MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday July 9, 2024
WHITE POTATO LAKE DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS
BRAZEAU TOWN HALL
10892 PARKWAY RD, POUND WI 54161
This is a quarterly meeting of the White Potato Lake District Commissioners.
The meeting was held on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 6:00 pm at the Brazeau Town Hall, 10892 Parkway RD., Pound, WI 54161.
Notice of this meeting was given to the public at least 24 hours prior to the meeting, by forwarding the complete agenda to the Town of Brazeau and by posting to public bulletin boards at the Brazeau Town Hall, Rescue building, the WPL Sanitary Building on Walkers Bay Rd. and the Lake District website: https://www.wpldistrict.org
1. Chairperson Bob Wittmann called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m.
2. The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted.
3. Roll Call - Commissioners present included: Bob Wittmann, Mark Wildenberg, Gwen Schaefer, Keith Schneider, and John Kneibel.
4. Agenda Approval – Motion made by Schaefer and seconded to approve the agenda. The motion was voted and carried
5. Minutes of June 15th, 2024, quarterly meeting. A Motion made by Wildenberg and seconded to approve the minutes. The motion was voted and carried.
6. Treasurer’s Report- Gwen Schaefer, District Treasurer, gave the Treasurer’s Report. The report was treated as information and placed on file.
7. Public Comments - No comments were made.
8. Discussion Items with action
A. Water clarity and Lab testing. Bob Wittmann explained that this has previously been done through the State Citizens Lake Monitoring Network at no charge. WPL did not make this year’s list and was moved to the 2025 wait list. WPL will receive higher priority in 2027, due to other lakes on the waiting list and the 3-year monitoring cycle for the lake water chemistry testing. The management committee supplied the funds for 2024 testing, with the first of 4 monthly water sample gathering for lab testing, through UW Stevens Point (UWSP), was completed in June.
B. July 2024 (EWM) Harvest. - Chair Wittmann has secured bids and is waiting on Aquatic Plant Management LLC. to confirm dates to begin harvest.
C. Aquatic Plant Management Stake holder survey. - The Survey has been approved by the DNR and will be mailed out to the stakeholders shortly. Looking for additional people join the Stake Holder Survey Committee. Members will meet with Onterra and a DNR representative once the results are completed.
D. Muck control feasibility study - John Kneibel provided a copy of an email he received from Mr. Ryan Haney from UWSP. In summary, the email states that lake wise, nobody has been successful in removing muck in large quantities. Dredging attempts have impacted the ecosystem of lakes. Discussion was had on adding a committee to look into this further. Motion was made by Wildenberg. The motion was voted on and carried to establish a Water Project Committee.
John Kneibel will chair this committee. The Chair added that Onterra stated that muck control and aeration will be addressed in the Aquatic Plant Management (APM) project.
E. Lake shore aeration - Discussion was had with the public in attendance on their success using shoreline thrusters to push muck away from their shoreline.
F. Town of Brazeau, Sanitary District and Oconto County tax levy waiver option – Commissioners Kneibel and Schneider were appointed to secure the necessary documents to remove the parcels from the tax levy.
G. Adding parliamentarian individual to each meeting. - Motion was made by Schaefer. The motion was voted on and carried to establish a Parliamentarian Primary as a subcommittee of the Policy Committee with Christine Jensema as the Primary.
H. QR tracking and donation directing - Gwen Schaefer explained that the website is not capable of tracking when and where the QR codes are scanned. A donation link can be added to the website. The Communication committee will look into the possibility for securing donations through local business by using the “round up” feature at cash registers.
9. Action Items
A. Motion was made by Wildenberg to transfer funds from Aquatic Invasive Species Non-Lapsing Fund (NLF) to the Eurasian Water Milfoil Harvesting fund to cover the upcoming harvest estimate. The motion was voted on and carried.
11. Committee Reports.
A. Communication Committee. Nothing to report.
B. AIS Committee
a) Milfoil update - Waiting on dates from contractor for upcoming harvest.
b) Purple Loosestrife. - The raising of beetles is in progress. When the beetles are ready to be released, Chair Wittman will accompany and direct to plants around the lake.
c) Policy Committee - The committee has come up with 4 revisions to assist in the interpretation of the laws of Wisconsin and Chapter 33. Action will be taken at the next meeting.
12. Items for next agenda. To be submitted by Chair.
13. Next Meeting- August 12, 2024, at 6:00 pm.
14. Adjournment. Motion to adjourn by Wildenberg. The motion was voted on and approved to adjourn the meeting at 7:41 pm.
Mark Wildenberg
District Secretary
7/12/24 - Draft
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