Asylum Lake Policy & Management Council
Thursday, 14 June 2007
7:00p.m.
Parkview Hills Clubhouse
3707 Greenleaf Circle

The recorded comments below are expressions of council members
 and are not approved policy until voted on. The statements
were not recorded verbatim and cannot be used as quotes.

AGENDA:

I.       Call to Order
Meeting was called to order at
7:04p.m.

II.  Roll Call
a. Sign-In Roster

Council Members Present: Paul MacNellis, Chuck Ide, Duane Hampton, Steve Kohler, Bill Steinmann, Bob Nagler, Mike Hodgkinson, Ann Paulson,
Kay Chase, Mark Hoffman
Guests Present: Cal Mastin
(rep. for Mark Hoffman), Philip Micklin, Cari DeLong(Council Coordinator)

III.          Adoption of Agenda
Paul MacNellis requested that the item under 7b. “Prairie Burn for 2007” be deleted since this topic was discussed at the last meeting. Duane Hampton requested that the proposed Geoscience Field Course be added to the agenda under the Research/Education Committee heading. Duane Hampton moved to adopt the revised 14 June 2007 meeting agenda. Ann Paulson seconded.  All in favor. None opposed.

IV.            Approval of 10 May 2007 Meeting Minutes
Kay Chase requested that the word “permit” located in the third paragraph of the second page in the sentence, “Paul stated that the management plan requires consultation of a professional archeologist; it does not permit actions from being taken.” be changed to “prevent”. Ann Paulson moved to approve the revised 10 May 2007 meeting minutes. Duane Hampton seconded. All in favor. None opposed.

 

V.    Old Business
a.  Asylum Lake Management Plan
(Forest 1 and Forest 2)
      
Cari DeLong

Motion:
Bob Nagler moved to delete the statement, “The KNC Report recommends that human access be discouraged in this area due to the sensitivity of wildlife in that area as well as problems with erosion,” from the forest 2 management plan.  None in favor.

The Forest 1 and Forest 2 management plans were handed out for review.  Cari went through the format and content of each document. Council members gave suggestions for improving the plans.

Duane questioned why the committee didn’t want to commit to a desired type of forest community.  Cari mentioned that this was outside of the scope of the management committee expertise as well as the management plan. Paul stated that the details could be worked on later with expert advice by a subcommittee.

Kay suggested that the prairie remnants mentioned in the document should be included in the mitigations section of the forest 2 plan.

Bob mentioned that the use of off-road vehicles through the property before WMU took ownership played a large part in the erosion problems, as well as the installation of the sewer line along the north side of Asylum Lake. These events should be mentioned in the history section of the management plan.   

Bob brought up concern with the statement included in the first page of the forest 2 plan, stating, “The KNC Report recommends that human access be discouraged in this area due to the sensitivity of wildlife in that area as well as problems with erosion.” Bob felt that the Council should not discourage people from walking the trails along the north side of the lake. This area is an attraction for the property.  Duane mentioned that this statement is not the opinion of the Council but instead the KNC and that the last sentence of the paragraph states, “one of the management strategies for this unit will be to further study this issue.”

Bob Nagler moved to delete the phrase, “The KNC Report recommends that human access be discouraged in this area due to the sensitivity of wildlife in that area as well as problems with erosion.” from the forest 2 management plan.  None in favor.

Kay mentioned that the east end of lake is very important for migrating birds and should be emphasized in the management plan, possibly on top of page 14.


b.  Logo for ALPC
       Cari DeLong

Cari handed out 7 possible logos to the Council that she had created. The purpose of these logos is to get an idea of what the Council is looking for. The WMU sign shop could create several possible logos for $40-100.  

Council members tentatively voted on the logos they preferred.  The list was narrowed down and suggestions were given to improve the logos.  Cari will continue working on the logos.

 

VI.            New Business
     a.  Management Council Election of Chair and Co-Chair

Motion: Duane Hampton nominated Paul MacNellis for the position of Asylum Lake Policy & Management Council Chair. Chuck Ide seconded. All in favor. None opposed.
Motion: Chuck Ide nominated Mark Hoffman for the position of Asylum Lake Policy & Management Council Vice Chair. Duane Hampton seconded.  All in favor. None opposed.

Cari asked for nominations for the positions of Asylum Lake Policy & Management Council Chair and Vice Chair.  Duane Hampton nominated Paul MacNellis for the position of Chair. Chuck Ide seconded. All in favor. None opposed.


Chuck Ide nominated Mark Hoffman for the position of Vice Chair. Duane Hampton seconded. All in favor. None opposed.

 

VII.        Project/Special Committee Reports
a.  Sub-Committee List Review
       Paul MacNellis

Paul and Cari amended Frank Wolf’s original list of suggested subcommittees. Copies were handed out to the Council. The duties for each were revised and a list of people interested in each was added.

Paul urged Council members to join subcommittees if interested and/or knowledgeable in one of the topics.  He would like the subcommittees to begin researching their topics.

Chuck suggested adding an assessment subcommittee to the list since we have started meeting with WMU faculty members to create a comprehensive plan for the assessment of the property.

Frank Wolf and Cal Mastin volunteered to be added to the Trails Committee.

Paul told the Council to let Cari know if they would like to be part of a subcommittee. People not on the Council can also be subcommittee members.

b. Research/Education Committee
      Proposed Natural Features Inventory
      Cari DeLong
Cari gave a brief explanation of the meeting that was held with WMU faculty members to develop a comprehensive ecological assessment of the Asylum Lake property. They decided that classes should be incorporated into the assessment plan.  A specific set of protocols will be developed.  The next meeting is scheduled for Friday June 22nd.  

Geosciences Field Course
 
Charles Ide
Chuck reported on an application the Research & Education committee had received for a WMU Geosciences Field Course to be held at Asylum Lake.  Geosciences would not be drilling any wells at Asylum Lake, just sampling existing ones.  It is the same as last year’s course that was held at Asylum Lake. They will need their test site located in the prairie mowed periodically.  Chuck reported that he and Tyler Bassett had no problems with the application.

The Council had no issues with the Geosciences Course being held at Asylum Lake.


c. Operations Committee
    
Nothing to report.

VIII.    Public Comments
Phlip Micklin introduced himself as a retired professor of the Geography Department at WMU. He raised concern about mowing practices at Asylum Lake. He recently found a dead painted turtle as a result of mowing on a trail along the forest edge where it meets the prairie field. Last year he found a dead eastern box turtle in the same area. He suggested not mowing this stretch of trail during breeding season which lasts from mid-May to early June.

Chuck mentioned that the turtles are probably looking for sunny areas just outside of the forest to nest. We should pay attention to these borders.

Paul suggested that the trails committee take this information under advisement. No one has looked at these issues yet. Trails are mowed once a month. Duane suggested moving the trails from the forest edge 50ft or so.

Philip and Bob raised concern over the fishermen leaving trash behind on north side of lake.  Suggested posting signs and placing a trash can in these areas.

IX.            Council/Staff Comments

Kay commented that there are now species of birds at Asylum Lake that were not present during the time the nature center study was conducted.

Paul stated that he had been contacting professional design engineering companies to take a look at the property.  He would like to partner with someone as possible projects progress. Paul asked the Council if they were interested in seeing presentations by these companies. Council agreed to see these presentations.

X.    Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 9:07pm.