PRESIDENT'S REPORT

• Non-Profit Status

  • It’s official and good from August 14, 2002 thru June 30, 2007. During this period the status will be provisional.  If we meet their standards it will become permanent in 2007.  If we don't meet their requirements we could lose the provisional status anytime.

  • In order to get non-profit status we had to agree to allow all members to vote. The Board of Directors approved the request to eliminate Voting and Associate members. All dues paying WLA members now have an equal vote.

• Grants

  • We are applying for a historical grant through the Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor.  The Historical Committee is applying for this grant in order to copy old documents about the lake to make them accessible to the public. Getting our 1st grant under our belt will make it easier to get other grants.

  • BOS, Library, & High School agreed to write letters of recommendation for us as part of this grant process. Dick met with the BOS last night to emphasize the importance of this project.  The WLA voted to approve this grant process unanimously.  The area school would like to work with us using the lake as a lab.  They presently send students to Maine during the summer on an environmental grant in conjunction with Nichols College.  They would like to see a year round program utilizing our lake.

SECRETARY'S REPORT

• Review of February Minutes

  • A WLA presentation was put together for our local cable station. With the generosity of Indigrafix we converted it to digital and it can be found here: mms://207.176.130.57/wla/chargogchat.wmv

  • The May Newsletter will go out at the end of April. All contributions welcome.

  • Webster Lake had a minor mention in the April issue of Reader’s Digest. A copy of the article will be posted on the website.

TREASURER'S REPORT

• Financial Update – Report accepted

BEGIN BALANCE 3/4/03	$5,392.15
INCOME
Membership Fees	$240.00
Bank Interest	$1.10
TOTAL INCOME	$241.10
EXPENSES
Mail, Stamps, Supplies	$87.69
Flowers	$52.50
Filing Fee	$37.00
TOTAL EXPENSES	$177.19
ENDING BALANCE 3/4/03	$5,456.06

FUN-DRAISERS COMMITTEE

• Casino & Kentucky Derby Night

  • We have decided to postpone this event until 2004. The delays in getting the non-profit status caused delays getting the proper permits and we did not feel we had enough time to put this together as a first class event. We will choose a date for 2004 and publicize it on the WLA calendar.

• Photo Contest & 2004 Calendar

  • Amateurs and professionals welcome

  • Must be of Webster Lake - Men, women, pets, nature, B&W, color.

  • Photos will be displayed at our August meeting.

  • Rules posted on the website - http://www.websterlakeassociation.com/Upcoming Events/WLAPhotographyContest.htm

  • Any questions? Contact Rebecca Leonard - mailto:rmleonard@charter.net

• July Boat Parade

  • We’ve changed the date from Sunday, July 6th to Saturday July 5th. The Rain date will be on the 6th. We changed this to coincide with the fireworks, which will be on the 5th.

  • We will present trophies to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place decorated/themed boats – and an honorable mention.

  • The starting point will be Point Breeze and the parade will go along the shores of the entire lake ending at Point Breeze.

  • An entry form will be put into the newsletter and on the website. Each entry will have a number and those numbers will be distributed at the June 10th general meeting or mailed if necessary. There will be a $5.00 entry fee per boat. 

  • WLA Summer Birthday – August 2^nd at Indian Ranch

  • The theme will be a birthday party with events for children and adults.

  • This will be the biggest family event of the year for the WLA and will be used as a membership drive as well.

  • Menu will be Chicken B-B-Q – buffet style.

  • We will utilize this time to award ‘Charter Membership’ plaques.

• Waterfront Landscaping Seminar – Tentatively scheduled for May with more info to follow

SAFETY COMMITTEE

• Committee Meetings on hold temporarily

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

• Current Membership:

  • North Pond – 21 Families

  • Middle Pond – 78 Families

  • South Pond – 61 Families

  • Associates Members – 25 People

• As a result of the change to our bylaws requiring that all members have equal vote, the WLA voted to change our membership structure as of August. From then on members will join the WLA as “individuals” rather than as “households”. 

• WLA Business Night – We are planning an evening to invite professional people in to learn more about who the WLA is and what we are working toward. Our Business Plan is being developed and a professional, informational evening is being planned. The purpose of this event is to increase membership and funding for our environmental projects.

• This year Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor's thirteenth annual "Walking Weekends" will extend over seven days. Walks will be scheduled from Friday, Oct. 10 through Monday, Oct. 13 (Columbus Day) and from Friday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 19. The WLA is thinking about sponsoring a walk centered around the history of Cranston Print Works and Webster Lake

DOCK COMMITTEE

• The Attorney General's Office approved the New Dock Bylaw. The Board of Selectmen referred it to town council.

• Posted on the WPD Website:

  • Town Council Decision - Dock Permitting - As the result of a citizens' petition, the dock permitting bylaw was amended at the last town meeting. Consequently, control of this program now falls directly under the Board of Selectmen. Therefore, please refer all questions, concerns or comments about the program or associated fees to the Board.

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE – Bob Couture

• Lake Management Proposals – We are meeting with 3 Massachusetts companies regarding this work. Geosyntec & Aquatic Control have given us presentations and proposals. Lycott will be presenting April 17^th.

• The 4 major goals are:

  • Surveys – identification and mapping of aquatic vegetation to create a plan for the future to treat problems weeds.

  • Water Quality Assessment – testing of water samples from the lake as well as the tributaries (Sucker and Brown Brooks). They test for PH, temperature, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc. We’re also looking for available equipment to this testing ourselves on an ongoing basis.

  • Watershed Study – to understand what feeds us and what we disperse.

  • Stormwater Management – The Town of Webster is mandated to create plan targeting to reduce sediment and create a map of the sediment problems.

• Weed Harvesting - If an invasive weed is pulled and broken up it will embed and re-root itself. We asked the BOS to curtail the weed harvesting license until we find out where the problem weeds are. The Selectmen agreed but referred us to Conservation Commission. Paul LaFramboise is drafting a 2^nd letter to the BOS to urge them to wait on the harvesting until after our weed survey is completed.

• Brian Sutor – mentioned that water sampling is done by the town and that boats tear up as many weeds as do the harvester

• Ray Rainey asked how long the survey is good for – Paul L acknowledged that it is only accurate for the immediate future but stressed that it’s a baseline that we can track

• Pam Landry iterated that these Lake Management Plans are 3-5 year plans

• Earth Day will be celebrated on May 3^rd.

  • Ernie Benoit has represented the Point Breeze peninsula clean up for 30 years. His continuous efforts have resulted in some dramatic improvement as to the litter along the streets and in the woods. Without these volunteers, this trash would have eventually landed in our lake.

  • He is looking for captains and volunteers for each street around the lake to lead the effort for the 2003 Earth Day Clean Up.

  • He passed a brochure about this event that included a WLA Application on the back that he suggests be put in each of your neighbors newspaper delivery boxes.

  • The town supplies trash bags and is willing to pick up anything.

  • Anyone interested in helping with Earth Day can email Ernie at ernieb@charter.net. More info around this project will be posted on the WLA Website and put in the upcoming newsletter. Let’s stop talking and start walking!

  • Yale Hirshberg, Chairman of the Webster Recycling Commission informed us that they would appreciate any donations of items or gift certificates that area business people could make for prizes for Earth Day on May 3.  They can be sent to:

Yale Hirshberg, Chairman
Webster Recycling Commission
48 Laurelwood Drive
Webster, MA  01570 

NEW BUSINESS

• WLA T-Shirts  - $10.00. We sold 56 the night of the meeting and the balance will be sold at the June meeting

• WLA Flags - $75.00 for a 3x5 color flag. A sign-up sheet was passed around at the meeting and a follow up email will be sent out to our members. Once we have enough for a minimum order, We will schedule the printing of these flags.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Next WLA General Meeting - June 10^th

• 50/50 Raffle – $171 total

  • 50% goes to Ellie Hallock 

  • 25% (Point Breeze Gift Certificate) – Scott Goulet

  • 25% - WLA

• Linda Littleton donated a door prize which was won by Mitch Pizzetti

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