The following is a corrected re-post of a letter which all DLPOA shall receive via USPS mail.
You may view and download a copy of the letter here.
Notice of Special Meeting for the Duck Lake Property Owners Association
Tuesday, December 8, 2015 at 7:30 pm
Meeting will be at the Highland Senior Center – 209 N. John St. Highland, MI 48357
Duck Lake Property Owners Association (DLPOA) Members,
You are receiving this letter as you are a property owner in the Duck Lake special assessment district that funds the Duck Lake Improvement Board. There are no initial fees, dues or assessments of any kind as prerequisite for membership or for voting at any meeting of this association. This special meeting is being held because no elections for trustees were held at the October 21st, 2015 annual meeting as required by DLPOA bylaws. Per the DLPOA bylaws, this special meeting has been called through successful petition of the required 20 members vote to call a special meeting. An election committee has been formed with a volunteers from different regions of Duck Lake. The election committee encourages you to come to this special meeting because you must be present to vote. Our bylaws state that no absentee ballots or proxies can be accepted. Please consider attending this very important meeting so your voice can be heard.
This special meeting will effectively be two meetings. Meeting one will be the election of the board of trustees by DLPOA membership present. Per the DLPOA bylaws, for the purpose of electing trustees, regions are established around the lake. Each region will be called on for trustee nominations. Once all candidates for that region have been presented, a vote will take place in that region. This will occur for all 19 regions. If a region does not have representation at this meeting then no trustee will be elected for that region. Therefore, it is very important that members from all regions are present.
During the second meeting the newly elected trustees will hold a meeting to elect DLPOA officers. The officers of the association shall be a President, two Vice Presidents, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. All such officers shall automatically become members of the board of trustees. As with the board of trustees, the officers will hold office until the next annual meeting.
Agenda
7:30pm Meeting Starts
- Call to Order – Ryan Charlton
- Introduction of Election Committee – Ryan Charlton
- Explanation of voting for the Board of Trustees – Mike Schmidt
- Election of Board of Trustees – All
a.) Region 1
b.) Region 2
c.) Region 3
d.) Region 4
e.) Region 5
f.) Region 6
g.) Region 7
h.) Region 8
i.) Region 9
j.) Region 10
k.) Region 11
l.) Region 12
m.) Region 13
n.) Region 14
o.) Region 15
p.) Region 16
q.) Region 17
r.) Region 18
s.) Region 19
view map of regions - Meeting Adjourned
Trustees Call to Order Special Meeting to Elect Officers
- Open Floor for Nomination of Officers – Trustees
- Trustees Vote for Officers – Trustees
- Meeting Adjourned
If you are interested in representing your community as either a trustee or an officer, we encourage you to reply to this post with the following information:
- Your Name
- Your Region (view region map)
- What you are running for (trustee or officer? If officer, which position?)
- Why you would like to represent the DLPOA in this capacity
It is not necessary to reply to this post in order to run for any position, however doing so will help enable a productive and orderly meeting and help the members of the community get to know you.
We ask that everyone please be courteous and respectful of the views and opinions of all DLPOA members on this web forum and at the upcoming meeting.
Duck Lake 
November 24, 2015 at 4:05 am
Let’s clear up some confusion. This isn’t perfect, but close:
The relationship between the Duck Lake Improvement Board (DLIB) and the Duck Lake Property Owners Association (DLPOA) is NOT casual. It is a relationship put in place back in 1985, guided by Part 309 of Michigan Public Act 451. Under that act property owners petitioned for the creation of a lake board and a special assessment tax district. The DLPOA was created to be the voice of the tax payers in that special assessment district.
The DLPOA creates a periodic budget (now 5 years) which is presented to the DLIB for approval. This budget guides the DLIB in setting the special assessment tax rate.
As we incur expenses for weed control, swim buoys, mailings and, yes, the “hotline”, the Highland township treasurer either pays vendors directly or reimburses us (Bob) for out-of-pocket expenses. Bob presents a receipt as President of the DLPOA (not his role as representative on the DLIB) and they pay them. They haven’t stopped paying our bills, despite Bob’s rhetoric. This is our money, collected based on our budgetary wishes.
Bob’s seat on the DLIB, however, is due to his role as President of the DLPOA. The DLPOA presents homeowner/riparian representative candidates to the DLIB, and the DLIB votes them in. This is prescribed in the public act mentioned above. Check here, http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(mkf01krnvx1ozfaxvvxl0vwf))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-451-1994-III-1-INLAND-WATERS-309, or you can find a plain English handbook here, https://www.oakgov.com/water/Pages/public_meetings_reports/lake_improve.aspx.
Call the township and ask for Judy Cooper. She will show you our ledger and receipts paid. It’s a shame though, this is information that should, by law, regularly be shared with us. We shouldn’t have to go to the check writer for this information.
Having bylaws is a prerequisite for having this party. If we aren’t a legitimate organization the DLIB wouldn’t accept our budgets and wouldn’t collect the special assessment. It is silly to insinuate otherwise.
December 2, 2015 at 3:24 am
I appreciate the efforts made and shared here to hold an election to fill all positions on our Association Board and get the DLPOA back on track for the good of our lake community. Unfortunately, I think it important to draw attention to an error that could delay the planned election on Dec. 8th. In the letter that acted as an election notice and was mailed to the residents of Duck Lake, it was incorrectly stated that the election would be held on Monday, December 8th, instead of Tuesday, December 8th. This renders the notice incorrect and therefore invalid. I believe the by-laws state a special meeting must be 20+ days after the written notice mailing date. I don’t believe the correction made on the website is adequate for us to be in compliance with the by-laws. The error must be corrected to be in compliance and to ensure that all residents have accurate information in order to participate. We want to have a proper election, with the day and date clear to all residents.
December 2, 2015 at 3:31 pm
Gary,
We caught the error after the letters were mailed. Since this is being done with out the support of Bob and the other board members to allow an election as required each year, we are using strictly voluntary funds about $250 from people at the November 5 that gave me money to help pay for postage, plus another $310 from myself for postage and another $150 to $200 for paper and envelopes. We decided we would get the word out on the website, which Bob has shut down. We created this site and are now using it to get the word out. We will also have people go to the Highland center to let anyone who shows up know of the mistake and tell them that the meeting will be on Tuesday Dec. 8 2015. As for the time of 20 days this is incorrect to the bylaws from 1991 which are available for you to look at on this site under about the POA and here is what they say:
Article III; Meetings; Section 3. Special Meetings. A Special Meeting may be called at anytime upon call of the Board of Trustees, the President, or by petition to the Board of Trustees of the lesser of two-third of the members or twenty (20) members (20 unit votes). Two-thirds of the members or twenty (20) members (20 Unit votes), whichever is less, shall constitute a quorum at a Special Meeting
Article III; Meetings; Section 4. Notice of Membership Meeting. Written notice of the Annual Meeting or of any Special Meeting shall be given at least fourteen (14) days prior to the Date thereof, and shall be mailed to the membership at the addresses shown in the records of the Association, and shall state the time, place and purpose of such Meeting.
We have made every effort to make sure things are done by the bylaws and it does not state the format you must use for the time, just that it must have the time. So we have the time and unfortunately I made an error when typing and none of us caught it when editing the letter. As I stated we are going to make sure everyone has a chance to have their voice heard and we will make sure those that show up on Monday know the meeting is on Tuesday, December 8 2015. We and the current board are all volunteers and mistakes will be made but our goal on the election committee is to provide the lake with a chance to voice their opinion through transparency and the right to vote on who runs the DLPOA.
Typically you use the Date not the day as precedents, but are prepared to let those that are unsure what the correct date is and give them the opportunity to show up on the correct day by having people at the Highland Center. I hope you come out and cast your vote on Tuesday December 8, 2015 as it is your right as a property owner.
November 23, 2015 at 11:58 pm
Hi Good Guy – in response to your comment about the money…many of us have paid money in the form of “active member dues” (AKA Voluntary dues). These are separate from the taxes which are taken by the Lake Assessment and are not managed by the Lake Board, or the County. It’s managed by the DLPOA President and Officers on our behalf. It is the financial statements for those funds which many people are asking for visibility into. Even during the time when the volunteer funds were $0, these statements should have been prepared. Now that money has been collected, it’s not only within our rights to request visibility into this financial info, but it’s required by law per the IRS. The DLPOA is a separate legal entity than the Lake Board which manages our taxes, so we must present separate financial statements.
I do not want to be disparaging, because I know there are two sides to every story, but as I’ve already stated, I believe in transparency of information because it gives people the ability to make informed decisions and get engaged with the community. When I have requested other information simply for the purpose of responding to inquiries or posting info to the website he has not given it. He has cited frustration that he does everything himself, but when I have asked for the contact information for the other officers so that we can enlist their assistance he made depreciating comments about their competencies and made it clear the only information which is valid is that which comes from him, so there is no reason for me to contact them (even Matt Roberts is not worthy in his eyes to work with me on website info). I welcome any of the officers to please reach out to me if you have information to share which is more accurate or up to date than that which has been presented on this site (ducklakepoa@gmail.com). As of now I can only go off of what Bob himself gives us and what has been submitted to the government, because those are the only sources of info I have.
My personal opinion is that this election process has thus far been carried out in a fair and appropriate manner. This gives resident an opportunity to vote and be elected in a manner which abides by the closest thing we have to valid by laws at this time. The community is entitled to determine whom they want to represent them, an entitlement which they’re now calling to exercise.
For those of you who feel this is unfair or biased, I would genuinely like to know what precisely is unfair about this approach. I can think of many approaches which could have been taken, but were de-selected in the interest of good faith and fairness. Did we call the IRS? Did we involve the city, state or county officials? Did we publish the aggressive, confusing, depreciating, and sometimes even threatening comments and actions which Bob has taken against many fellow residents and fellow officers? No, we did not because this is not about Bob or overthrowing leadership, or choosing sides in any personal or political battle. This is about giving people who want to get involved and move forward toward bettering the lake an opportunity to select their representatives to do this good work and re-establishing their faith in their representatives so people feel comfortable in putting money into the lake and knowing what it’s going toward.
Bob himself said this lake and this POA will not survive or thrive without volunteer dues paid for above and beyond those which go to our taxes to maintain the lake. I believe he is right, and I want people to get involved and give their time and money to improve the lake. It’s hard to ask that of people who they have no visibility or control in what’s done with their money. With a full board and set of officers in place, Bob or any other president will have the support to accomplish more and do so in a way which represents the broader community. How is that bad or unfair?
November 23, 2015 at 12:23 am
I am interested in running for trustee in my region. Do you have to be a year round resident of the lake to be a trustee?
November 23, 2015 at 12:33 am
Byllaws appear to require that to be considered for nomination as a trustee or officer the member (co-owner) must maintain a principal residence in one of the 19 districts.
November 21, 2015 at 8:26 pm
We can’t tell from this map. Can someone tell us, what region is the White lake Road side of the lake?
November 21, 2015 at 9:26 pm
Lake frontage parcels in the White Lake Rd. area look to be in district 14. Access parcels in district 16?
November 21, 2015 at 7:10 pm
i tried viewing the map and the part off white lake rd does not show up
November 21, 2015 at 5:55 pm
Past precedent mandates all 1,100 + members of the Duck Lake Property Owners Association be notified via US Mail for all major issues. J Koterba – VP
November 21, 2015 at 6:55 pm
Yes, as noted at the top of this announcement this letter was also sent to all residents via USPS.
November 21, 2015 at 7:20 pm
A board member is NOT on that list, therefore, it is not legal.
November 22, 2015 at 4:32 am
Karen, since there was no election held on October 21 there are no valid officers or trustees. By your logic if the board members elect to skip the annual vote and refuse to participate in a special meeting committee then the current officers and trustees can just hold their positions for as long as they wish?
November 22, 2015 at 5:34 am
I would think the marine patrol vote was a major issue yet only 289 ballots were mailed out not 1100 plus and the rules say vote in person but you and the board allowed and sanctioned this violation.. seems like your rules are a little loose
November 23, 2015 at 3:58 pm
Money raised for marine patrol was all volunteered money. Nothing from your taxes. Only reason why people volunteered money was because there are a handful of assholes on this lake who think they own the lake and can do whatever they want…mainly create a safety risk. Did you donate any money? Why do you think you should decide what to do with other peoples money?
November 23, 2015 at 9:38 pm
Not true check the minutes from the October 2014 meeting. The vote was made only by those at the meeting and it was 100% in favor.
November 23, 2015 at 9:44 pm
No ballots were mailed for the marine patrol. It was voted upon at the October 2014 (check minutes). Approved 100%. Therefore the vote was valid – if you weren’t there you couldn’t vote. Individuals funded this project for the protection of lake members.
December 15, 2015 at 4:59 pm
I was at that meeting. I voted no. So it wasn’t 100 percent. Vote was by show of hands and there was husband and wife’s both voting. Your only suppose to have one vote per household. So I would say that wasn’t legal.
November 23, 2015 at 9:50 pm
The volunteer program did not start until November. After the MP was approved.
November 23, 2015 at 11:56 pm
Collecting money as part of DLPOA is illegal according to the bylaws. Give the money back!
Do we have any lawyers on Duck Lake that would like to do some Pro bono work?
November 24, 2015 at 3:13 pm
Carla I am talking about the vote in October 2015. 1 month ago about the 2016 summer. Yes ballots were mailed out to the so called at the time ” active group” dispite what the bylaws say and what was on the website about voting in person almost 300 households were mailed ballots while the other 800 ish households didn’t even know it was decreed we would hold a vote without discussion without a motion to hold said vote. And if they did know they still had to go to the meeting to vote because they didn’t purchase the privilege of violating the rules.
November 24, 2015 at 4:33 pm
Carla I’m not implying any regular members did something wrong. Rather that’s the net effect of what the board did wrong
November 21, 2015 at 5:39 pm
This posting is not sanctioned by President Bob Jones. The meeting referenced was not authorized or agreed to by the members of the Duck Lake Property Association during the last official association meeting held On October 21, 2015. Please remove this posting.
November 21, 2015 at 5:42 pm
One thing I noticed as well, if you are following the bylaws, the bylaws mention that the formation of committees needs to be done by the board and a board member needs to chair the committee. Was that done?
November 21, 2015 at 9:03 pm
Per the bylaws it is required to have an annual election to vote for the board of trustees and the trustees to vote for the officers. Many of us attended the October meeting and no such election had taken place. What is the ramification for the officers to not have said election? As a community are we just supposed to accept the fact that the current Officers just opted themselves into another term. There are people, like yourself, who would like to get involved. It’s not fair to the rest of us to not have the opportunity to get involved or elect the people making decisions on our bahalf. I know there was a time where you all say people had the opportunity and left Bob and a few others to do everything yourself, but now there are people who want to get involved and they’re being shut out. The people trying to help get this election set up are responding to the desires of multiple residents and they aren’t doing anything that shouldn’t have been done anyway, so what’s the problem? They could have ignored the bylaw (which we all know are out of date) entirely, but they are trying to follow the as closely as possible so that things can be as fair as possible. Everyone has a chance to run, everyone has a chance to vote. Maybe, Matt, you can run and be officially elected as VP. Isn’t that a good thing? How is ANY of this bad for anyone?
November 21, 2015 at 9:07 pm
Did I see re-elect Bob Jones signs all over ? Did he “sanction” them? I’m excited that people of Duck Lake have come together to wrestle the lake out of Bob Jones hands. He has his own agenda and is a complete control freak. Won’t it be great to Call or email the President and the board members directly instead that hotline. I’ve never understood why we pay good money for that? I can’t wait to meet these people on 12/8/15 !!
November 23, 2015 at 3:55 pm
What money you pay? He doesn’t control any of your money. Oakland county board does. For crying out loud people. Educated yourself with facts first before opening your ignorant mouths.
November 24, 2015 at 12:03 am
The budget that is based on what WE pay in our taxes. Our taxes are paying for your hot line.
November 24, 2015 at 12:12 am
Following the Nov 5 meeting, which Bob left, I took notes and brought them to him so that he was aware of what had been discussed and the decision to form an election committee. Bob said he sanctioned this action and was ‘excited’ and that he would plan to run for re-election (tho he stated he did not want to, he felt it was necessary since it will take time to train a new president). I gave him the names of everyone who signed in at the Nov 5 meeting as well as a list of the people who volunteered for the election committee, as i felt this was the right thing to do.
Following the first election committee meeting a member from the committee asked me to accompany him to a scheduled meeting with Bob so that we could notify him of the progress that had been made and so that the three of us could decide on an announcement to be shared with residents on the website until a mailing could be produced. Bob shut the door in our face when we arrived for the meeting (because I had not been invited). Afterwards he sent me an email asking me to announce that no election will be held for the DLPOA until 2019 and that he will remain as President until that time. Very oddly that same day the “Re-Elect Bob” signs were posted, and so I did not post the 2019 announcement as it seemed contradictory and i felt it would cause confusion.
I believe that he did commission those signs because the person who produced the signs contacted me through the DLPOA website in order to ask me to let him know his signs were ready (he had lost his contact info).
November 22, 2015 at 3:34 pm
Over the past month Mr. Jones has, among many other things:
-Stated that the DLPOA was dissolved with the State of Michigan on November 8 (a Sunday)
-Said that DLPOA bylaws were abolished in 2000
-Announced that the next DLPOA elections won’t be held until 2019 (coincident with his term on the Duck Lake Improvement Board?)
-Posted Relect Bob Jones signs throughout the area (even though there is no election?)
-Refused to produce association documents such as full-text bylaws and/or minutes of meetings where our bylaws were allegedly abolished
There is indeed confusion regarding the association business. This is largely due to Mr. Jones himself.
November 22, 2015 at 3:56 pm
You have no choice but to wonder What is he trying so hard to hide
November 23, 2015 at 9:36 pm
Dear Anonymous – You may be confused yourself. He never stated the DLPOA dissolved. The bylaws were made inactive in 2000 by Mr. Jim Heilner (former President) I re-check the minutes I have and not reinstated with the next President, Mark Geis. I think Bob just followed suit. There have been requests at meetings many times for someone with some knowledge to try to figure it out. Mr. Eldon Carr tried to get the subsections together and it didn’t work. Remember these positions are not paid – nor do these individuals get any credit.
November 24, 2015 at 12:30 am
Karen – actually Bob did tell members of the election committee that he decided to dissolve the POA and that papers had been officially filed with Lansing. He made the claim on November 8, 2015. I investigated this before I posted it information, but as it could not be verified by Lansing I did not publish it.
He has also (separately) claimed there will be no election of officers until Summer 2019 and demanded that I remove any information on the DLPOA website which mentioned the election discussion that occurred in the Nov 5 meeting, the petition (which the country has deemed valid), the formation of the election committee, or the participating members. You may have noticed that the special notice on the homepage and officers pages was removed, and this is why.
If the bylaws are truly invalid than that just further validates the benefit which will come from electing a board of trustees and officers to participate in the drafting of new bylaws. And frankly, it also means that the extra precautions the election committee is taking are a courtesy rather than a necessity.
I’m not a lawyer, but my understanding is a 501c3 cannot operate without an active set of governing bylaws, so they cannot be invalidated unless replaced. We’ve not been able to find any record of another set of by laws which supersede the current ones. Bob himself validated that the bylaws placed on the website (which he gave me) are the most recent and official by laws as per our registration with Lansing as a non-profit organization.