The following draft minutes have been proposed by the FLA Board and will be presented to the membership for approval/amendments at the Annual Meeting on July 20, 2024.
Forest Lake Association Saturday, July 22, 2023
Call to order Following a potluck breakfast at 8:00, Forest Lake Association president Jan called the annual meeting to order at 8:36 AM.
Greetings and Announcements – Jan thanked the board of trustees for their service and John Gorham who is stepping down from his position. Ellie Schultz was recognized for her many terms of service as treasurer.
Nate Rudy introduced himself as the town manager of Gray for the past two years. He has studied wastewater treatment and cares about water quality. The town of Gray has supported some of the lakes in Gray with a little bit of money annually. He suggested checking the monthly newsletter online at Graymaine.org. Gray also has committees that need members. His contact information is nrudy@graymaine.org. Update: Please note, Nate is now the former town manager.
Introductions: An annual meeting tradition continued. Members in attendance took turns to introduce themselves/their families and their connection to the lake.
Approximately 48 members were in attendance. Member Anita Taylor has been on the lake since 1948!
Bill Hastings, a lake resident, raised a concern about where the 3 lake towns intersect on one of our islands. He wondered if the towns could consolidate for services. For example, mail, fire services, service providers, centralization of road management. It was suggested by Jan that a multi town meeting would be a good place to start.
Gino did an unofficial straw poll and the average is 35.2 years coming to the lake.
Secretary Report: Paula reviewed the minutes from last year’s annual meeting. These minutes have been posted on our lake website since last year and were tentatively approved by the board last fall. Anita made a motion to accept the minutes; Debbie seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
Treasurer Report: Ted Ney submitted this report:
Gino made a motion to accept the minutes; Anita seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
Water Quality Update: Janene, John and now Paula are certified water quality testers for Secchi disk readings (clarity) and Dissolved Oxygen reading.
Janene reported that the clarity is about 3.5 meters. Clarity is tested by using a Secchi disc which is a disc with black and white triangles attached to a tape measure. It is lowered into the water until it can’t be seen anymore. How many meters deep is how clear the water is at the deepest point on the lake (approximately 38 feet. Clarity is normally about 4-5 meters deep and has been for the past four to five years. As long as the oxygen is okay then the depth is fine. The 3.5m is low but the above average amount of rain made many of the Maine lakes murkier in June, according to the Lake Stewards of Maine.
Janene continued to educate the attendees about the Dissolved Oxygen (DO) sensor. She explained how the DO reading is done and the findings that there is no oxygen at 4 to 5 meters. That is where it normally is. Therefore fish can’t live below that depth.
We’re looking for consistent readings. When they are off then we contact the Lake Stewards of Maine. Their website is: https://www.lakestewardsofmaine.org. All of the Maine lakes are tested the same way for reliable data.
Also, the average depth of the lake is 12 feet and the deep spot is 38 feet. A phosphorus test completed two years ago was low, which is good. The testers will try to do another water grab this summer. The sample needs to be sent to the state for testing.
If you see any plants that look out of the ordinary or abundant then contact a lake Plant patroller or one of the Board of Trustee members. Bladderwort this year is abundant.We still need someone to take over that position.
Guest Speaker: Our guest speaker was Susan Gallo. She has been the Executive Director of Maine Lakes for the past 5 years. She presented about Lakesmart (formally known as Maine COLA-Congress of Lake Associations). Her 45 minute presentation was entitled: “Keeping Lakes Healthy with LakeSmart”. She explained what they do and why LakeSmart. Following are some key issues she presented:
- task force meeting this fall to study the impact of wake boats on lakes
- clean drain dry law – drain open on bottom of boats when transporting
- freshwater education
- loon restoration project
- the value of Maine’s great ponds
- lots of outreach lakes.me/library
- funded by individuals, businesses and lake associations, grants, state support
- She researched Forest Lake and wants to add LakeSmart to all the other work we’re doing.
Why LakeSmart?
- Lakes at risk
- Phosphorus (do not want excess-algal-degraded water)
- Nonpoint Source Pollution (NPSP)
- Algal blooms go away in the fall
- Slow the Flow! of rainwater
- Created by DEP in 2003
- Transferred to Maine Lakes in 2012 nonregulatory
- Supports lake volunteers by education How LakeSmart works
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- Property evaluation
- Homeowners Report recommends solutions that slow the flow
- Landowner Recognition
- Makes stewardship visible
LakeSmart solutions: Best Management Practices (see website for videos)
- Better paths
- Infiltracement steps
- Smarter lawns (deeper roots)
- Healthier septic systems
- Better buffers
Next steps
- Share lakesmart resources
- Appoint coordinator
- Recruit a team of volunteers
- Contact andrea Stevens
- Start doing evaluations
Susan will provide a pdf for our website.
Old Business:
- Boating/Water Safety- Information is posted on our
- Plant Patrol Volunteers (already mentioned- we need the number of plant patrollers- email Jan or Janene. We need a coordinator. Discussion followed regarding who is patrolling which section. Connor Hughes volunteered to co-chair the He is a plant patroller along with Don Hughes, Cathy, Janene, Pat, Hilarie, and Karen.
New Business: I think this part is better and more accurate.
Voting for officer positions took place prior to this meeting:
Jan Lavallee- president until ‘26
Gino Sferra- vice president until ’25
Ted Ney- treasurer until ‘25
Paula Curcio- recording secretary until ‘26
Debbie Hastings- correspondence secretary until ‘24
Trustees were voted on. Kim made a motion to accept the following slate of trustees. Anita seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
Janene Gorham ‘24
Cathy Whorf ‘26
Heidi Joy ‘25
Jan Lavallee ‘26
Greg Schulz ‘24
Trustee alternates:
Connor Hughes ‘24
Pat Larrabee ‘24
Don Hughes ‘24
Hilarie Fotter Kennedy ‘24
Antonio Rocha ‘24
Meeting adjournment Ted made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Anita seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The meeting adjourned at 10:17 AM.
Raffle Prizes were disbursed immediately following the meeting. Donations for the raffle were made by:
- Gray Shop n Save
- Gray True Value
- CHOP-Cumberland House of Pizza
- Winslow Farm
- Birchwood Brewery
- Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ
- Goose Pond
- Budds Gulf
- Bru-Thru Coffee Shack
- Lakeside Garage oil change
- Wood bowl by Ed Keenan
- Brickyard Hollow gift card
- North Cove Design 10% off
- T shirt =Kim Evans
- Loon print Goose print
- Cooks Ace Hardware
- Skillins Greenhouse
- Fisherman’s Net
Respectfully submitted, Paula Curcio