SLA JUNE 2026 BOARD MEETING MNUTES
Meeting Place: Tom Huettner House (39206 Sissebakwet Shores Road) Date: June 13th
Time: 9:00 am.
Present: Paul Mullaney, Lynn Anderson, Roger Laska, Bill Hagenbuck, Linda Lonson. Tom Huettner. Via Zoom: Don Evans, Brede Deschepper
AGENDA
Announcements, General Discussions & Correspondence:
a) Landing Porta-potty’s door does not close well. Tom contacted Northland and mentioned the door opens up difficultly
b) Upcoming Spring Meeting. Arrangements have been made with the Lodge
c) Oeltjenbrun’s Shoreline alteration. The Director of Environmental Services for Itasca County has directed the resident to plant three new trees to replace trees that were removed. To the extent SLA board members notice violations of land laws the board will contact Itasca County to make them aware of violations.
Secretary's Report/Prior Meeting Minutes Affirmation:
Vote: Minutes from May 15 approved by board. Once minutes are approved, minutes are to be sent to Abby/Paula for inclusion on the SLA website.
Last Newsletter was so long that some members were not able to receive it. Paula Huettner and Brede will discuss how to change a delivery format so that a longer document doesn’t create delivery problems.
Treasurer's Report - Linda’s Report
Financial update – Currently, the association has $89,000 in CD’s with $15,000 maturing on June 29, 2026. The operating account has an excess of $5,000 beyond maintaining a comfortable operating reserve. Therefore, a $20,000 CD could be purchased at the end of June.
Vote: Treasure made a motion to invest $20,000 for a two year CD for roughly 4.15%. Board approved.
Vote: Treasure made a motion to pay the $106 Post Office Box rent. Board Approved.
Vote: Treasure made a motion to approve the ICOLA Itasca Colalition of Lake Association. SLA’s membership dues are based at 50 cents per member. Our dues total $60. Treasure made the motion and motion was approved.
It was noted the a grant is still expected from to offset our cost of
providing a porta potty. The grant payment is expected in June.
Treasurer has written a policy of how to keep reserves of cash. Mullaney, Huettner will review with Lonson in more detail.
Vote: Treasurer’s report was approved.
5) Key Dates (Informational):
a) Monthly Board Meetings (Location noted below or TBD: ZOOM option for travelers (please indicate if you need). Meetings begin at 8:30am unless otherwise notified. i) June13th: Today’s BoardMeeting
ii) July 18th: SLL it will be at 8:30 am
iii) August: 8th: SLL
iv) September 12: TBD
v) October 10th: SLL
b) Spring Meeting/Dinner: June 14th 4:30-5 start
c) Timberman Tri: July 11th
d) Fall Clean-up: TBD
e) Install/Remove AIS Signs at Public Landings (Approx. Dates): Early May/Oct
Committee Reports:
a) Communications: Chair: Abby O.; Co-Chair: Paula H.
Volunteer Opportunity: Someone on the board should have access and ownership over the info@siseebakwet.com email.
b) Membership: Chair: Paula H.; Co-Chair: Joan S./Lynne E.
- Membership hit 82.6% of lake owners!
c) Water Quality, Management & Education: Chair: Tom H.
(Temporary); Co-Chair: Roger L.
i) Lake Level Measurements - Some members have alerted the board that their well pressures are low due to aquifers are stressed due to the
drought we have been experiencing. Dick Stenerson has been diligently reporting lake levels for years - Roger Queren and Tom Huettner will provide back-up support.
ii) Lake Wakeboard Map progress (Brede has sent a map graphic showing preferred areas for wakeboard activities to the board to review. A
version that shows more depth contours is preferred. Linda Lonson might try to make another version before posting.
iii) AIS Tools - Update. Tools are at Sugar Crest the VRBO on the north shore - the rental house. A second was given to the Lodge. Paul to
contact MHD and Willey’s to see if they are 5 Star participants of Itasca’s Soil and Water.
iv) Rusty Crayfish Trapping/Test Results/Follow-up/ Bruce Erickson will give an update at the Spring meeting. The commercial trapper that was active last year will not be trapping our lake this summer due to reduced crayfish population.
v) Weir - Itasca County will not be making any changes to the Weir
vi)Recruitment for committee - Martha Otis may help with water quality and beaver tracking. We also need help with the Website. Opportunities of for volunteers will be mentioned at Spring Meeting.
d) Social: Chair: Paula H.; Co-Chair: Kelly-Sue R./Lynne E.
Happy Hour Dates/Locations Set for 2026 as follows:
a) June 26th (Friday) - Jan & Dave Cress House (18921 Sugar Lake Trail) b) July 25th (Sat) - Sharon & Roger Quern (39492 Sissebackwet Shores Rd) c) August 28th (Friday) - Kelly Sue & Scott Robinson (38859 N Sugar Lake Rd)
d) Possible add on at SLL - TBD
7) Open Initiatives/Special Projects
1. Lake Steward Program - Delayed Roll-out until likely 2027
2. Historical Record Retention Solution:
Next steps:
a) Someone should review accessibility/structure of database; possibly Alan Jechort
b) Load/Organize on SLA’s website if doable and searchable.
8) FY 25/26 Proposed SLA Committee Goals Discussion
1. Investment Committee - Approve investment policy and/or continue ongoing CD ladder programs. Possible add higher yielding investments.
3. Website refresh as needed? Replacement for Abby?
4. AirBNB/VRBO: County Regulation follow-up/owner follow-up; Request key contacts/annual follow-up; STR regulation tracking
5. AIS Fund raising efforts /Legacy Fund/Promote Donations