President Larry Nokes, Vice President Mike Phillips, Treasurer George Renner, and board members Darrel Rung, Gerry Block, Mike Eagan, Ken Ring, John Gregorson, Jim Santora, Maurice Paul all were in attendance.. And Tony Delgado. Meeting started at 10:35 at the fire station.
Sheriff Sargent Andy was a guest. He was there to talk about speeding emphasis patrols. The department has been shifting people from detectives to being on the road, he being one such. Marine patrol -- there is only one sheriff to do that. They do have a boat for enforcement. That guy handles about 10 lakes. If somebody sees a speeder on our roads, get the licence plate and call the sheriff's department. We have seen more patrols on our lake roads recently. Most speeding seems to be an early morning problem. 800-572-0947 is the dispatch number for the sheriff department. There has to be a priority of what to do - robberies and assaults etc are the big thing, obviously. (Example - last Saturday, there were 40 such calls in the county after 9pm.) Then you get down to traffic detail. Somebody suggested using old Sheriff cars and planting them in conspicuous spots, maybe putting a dummy in them, just to slow people down. Tony said that twice, the commissioners tried to add 0.3% to the sales tax to provide for more Sheriffs, but they got shot down both times by the voters.
Tony Del Gaddo - county commissioner. East Deer Lake road will be reconstructed next summer (down to Julius Terrace). 4 months of work. Growth management - getting public inputs. East Management Growth Management Board, appointed not elected, controls the 20 acre moratorium currently in effect. They do not seem interested in moving on this. ATV - legislature passed a law to allow county commissioners allow ATVs on county roads. Sheriff against the idea. Commissioners are for it. You would have to be 16 years old with driver's licence. Lights, mirrors, required. Maybe have something by mid summer. Dog Ordinance - currently no licenses or dog catchers in this county. Dangerous Dog ordinance is being considered. We have only half the number of Sheriffs per capita that is considered necessary. Larry asked Tony why there were not more, when our taxes have gone up 25%. Where did the extra money go? Tony said "That is a tough question to answer". Not the sheriff, Tony said. Larry asked Tony to research this question and report back. Note that assessed value going up by X, does not mean that taxes go up by X. Mr Renner, a member of the board suggested that he liked the idea of 20 acres per house, at least on the hillside, because of erosion, traffic, water, etc. A member of the audience asked why all the county roads on the lake were not paved, if only because of the ecology factors. Larry indicated that these roads would have to be brought up to federal standards (60 ft width) and Southwood Shores road alone would cost like $20M.
Skip Wells, Fire Department Commissioner (lives on our lake) - The fire commissioner board is all new. They do not micro manage. EMS - got money from a new levy for construction and new EMS services. New equipment. New EMS and Brush Fire vehicles. Suncrest and Loon Lake get the most calls. 3 new fire engines. Rating Change - we are currently class 8, hope to go to class 6. Seems to do with what kinds and how much equipment you have. This can make a difference on your fire insurance for your house. Suncrest area is replatting their acerages - what was a 10 acre minimum now going to 5, and so on. Number of fire calls are down 25% from 20 years ago, because of building codes, smoke detectors, sheet rock, etc.
Treasurer report - Dues $5565, Donations $1142, others total $9K
CDs $38K, $11K in checking. Own two pieces of property.
Expenses - water quality survey $400. Fireworks end costing about $2k after donations. Newsletter is about $3k.
Mike Egan and Ken Ring were officially voted in as new board members.
4th of July - fireworks on night of 3rd. Childrens' parade and boat parade on the 4th. New Location will be on East side of the Narrows entrance this year. Road will be closed during the fireworks.
Pancake breakfast is Sunday before the 4th.
Fish - water temperature is warmer than normal, and small fish do not grow well in warm water.
Road Cleanup - 1200 lbs last time. Next one is 22nd of Sept.
Membership - Maury Paul will be the new membership committee. He proposes to go house to house to inform people of DLPOA's existence. He also suggested sending newsletters by email. We should pursue getting the PUD mailing list, and maybe their email list.
DLPOA North Deer Lake property. Had ideas of having a community center. $100k construction estimate, $4k / year for maintenance. Taxes now are $100/year. We need access to Salvation Army property for parking, but they are not interested in committing. Not a lot of enthusiasm from the peanut gallery. Mr Renner suggested just keeping it available for some future fire station or county office. Building idea is now officially tabled.
Water Quality - A diver checks for millfoil at least once a year. Sometimes the county pays, sometimes we do. None found yet. If some is found, it would cost maybe $30k/year to control, and a Lake Improvement District would have to be formed to pay for this. Swimmer's Itch - a) don't feed the ducks, and b) stay away from water that is only 12 inches deep. Epsom salt bath afterward might help, or a shower.
Lake Pictures - 24 X 36 inches were on display. Map of Deer Lake itself is quite grainy and pixilated. The bigger overview is very colorful. $99 each. Contact Mike Phillips.
Dock Demo - 85 docks since we started. 18 docks this time, some were very large (40 ft).
Zoning - setbacks were 5 ft, will now be 10 ft. Should not be any other new issues that affect us.
D&O Insurance - any even frivolous lawsuits could wipe us out. Insurance for this is about $1500/year. To pay for this, we need to bump the dues by $5/year. Any excess income would be used for signs and stuff. A motion was made to do both. Passed unanimously.
A question about development of the hillsides above the narrows came up. We have heard that there might be a road from Grouse Creek to this area, and that there might be 20 or so 20 acre lots up for sale.
Level of the water at Deer Lake - the lake water is low this year. A question from the floor was what can DLPOA do to maintain the height of the lake. There is some sort of earth dam that appears to have been eroded that is letting water out (ed - not sure where this thing is). Mike - there is no adjudicated official high water mark for our lake. Once that happens, then you have to deal with who knows how many agencies to get permission to do whatever it is you want to do. DLPOA will provide moral support to the gentleman that has been expressing his concern on this issue, but we really do not know just what to do about it.
Meeting ended 12:41. Pot Luck afterwards.