Trustee
The monthly board meeting has been moved to October 18th, 9:00am at the Shelter Pavilion at Martins Park off East Diane Drive..
This is the last meeting at the Shelter Pavilion and the following meetings will be conducted at the TTT or other location as announced.
The LDCA board would like to share that the August board meeting is being rescheduled to Saturday, September 13th at 9:00am at the Pavilion shelter house off East Diane Dr..
The LDCA community picnic will be held on August 9th as scheduled at the Pavilion shelter house at Marlin Park, the end of East Diane Drive.
July 15 – re-treatment
July 15-19 – avoid irrigation inclusive
Solitude will be on site at Lake Diane to touch up areas that are needed for re-treatment. A survey was done along with participant reports and through our contract we will have those areas touched up to ensure the intended outcome of weed management.
Advice is to turn off irrigation systems for July 15-19 or as directed on the posted yard signs that will be put out in the coming days in areas of treatment.
Skin contact avoidance recommended for 24hrs – see yard postings for exact specifications in your area.
(updated with most recent EGLE posting)
The Directory is available for pickup this Saturday and Sunday from 11am – 1pm at the Southern Hillsdale County Community Center off West Territorial Road.
If you submitted your information you are eligible for a free copy. Additional copies available for purchase.
Map of participation
Flag Posting has occurred and is used for:
Flag placement will not be accurate to the lot lines of your property. Treatment is done via GPS navitgation. Flags are also places in regions to be treated and regions to not be treated. For example, 10 lots in a row may only have two flags. Flag color changes are there to help the navigators know boundaries of treat and skip (e.g. moving from a green section to a pink section means that is a boundary or vice versa) . Moving the flags will not cause a change in treatment as it is only used to help orient the navigators and not the GPS location of treatment. If you feel a section is grossly incorrect (ie. an entire area is skipped) please notify the LDCA board to have it corrected ASAP. An example of an error to notify is if there are no signs on your lots or neighbors lots and there is supposed to be a spray and non spray in that area. Another example would be if you see a color change pattern that does not map to the drawing above. Do not notify if your lot is missing a sign – check the signs around you to the map as it may be part of a larger region of multiple lots.
Here is an example flyer
Please ensure your irrigation systems are turned off Monday and follow the posting on your lawn or check back here or with LDCA for restrictions
The LDCA is happy to announce that the permit and logistics for approval for weed treatment has been granted.
ANNUAL BOARD MEETING
June 8, 2024
BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Jerry Agrusa, President
Scott Coakley, Vice President
Jim Watt, Treasurer
Nancy Bell, Secretary
Kevin Mack, Trustee
Chris Sellers, Trustee
Al Vitous, Trustee
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
None
The meeting was called to order at 10:02 by President, Jerry Agrusa at the shelter house.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The minutes from of the June, 2023 annual board meeting were read by Nancy Bell. The minutes were approved by Jerry Agrusa as written-seconded Al Vitous. All approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Jim Watt presented the Treasury Report. A little surplus is being saved for future projects (dredging). Last dredging was in 2016 by the gas station/restaurant that cost $35,000. 12 more areas in the lake need to be dredged. Jim presented the proposed 2024/2025 budget. Some items were decreased and some were increased with explanations. The motion to accept the budget & Treasury Report without changes was made by Al Vitous, second by Rod Anderson. A vote was taken and the budget was approved by all.
ELECTIONS OF OFFICERS:
Kevin Mack, Al Vitous and Nancy Bell’s 3 year terms ended. The floor was open for nomination for the LDCA board. No one volunteered to be on the board. The motion to close nominations approved by Jim Watt second by Scott Coakley. Nomination was closed with Kevin, Al and Nancy agreeing to stay on the board for another term of 3 years. All approved and applauded.
Board members are
Jerry Agrusa – term ends 2026
Scott Coakley – term ends 2025
Jim Watt – term ends 2026
Nancy Bell – term ends 2027
Kevin Mack – term ends 2027
Chris Sellers – term ends 2025
Al Vitous – term ends 2027
OLD BUSINESS:
LEGAL / RENTALS:
A resident talked about the many rentals around the lake. This is against the deed restrictions and homeowners or businesses should not be renting less than six months. Realtors are not notifying buyers that are purchasing for this reason. Residence of Lake Diane do not want to take this on themselves, but with possible Park standing, encourage the association to do it. He explained the steps to stop them – starting by contacting owners all the way to taking them to court. This does not pertain to remote employees working out of their home. Legal actions have been started on some rentals already.
PARKS:
The Pickleball court was added to the park, but not complete yet. Dirt, grass, tape, net and fence are still needed. Friends of Lake Diane have volunteered to help with costs.
AQUATIC LIFE:
Solitude was contracted to spray the weeds. This will be done on June 18. (New date after the meeting was June 17th). Since it has been delayed, now late payers can be included in the spray. It would be more beneficial to the lake if the whole shoreline was sprayed compared to only spraying paid residence. There are several critical areas on the lake that have excessive weeds.. The DNR, State or DEQ won’t get involved till it is too late or the fish are dying. Best solution would be to have the spray included in taxes and it could be at a lower cost. By raise of hands at this meeting, the people present would approve this idea. We have 15 species of lily pads, 11 are invasive which means people thought they were pretty and planted them in the lake. Only 40% of Lily pads can be sprayed later in the summer.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
Lake Diane garage sale – June 15th
Golf cart parade – July 6 noon *
Fireworks are July 6th rain date July 7th *
Poker Run – July 7th & Sept 1st
Golf Outing – Looking for someone to take it over *
Reverse Raffle – August 3rd *
Family Picnic – August 10th. All invited
Trunk or Treat – October 25th *
*LDCA non-sponsored events
NEW BUSINESS:
Jerry Agrusa and Jim Watt talked about the MI Marketable Deed Restriction Act and how it could affect Lake Diane and all lakes in Michigan. He explained what the board members did to try to stop it by filling out form, getting it notarized and filed it at the Hillsdale County Deeds office. Bill 721 deadline has been extended to Sept. 25, 2025
A Wake boat law is in the house, but not approved yet to limit where they can go. At Lake Diane, they would be limited only to two sections of the lake.
Chris Sellers explained the results of the Survey sent out to residents. 46 came back showing water quality, trailers and promoting social activities were the top 3 respectfully.
A date of June 22 has been put aside by Terry Rupp asking for volunteers to help clean up the shoreline by the shelter house. He proposed it would take only an hour of your time.
At 11:40, Jerry made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jim Watt agreed. Kevin Mack seconded the motion. A vote was taken and the annual meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted:
Nancy Bell
The association has been made aware that there are reports of water fowl that have been subject to Avian Flu. This is a harmful virus that can affect humans.
{updated}
Regarding Canada Goose population. We. have elected to continue to pursue nest destruction this year under permit and by trained officials. If you notice a nesting pair, do NOT approach or interrupt their nest. If it very important to manage the nesting a specific way otherwise the birds will re-nest in a more hidden location and avoid population control. Please Notify someone with LDCA with the location of the pair so we can have a trained official assess the nest and condition of any eggs.
MONTHLY BOARD MEETING
December 14th, 2024
BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Jerry Agrusa, President
Jim Watt, Treasurer
Nancy Bell, Secretary
Kevin Mack, Trustee
Chris Sellers, Trustee
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
Scott Coakley, Trustee
Al Vitous, Trustee
The meeting was called to order at 9:00 by President, Jerry Agrusa at TTT. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. The minutes from the November meeting were read. The amended minutes were approved by Jim Watt, seconded by Jerry Agrusa. All in favor.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
The Treasury report was presented by Jim Watt. There was only a little activity this month. Jerry made a motion to accept the report as written, Kevin seconded. All in favor and the Treasury report as written.
NEW MEMBER:
Membership stands at 203
OLD BUSINESS
AQUATIC LIFE:
Chris has drafted a trifold flyer for SAD to hand out. This project would be between Amboy Township and Lake Diane. The County Commissioner would not have to get involved. The assoc dues will be reviewed and may be lowered to some degree.
There could be future issues with water quality since cattle raising farms are getting closer to us. Other nearby lakes have been affected by no-swimrestrictions due to runoff. Our runoff comes from the north and west. We don’t expect outside assistance to resolve this since there aren’t any township or county guidelines.
AQUABOUNTY:
The Fish Farm in Pioneer technically is dead, however Aquabounty is evaluating
what to do with the project site. They ceased all Indiana and Canada locations so no salmon fishing anywhere. We are unaware what would take its place in that area.
PARKS:
Kevin patched a hole in the park’s shed that red squirrels were going through. Jerry bought and installed a new lock on the electrical panel at the shelter house.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
No events for the rest of the year. Tentative dates of 2025 activities were discussed.
RENTALS:
Most rentals on the lake have been addressed.
TRAILERS:
No conversation on this subject at this meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
Hillsdale Road Commission are aware of several areas around the lake that have been modified. It was mentioned in their minutes about the land being altered.
The Newsletter information is being gathered to send out in Spring 2025 to all lake residents This will be sent with the annual association invoices and SAD flyer. We will try to finalize the Newsletter at the January 11, 2025 meeting since February meeting will not have a quorum.
There were 11 Welcome Packages delivered in 2024. This is up from the 10 in 2023.
Lake Diane is in a high Radon area. Tests can be bought on Amazon.
Volunteers are going around to local businesses asking them if they want to advertise in the LD phone directory There is a small cost depending on ad size that will offset printing costs.
At 11:10, Chris Sellers made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jerry Agrusa seconded the motion. Next meeting will be Jan 11th, 2025. All agreed and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nancy Bell
MONTHLY BOARD MEETING
October 12th, 2024
BOARD MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Jim Watt, President
Jerry Agrusa, Treasurer
Nancy Bell, Secretary
Scott Coakley, Trustee
Chris Sellers, Trustee
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:
Al Vitous
Kevin Mack
The meeting was called to order at 9:02 by President, Jim Watt at TTT. The pledge of allegiance was recited. A guest speaker, Mike at Solitude, gave an informative presentation about Water Management Treatment Program for over an hour. Then the minutes from the September meeting were read. The minutes were approved as written by Jerry Agrusa, seconded by Scott Coakley. All in agreement.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Jerry Agrusa read the Treasury. Scott Coakley approved the report as written, Jim Watt seconded. The Treasury report was approved by all.
NEW MEMBER:
Membership stands at 203
OLD BUSINESS
WATER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM:
Mike at Solitide provided a flyer with information about the weeds and Lily pad treatment. Currently, we have ‘skip lot treatments’ but ‘wide lake’ is more effective in the long run. Swimming restrictions would be the same no matter what chemical was used. Irrigation restrictions could be different.
For whole lake treatment, a survey in April or May would be done to find invasive plants to determine different treatment for different areas.. The initial treatment would be done a couple weeks after that. Then it is reinspected to make sure it was a success. Another survey will be done after that. In 2024, 240 lots received treatment. The whole lake management program would cost less in the future years as weeds are controlled. The quality of fishing has increased and fish habitat would be better in the long run as it is maintained by the treatment Red Algae bloom is due to iron, no circulation, nutrients in water etc.
Treatment of lily pads is determined by EGLE. Up to 40×40 zone, 15-20 foot spray in the center of a channel and 10 feet from docks and shoreline can be treated based on development of the land. Lily pads mostly grow in shallow waters up to 5 feet deep. The root must be removed to eliminate additional growth. For a whole lake treatment, exceptions can be marked for no spray areas.
Water quality testing is done before treatment to test temperature, PH levels, oxygen, etc, Each chemical product goes through three levels of approvals before use in lakes. A hard winter with deep ice covered with snow blankets shade in the water and would help eliminate weeds for next Spring. Bubblers stop ice formation so Mike will forward information as he gets it pertaining to weeds. Mike gave many examples and answered questions of what can legally be treated.
PARKS:
A fence for the Pickleball court was ordered and will take 6 weeks to get installed. Posts will be bolted into cement slab and have a 3 foot opening. Chris and Michelle Sellers are donating a bench at the court. Because of liability, perhaps install a sign saying ‘use at your own risk’ and add ‘for use of LD residents’. Jim will contact insurance company.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS:
Trunk or Treat – October 25th *
*LDCA – non-sponsored
RENTALS:
Three rental properties have agreements in place to quit short term rentals. Two others have taken off social platform.
TRAILERS:
Jerry received the decrees from the lawyers pertaining to trailers.
NEW BUSINESS:
A FYI – Did you know – sheet was drafted of Michigan Laws/Lake Diane rules to put in the Welcome package and possibly send out with annual assoc invoices.
An official copy of deed restrictions for Lake Diane can be obtained at the Hillsdale County Register of Deeds office.
Next meeting will be on November 9th at 9:00 at TTT. At 11:08, Scott Coakley made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Nancy Bell seconded the motion. All agreed and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nancy Bell