• The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by President Jeff Stillman.  He noted that the meeting was being taped and that all nine directors (Jason Alban, Amy Busler, Judi Carter, Rob Collins, Jim Davidson, Lee Powell, Mike Robinson, Mark Smith and Jeff Stillman) were present.  Approximately 10 Association members were in attendance.
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• MEMBERS FORUM- President Stillman spoke on behalf of Kara Hinshaw.  He noted that it had long been the practice at the gate, to deny entry to non-local real estate agents unless invited by local agents.  Because homes are now being sold on a multi list, it is advantageous to allow entry to these realtors.  After some discussion, Lee Powell made a motion to allow entry to real estate agents, with proper ID, and logging them out upon exit.  Mark Smith seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
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• Pam Schatz had signed up for the forum to speak about the Lake Draw Down, and deferred her comments to that part of the meeting.
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• MINUTES- President Stillman stated that there were three sets of minutes that needed review.  The regular meeting of 7/9/09, and Executive Meetings of 7/28/09 and 8/11/09.
• Jim Davidson’s motion to accept the minutes of the 7/9/09 meeting was seconded by Mike Robinson and passed unanimously.  Mike Robinson then moved to accept the Executive Meeting minutes from 7/28/09 and 8/11/09.  The motion was seconded by Jim Davidson and unanimously passed.
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• TREASURER’S REPORT- Treasurer Jason Alban noted that this year’s income to date at $791,000.00 is higher than the $690,000.00 to date in ’08.  He also stated that the amount of budgeted income remaining was better in ’09 at just under 6% than it had been in ’08 at over 9%.  Expenditures year to date in ’09 are about $9,000.00 under ’08 at $378,000.00 and nearly 51% percent of budgeted expenses remaining in ’09 compares to 49% in ’08.  All the line items appear to be OK.
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• Manager Kroeger noted in the Delinquent report that there are currently 242 lots delinquent a total amount of $151,000.00.  This is slightly less than a month ago.  35 (14%) of the 242 delinquent lots have houses on them.  The collection agency has returned another @200.00.  There was no response to the 7 collection letters sent by Attorney Bill Shaneyfelt.  Manager Kroeger asked Mr. Shaneyfelt to begin small claims proceedings.  He also noted that a delinquency list for publication had been devised.
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• MANAGER’S REPORT- Manager Kroeger reported the following:
• The sections of road that we are considering for improvement in 2009 have been marked.  A bid sheet is expected any day.  He will have bids and recommendations from the Infrastructure Committee at the September meeting.
• He had run into a delay at the state level regarding repairs to the Lake Holly spillway.  He had hoped to have bids at this meeting and was getting concerned about the time window to accomplish this work.  He will continue to work with the state.
• He had spoken with Larry Diamond about lot mowing that day.  Larry was to mow over this weekend.
• He felt that we could manage traffic better if we made a few Village streets into one way streets for the Yard Sale.  He had had some special signs for the day made.  The maintenance crew would install the signs at the right time.  He further noted that hard copy sign up sheets were available at the office and electronic signup was available on the CLV website.
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• OLD BUSINESS
• Lake Draw Down- Manager Kroeger read an e-mail regarding the lake draw down that he had received from Member Pam Schatz.  The letter, with Manager Kroeger’s responses in red, follows.
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To Manager Kroeger and board,

I understand there is a plan for a lake draw down beginning November 1, 2009.
I did attend a meeting and have been reading the minutes of other meetings but I have not seen any scientific documentation supporting this decision.
I live on a finger of Christmas Lake and have great concerns about the impact on the lake, effectiveness and impact on the value of lake front property. In doing some research, I have the following concerns and questions I would like addressed.  The following points I have pasted from information I found on the web.  Part from an environmental fact sheet from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and part from Lake Weeds- Weeders Digest.  I have these available for you to see.
·  To be cost effective, a water level control structure must be in place, otherwise high capacity pumps must be used. We have a draw down tower.  We expect to do a little work on it while some parts are exposed.
·  The growth of some aquatic plants may be enhanced by water level draw downs - know the species that you want to control.
·  Winter weather may influence the success in killing the target species. Snow before a hard freeze may insulate the sediment and prevent freezing to a depth that will kill the roots; milder climates may not experience the freezing or detering conditions needed to kill the exposed plant roots and rhizomes. Typically we have more cold weather than we have snow.  When we have snow, it usually does not stay long.
·  Docks are left high and dry, water intakes may no longer be in the water, it may not be possible to launch boats, and some people will complain about aesthetics of the water body.  We do not typically see boats on the water in the winter.  Yes, some people will complain about how the lake looks.
·  There will be significant impacts to fish and aquatic wildlife by lowering the water and exposing the sediments.  The DNR tells us that this is not likely to be the case.
·  Algal blooms have been reported to occur after draw downs have occurred. Possible…we may have to make a treatment or two with an algaecide.  It is a cheaper product.
·  Water levels may be lower in wells during draw downs  We do not get our water from wells.
·  However, if the draw down does not occur on a regular basis, the plants will recolonize and reestablish in these areas. This can happen…we may have to do it two consecutive years.  We do not expect a one shot fix.
·  Results from Vermont's Lake Bomoseen draw down indicate that single winter draw downs on lakes with major deepwater wetlands can cause catastrophic and possible long-lasting changes in the plant communities.  Christmas Lake is not a deep water wetlands and the only plant community we have is the one we are trying to reduce.
·  The effectiveness of a winter draw down is dependent upon deep frost and complete dewateing of the sediments.  These conditions may not occur with heavy snow or milder and or rainy winters. How easy is this to predict?  There is a risk.  We will be watching long range forecasts closely and can call off the program if necessary.
·  Reduction in diversity and abundance of benthis invertebrates that are essential to fish and water fowl diets. I am unfamiliar with this
·  Consolidation of fish population into a more centralized area of deep water, making them more susceptible to over harvesting. There is little fishing here in the winter, and I think we can control it if necessary.
·  Oxygen in remaining pool can be depleted leading to a fish kill.  This can lead to unsitely debris and smell.  Amphibians and other fauna of the littoral zone may exhibit great changes in species composition and density due to each of over-winter habitat or exposures to harsh winter conditions after the have borrowed into lake sediments for the winter.  The main body of the lake will still have water, particular in the deepest areas.
·  However, if the drawdown does not occur on a regular basis, the plants will recolonize and reestablish in these areas. Be aware that the growth of some aquatic plant species may be enhanced by water level draw downs.  We are aware that more than one drawdown may be necessary.  We are anxious to see what happens from an initial attempt.

My concern is that enough study has been done and we are not thinking the is a cheep fix.  There can be long term consequences.  I think there can be long term consequences.  Just so you know, we have spoken to the IDNR, our aquatic specialist, and have read several internet articles including some from Purdue.  All have been decidedly positive.
What exactly is the village going to do while the water level is down.  I have read what the might do, but no commitment.  A plan should be in place. We are working on a plan.  Some of the items we anticipate are the evaluation/repair of boat docks, dipping out excess from some of the dock areas, possibly some clean up of the lake bottom and patch some holes in the drawdown tower.  We have also heard from Association members that they also intend to take time during this drawdown to work on their docks as well.  How long will it take for the water lever to return to current level?  We expect the lake to be refilled during spring rains next year.
Perhaps all of this has been considered and I am not aware, but I wanted to bring these concerns now before it is too late. I do see there are some positve advantages like working on docks and such but do the positives out weigh the negatives?
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Pam Schatz

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• Manager Kroeger noted that he did not know the answers to some of the questions.
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• There was some discussion about the project.  During this time Pam asked if this procedure had been done at Christmas Lake before.  It has not.  She was also curious to know for sure if the weeds we have are the type of weeds that this procedure will work with.  Manager Kroeger was to follow up with Aquatic Control and/or the DNR for this answer.  Kroeger advised the Board that he had spoken with the DNR who had declined our request to attend one of our meetings to discuss this topic because we are a private lake.
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• Mrs. Schatz also thought there should be an official plan of what projects we would do around the lake while the water was down.
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• Manager Kroeger noted that although this item has been discussed at several meetings, there was not a motion on the floor to drain the lake.  This item will be on the September agenda.
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• Speed Humps
• Manager Kroeger reported that he had spoken with a representative of Rudolph who said that he had misunderstood the size of humps we were contemplating.  The size we want would run in the $3000-5,000.00 range.
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• It was suggested that CLV employees and the local law enforcement officers, including county and state, set an example of the speed limit.
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• Thoughts expressed during discussion were that we should try 2-3 of the humps to see how they work, the Santa Claus Police should give out more tickets, the tickets should be more expensive in order to be more of a deterrent, we should remind all truck drivers of the speed limit, write an official letter to the Town of Santa Claus asking for more police presence, additional signage, and rumble strips.  Manager Kroeger is to put some of these ideas into practice.
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• Delinquent List
• Publishing of a list of delinquent Members had been approved at the July meeting.  A sample list had been made, but the frequency of such publishing had not been determined.  After some discussion, Jason Alban made a motion to publish the list quarterly to coincide with the newsletter.  The names would be listed in the newsletter as well as a separate list on the website.  Rob Collins seconded the motion which passed unanimously.  The list was also to run in the Journal Democrat at the same interval.
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• Mark Smith agreed to write a Director’s Article for the September Newsletter.
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• NEW BUSINESS
• Credit Cards- Treasurer Jason Alban explained the particulars of the plan he was working on and was familiar with.  The system is a web based payment option so costs are minimal.  There is a small cost associated with the cards that could be passed on as a convenience fee.  There is opinion that some will pay this way that will not pay in cash.  There are some fixed costs, but most of the costs occur when the system is used.  Our cost is about $125.00/month plus transaction fees.  Depending on the amount of activity, the convenience fee would be about $12.00 per transaction for us to cover our costs.  The convenience fee would be charged to the card user.
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• The 2 payment system for the 2010 assessment was also discussed during this time, noting that a transaction fee on each payment would be necessary.
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• The topic was subsequently tabled until the September meeting.
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• Covenants & Restrictions- President Jeff Stillman read the following statement as a point of business.
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• “During a review of proposed Covenant changes, we found there was a period of time from August of 1991 to April of 1992 that the Covenants for a few subdivisions were not enforceable. By advice of counsel, once they were recorded and available to the Members, they were in effect and have been ever since.”
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• COMMITTEE REPORTS
• Business Planning- An offer to purchase approximately 10 acres of Hanning land which is currently leased by the Association, was made in writing to the Hanning’s attorney.  There has been no reply to date.  The county lots we purchased recently have been designated as “buildable” and “privilege”.  The idea being to turn the lots around quickly.  A proposal of $X plus assessment, plus taxes, plus Town sewer fee was suggested to the Board.  The lots would be sold on a contract basis to help prevent lots being sold and then quickly returned.  This would result in the same situation we have now.  Manager Kroeger was directed to contact the attorney to see if a contract purchaser could build on a lot prior to the end of the contract.  President Stillman will set up an executive meeting to determine the price of the lots.
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• Infrastructure- Chair Jim Davidson noted the upcoming work on Holly Dam and on some dock work.  He updated on the progress of the roof at the Rec Center saying that all but one of the posts had been taken out and all the new rafter support had been installed.  Steel to act as support of the beams has been ordered and the beam with the post will be done soon.  He complimented the CLV staff for work done. 
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• Nominations- Looking into the future.
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• Rules & Regulations- President Stillman noted that the chair of this is currently open.  Judi Carter accepted the open chair.
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• Personnel- Chair Rob Collins stated that we were looking at ways to make our operation more efficient.
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• By-Laws- None
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• Parks & Recreation- Jeff Stillman remarked on the Christmas in Santa Claus Committee as chair Lee Powell had been out of town at the last meeting.  The Festival of Lights will be held in Christmas Lake Village on December 12th and 19th.  The next meeting of that committee will be August 20, 2009, 6:00 PM at the REMax office is Santa Claus. Manager Kroeger stated that the vandalism issue from early this summer had been handled.
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• Covenants and Restrictions- The committee will schedule a meeting to continue a review of the current draft.  The document will first be presented to the Board at an Executive Meeting.
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• There being no further business, the adjourned at 7:50 PM.