The annual meeting was held at the Peaine township hall. A quorum being present, the meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by President, Paul Glendon. Board members present: Bruce Jacobson, Peter Igoe, Dan Wardlow, Pam Grassmick, Annette Dashiell, Craig Schrotenboer, and Jane Dwyer.
The minutes of last year’s annual meeting (July 23, 2007) were approved.
Treasurer Annette Dashiell presented the financial report for fiscal year 2007-08. Upon motion duly made, seconded and unanimously carried, the report was approved.
Paul Glendon presented several proposed by-law amendments which the Board recommended for approval by the membership. One, which also includes an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation, was to change the name of the organization from Beaver Island Property Owners Association to the Beaver Island Association in order to convey our general mission to be all inclusive.
Other proposed amendments to the by-laws address term limits (extending the number of three-year terms a Board member may serve from a maximum of two to three) and number of Directors (expanding from the current composition of nine directors to a maximum of fifteen, with the exact number for each year to be specified by the incumbent Board of Directors before the Annual Meeting of members, and creating two youth board member positions with some voting limitations) and several points of clarification in the existing bylaws. All of the proposed amendments were presented for approval as a package. With the unanimous consent of the members present, they were approved.
Next it was announced that the Board had specified that for 2008-09 there be eleven regular directors, and the nominating committee (Dwyer, Grassmick and Wardlow) recommended re-election of incumbent directors Annette Dashiell, Bruce Jacobson and Paul Glendon and election of two new nominees, Sue Avery and Jacque LaFreniere. Additional nominations from the floor were invited, but none were offered; the slate of five candidates recommended by the nominating committee received unanimous approval, and the group welcomed Jacque and Sue as new directors.
Committee Reports:
Beach Clean-Up will take place on September 27, 2008. Ken Mc Donald organizes the event with the Beaver Island Community school and any who wish to participate were encouraged to contact him.
E-mail reception of the newsletter Currents was reported on by Dan Wardlow. Progress is being made however certain technical difficulties are being worked through at this time; as progress continues, Association members will be invited to affirmatively express willingness to receive Currents and other communication from the Association by e-mail.
Wardlow also reported on logging activities on Beaver Island and encouraged members to be observant about such activities and report any concerns about them to proper authorities.
Craig Schrotenboer reported on activities and issues at Lake Geneserath.
Pam Grassmick gave a report on the “Save our Shores” Phragmites eradication program in 2007; its continuation in 2008; efforts of the two townships to prepare and enact an Ordinance to insure Island-wide access for future identification and treatment of Phragmites; and a joint meeting of the township boards on June 24, 2008 at which a draft of the proposed ordinance was presented and discussed and public comment was invited and received. The ordinance is not meant to be punitive to property owners, but will authorize treatment of phragmites on private property even without owners’ affirmative consent after thorough due process. Grassmick reported that the township boards were continuing to work with their attorney to make minor revisions in the draft ordinance after the June 24 meeting. It is expected that it will be adopted in the near future, and a Phragmites Administrator may be appointed by the townships to administer the ordinance and future eradication efforts.
Township Supervisors John Works Jr. and Don Vyse were in attendance and spoke to the members briefly about last year’s eradication project, (which successfully killed at least 95% of the identified Phragmites plants on thirteen major sites and other small infestation areas) and plans for the continuing effort this year. They were recognized and thanked for their work on the Phragmites project and the collaborative spirit in which both townships worked with the Association (in particular with Pam Grassmick) and with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on this major effort to combat an aggressively invasive plant species that threatened the native habitat and beauty of Beaver Island’s shores Pam Grassmick also reported that interested persons and groups in the Grand Traverse Bay area have contacted her to learn more about Beaver Island’s Phragmites eradication project and how its success might be duplicated there.
Jacque LaFreniere presented a highly informative report on avian botulism, as it manifested itself on Beaver Island shores in the fall of 2007, and plans to monitor and deal with its expected recurrence in 2008.
Member comments: Member Jim Birdsall voiced concern about forest fire danger on Beaver Island and measures that might be taken to help prevent fires in our large forested areas and keep fires that may start from getting out of control. A discussion of the issue followed, with suggestions as to how the BIA might assist the volunteer BIFD in a collaborative effort to address these concerns.
The 2008 Annual Meeting was adjourned at 9 p.m