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Friends of Lake Mattoon
Minutes of Meeting 4/14/07

The April 4, 2007 meeting was conducted at the Neoga American Legion at 1:00 P.M.  There was 8 members present.

Members Present:

Michele Carruthers
Dave Gallivan
Ron Scheurich
Emily Gallivan
Steve White
Gloria Koshinski
Doc Koshinski
Sue Bowman

Clean-Up-Day was cancelled today because of rain.  Rescheduled for May 5, 2007 at 9:00 AM.  Meet at the Beach Pavilion

Meeting was called to order by Dave Gallivan. 

Old Business:

Paint roof on pavilion.  Michele stated she would check with Joel about who was going to paint it.  We allowed $500.00 to pay someone. 

Dues will be due again the 1st of June.  Dave stated he would send out a notice. 
This meeting was suppose to be the meeting we nominated officers.  Election would be on May 5th.  Officers to be nominated are President and Vice President.  Due to the lack of members at the present meeting we will have nominations on June 9th.  The meeting will be conducted at the Neoga American Legion. 

There was a discussion on electing an Overseer Board (Receivership) if the Board can’t get any members to run for the officer positions.  We will check with Bill Totten and see how we can do that.  

Scholarship:
Dave stated he is working with Lakeland College on a Scholarship for a 2nd year student in Eco Systems.  Details were discussed.

New Business:
There was a discussion on contacting the Water Board (property down by the damn) they own that property.  Maybe we could put in a bird watching area or walking trails or something on that order, we could donate a few thousand, and maybe get the right kind of publicity where people might want to get involved.  It is possible we could get a grant it is directly related to the Little Wabash. 

Friends of Lake Mattoon Web Page:
There has been pictures added to the Web Page.  Dave stated we need to find someone to maintain the web page.  Sue said she would contact Steve Claxon and see if he would be interested in maintaining our web page and what his fee would be.  We will discuss this at the next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned. 

The January 31, 2007 meeting was conducted at the City Hall, Neoga, IL with 6 Board Member present: 

Members Present:
Dave Gallivan
Bill Totten
Steve White
Lela Summers
Michele Carruthers
Sue Bowman

Nomination and Election of Officers

The date for election of officers will be in May instead of January.  By-laws will be revised.  Dave stated he will be stepping down and we need to be thinking of who to nominate for his position.  We will also need to replace John Short (deceased) as Vice President.  The term for officers and Board members is 3 years.  The term for the Treasurer and Secretary will not expire till next year.  Therefore the office of President and Vice President will be open for nominations.  Past officers will automatically be on the Board of Directors.  Nominations meeting will be on April 14, 2007.  We will also have a Clean up day at that time. Clean Up with start at 9:00 AM and then a short meeting afterwards.  Election day will be on May 9, 2007.   There will also be a Clean up day on June 30, 2007. 

The Board discussed the possibility of getting one or two people from each subdivision to be on the Board.  That way when the Board wanted to call a meeting we would have someone in each subdivision to spread the word. 

Web Page:

Friends of Lake Mattoon now has a web page at www.lakemattoon.net.   It isn't all finished yet but it is coming along. 

Scholarship:

Contact person is Pamela Chrisman at Lakeland College.  The scholarship will be offered to a 2nd year student in Eco Systems (Environmental or Natural Resources).  Details were discussed. 

Upper Little Wabash C200:

Bill Totten updated the Board regarding the Upper Little Wabash.  He stated they were about done with the 3 year planning process where they had the town meetings.  They finalized that report and part of that is to get the action plan in place.  For instance adding 5,000 acres of wetlands in the Eco System by 2,015 and 10,000 acres of grasslands.  One area is where they separated the Lake Mattoon area and it includes planning projects for Lake Mattoon.  We would have our own town meetings for the lake and try to get all the data in and state what our objectives are for the lake.   For example, we want to have 2,000 acres of no tilled crops by the year 2011.  We need an action plan.  What kind of species of plants, and animals do we want to focus on.  We need to be systematic because that is what we need to do to get the grants.  We need to have some projects on the land that you can actually see tangible projects.  When we do those tangible projects we have to have the research done, the project planned out, what is the cost, and who is going to do it. This all needs to be done in order to get a grant.  Hopefully in the next year or two we will see some of the specific planning for Lake Mattoon.  Bill also discussed some of the other projects going on in the other counties.  He also talked about recycling in Mattoon and Effingham.  We need to get the people thinking about protecting the environment. 

Meeting was adjourned. 

Membership:
Dave sent out applications again in June.   We did get some new members.  We have 150 members at this time.  Members present discussed different ways to contact other members not present.  Eventually we would like to get a representative from each subdivision to inform the members by word-of-mouth.  We also discussed sending out a mass e-mail to the members.  It was decided at this time to set up a mass e-mail.

Pavilion at the Beach:
Jerry Hanfland volunteered to paint the pavilion at the beach.  Ron asked if the club would be willing to pay for the paint.  Motion was made, and seconded.   Motion carried.

Cleanup Day:
August 26, 2006, meet at the pavilion at the beach at 8:00 AM.  Bring gloves.  There will be a short meeting after the clean-up.

Potluck:
There will be a potluck on Saturday, September 30, 2006 at the pavilion in the beach area.  Chicken will be provided by the club and members are ask to bring a covered dish.  The potluck will be at 2:00 PM.  Members need to RSVP, so we know how much chicken to buy.  Please notify us before September 24, 2006, if you plan to attend.  Call Gallivan's @ 895-3077 or e-mail to dgallivan@rr1.net.

Web Page:
Dave is working with a student at Lakeland College setting up our web page.  The web page is www.lakemattoon.net.  It will be completed in the near future. 

Bill Totten talked about how the Friends of Lake Mattoon started.  What the purpose of the club was all about.  Below is a short version to address the concerns of the Watershed.  This is why the club was started in the beginning. 

Upper Little Wabash C2000:
The purpose of the Upper Little Wabash Ecosystem Partnership shall be to evaluate, monitor, protect, promote, and enhance the natural resources comprising the upper Little Wabash River watershed.  The EPA, the Illinois Water Commission, the Department of Conservation, almost every department is involved.  The purpose of the C2000 is to protect the watershed.  A watershed is an area of land that drains into a lake or river.  As the rainwater or melting snow run downhill, they carry sediment and other materials into streams, lakes, wetlands and groundwater.  What the water carries with it affects the quality of the water and subsequently any organism that used the water including humans.  Healthy watersheds are vital for a healthy environment and economy.  The water and other natural resources within a watershed play an important role in our lives.  Water is a source of drinking water, recreation, irrigation and industry. 

The Partnership encourages people to become involved in the Partnership.  Active people are what make Partnerships work.  The partnership designation and formal planning process will bring financial and technical support which is integral in addressing watershed concerns.  Grants can be fully funded if something major comes up through the C2000.  Anyone can apply for a grant it cannot be a group, it has to be an individual.  It must pertain with anything due to the condition or the restoring of the water. 

The Upper Little Wabash Ecosystem Partnership encompasses about 1,600 square miles and covers parts of eight counties.

Motion was made to adjourn the meeting.  Motion was seconded, motion carried.