Lake George Cottager’s Association.

August 9, 2008
 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

-Safety/Patrol- P. Schlatter- patrol boat has the new 90 hp Honda motor from Lk. George marina. We need a boat lift and cover to protect radios, etc.
-Fireworks- P. Schlatter- Pyrotechnics will do our fireworks July 3, 2009, with a rain date of July 11.
-Weeds- P. Schlatter- IN. LARE grant- we will reapply for 2009. Jim Donahoe does our weeds, his e-mail is in the directory.
-Events- Bill King- Saturday July 4, 2009 at 6:30 will be the boat parade
-Garage sale- 3^rd weekend in June. June 19 and 20, 2009
-Political action-Gary Zandstra- there are still breakins north of the marina. Please call the sheriff for even minor thefts.
-DAM- Tom Blackburn- Carl Mulvaney filedc our petition to transfer on July 29 with the Supreme Court. DNR has 20 days to respond, then we have 10 days to answer. Court has to decide whether to grant transfer., If they do not grant- the case stands as is. If they grant- then appeal decision voided as if never happened. Then a date is set to hear the case by the Supreme Court. We have 2 arguments.
1^st argument- We do not own the Dam. By common law if you are in a navigable public waterway you no longer own the land under the water.
2^nd argument-Court of appeals opinion does not consider the lake preservation act which says ownership is who has the right, title or interest. State has both right and interest (not title) so they should own the Dam.
Recommendations-1) be patient and wait for the decision. 2) try to get funds from homeowners now, not next spring.
Carl Mulvaney was a Supreme Court administrator for 12 years, he is respected and trusted by the Supreme Court judges.
DISCUSSION- Jane Mote-motion to move that "no additional $ be spent or further actions be taken to carry the previously authorized Dam lawsuit to forward to the IN Supreme Court until the outcome of the review board of the court is known. During interim the board of directors will use this opportunity to evaluate and understand potential outcomes of the legal actions they have undertaken" Seconded- discussion- call for the question to vote on motion-
ROBERTS RULES AND REGULATIONS SAY THAT WE CANNOT OVERTURN OR CHANGE AN ANNUAL MEETING DECISION.
Motion and seconded to withdraw the above motion, motion is dead.
Tom Blackburn- this case started almost 8 yrs ago. T. Blackburn was president and he wrote letters, made calls as well         as had a meeting with the DNR- they will not negotiate. If we win this case then the state of IN will be 100% responsible for maintenance and repair of the DAM. State could set up a tax conservancy for IN to charge residents, they could also work with MI to do the same. Thus sharing any costs with the entire lake as well as downstream. We have incurred the $30 thousand already (the set fee for Mulvaney to handle this case), and there will be no additional costs. We have everything to gain by following this case through, nothing to lose, it will cost each homeowner $60 to finish this case.

Bill Schlatter Previous President- DNR refused to discuss or have meetings when this all started.
Senator Bob Meeks set up a meeting for us, the DNR showed up but would not discuss anything.
Discussion- the highest contact in the DNR is Ron McCaren – deputy director DNR

NEW BUSINESS
J. Kent- at the annual meeting it was voted to get the D & O insurance, paperwork was sent in. In 2002 paperwork did not get sent in for us as a nonprofit domestic corp., we had been since 1929. We have always paid the taxes federally but state does not recognize us now. For a $10 fee we have refilled. All paperwork will now be sent to our P.O.Box so we do not lose it due to an officer change.