February 2006 Newsletter
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Fife Lake Lakefront Property Owner's Association has
many folks to thank, as we move forward toward raising the dollars needed to
treat all one-hundred-eighty-three acres of Eurasian Milfoil by the middle of May.
A huge thank-you goes out to Fred Joles for all the work he did in
applying for a grant from the Grand Traverse Band of Odawa and Chippewa Tribes.
Unfortunately our request for a grant of $35,000 has not been approved
for this round of grant funding. In
short, we are left in need of additional funding, which we had hoped NOT to have
to come back to our members to get.
The next big thank-you goes out to the Chamber of
Commerce who is lending support by sponsoring an area wide fund raising
campaign. Superintendent,
Matt Carey obtained a die-cut, the school donated some of the paper and
Stephanie Reamer donated the rest of the necessary paper to create die-cut fish.
Now each of you can buy a fish to save our lake.
First, go to any Chamber Member establishment, buy a fish, proudly put
your name on it, and then get one for each of your kids and grand-kids. Pretty
soon we hope to see fish hanging all over town, emblazoned with the names of all
those who want to save our lake. When
folks ask what the fish are for, they too will be encouraged to donate.
If everyone gives a little…….
And last but not least, thanks again, to Hayes
Manufacturing for their support with mapping and mailing.
We are fortunate to have such generous members and friends.
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WE'RE
SORRY
We have recently been made aware that we have made some
of our "Friends Members" feel excluded by the choice of our name.
We certainly never intended to exclude anyone.
Our name, when we incorporated, turned out to be a bit of a problem,
because the Fife Lake Association, and two other similar names had already been
registered with the Michigan Corporations Bureau.
Before we can change our name, we have to amend our bylaws, and that
can't be done except at our general meeting, scheduled for July.
But we certainly will be putting the issue on the agenda.
LAKE
TREATMENT REPORT
The Lake Treatment Committee has
examined the time and resources required to treat more than four times the
milfoil we treated last June, and we are looking at a huge undertaking. However,
the committee reports that they have a quotation to hire a Professional
Applicator to apply the chemical we have already purchased, and supply the
additional chemical to treat the entire 183 acres according to our map from last
Fall. And when you deduct the
rental of equipment, etc., beat up the contractor for better pricing, and supply
1/3 of the chemical, which we already purchased, the quote becomes fairly
reasonable. The committee is
already in the planning and engineering phases of organizing the work. With or
without a professional actually applying the chemical, there's still much to do,
so stay tuned…! Your phone may
ring along about April, enlisting your help to pull off this huge Spring
treatment.
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FACING
FINANCIAL REALITIES
Your FLLPOA Board of Directors is faced with some hard
financial realities, given the loss of the Grand Traverse Band grant we had
hoped for. We know if we leave any
Milfoil untreated, it will spread. We
learned this last year. Waiting
for the governmental units to form a special assessment district, to
raise the funds, work through the red tape, and contract for lake treatment,
will not be an option for 2006, and maybe not even 2007.
Please understand that we continue to pursue this course of
action, but we are still a long way from a "public" solution to the
milfoil problem.
For 2006 we have no choice.
We simply must raise enough dollars to treat the whole 183 acres, at the
right water temperature to kill this weed at its roots. And
it must be done
between
now and April 15th, 2006.
2006
TREATMENT SEASON BUDGET
INCOME
BUDGET
Total
Available Funds ..... $11,105.78
Estimated
Income from Dues....... $8,250.00
Estimated
Income from Fish Sales.......... $500.00
Estimated
Outside Donations....... $2,000.00
Total.....
$21,855.78
EXPENSE
BUDGET
Cost
for 2006 Spring Treatment..... $48,405.00
Cost
for 2006 DEQ Permit....... $1,500.00
Cost
for 2006 Insurance.......... $300.00
Purchase
of GPS & Software.......... $600.00
Rental
of Equipment.......... $600.00
Cost
of Posting & Signs. $100.00
Postage
and Mailing.......... $200.00
Fall
Follow-up Treatment Costs..... $11,000.00
Cash
Forwarded for 2007 $7,500.00
Total.....
$70,205.00
Estimated
Budget SHORTFALL..... $48,349.22
Keep in mind, a budget is usually based on "Ifs, Expectations and
Estimates". To get ahead of the milfoil invasion, our best, and also least
expensive option in the long run, is to go after it this year.
The
IFs are:
1. Can we raise the funds?
2. Can we treat at the right
time? And 3. Can we get a good kill rate? With
a YES to all of these questions, you
can EXPECT to pay less every year after 2006.
To make this happen we ESTIMATE each member will need to pay an
additional assessment of $300.00 over and above your dues, to cover this
shortfall. Those who have already
included a donation with your dues payment should deduct that amount from the
$300.00 assessment. IF we
can get 100% membership cooperation with this assessment, we should be able to
build a cushion that limits what we will need to raise next year, and the year
after. We all look forward to the
day that we can maintain our lake with our dues alone. Please
help us get there.
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PERMISSION TO TREAT
Most of our members have given us permission to treat with 2,4-D in front
of their property, on a permanent basis. This
means we do not have to get a new permission slip every year.
But a few folks will need to sign a permission slip again. We will mail you a new
permission
postcard, soon, if our records show that you have not given permanent permission
to treat. Please sign it and
return it as soon as possible to FLLPOA, P.O. Box 131, Fife Lake, MI
49633. Also, please consider
giving permanent permission this time. And
thank you to Audrey Galloway for organizing the permission slips, and keeping
them straight!
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MAIL
AND ADDRESS MESS
We have heard again from many of our members that the newsletter is not
coming through in the mail. Just so
you know…we send our letter out first class to make sure it is forwarded.
We are finding the address lists supplied by the village and townships
are for tax billing purposes, and some end up going to banks and trustees,
instead of reaching our members. If
your property is in trust or someone other than you gets the tax bill, they may
also be getting your newsletter! Help
us out with a better address.
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A
COMMUNITY EFFORT
This association
formed for one reason…to rid our lake of milfoil.
This job will never be finished. Without
"Friends of Fife Lake" we would be nowhere.
As a community, working together we are moving forward to tame the
milfoil beast. Thanks for your
support. All
Friends and Members are welcome at all board meetings.
We encourage you to join us.
NEXT
BOARD MEETING, SAT.
3/18/06
10:00
A.M. At Fife Lake Township Hall
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