MINUTES OF THE DOUGLAS LAKE SHORE
ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING
OF 9/19/09
Present: SheldonWettack, Al Lyon, Mary Kay Baker, Pat Woods, Steve McKown, John Blair, Vince Beckman, Joe Milauckus, Arlene Philp, Dennis Dreyer
Excused: Jay Hernly, Mike Flynn
Sheldon called the meeting to order at 9:20 a.m. and thanked Pat Woods for hosting the meeting and introduced Dennis Dreyer, our new board member.
The minutes from July 25, 2009 were approved as distributed with the corrections that had been made via email.
Treasurer’s Report. Arlene handed out the Treasurer’s report. She will pay approximately $1,090 for the Directors and Officers Liability Insurance. Because we had a revision to the 2007 Financial Statements, it changed the 2008 and the 2009 reports. Arlene will have the 2008 and 2009 revised Annual Treasurer’s Reports to review at the November Board Meeting. The Social Financial Report, from the DLSA Summer Social, will be a separate report and will be shared at the November Board Meeting.
Old Business
Election of Officers. The following slate of officers was approved unanimously: President - Sheldon Wettack, Vice President – John Blair, Treasurer – Arlene Philp and Secretary – Mary Kay Baker. Jay Hernly will keep the website updated. Jay, Al Lyon and Mary Kay Baker will help with the newsletter and Directory changes.
Website. Sheldon reported that Jay will be updating our website and has received the necessary information from John Leben to do so.
Minutes Mailing issue. The minutes will be distributed electronically via email and will be posted on our website. Mary Kay will work with Jay to get the list of names of those that need the minutes mailed. Please give Jay any updated email addresses.
New Business
Summer Social: Al and Pat will have the final report at the November Board Meeting. Mary Kay wrote the thank you notes to the businesses that donated to the event. The feedback has been that the members would prefer July for the social instead of June. Mary Kay will ask the Saugatuck Yacht Club for a Saturday in July to hold the event. There may not be any Saturday nights available at the Yacht Club. There was a discussion about having a lunch or a breakfast social instead. Sheldon, Pat and Mary Kay will talk about it and suggest a plan to the board members.
Annual Meeting debriefing. Steve will prepare and distribute the minutes from the Annual Meeting. 12 non-trustees attended the business part of the meeting and 26 -30 were in attendance during the public meeting. We did not do formal advertising in the papers but several email notifications were sent, posters were put up along the lakeshore and it was in the newsletter mailing. The timing of the meeting was reasonable – which is the first Saturday in August. An option would be to try a night meeting during the week. A motion was approved to hold the Annual meeting during the first week of August. A committee was formed to plan the details. The Chair will be Steve and the members are Dennis, John, and Vince.
Township Road Committee. Steve talked to Bill Nelson and showed him the hole opposite the driveway at 2939 Lakeshore Drive. The hole may be caused by water drainage. The guardrail is not connected into the dirt anymore and it was suggested that the Township put up a steel cable. Feel free to contact Bill about this being a dangerous spot. Steve took pictures of how bad this is becoming. He has not heard back from Bill. Dennis mentioned that they have some of the same issues to the south of the washout. There is nothing at the bottom that will shore up the embankment. Homeowners may have to pay in the future to fix these water issues on their property.
Chris Roerig did not really give any concrete response to the concerns we raised about the emergency access north of the washout. He said that the property owner is not willing to give access for this. The Township has the millage (2 mils) to work on Lake Shore Drive – but they have never spent any money on it. The board has formed a small group to meet with Chris to talk about these concerns. Joe, Al and Sheldon will meet with Chris.
Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance. Sheldon reported that Mr. Neumer has proposed a plan that would redo the R4 zoning and proposed a plan for a PUD on the south side of the channel. There is a Township Board meeting on October 7th, and Sheldon believes that they will decide to send the request to the Planning Commission which either needs to have a public hearing or can just decide it won’t be considered. As important meetings come up regarding this issue, we will send out emails to the membership encouraging them to attend. The Township is continuing to have legal bills on the tax dispute and the Coastal Alliance has donated $25,000 to help. All purchases of the art book support the Alliance.
Homestead Tax: Mike Flynn raised concerns about the Homestead tax that out of area people pay. This is a constitutional amendment (Proposal A) in the state of Michigan to change the school funding. The Board will discuss this issue at a future meeting when Mike is in attendance. Homeowners can go in and request the SEV on their home be reduced. You do have to have a formal appraisal done. There has been a 20% drop in home values in the area. Steve will put together information on the SEV to send out to the members.
House rental issues. Tabled for the time being.
Questionnaire to the membership. Arlene, Mary Kay and Jay will put together a questionnaire to be sent with the newsletter.
Saugatuck Harbor Committee. Joe reported that the committee is checking to see if they can qualify to tap into some big funds from the Great Lakes Restoration Act to dredge the harbor.
Saugatuck Township Planning Commission. No report.
International Upper Great Lakes Study. No report.
Next Meeting: The next meeting has been scheduled for November 7 at Joe Milauckus’ place.
Following the business portion of the meeting, Jennifer Schuham gave a presentation on the efforts by Lakeshore Christian Camping to buy the Presbyterian Church Camps (Camp Gray). See the summary below.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Kay Baker
Presentation on the Efforts to Preserve the Presbyterian CampsJennifer Schuham Lakeshore Christian Camping (LCC) Board Member The following is a combined summary from the presentation and the LCC website, www.prescampsforever.org Background. About 18 months ago the Chicago Presbytery found itself in a dire financial crisis that cannot be resolved without getting some funding from the Presbyterian Camps in Saugatuck (also known as Camp Gray). They had litigation that incurred a great deal of debt. They have no means to pay it back and the repayment is due in August 2010. The impending risk that the Presbyterian Camps, originally purchased in 1899, may be sold has engaged a group of Presbyterian Elders from six different churches within the Chicagoland area to form a not-for-profit corporation in the State of Illinois called Lakeshore Christian Camping (LCC). LCC has presented a proposal to purchase the Presbyterian Camps. The vision of LCC is to maintain all youth camping programs, family camps and retreat programs, that serve the Presbyterian churches within the Chicagoland area, for future generations. The LCC will not only maintain the current mission and tradition of the Presbyterian Camps but will work aggressively to develop the Presbyterian Camps into a preferred retreat center and youth camping organization. The LCC Board is seeking support for the sale of the Presbyterian Camp to the LLC which will guarantee that the Presbyterian Camps (all 125 acres) will be preserved for future generations. This is a viable alternative to the residential development of the Presbyterian Camps that provides a financial solution and maintains the ministry of the Presbyterian Camps in Saugatuck, Michigan. Lakeshore Christian Camping would assume all legal rights of the Presbyterian Camps and assume control of the operation the Presbyterian Camps. Being a separate 501 (c)(3), the Presbyterian Camps would be financially independent of the Presbytery of Chicago.Lakeshore Christian Camping would pursue a partnership with the Presbytery of Chicago in a covenant relationship. The LCC corporate by-laws and policies will reflect the established common goals to preserve the mission, vision, tradition and future of the Presbyterian Camps. As defined in the existing master plan of the Presbyterian Camps, Lakeshore Christian Camping will embark upon a five year capital campaign to secure the long-term future of the camp. This process will transition the Presbyterian Camps from an aging historic youth and retreat camp to a contemporary, ADA compliant, and environmentally focused retreat/conference and youth camping operation. These improvements will allow the Presbyterian Camps to meet the evolving needs of the churches of the Chicagoland area.The goal also includes making the camp more available to the local residents throughout the year. If the buildings are improved the space could be used year round. They are only allowed (by zoning codes) to add one additional building to the property. What can people do to support LCC?
- Pray.
- Prayerfully consider financially supporting the LCC.
- If your church is one of the 103 churches that is a member of the Chicago Presbytery, encourage your church to hold an informational meeting to assure that the issue and the options are understood, particularly by voting commissioners.
- E-mail the LCC your questions, comments or concerns and receive periodic updates: info@prescampsforever.org
- If you feel moved, please write a letter of support to the LCC allowing them to post it on the LCC web site and distribute copies to decision makers.
- Visit the LCC web site and share the site with others who love the camp: www.prescampsforever.org