In attendance: Jan, Deb, Antonia, Cathy, Paula, Hilarie, Janene, and Don
Welcome – Jan
Jan started the meeting at 6:32 PM.
Secretary Report – Paula
Paula presented the July 20, 2024 annual meeting minutes. A few minor errors were noted and fixed. Don made a motion to accept the minutes as edited; Deb seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
Treasurer Report –
Ted was not able to be present at this meeting but sent the report out earlier via email:
Ted noted in the report that the cd has been renewed for 15 months. Paula made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report; Don seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
Jan made a motion to add another $5,000 into a CD at the same interest rate, leaving us with approximately $5,500 in unencumbered funds which more than covers our annual expenses of roughly $2200. Janene seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
Committee Reports-
Water Quality: Paula, Janene
Greg joined us for some lake testing this season. Ted has donated his time and his boat to take us out on the lake to do the testing.
The latest phosphorus test came back at a 5, so no worries there.
We do not do E coli testing unless we know there is an obvious source. We follow the advice/guidance from Lake Stewards of Maine.
We don’t test for mercury, either.
Plant Patrolling: Connor, Janene
Connor needs to gather the information from the plant patrollers. He was unable to attend the meeting. Five people so far have reported that they have patrolled their parts of the lake.
Old Business-
Review by-laws
Jan shared hard copies of the bylaws with the trustees in attendance. We will discuss them at a future meeting. They will also be an agenda item for the next annual meeting. Our year goal is to review and amend the by-laws.
New Business
Climate Resiliency Committee Ted emailed the trustees information about the Town of Gray’s Climate Resiliency Committee grant (see below) and he will represent the Forest Lake Association.
“The Town of Gray’s Climate Resiliency Committee was recently awarded a grant to prioritize their water quality improvement and protection needs. We will be forming a working group and wanted to extend an invitation to FLA. I realize that only part of Forest Lake is within the Town of Gray’s boundary, but we do have a representative from Little Sebago Lake and one from Crystal Lake. Please let me know if you or anyone from FLA is interested in being a part of this effort. We will be looking at the most significant threats to water quality for 9 of the Town’s primary watersheds with Forest Lake being one of the nine. Identified threats will be prioritized and actions to address these will be included in a Town-wide watershed management plan mapping the best game plan for addressing multiple water quality needs. Reducing impacts of climate change to water quality will of course be a significant consideration with lakes experiencing impacts from longer algal growing seasons and increased stormwater runoff with an increased occurrence of heavy rainfalls.”
Guest speaker ideas: We are already thinking about guest speakers for next year’s meeting. One suggested is Wabanaki guest speaker from Wabanaki Reach. It was also suggested to look at Dawnland Voices 2.0
Upcoming performance from trustee: Antonio shared this information:
“On Friday, October 11th, at 7 pm in its historic sanctuary, First Parish Church will present award-winning storyteller Antonio Rocha in a performance of his tour de force one-man show, The Malaga Ship: A Story of Maine and the Middle Passage”
Set meeting dates for 2024-2025 year-
The following dates were selected:
- November 12, 2024
- February 25, 2025 – virtual and open to public
- April 8, 2025
- June 10, 2025 – open to public
- July 19, 2025 – annual meeting
Adjournment
Jan made a motion to adjourn; Don seconded the motion. All voted in favor. The meeting adjourned at 7:07 PM.