Hancock Lake Association

Kickoff Meeting

Woodboro Town Hall

June 18, 2005

 

Purpose of the Meeting

 

The purpose of the meeting was to get as many residents of the lake together as we could to try to bring them up to speed on the efforts of a small ad-hoc committee and to see if there was enough interest in forming a lake association.

 

History

 

A small ad-hoc committee had met 3 times over the previous couple of months to investigate whether there might be enough interest in forming a lake association for Hancock Lake.  The committee quickly found common and enthusiastic interest in doing so and undertook the rather difficult task of obtaining the names and mailing addresses for all of the landowners on Hancock to see if there was shared interest.  After nearly three months, the committee finally got a CD from the county of what we were looking for.  We took the list and drove around the lake to try to ascertain the completeness of the list.  A letter was scripted and sent to each person on the list, inviting them to the June 18th meeting.

 

Welcome and Mailing List Issues

 

A welcome was provided by Dick Statton, after which signup sheets were distributed.  Each person was asked to introduce themselves and where their Hancock property was.

 

At this time, there were questions related to the thoroughness of the mailing list and there also were questions pertaining to why some neighbors did not receive invitations.  As discussed above, the mailing list came from tax roles and an attempt was made to confirm the thoroughness of the list.  We aren’t sure why, but it appears that some people were missed.  We have tracked down one reason, that being that some of the properties are jointly owned and the taxes goes to only one of the owners.  There may be other reasons, but missing invitations was not intentional and we have a great desire to get as complete a list as possible.

 

Therefore, we would greatly appreciate it if anyone who knows of people that we have missed, that they provide mailing information.   This way, we can send them a copy of these minutes and alert them of future meetings.  The preferred method would be Email.  Email users please write to Lou Mezei at: LMezei@Promega.com (write “Hancock Lake Association” in the subject box).  If you do not have email, please write to Dick Statton at the following address:

 

Statton’s General Store

PO Box 273

Tomahawk, WI 54487

 

What Originally Brought the Ad-Hoc Members Together?

 

The purpose of the Association, as seen by the ad-hoc committee, is to “maintain, protect and enhance the quality of the Lake and its surrounding areas for the collective interest of the members”.  A few examples were provided:

 

  • Try to minimize the potential for the spread of Invasive Species to our lake.
  • Fisheries (re-balance the fish population).
  • Dam and Boat Ramp (Public Landing) Maintenance.
  • A forum for communication and information flow between residents.
  • A stronger voice with Woodboro and Oneida County governmental organizations.

 

However, this list was only provided as examples and wasn’t meant for specific discussion per se.  The main focus of the lake association isn’t that we have anything specific in mind, but the realization that once something new and urgent comes along or even if we wanted to address a topic on the example list, trying to frantically form a lake association at that point would be very difficult … if already not too late.  Further, there are governmental rules for lake associations that would preclude their involvement (most specifically the DNR).  For example, a lake association would need to be in place for at least one year before grants could be applied for.  Therefore, it is felt that time is of the essence to form an association if that is what the lake residents decide to do.

 

Invasive Species … An Example of Why We Need To Be Proactive

 

The DNR had a really good presentation at a recent OCLRA (Oneida County Lakes and Rivers Association) meeting.  Cathy Cleland focused on aquatic invasive species (AIS) and had handouts pertaining to identification and lists of lakes that are contaminated.  She stressed over and over again the importance of keeping AIS out of your lake at all costs and also to try to kill it off immediately if the lake gets infested.  Once AIS even starts to take hold, it is very expensive and nearly impossible to get rid of it and although there are grants, the grants aren’t enough to come close to the treatment costs.  Costs for Eurasian Milfoil (EM) treatment start at around $500 per acre.  So, to put that into perspective:  if 200 acres of Hancock needed to be treated, the cost could potentially be $100,000.

 

EM is by no means the only Invasive Species we need to be worried about, but here are a couple of interesting facts about it:

 

  • EM grows about 2 inches per day.
  • It grows to a length/height of about 20 feet … meaning close to 90% of Hancock could be strangled by it.
  • It canopies on the surface (as opposed to other milfoils).
  • It can essentially choke an entire lake and make it un-navigatable.
  • The worst time of the year is fall.  In the fall, it spontaneously breaks up and spreads.
  • EM can last for at least a few days out of the water.
  • There are already 10 lakes in Oneida County that have extensive EM infestations.
  • Typically, people hire scuba divers to pull it out from the roots.  Others need to pull out the leftovers because they will spread.
  • Once you have it, you pretty much have it forever, meaning that the initial cost to remove it isn’t where it stops.  There are typically recurring, annual costs involved in keeping it in check.
  • Our lake is known as a “half day lake”, meaning that guides bring clients to our lake, fish, and leave to fish on other lakes.  That means a lot of traffic from the outside … and a very high risk of infecting our lake.

 

Here’s an example of how our lake association might become a valuable asset:  The DNR has a program, called the “Clean Boats Clean Waters Program”, where they will train people on how to check boats at landings for AIS.  There is a fee, but the fee can be offset by something equivalent to community service on your lake (like manning the boat landing).  The program is designed to teach one lake association member and have that member teach the other members.  The Crescent Lake Association has used this approach and it has worked very well for them.  Members volunteer to man the boat landing

 

  • 7 to noon Saturday and Sunday.
  • Thursday and Friday Evenings.
  • Holiday Mondays.

 

Now, whether this makes sense for Hancock or not isn’t the point.  The point is that a lake association would be a great forum for discussion and if we decide to have volunteers at our boat landing; the association would be a good way to coordinate those volunteers.

 

Open Forum Discussions

 

There was an extensive discussion pertaining to a number of potential issues.  In the past, there was an informal way of handling lake problems and a fair amount of reluctance by some to formalize efforts.  On the other hand, it was recognized by others that the lake is changing, new, more challenging types of issues are appearing throughout Oneida County (and resolution is much more complicated), the number of residents on the lake is increasing, etc., so a lake association seems to make a lot of sense in order to try to be as inclusive with both new and old residents as we can in trying to talk issues through and so that we try to be as proactive as we can.

 

Nonetheless, there was 100% agreement that we all love the lake and care deeply about it’s serenity, wildlife, and beauty and are all committed to trying as much as we can to preserve the reasons we all chose Hancock over and above all of the other 1,100 lakes in Oneida County.

 

There were also some that had reported that there had been efforts underway for quite some time along the lines of DNR water sampling, lakeside erosion, etc., which was news to many at the meeting.  It was remarked that a lake association could be a very good forum to efficiently disseminate information along these lines to all interested to further improve the chances of building on what has worked in the past to make the lake what it is today.

 

Vote

 

An informal vote was taken.  There were 23 votes to go ahead with trying to form a lake association and 11 votes against.  For this reason, the ad-hoc committee decided to meet again before the next general meeting to try to review typical by-laws that other lake association’s have developed, pencil in some recommendations as “talking points”, and present them at the next meeting.  An attempt will be made to increase the size of the group so that we include some of the people that had concerns about the formation of the lake association.  If you are interested in participating in ad-hoc committee meetings, especially those pertaining to the by-law review, please contact either Dick Statton or Lou Mezei at the addresses provided above.

 

Minutes Distribution

 

A number of people suggested minutes be written and sent to all of the lake residents.  A collection was taken up at the end of the meeting to fund the postage … which had previously been funded by the members of the ad-hoc committee.  Postage to send minutes and information to all lake residents is quite costly and will quickly eat up any money we have in the association’s account.  For this reason, we have created a web site and would like to have as many people use the web site as we can (in lieu of US mail).  Here is the address of the web site:

 

http://webpages.charter.net/mezilu/HancockLakeAssociation.htm

 

If you would like for us to notify you when important information is added to the web site, please send an Email to LMezei@Promega.com (write “Hancock Lake Association” in the subject box), let us know of your interest in this service, and we will make sure you get the notification.

 

Next Meeting

 

The next meeting will be held at Woodboro Town Hall at 9:00 am on August 13, 2005.  There was some concern pertaining to meeting dates and assurances were made that they would be held only on weekends as some of the ad-hoc members cannot make mid-week meetings.