Crockery Lake Association Board Meeting Minutes
August 16, 2023
7:00PM Ludwick’s Landing Crockery Lake Association
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
October 18, 2023
1. Call meeting to order 7:03 PM
2. Roll Call: Betsy Ludwick, Dan Atwood, Greg Slater, Paula Humphrey, Mollie Gaggin,
Carl Elliott & Bob Blauwkamp
By Zoom: John DeGeneres
Absent: Bill Marks
Audience: 9 Residents present (see sign-in sheet)
3. Approval of Agenda: Greg Slater moved to approve the agenda be accepted as presented.
Motion supported by Mollie Gaggin. Motion carried by unanimous vote.
4. Call to the Audience: Karen Elliott read from a prepared list of questions. She did
submit a copy of those questions to the CLA Board, and they are available upon request.
Betsy did address Karen’s questions. Betsy, along with Tom Ludwick had met with the
Elliott’s prior to this evening’s meeting to address some of the Elliott’s concerns.
5. Secretary Report-Paula Humphrey, minutes on file
a. Notes from Dr. Jones interview 8/21/23, entered into this evening’s business as
evidence of having had this interview. The agreement from RLS (Restorative Lake
Sciences) was sent to a lawyer who lives on Crockery Lake, Doug VanEssen. Doug
didn’t see anything binding in the agreement that might cause future issues but did
provide a form contract should it be needed. Our next action was to attend the Chester
Township Board meeting on October 18, 2023, to have the agreement with RLS approved
and signed by a Chester Township Board member to conduct business with RLS for the
2024 lake testing needed to apply for any EGLE permits. An email was then sent out to
all CLA Board members to confirm that we hire Dr. Jennifer Jones of RLS as a
consultant for Crockery Lake for one-year (see 11.A.i.). Board members voted to
approve, with one nay vote.
b. Minutes from September 20, 2023 – in my absence, Betsy Ludwick recorded the minutes
from this meeting.
Greg Slater noted “Under 6d, it should be who joined "in previous years", instead of
"last year".” Motion to accept the minutes as amended was made by Bob
Blauwkamp, support from Mollie Gaggin, motion carried with Carl Elliott abstaining.
6. Treasurer’s Report – Greg Slater, report on file
a. 62 Members for 2023 $2,170.00
b. Ending General Fund after Annual expenses $2,911.83
c. Other Funds: Fund-A-Fish $25.00
Lake Cleanup Fund $5554.70
2024 Fireworks $5580.18 ($1420 still needed)
d. Greg reported that there was a shortfall in our membership dues for 2024, 62 of the
64 budgeted as well as contributions for fireworks. Discussion followed. Mollie
Gaggin suggested we have a non-profit, Go Fund Me page on our website. She
volunteered to look into setting that up. Dan Atwood suggested getting signs posted
that donations are still needed. Pat Wolters has the sign boards that slip into the CLA
signs on both the north and south sides of the lake. Paula Humphrey and Mollie
Gaggin volunteered to work on getting signs made to get posted.
e. The budget for 2024 was discussed. The CLA Board would like to be able to have
the monthly board meetings at the Chester Township Community Room. There is a
fee of $30 to meet in that building. This cost would be need to a new line item in the
budget. CLA Board would like to be able to provide residents of CLA with a paper
edition of the bi-monthly Newsletter. Discussion of some possible donations
followed. It was determined to take the cost of production of a paper edition of the
newsletter from the Communications/Office Supplies/Postage/Bank Fees line item if
expenses are more than what we receive in donation.
A motion was made by Dan Atwood to raise the CLA Membership dues from
$35, to $40. Mollie Gaggin 2 nd motion. Discussion: raising the dues would
underwrite the added expense of the fee to use the township community room for
CLA meetings. Many more people attend the meetings when they are held at a
public location. Some meetings may be able to be held at the pavilion at Grose
Park to save some expense. Motion carried by unanimous vote of the
representatives present.
Motion made by Bob Blauwkamp to approve the treasurer’s report as presented.
2 nd by Carl Elliott. Motion carried by unanimous vote of the representatives
present.
The motion made by Dan Atwood to accept the 2024 Budget as proposed and
amended, was supported by Mollie Gaggin, and carried by unanimous vote of the
representatives present.
7. President’s Report – Betsy Ludwick
a. Betsy read that an email that she had received from Ben Jordan, Ottawa Conservation
District Watershed Technician. A hard copy of this email is on file.
Ben told Betsy that he planned to present a monitoring funding proposal in November
if he is able to get on the agenda. Crockery Lake would be included in the monitoring
program, which could begin in early 2024. He also mentioned a request for funding
proposals from the Great Lakes Fisheries Trust that he is keeping an eye on. Funding
from this trust wouldn’t be available until Jan/Feb of 2024. Some of those funds may
be directed to Crockery Lake.
b. Tom Ludwick attended a presentation on the Bio-digester located at 84th Ave. in
Coopersville. The hope was to gain information on what is being done with the
manure spread on the farmer’s fields that could benefit our lake. This proved to be
only a way to extract the methane from the manure and separate the solids to make
byproducts of fertilizer and animal bedding.
8. Fireworks 2024
a. Update – Bill Marks not present. Dan Atwood reported that the fireworks company
Bill has been in contact with would be willing to provide a show for CL with
whatever funds come in. A 50% deposit does need to be made by 12/31/23.
b. Funding - We received a quote of $7000 for the 2024 Fireworks Show, we have
currently received $5580.18 for that show, with $1420 still needed. Mollie Gaggin
will look into development of a “Go Fund Me” account that is available to nonprofits.
Betsy will notify lake residents by email to those residents who have provided an
email contact. The CLA signs will also be used to promote additional donations for
the 2024 year.
It was also discussed that tonight’s minutes be approved “tentatively” through email
by the CLA board representatives, so that the October 18, 2023, minutes could be
posted on the website to also notify lake residents of the need for an additional $1420.
Donations for 2024 are due by 12/31/23.
c. Insurance Endorsement – this agenda item was not discussed.
9. Township Lake Ordinance Review – tabled until March of 2024.
10. PLM Weed Treatment Review & Update
a. Betsy provided the representatives with a copy of PLM’s (PLM Lake and Land
Management Corp.) proposed Management Program for 2024. There is an estimated
cost of $12,000-$17,000 to provide lake treatments. The cost to pay for these
expenses is covered by a SAD (Special Assessment District) with Chester Township.
2024 will be our 3 rd year of a 3-year contract with PLM for treatment purposes.
b. Betsy also made note of the “Lake Check” – Water Quality Monitoring Report. This
was a Deep Hole, both north and south, test preformed on August 23, 2023 by PLM.
The results indicate that based on Total Phosphorus (TP) of 76 & 77, CL is
hypereutrophic. Copies of this report are available upon request.
11. Sediment Nutrient Evaluation report from RLS – this report will be available on the CLA
website. Our lake is in very bad shape. Comparable to a lake that has been studied in
China with the same numbers. Please see the reports on the website
a. Agreement with RLS
i. One Year: This agreement would cover the cost at an hourly rate for the
initial testing needed to apply for permits with EGLE. It will also cover
reports, hours logged with the Ottawa Conservation District, and hours needed
to vet companies that would provide needed services to remediate our lake.
ii. Three Year – TBD after the EGLE process has been completed. We may also
qualify for grants that would cover hourly rates, and not a flat fee.
Discussion: Crockery Lake needs to have a Lake Management Plan. Working with
Ben Jordan, OCD there are funds available from EGLE to develop this plan.
12. Around the table
Carl Elliott: Recommended that people google EGLE/aeration and requirements for
permitting. It is a 35-page document. He also spoke about the possibility of adding an
aeration unit in the lake in front of his own home is permissible by EGLE if it isn’t
anchored at the bottom of the lake, as to not disturb any sediment on the bottom.
Bob Blauwkamp: nothing
Greg Slater: nothing
Betsy Ludwick: nothing
Paula Humphrey: nothing
Mollie Gaggin: Looking forward to moving forward so that our lake will be as beautiful
all year round as it is right now.
Dan Atwood: It’s time to talk some common sense to the rest of the lake residents. To
get the message out that the lake isn’t good. The Board needs to get out our testing
results to the residents.
John DeGeneres (zoom): nothing
Audience Comments: nothing
Greg Slater that the meeting be adjourned, 8:35 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Paula Humphrey
Next meeting: March 15, 2023
Location: Possibly Zoom and TBD
Adjournment