2024 Annual Meeting Minutes

The following minutes were approved by the board and will be presented to the membership in July 2025.

Saturday, July 20, 2023

West Cumberland United Methodist Church Hall
|Upper Methodist Road – Cumberland

 

Call to order

Jan called the meeting  to order at 8:34 AM after the potluck breakfast that started at 8:00 AM.

Greetings and Announcements – Jan 

Jan introduced herself and welcomed everyone. Each attendee received a complimentary raffle ticket at the door, with more available to purchase. Jan reviewed literature and the FLA’s newsletter.

Introductions: Jan

Jan explained that the annual meeting tradition is to go around  the room and have each attendee introduce themself and family and their connection to the lake. There were 45 people in attendance at that time. Some interesting facts were that Anita Taylor has been on the lake since 1948 and Stan and Lucia Roberts have been on the lake for 57 years! Gino crunched the data and the average years on the lake is 36 with 1,378 cumulative years!

Secretary Report: Paula

Paula first reviewed when the board meets and what the board does. She explained how the by laws do not state the annual meeting minutes do not have to be approved yearly at the annual meeting; instead they can just be voted on by the trustees. She then gave an overview of last year’s minutes, which are posted on the FLA website, that included our LakeSmart presenter. As there were no minutes to approve, no motions were made.

Treasurer Report: Ted

Ted presented his report.

The $2,500 grant was from the town of Gray.

Paula made a motion to accept the report; Gino seconded it. All voted in favor.

Water Quality Update: Janene and Paula

Janene and Paula gave a presentation on how they test the clarity and dissolved oxygen each time they go out to test the lake water. They had the equipment with them and walked through the process. They reported that their bi-weekly testing shows consistent data with no anomalies to be concerned about. They thanked Ted for using his boat and time for the testing.

See Gino’s notes

Plant Patrollers Presentation and Volunteer Information: Connor

Connor gave a comprehensive Plant Patroller slide show presentation to inform the attendees about this volunteer job.

Recently Lily and Connor got certified at a plant identification workshop.

Certification is free- 3 hour webinar and then hands on in person

The lake needs 15 people to patrol for invasive plant patrolling, but you don’t necessarily need to be certified. A show of hands showed seven certified patrollers at the meeting.

A question was asked about how to take out invasive plants. Connor reminded us that we don’t want fragmentation and need to take it out responsibly. The best way is to contact him and he, or a certified patroller, can take it out. He also noted that boat launches and reeds and rocks are where we need to monitor the most.

Boating/Water Safety Guest Speaker: Peter Herring

Peter is a District Game Warden. His informative talk touched on many topics:

• “Clean, drain and dry” is important to do every time you take your boat out of the water.
• Generally monitoring of our lake is complaint driven.
• Boating Safety and Education course available on the Dept of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. (Boating Safety and Education Course)
•  Lake boating safety laws have recently changed for the younger generation- those born after January 1, 1999.
• A person born on or after January 1, 1999, may not operate a motorboat greater than twenty-five (25) horsepower unless that person is 12 years of age or older and has completed a boater safety and education course.
• A person born after January 1, 1999 is also required to complete a boater safety and education course and be at least 16 years of age to operate a personal watercraft (such as a jet ski).
• The water safety zone has always been 200 feet from any shoreline whether there is a marker or not.
• Wake boats need to be 300 feet from shore and in water at least 15 feet deep.
• One can not mark off swim areas unless you are permitted- it interrupts navigable water which the state owns.
• Paddleboards are watercraft and need a life jacket.
• Jet Skiers need to wear lifejackets.
• Maine Game Wardens enforce every law in the state but can’t enforce any town ordinances. Their emphasis is on wildlife.
• Rabid animals need human or animal contact in order to be tested
• Maine fish contain a lot of mercury.
• The state can’t stock lakes if they are private.

New Business:  

Election of trustees and officers positions 

Ted gave the rundown for the officers positions:

• Jan-President
• Gino-Vice President
• Paula-recording secretary
• Deb- correspondence secretary

Beth made a motion to accept this slate of officers; Anita seconded it. All voted in favor.

Proposed trustees and alternates and their term ending dates are:

• Paula, Jan and Cathy 2026
• Gino, Ted and Heidi 2025
• Janene, Ted and Greg 2027
• Alternates: Connor, Don, Hilarie, Antonio and Pat  2025

Beth made a motion to accept this slate of trustees; Stan seconded it. All voted in favor.

Miscellaneous 

The question was asked if there were any loon babies this year. The answer was there have been no loon babies. It was suggested that the rains were heavy at times which may have washed the nest into the lake.

An attendee suggested we put signage out on the roads for counterclockwise boat traffic.

Adjournment

Ted made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Paula seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The meeting adjourned at 10:11 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Paula Curcio /Recording Secretary continued on next page

Raffle prizes were drawn and disbursed immediately following the meeting and ended at 10:25 AM.

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