Pigeon Lake Association Meeting   Saturday, September 1, 2018

Attendance - 26 PL owners, 3 family members and 2 guests.

Moment of Silence: In remembrance of Frank Samp, a steward of our lake and community, who passed away April 20, 2018.

2018 minutes: Approved. 

Open Secretary Position: Mary Hayes nominated & unanimously elected. 

Treasurer’s Report:  $1,645.97 current balance. Full report on file.

Tax Update: Susan Ritchie

2018 assessments stand.  2019 will be reassessed.  Property owners can email photos and description of property damage for tax reduction consideration to: clauder@centurytel.net.

2019 PLA Annual Meeting & Picnic:  Hayes Family will host on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, August 31, 2019. Time to be set. 

Membership: 2018-19 and sign up for Facebook and Blog encouraged.

Loon Watch: Gary Harms and Trish Bantle are monitors. Loon pair was in residence but no live births were sited.

1000 Year Rain: June 16-17, 2018 18 inch rain storm

Great effort by Trish Bantle, Lance and Susan Ritchie and Doug Hayes was expended following the June rainstorm including meetings, phone calls and endless emails.  7 known lake properties suffered serious damage.  All properties experienced shoreline damage including loss of trees.  Since storm Doug Hayes drafted 3 proposals to reduce lake water levels without success.  Pigeon Lake is officially part of St. Croix River Watershed.  We are the low spot in a 1 square mile area.  Surrounding area continues to be saturated and at water table levels.  

Township Meeting:  June18, 2018 resulted in temporary Slow/No Wake Ordinance on Pigeon Lake effective immediately, posted at boat landing and enforceable by law.  Jeff Kistner, Recreation Officer, will respond to complaints (715) 373-6300. Consensus at PLA Annual Meeting was that Ordinance must be continued until lake levels drop. 

Public Meeting: Drummond Civic Center July 31 2018 with 30 people in attendance. Outcome: “draft a proposal” which Doug Hayes did.

Phone Conference:  August 24, 2018 with DNR, Lance Ritchie, Forest Service and Town of Drummond. Agreement on ownership of Pigeon Lake Road & maintenance of road was under discussion with no consensus. Outcome: names and contact info for more folks to call and get involved from UWSP and UW EXT.

Engineer came to look at PL Road, but do not know what they recommend.

Information Shared:  US Army Corp of Engineers completed study and proposes a plan to riprap N shoreline by boat landing. 

Town of Drummond received 0 FEMA dollars. 

Follow Up:  Trish Bantle will prepare a list of organizations, government agencies and elected officials for PLA Association members and friends to contact and lobby regarding lake level issues. She will make a list of recommended talking points to touch on in communications.

WI Lake Association:  Motion made and seconded to rejoin; membership expired August 2018.

DNR AIS Grant:  written & approved for aquatic plant survey was completed 8/31/18.  No invasive plants were found. Native species were found to depth of 31 ft. but fewer plants existed.  Recent Secchi disc reading shows water clarity to be currently at 10.5 feet.   This is a 5 foot improvement over July reading, so the sediment is settling down.

Smart weed now abounds -  two types (land and water) both in lake.  This is not an invasive species. Can pull plants 30ft wide area around docks contiguous, only manual removal and no mechanical raking ... root depth of 16 ft.  Positives of plant: reducing wake and erosion impact to shoreline and providing good structural habitat for fish.

2018 Citizen Lake Monitoring: 3 summer month water samples & secchi disc readings were done by Trish Bantle and Gary Harms to establish a

base line. Lake temperature, phosphorous and chlorophyll sampled and information sent in to State. Report available after November.

Zoning: New high water set back is based on current water levels.

PL Field Station:  Doug Hayes shared that Station has been marketed for 2 years without success.  Camp land is owned by Bureau of Public Lands and buildings by UW River Falls. It appears that UWRF has given up and even dropped insurance.  Because of restrictions on land use, only options moving forward would be a sale for educational use. 

Next PLA Steps: Mary Hayes proposed that PLA Board meet asap, set an agenda, contact WI Lake Association & specifically address compromised septic systems. 

Respectfully submitted by Sandy MacLaughlin, PLA Secretary