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Mary Ellen Parrott reported. The treasurer’s report as of 8/27/22 was $21,251.46 Fish Fund, $10,269.34 Neighborhood Watch, $20,830.34 Fireworks Fund, $33,787.02 General Fund, $86,138.16 Total. Mary Ellen reported that we have 259 members to date. Remember your yearly dues are due May 1^st of every year and the cutoff to have your name in the directory is July 1^st. A motion to approve the Treasurer’s report was made by Randy Stump and 2^nd by Butch Leix. Motion passed.

At this point, we would like to draw the quilt and swim mat raffle ticket as we may need to get hold of a member to pick their choice. The raffle for the quilt was won by Frank Rogers and the swim mat was won by Joann Payne. Thanks to all who bought raffle tickets. Thank you to Amy Jalics for making the beautiful quilt.

Reports from Committees:

Scholarship – Beth Stump reported that we received a thank you card from Bryan Zettel for the scholarship, and it was read.
Neighborhood Watch – at a May NW meeting, Sheriff Gilbert stated placing Neighborhood Watch signs in the community can help deter criminals. Our inventory was recently exhausted, so we ordered 40 more. We will give to any member who wants to post on their property. Send email to sagelakeassociation@gmail.com if you want a sign. These signs are free to SLA members. The signs will be available for pickup at gear sales too.
Meet & greet – nothing to report.
Fishing Committee Update – Chris Hoelscher reported

Rough Fish Raffle Ticket Sales

Fishing tournament

There were 40 anglers put into 15 teams, $275 was given out in prizes and we cleared $45 in proceeds. Great feedback from Kenyon’s and anglers as to what we can do better next year. A big thank you goes out to Ryan New for all the donations of tackle and to Kenyon’s Lakeside Resort for all they did to help us with this. We had a great article in the Ogemaw County Herald.

Habitat Improvements

Two weeks from now we have a visit with EGLE & MSU extension. 2 site visits with property owners have already been done; we will have more visits with property owners before we’re done. Expecting to get the permit in November or so and get the first install of habitat this winter. We are asking for a grant (10% match) and hope to get that. The permit is good for 5 years on the habitat improvements once we get that. Will need volunteers to help with the habitat placements when we get to that point.

Fall walleye stocking

Fish will come in the fall, just waiting for a firm price on the fish. We will get 12000 walleyes 4-6” and hoping for some at 7-10”.

Fundraising

License plate frames are selling well, and we’ve covered our costs. Every license plate frame sold from here on means more money for walleye stocking. The fishing committee is currently planning more fundraising opportunities and events for the fall and winter

9^th Annual Sage Lake Firecracker 5K walk/run – nothing to report.
Sage Lake Gear and Raffle – Betsy Miner-Swartz reported the tumblers and children’s shirts are in for purchase. They will be at Kenyon’s next Sunday, Labor Day weekend, no time has been set up yet. To date our gross gear sales have been $26,991.40.
Boat Parade – nothing to report.
Sage Lake Firework Display – nothing to report.
Kids Fun Day – nothing to report.
Boating Safety – nothing to report.
Sage Lake Community Garage Sale – This was held on August 6^th and had lots of participation in sales and people attending.
Lake Maintenance – Brian Hassell reported that this year has been the best in many years for the treatment of the exotic, invasive aquatic plants in Sage Lake. We have seen the Eurasian Water Milfoil decrease to the lowest acreage. We had Savin as our Lake Management company for our Lake Aquatic plant control for over fourteen years. Our biggest challenge has been the Invasive, exotic aquatic plant Eurasian water milfoil with no real decrease in acreage. In 2020 Savin treated over 220 acres of Eurasian watermilfoil. For the last two years we have had PLM managing our Lake and the Eurasian water milfoil has been reduced to about ten acres. We are seeing more of the native plants returning. We must continue to be diligent in our efforts to monitor and manage the invasive aquatic plants for continued success and to find the right balance for an improved lake ecosystem. Our biggest challenge now is the native plant wild celery weed also known as eelgrass. The DNR introduced this aquatic plant into the lakes to provide food, shelter and nursery habitats for a wide range of organisms. Eelgrass also helps prevent erosion and maintains shoreline stability by anchoring sediment with its spreading roots and rhizomes. Although it is a beneficial plant for the lakes it also is considered a nuisance plant and causes a disturbance for the watersports traffic. We are limited to the treatment by EGLE. EGLE does not allow any systemic treatment to kill the plant. and most of the weeds that are being washed up to the shorelines from boat chop are eelgrass. We will continue to treat this plant to stunt the growth so that it delays the growing process past the most active boat traffic on the lake. We have been fortunate to have a company that is improving the aquatic plant ecology for Sage Lake and hope to continue with this partnership in the future to improve the lake for everyone. Thank you all for doing your part in helping to improve the lake for future generations.
Volunteer Appreciation Party – Patti Rogers reported. It was held on August 20^th, 30 people attended, and a good time was had by all. The weather caused us to move tables in and out of the garage. The food was great, and the desserts were wonderful. Cornhole was even played for a while.
Group buy ins – nothing to report.
Sage Lake Fire & Ice (winter event) – Betsy Miner-Swartz reported. The date is Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. It will be held in front of Kenyon’s Lakeside Resort on the ice. More info to follow.
Sage Lake Special Assessment District (SAD) – 440 signed petitions, more than 50% of parcel owners, were given to Hill Township this week. Next step is for Hill Township to notify all parcel owners of (2) public hearings. You should get a letter in the mail if you are a parcel owner. PLM will be at the public hearings to answer questions.
Election Year for 2022 – Bill Drangin is our election chair, and he will report. At the July 30^th meeting nominations were closed. Currently, each position has only one person running. Bill Drangin made a motion to elect by acclamation the following board members:

President: Patti Rogers

Vice President: Betsy Miner-Swartz

Secretary: Sharon Green

Treasurer: Mary Ellen Parrott

Trustees: Randy Stump

Brian Hassell

Ken Ehlen

This board will serve the term of 2023 – 2025. The motion was 2^nd by Melanie Leix. Due to changes in board members, specifically Betsy Miner-Swartz as new Vice President, SLA needs to adjust the signers on the bank account at Northland Area Federal Credit Union. The motion reads as follows:

Be it resolved that the Sage Lake Association (SLA) authorizes the following and only the following officers to sign on all the SLA accounts:

President Patti Rogers

Vice-President Betsy Miner-Swartz

Treasurer Mary Ellen Parrott

Please allow these officers to sign the signature card for all our accounts. Be it further resolved that we authorize Northland Area Federal Credit Union (NACU) to allow bill payer for the checking account.

In addition, we authorize Northland Area Federal Credit Union (NACU) to continue to allow Patti Rogers and Mary Ellen Parrott to maintain their card and to issue a new card to Betsy Miner-Swartz.

This motion was made by Bill Drangin and 2^nd by Bob Howald, motion passed.

New Business

We had a couple of new business items
- Debbie Stewart said we need to get some kind of meet and greet together for teenagers. There was much discussion and then it turned into a cornhole tournament. Three couples agreed to take this on for next year, Dave & Debbie Stewart, Bob & Nancy Howald, and Butch & Melanie Leix. More info to come on this!
- Chris Hoeslcher said we should start up a wildlife and lake health committee. If you would like to be involved in this, please email sagelakeassociaton@gmail.com

50/50 Raffle winner was Betsy Miner-Swartz who won $38.00 Congrats!

Meeting adjourned: 11:25 am

Respectfully submitted Sharon Green

2022 meetings:

August 2022 meeting minutes

July 2022 meeting minutes (as amended at August 2022 meeting)

June 2022 meeting minutes

May 2022 meeting minutes

2021 meetings:

August 2021 meeting minutes

July 2021 meeting minutes

June 2021 meeting minutes