R a i n b o w L a k e

Maintenance Association

mInutes

Annual Meeting
Saturday, September 24, 2011

There were twelve (12) properties represented, which is in excess of the 25% of 25 total properties
required for a quorum. The following members were present, constituting 48% of property owners:
Terry Carleton
Patty Carleton
Martha Cavitt
David Chollar
Maxine Gerdts

Renaye Harn
Jill Howell
Alan Howell
Pat Kerrigan
Greg Leibfried

Deb Liebfried
Rip Rapson
Liz Reiser
Lance Rivera
Bev Stickney

Jeff Stickney
Mary Laurel True

1. The Annual Meeting was called to order at the Ike Walton's Lodge, Yellow Lake, WI at 10:04 a.m.,
pursuant to the notice sent to all Association members in accordance with the bylaws.
2. Introductions were made around the table as there were several new faces present. Armand Lucas
introduced himself as a someone who had done work for the association following the storm, but claimed
that he hadn't been paid $1000 he was owed. He demanded payment or else he would sue the Association.
There was confusion because he was not hired using agreed upon procedures, there were not an invoice for
the work, and the receipt that the Association had showed that $1,000 had been paid and was signed by
Arm himself. A phone call to Marietta during the meeting clarified $500 of this amount that Marietta
agreed to pay had not actually been paid, that Arm had signed a blank receipt, and Marietta had filled in the
incorrect information after Arm had signed. Some time was spent trying to clarify the issues and address
everyone's concerns. Each property owner was given an opportunity to speak without interruption. The
consensus by the end of the discussion was to pay Arm's Tree Service a total of $1,000 for the work he did
on July 2, 2011 and implement much different communication methods so this unnecessary confusion will
not happen again.
3. The confusion regarding how to have work done and be paid by the association has continued after
several attempts over the years to clarify this. This makes the job of the officers who are volunteering their
time to manage the Association extremely difficult and time consuming. Apparently it needs to get stated
again. The rules are established in our bylaws. The current president is the ONLY person who can make
expenditures and contract for work if it is to be paid by the Association. If you are not the president, don't
spend money and expect the Association to pay for it. The President is only allowed to spend money for
services that were budgeted for, discussed and agreed upon by a quorum of members in advance. Work for
the Association must be done with reputable businesses who are willing to provide receipts, or on a
volunteer basis. It was decided that the 3 elected officers should come to a consensus on any expenditure
that has not been discussed and agreed on by a quorum of members. In an unusual circumstance, Members
can be easily notified by email or telephone to get an idea of the range of opinions and then there must be
a consensus among the 3 elected officers to make any financial decisions. The Members expressed wanting
to be alerted sooner if any officer or member is not being cooperative. The 2 remaining officers were

immensely thankful and relieved to have a better process in place to deal with unpleasant and unmanageable
circumstances.
4. On August 20, 2011 Burnett County hosted a free workshop called After the Storm to help answer
questions on a wide range of topics including tax implications, and how to go about cleaning up the debris.
There were speakers from the Wisconsin DNR, and Wisconsin Woodland Owner Association as well actual
foresters and loggers offering information on their services. It was a very helpful resource to anyone with
little experience in dealing with large scale property destruction. I will attach notes from the workshop to
these minutes for those who are interested.
5. Since the July 1 storm, there has been an enormous amount of time and effort spent by volunteers
helping to clean up our roads. Starting on July 2, Greg Liebfried and Byron Leason pitched in to help open
up the roads. The volunteer clean-up continued for several more weekends whenever people had the time
to come up. Lance Rivera, Liz Reiser and Luke Stellpflug, Bill Mulleneaux, and Alan Howell made a great
amount of progress with their group effort. Food and water was provided by the Stickneys. No doubt
there were other smaller efforts not mentioned here that helped our community. Thank you to everyone
who came out to help. A huge thanks goes to Lance who was able to work out a great solution with Eric
Adams Logging to help with the clean-up without incurring an exorbitant cost
6.

Eric Adams Logging is in the process of clearing the roads. It has been a slower process than

anticipated both for Eric and the Association. He seems to be appropriate for the scale of our properties,
and has only one or possibly 2 helpers in addition to himself. Most people that have been in contact with
him are pleased by his response and work, but a few have had trouble getting a response from him. He not
been in the area in recent days as he was helping out in the Pogami Creek fire fighting effort. He is clearing
our roads at no cost to us in exchange for the opportunity to do work with property owners in our
Association as well as Oakland Shores. There is no obligation for anyone in the association to use his
services. But, if you do not have an urgent situation he will be working in our area for quite some time, and
has an interest not letting all these storm damaged trees go to waste while preserving the natural
environment at the same time. His contact information is: 30859 Hove Lane Washburn, WI 54891 tel:
(715)373-2618 cell: (715)209-1961 Email: ereuad@gmail.com website: ericadamslogging.com
7. Mowing the sides of the roads should be done on a volunteer basis using your own equipment. There
is nothing currently budgeted for mowing the sides of the road, and this work has not been previously
approved by a quorum for Association expenditures. Volunteer work like this helps keep Association costs
to a minimum.
8. There is a lot of gravel and sand that is pushed off of the roads by Hopkins graders and plows. Terry
thought that Hopkins should be able to move it back onto the roadway as part of their work. Some people
have used a rake to move it back onto the roadway without a lot of time or effort and it is greatly
appreciated by the Association when people can pitch in to help keep the Association's costs to a minimum.
9. A clarification is needed regarding appropriate uses for the utility easement that extends 33' from the
centerline of the road. Between 20 and 40 small trees were removed from Lot 10 and Lot 14 to store snow
from the road with no advance notification to the owners. The Howells have planted small trees in the

easement themselves, and were upset to learn someone may have come in and cut down the trees they were
trying to grow to screen the road from their property. All the other properties in the Association have trees
growing in the easement, and there is no rule against it. Their attempts to find out what properties were
affected, why the work was completed without discussion with the owners, and what other options were
looked at were largely ignored. They didn't find out where the trees were actually removed until they drove
up themselves and found the trees left in piles on the properties. Since an easement is on someone's private
property, proper notification should be given to a property owner before making alterations to their land.
To avoid future misunderstandings, any desire to make changes to someone else's private property should
have approval by the property owner. After the owner has responded then the item may be brought for
motion to a quorum of members if involves work paid for by the association.
10. The roads were graded on the afternoon of July 1. They should be graded once more this fall if it can
be coordinated with the timber removal. Pot'o'Gold Road appears neglected even though Hopkins claims it
gets the same amount of grading and gravel. We are not certain this is true. As a result, the members
expressed an interest in focusing our resources on this road so that it is brought up to the same condition as
the rest of the roads. Terry Carleton will consult with Hopkins on this and let Lance know what they
propose.
11. The hill in front of Maxine's property continues to wash into her driveway. There has not been nearly
as much crushed asphalt placed in this location as on other steeply sloped areas. This may be part of the
problem, but the other issue is water drainage on that road. The crowning is not effective on that steep of a
slope. Renaye suggested a solution that was used on her steep driveway which was to dig up a speed
bump that would channel the water to the sides. This may not be a lasting solution on the road because of
the frequent grading, but this or another low-tech solution such as a french drain should be explored as reengineering the slope on that hill would likely be cost prohibitive. Terry will inquire if Hopkins is willing to
try such a low-tech solution. Renaye said her speed bumps that were installed by Hopkins only cost
around $100. Terry said he would also try to get an estimate to dig out and lower the slope on that hill as
well. Terry will let Lance know what he learns before any work is arranged.
12. Further exploration into road maintenance techniques was discussed. Hopkins has given us a lot of
sound advice on how to manage our poorly engineered roads. This tends to involve expensive road
reconstruction options and upgrades. Additional perspectives including low tech options for dealing with
our rural gravel road is always appreciated. Gail has found a possible source for information from the
Burnett County Chapter of the Wisconsin County Highway Association. Lance thought the Burnett
County Land Conservation Department also might have some ideas.
13. There is a Financial Report attached that shows a sharp increase in spending over the last 3 years. We
will be monitoring expenditures more closely to keep a better handle on why our costs have gone up so
dramatically.
14. A Budget was discussed and agreed on by a vote of the members to help the officers keep the spending
in line with expectations. Because there has been a large amount of unusual spending recently, it was

decided that a one time assessment of $100 per property would be assessed for 2012, and the existing
Annual dues of $100 would remain the same. The budget categories were assigned as follows:
Ongoing grading twice per year and gravel/asphalt

$1,500

Ongoing snowplowing triggered by a 3 snowfall

plus sand/salt

$1,500

Insurance

$175

Special Projects listed below:

$1000

Pot'o'Gold Road - $600

King Arthur's Ct hill in front of Maxine's - $400

Total

$4,175

15. Marietta Mulleneaux resigned as our treasurer August 26, 2011. Volunteers or nominees were requested
for the open seat of Treasurer. Deb Liebfried said she would be willing to fill the position. There was a
motion made and seconded, and a unanimous vote was made to re-elect Lance Rivera as President, Jill
Howell as Secretary and elect Deb Liebfried as our new Treasurer. Please send all dues and assessments to
Deb Liebfried 4515 2 St. NE Fridley, MN 55421.
16. Thank you to all the members who made the effort to attend the meeting. All members have the
opportunity of having their questions and concerns addressed and their opinions heard so the elected
leaders can better represent the wants and needs of everyone. We appreciate everyone's support in helping
keep communication and decisions fair and open, Association costs down, and both the members' and
officials' time to a reasonable amount.
17. The next scheduled meeting will be the Annual meeting at 10 am on Saturday, September 29, 2012.
The meeting location is to be announced. A notice will be sent two weeks in advance of the meeting.
18. The meeting was declared adjourned at 12:42 p.m.

Attachments:
Financial Report
After the Storm Workshop Information
Address list

Annual Dues of $100 per property plus a one time assessment of $100 are currently due.
Please pay 2012 dues by January 1, 2012 at the latest. All dues should be sent to the Treasurer:
Deb Liebfried
4515 2 St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55421.
Make checks payable to Rainbow Lake Maintenance Association or RLMA

These minutes were prepared by Jill Howell. Please let me know of any errors or omissions in the minutes.
printed on 100% recycled paper, 100% post-consumer waste.