New board members were elected in the quarterly Board meeting in January.

• President, Orlin Faulhaber

• Vice-President, George Witte

• Secretary, Jane Hassel

• Treasurer, Celine Sawyer

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QUARTERLY MEETING

JANUARY, 2020

News from the Annual Meeting 

November, 2019

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The meeting began with a welcome from President, Jim States. There were about 50 people who attended which started with reading the minutes from the last annual meeting (November, 2018) read by LMPOA Secretary, Jane Hassel. Next was the financial report by Treasurer, Celine Sawyer. It was reported that the LMPOA members totaled 172. In addition, it was reported that the current assets of the LMPOA was $33,754.33. It was shared with the group in attendance that income is derived by two main ways which include membership dues of $50 per year and annual reimbursement from NPPD. As long as LMPOA spends money during the calendar year, NPPD will reimburse a portion of lot leases. In 2019, the LMPOA received a reimbursement from NPPD in the amount of $10,315.25. As the lot leases increases annually, so does the reimbursement. Total expenses paid in 2019 totaled $25,664.96 which include flower bed maintenance, insurance, newsletter printing and postage, utilities, and trail expenses.

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The first order of business for the annual meeting evening was to elect a new board for positions that were expiring. There were four positions open which included the following:

District 1 Representative --Jane Hassel (decided to run again)

District 2 Representative – Celine Sawyer (decided to run again)

District 3 Representative (member at large) -- Sam Perry (decided not to run again)

District 4 Representative – Kevin Kennedy (decided to run again).

For Districts 1, 2, and 4, no other nominations were made and it was voted by all the members to retain Jane, Celine, and Kevin. For District 3, Jim McClymont was nominated by Sam Perry and he agreed to be on the board. He was also voted by the members to be a new board member.

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President, Jim States thanked Sam Perry for all his years of service on the board. When asked by the group how long Sam has been on the board, he noted that it was probably 25 years. Sam was instrumental in getting the $1,000,0000 trail built. His resilience started in the mid 1990’s with much opposition and difficulty in getting it done, but he kept up the work in gaining knowledge, asking the right questions, and basically not giving up until it was built. Other than his hard work, he and his wife also donated monetarily to the trail. Indeed, a big thank you to Sam Perry for everything he has done for LMPOA. We know even though he is not on the board anymore, that his hard work and perseverance will still not go unnoticed.

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Trail Report

Jim gave the group a report on the trail. He noted that a ribbon cutting will be held in the spring for the completion of the trail. Jim said the distance of the trail is approximately 3.5 miles and cost $1,012,784 dollars. A total of $524,584 was provided by LMPOA, Twin Platte NRD, NPPD, and donations from many businesses and people. The rest of the trail was provided by the Nebraska Games and Parks Trails Commission Grants. The Nebraska Games and Parks have donated lots of money for trails, but have never given in the Western part of the State. This grant was a huge reason that the trail was built. Jim mentioned that the new sign at the Inlet Landscaping site was a wonderful addition to the trail and there are two more proposed signage at both ends of the trail will be installed providing mileage to significant mile location markers. George Witte explained a possible mile marker idea which would make a great Eagle 

Scout project regarding the mileage and your smart phone. Jim also thanked Mike Kelly for his donation for materials for the split rail fence along hole #7 and in front of Kelly’s home. There are other places along the trail where fencing made be needed. Jim also stated that memorial benches are available that cost approximately $2200.

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Other Items

Jim said that it has been reported by many of people (not necessarily just lake home owners) are dumping trash, grass clippings, and yard waste along the roadside. Jim strongly reminded people that this is unacceptable as it is very unsightly. If you know someone who is doing this, please contact a board member or Brian Hope so that they can try and help get this stopped.

Jim also reported that snow fencing and tree planting along the trail is being planned to stop snow drifting. Orlin Faulhaber has been working on the tree planting along No Maloney Drive where there is a bad area on the trail of snow drifting. Orlin reported that it is planned to plant approximately 1300 square feet of evergreen trees. The cost will be approximately $1800 but is also looking into cost sharing with NRD so it would cost less. Orlin will know more next spring if we will be able to participate in the cost sharing program.

The last item that Jim discussed was about fish stocking in Jack’s Pond. The Nebraska Game and Parks stocked 1600 blue gills last spring but are hesitant to give more because of the fact that the pond is drained every few years and would hate to lose them. There have been measures by the Board to stop that pond from being drained, but it has not been proven yet if it will work. Fingers Crossed.

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NPPD Report at Annual Meeting

Brian reported that the FERC inspection will be in the fall of 2021. This is when sea wall work should be planned. South Beach improvements have been done this summer that included a new picnic shelter. He also reported that NPPD is still working on the sandbur problem and plan to plan grass closer to the shoreline to help with blowing sand problem. Jim and Brian showed the group pictures along the trail to look at areas that might be unseen by one’s vehicle. Brian explained about the NPPD rock pile being moved to the end of Buffalo Bill Rd. The reason that it is being moved is that it is very difficult for the NPPD trucks to maneuver their tractors at the current concrete pile by the canal so it was necessary to find a different location where their trucks can turn around easier. This pile is open to the public, but it must be used only for concrete. Cameras will be installed to make sure that is what it is being used for and if people are dumping anything else, they will be cited. It was suggested by the group that it might not be the prettiest thing to look at and thought maybe some cedars to block the view be planted to help with that situation.

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The last item discussed at the meeting was about the NPPD funds. As mentioned above, the LMPOA Board gets money from NPPD as long as the Board spends money. When the dues were $500 per year, the LMPOA board received $5000 per year, but since dues are going up, so does the NPPD reimbursement. It has been pretty easy to spend that money in the last few years because of the trail, however, the trail has been completed (even though there are expenses that will surely go along with the trail), but other project ideas are needed in order to spend the money. This year, the Board will plan to spend at least $13,000. So Jim asked the group if they had any ideas. If you have any ideas, please let a board member know.

Dan Wesslund brought up that there is a Russian Olive tree that has gotten bigger and becoming a safety hazard near Kansas Point. (The tree has already been removed.) (Thanks Dan for the suggestion.) Patti Harkreader reminded people that if you plan to be gone for an extended period of time to let the Lincoln County Sherriff’s Department know and they will make sure to keep an eye out on the property.