Minutes of the Emerald-Sylvan Lake Corporation Board of Directors Meeting, May 17th, 2025

 

Call to order

A Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Emerald-Sylvan Lake Corporation (also known as Emerald-Sylvan Lake Association or ESLA) was held at Laura Pacifici’s house on May 17th, 2025. It began at 9:02 am and was presided over by President Tim Piccard, with Dan Patrick as Secretary. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

 

Attendees

Voting members in attendance: Jay Graham, Beth Kiekintveld, Sandy Morse, Laura Pacifici, Jeff Parks, Dan Patrick, Tim Piccard, Kevin Self (virtual), and Carol Ward

 

Guests in attendance: Louisa Self, Oak Leaf Club President

 

Approval of Proposed Agenda

Sandy moved to approve the proposed agenda of the May 17th, 2025, Board of Directors meeting, which was approved. 

 

Approval of minutes

Beth moved to approve the minutes of the January 16th, 2025, Board of Directors meeting, which were approved. 

 

Oak Leaf Club

Louisa shared the 2025 Oak Leaf Club schedule.

 

• June 21—Welcome Back Brunch: 10:30 a.m. at DJ Krum's, 513 Emerald Drive. Bring a dish to share.

• June 28 – ESLA community meeting, 9:00 am. Newaygo HS, 360 Mill Street.

• July 4th – Bike Parade 10:00 am. Meet at the south end of the bridge in front of Baar's.

  • Boat Parade – 7:45 – Amass 7:30-7:45 in front of Johnson Palmer beach.

• July 5th – Canoe/Kayak/Paddle board races, 10:00 am registration at Johnson Palmer beach. Races at 10:30. Awards at Baar's.

  • Golf Cart Parade: 11:20 or after the award ceremony—whichever comes first—starting at the south end of the bridge. If you have a dirt road adjacent to your property, please wet down your road to prevent dust inhalation.

    • Ring of Lights – Put a light at the end of your dock at dusk.

    • Any weather changes will be posted on the ESLA Facebook page.

• July 10—Oak Leaf Happy Hour business meeting, 4:00 p.m., at Denise Gasper's, 5094 Coral Dr. BYOB and a snack to share.

• July 23—Rock painting from 4 to 6 p.m. for the dock rock drop 2026. Kate's Gazebo, 4934 Outing Dr. Supplies are provided; bring a smock or apron. All are welcome.

• August 9 – Corn Roast 5:00 pm at Sharps Landing

• August 14 – Salad Luncheon 12:00 noon. Location at Louisa Self's, 5078 Coral Drive on Emerald Lake.  Bring a dish to share.

• August 22 – Ladies of the Lake (and their men) Social gathering, 5:00 pm. Kate's Gazebo, 4934 Outing. BYO everything and a dish to share.  ALL fun, no business.

• September 24 -  Rock painting 4-6 pm for dock rock drop 2026. Kate's Gazebo, 4934 Outing Dr.  Supplies provided but bring smock/apron. All are welcome.

 

Treasurer Report (Sandy) 

• Roughly 42% of residents have paid their 2025 dues. Tim offered to send out a reminder email.

• An Excel sheet on projected and actuals was distributed 

• Dan and Carol suggested that we create a visual (e.g., a thermometer) that shows our current percentage of dues-paying members for posting on the website and Facebook. Carol offered to send an example to the board.

 

Bridge Project Update (Tim)

• We received $120,000 in pledges

• The Original Budget was $104,000; the actual cost will be more due to the increased cost of materials

• We’ve received $92,000

• The signed contract went to the slab company, and the start date is July 28 

• For the first week during the demolition, the waterway will be closed under the bridge

• An old pontoon will be parked under the bridge to catch debris

• 2nd week of September, slabs will be set

• Crane will get to the bridge via access from Willow Ave

  • Tim will contact all property owners along the route of the crane about possible asphalt damage

• Tim and Jeff agreed that a silt fence, bales of hay, or other methods will be used to prevent erosion during construction.

• Some trees will need to be removed. The Martins are ok with this, the Baars have requested that attempts be made to minimize pruning of their Sycamore tree, which has sentimental value. 

• Tim will contact the local EMS/Fire department to inform them in advance of the actual dates of the bridge closure so they can plan alternate routes if needed.

 

Carp Project Update (Laura)

• Carp Solutions will be here from September 9 to 11. Laura is going to contact Carp Solutions to see if there would be any benefit of us baiting areas early to gauge activity.

• They will use Sharp’s and Noel’s boat ramps.

• Signs will be posted on both the Pickeral/Pennoyer and Emerald/Pennoyer bridges to keep additional boating activity off Emerald and Sylvan Lakes during these 3 days of Electrofishing.

• We need to continue to spread the word via signs and postings about not overfishing bluegills since they feed on carp eggs.

• Two loons have been active on our lakes this spring. Spread the word about giving them space. Carol showed a sign about protecting loons, which will be posted. 

• Stay away from loons

 

Committee reports

 

Wildlife (Laura)

• Geese - 29 eggs treated, only 2 hatchlings have been spotted. 

 

Weed & Water Quality (Beth)

• PLM treatments scheduled for June 9, July 14, and August 18

• The water Clarity seems to be trending down (increased turbidity) - Beth will be watching this summer to see if the trend continues. Jay and Laura will coordinate Secchi disk measurements.

 

Roads (Jeff)

• Potholes and other issues on Outing Drive will be addressed during the asphalting of the bridge. 

• We need to inform residents of asphalting dates, as they may be interested in hiring additional asphalt work during that time. 

 

Safety (Jay)

• The safety committee has been defunct since the last round of board elections. Jay plans to restart it and schedule meetings. He plans to start with Louisa, Beth G, DJ, and Patty G.

• The railing on the bridge will be repaired asap

 

Old Business

 

Communication - Newsletter/Facebook/Website

• Laura is doing a great job with the ESLA website and Facebook page

• Laura offered to put a newsletter together if people send her articles. The goal is to distribute it before the annual meeting.

 

Rentals

• Dan will distribute a list of known renters on the lakes to the board, provided by Rich Witte

• The list of lake rules needs to be posted in rental cottages and shared with those renting 

​

New Business

• Removal of dead or down trees around lakes

• Jeff tied markers around dead trees along the Sylvan Drive entrance, and Tim cut some of those trees down, but the trees’ property owner(s) were not contacted first.

• We need to determine an accepted process of how to handle dead and down trees.

• Jay will contact Bill Hineline for advice. We may also research how other lake associations handle this, as this should be a common issue. 

• We plan to discuss this at our June Annual Meeting.

 

• If a lake resident dies, the Treasurer should be contacted so that a sympathy card and check can be sent. 

 

• Dan has 4 boxes of ESLA-related historical documents (meeting minutes, directories, legal proceedings, newsletters, etc.) handed down to him by Brian Gray. Dan would like to mobilize an effort to scan them digitally so that they are preserved, and this would also make them more accessible to residents. He plans to contact a few members around the lakes that might be interested in forming a “History Club” and determine how best to perform the scanning and store the printed documents. 

 

Other

• Jay G shared that his surveillance camera captured suspicious activity at his cottage, which might have been related to the removal of the catalytic converter from his vehicle.

• Laura plans to work with Louisa on continuing the discussion about lake protection, safety, and etiquette with the wake boat owners on our lakes. Education and clear communication are key. 

 

Next Meeting is the Annual Meeting – June 28th, 2025 @ 9:00 am (Newaygo HS)

 

Beth moved that the meeting be adjourned, and this was agreed upon at 10:55 am.