Lake Rescue Association
Minutes, 76 th Annual Meeting August 1, 2009
Meeting called to order by Frank Wingate at 11:20 AM. Board members present were introduced: Frank Wingate, Glenn Brown, Angi Ciufo, Jim McCall, Chris Salerno. Absent: Kevin
Davis and Judy Zilvitis.
Dick Killian asked that financial reports be posted on the website.
2008 minutes read and some financial figures corrected by Glenn Brown, and approved.
President’s Report
1835 Lake Rescue dam built to generate water power which increased the size of the existing lake. The lake became an active summer resort by the early 1900’s. The mission of LRA continues as stated in 2008 to protect the lake from sediment, invasive plants and maintain water safety. The Lake Region Preservation and Restoration Fund was established in 2006 to begin to accumulate funding for future work such as dredging or other restoration projects.
R. Killian asked about use of Restoration Fund to which Chris Salerno responded that much data will be required, which we are accumulating, to apply for any permits. After the completion of the Geomorphic Survey (see below) we may have sufficient data to create a planning strategy for remediation.
Treasurer’s Report: Glenn Brown
As of Aug. 2008 LRA had on hand $79,983.16. Annual revenue for 2009 to date is down to
$17,912 primarily due to fewer members. CD’s account for $73,573.99 with varying interest rates and maturity dates. $13, 360 in disbursements for: $4931.25 milfoil diver;$50.milfoil screening fee; $ 396.00 milfoil screening at launch site; $1210.00 D&O insurance; $822.00
Insurance July 4 th ; $650 catering Annual meeting; $300 pavilion rental Annual meeting; $78
Access fee Annual Mtg; $991.54 Express Copy, printing and mailing; $941 expenses July 4 th ;
$837.20 WSI Water sampling; $1340 Daniels surveying; $500 VT Center for Eco studies, Loon platform; $172.43 misc membership and mailing; $55. Federation of VT Lakes and Ponds.
As of July 31, 2009 the total investment of LRA is $89,025.60.
John McKittrick asked what percentage of lake district resident belong to LRA? about 64% of the 210 residents of the District.
1

Treasurer’s report was moved, seconded and approved.
Town Manager’s Report: Frank Heald
Mr. Heald congratulated LRA on the control of milfoil and continuing efforts to leverage Better
Back Roads funding to reduce sediment flowing into the lake from the surrounding roads. Road maintenance on dirt roads will begin again as soon as they are dry enough, but at least we have had no dust problems this season, and risk of forest fire is low this very wet year.
Update on Town of Ludlow projects: 1) Acquiring the National Guard Armory near schools consisting of 3 acres and 3 buildings to be used for educational, recreational, and general community activities such as craft shows, antique shows. This will allow the Town to develop a needed aggressive municipal program of recreation. 2) Water and facilities Improvement: $1.2 million in stimulus funds from state and rural development will be applied to $3 million project, primarily for new piping and new storage tank. 3) Robin Hood character of VT legislature gets worse this year especially regarding taxes. Residents pay slightly more than non residents this year. Ludlow collects $26 million in taxes and sends $20 million to Montpelier. This situation is not about to change so long as the Legislature is so liberal. Property taxes have increased this year. The town assessment is between 20-22cents with the steadily growing Grand List covering increases in expenses. Total revenue is down this year due to non payers and no surplus to buy down the town rate. The state also has not reduced the residential rate this year. 4) Common
Level of Appraisal (CLA): If values go down the CLA goes up slightly. In Ludlow the volume of sales is way down, but sales still are slightly above appraised value. CLA is determined by averaging 3 year of sales. If prices go below appraisal value for three years then the CLA should lead to lower rates.
In Ludlow 88% of the Grand List is nonresidential. Residents own about 900 parcels out of 3400 parcels in Ludlow. The municipal tax is the same for all. State education tax rate for residents is slightly higher but there are also many rebates for local taxpayers.
Adam Gresham, LRA member and state representative from Warren, VT, commented that property taxes do not fully fund education in VT. Lottery tickets, vehicle taxes and general fund
($250-300 million from income and sale taxes) go into education fund. This year the state reduced its contribution to the education fund by $30 million so property tax had to absorb more of the cost of education which resulted in a state property tax increase.
Ludlow’s school spending is higher than average, thus residents pay for school increases.
Schools in rural VT are small and less efficient. Ludlow school system is the poster child for the inequities of ACT 60 and 68. Only Stowe transfers more money to VT than Ludlow. This problem will continue to increase, as with higher taxes, fewer families can afford to live in
Ludlow.
2

Geomorphic Survey: Kristen Underwood, geological consultant from Bristol, VT and Marie
Caduto, VT Basin 10 Watershed Coordinator. Marie is writing a planning document for Basin 10 which includes the Black and Ottaquechee Rivers. Lake Rescue applied for a received a $25,000 grant to study the upper Black River tributaries. The date gathered from Patch Brook, Buffalo
Creek and Reading Pond brook will help determine the sources of sediment in Round Pond and
Lake Rescue and be used in the state planning document for Basin 10. The work will be done primarily in September and look for erosion sites, beaver damage, and stream course changes.
These will identify projects to restore the streams. LRA funds can be used for matching funds in grant applications. Final report is due March 2010. Typical problems seen: erosion problems, unstable stream banks, opportunities to slow down flood waters. Killian asked about work on sediment in “crap cove” (southeastern cove, Lake Rescue). Sediment carries phosphorous the principal nutrient needed for plant growth. Riparian buffers (vegetated) are good for the lake and help control runoff of phosphorous and sediment.
Loon Recovery Program: Eric Hanson. The program started in the 1970’s. In 1983 seven pairs were identified in VT. 1994-5 loons nested in Lake Nineveh. Now find loons even on busier lakes, thus the need for quiet nesting sites and creation of nesting platforms that stay above high water levels. Signs are used to keep people away from nesting areas. Eric’s job is primarily people management to allow sharing of the water with loons. Loons are very territorial: one pair per lake is usual. Our loon “reporter” is John Esau who lives within sight of the platform.
The Loon Recovery Program is a not-for-profit agency with no state support.
Committee Reports
Water Quality: C. Salerno. Highlights this year: a) 6 th annual state grant support ($1850);
Geomorphic Survey grant from VT Clean and Clear $25,000, several completed or nearly completed BBR projects, 2008 GPS survey of plant growth showed some increase, not dramatic.
At this date we will not survey in 2009 but wait one year. However, many people are now commenting on the significant increase of weeds in Pauline and Round Pond; high water testing by state La Rosa Lab not renewed due to cut in state funding, but sampling will continue at LRA expense. Attendance of LRA board members at state meetings and Basin 10 meetings very informative and useful.
Thanks especially to Jim and Janine Norman, Lay Monitors for 2 nd year; to Liz Spaulding for handling all the Better Back Roads/ Town of Ludlow liaison work; and Dave Hearne for maintaining the LRA website.
Milfoil: F. Wingate. State grant for milfoil divers is $2, 929.00 and will spend 100 hours surveying the lake for milfoil. 5 1/2 years free of milfoil.
3

Membership: from J. Zilvitis.134 members and just over $3000 in extra donations to the
Restoration Fund this year.
July 4 th Membership Celebration: A. Ciufo. 165 served, 135 reservations. Thanks to Davis office for sending out the invitations. Lost $400 ($800 for insurance alone) perhaps due to rainy weather. Games terrific, t-shirt design popular event tho few sold. Better supply of salads and desserts due to explicit requests for same.
Other business: Pat Ellison, long time lake resident passed away July 31 st . Jerry Chichester reported a kayak stolen from under his deck. He will post photos and serial number on the website and report to Ludlow police.
Election of Board of Directors: The membership approved an amendment to increase the numbers of directors from seven to nine. 48 proxies were in favor of the amendment and 3 were against. Two new members were nominated: Mary Rita Batesole for a 3 yr. term and
Charles Robinson for a 1 yr. term. Proxies for the 3 year terms: 49 for Batesole, 47 for Glenn
Brown, 50 for Wingate. For the new 3 yr term: 43 for Charles Robinson. Write-in nominations included less than 4 for Ann Waldron.
The secretary cast one ballot for the proposed slate.
The meeting adjourned at 12:58 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Christina Salerno, Secretary
4