The boat launch key will be changed for the 2017 boating season and each year moving forward. Keys will be $25 each, with a$50 replacement fee for lost keys.
Contact the hotline at 248-382-8870 to get a new key.
Duck Lake
Property Owners Association | Highland, MI
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Duck Lake 
February 1, 2017 at 12:31 am
Hello David, Joe Smoe, Bruce Travis, WOOTN8TR, Danny, Fluffy, Anonymous, Dan, Bruce, Virgil Matczak, Kelly, and everyone else,
I hope this letter find all of you doing well and surviving what I have to admit, has been quite a weird winter. I’m excited to say that we are only a few months away from the 2017 boating season!!! The sooner this ice moves off the better!
I wanted to start out and say that I appreciate everyone that has voiced their opinion on this subject. This website was created for, and is maintained as a way for the voice’s of the lake to be seen and heard. While the voices may not always agree, it is a very useful tool to insure that everyone is entitled to their voice and their opinion. If I may, I would like to review how the DLPOA board reviews and acts on issues such as these.
The DLPOA was meeting every third Wednesday of the month at the Senior Center next to the Highland offices. This October the By-laws were voted on , and approved, to change this as posted. With that being said, I cannot say it has been a smooth transition. However, the meeting dates and times should be noted on the welcome page of the Ducklakepoa.com home site. I encourage EVRYONE to please come to these meetings. It is at these meeting AND ONLY at these meetings that we can bring up and discuss the many different opinions on this lake. I see above that there are many issues that people would like to address. Please, come to the meeting with your issue, and your solution, and we can discuss. If we only hear about these from posts, we cannot actively vote or discuss these issues. All minutes from the meeting, on which new and old issues are presented, are noted on this web site under “ABOUT THE POA” and then under “MEETINGS”. Please read these to see if there might be an issue with an upcoming vote that you would like to discuss. With that being said, please let me address the voices behind the decisions being addressed above.
First the Davista boat launch key. When the elections took place in 2015, and 24 new board members were elected, we were tasked with trying to piece together the circumstances that have taken place over the last 15 years. Luckily, Mr. Jones had great records of MANY pieces of the puzzle. However, one piece that was missing was the ledger of who and who didn’t have a key to the boat launch on Davista. I can say that last year alone, in my first summer as President, I personally assigned almost 15 keys. These keys were mostly sold to the new home owners that did not receive a boat launch key from the previous home owner or real estate agents. This caused me to dig deeper to try and find out how many keys were out there and how they were being handled. I was unable to find any answers. The most I could find was that this lock was last changed in 1999. So for almost 18 years this key has stayed the same. While I may be naïve to assume that the amount of people that are stealing keys and or copying them for friends should be low, I believe that I owe it to YOU the property owners to try my best to insure that your contributions towards living on a private lake should be protected.
I have personally delivered close to 15+ keys for the new lock. In addition to the key being issued, we make note of the individual receiving the key’s parcel ID to insure that they are indeed a DLPOA member. We do this in hopes that you would feel comfortable knowing that only your neighbors who take care of this lake should have access to it. This is also helping to keep track of the number on the keys to insure that duplicates are not being made and handed out. Once the key money is collected it is documented and reported in the treasury report. Anyone who is reading this can scroll up and locate the “ABOUT THE POA” drop down . If you click on that you will see an option for the treasury. This tab will list every dollar incoming and outgoing in three different funds. The Association Funds, the Lake Board Funds, and the Zoo Funds. You will be able to locate your key money in the Association funds. It is with these funds that we are allowed to go above and beyond what is mentioned in the Lake Board Fund. For example, just this spring we have plans on replacing the front part (roughly 8 ft) of the Davista boat launch dock. This part had been cut and manipulated to fit the tough angle of the boat launch. Due to this, the welds have cracked and the structure has been compromised. As a result we have now contacted a contractor to design a solution that will allow for the dock not to take on this added pressure. We also have to replace the wheels on the dock that have rusted off. This is not allowing us to insert and remove the dock as it should be. In addition we have many additional projects we would like to work on moving forward. We are also excited for your feed back on projects you might think would be beneficial as well.
Lastly on the key issue, I wanted to address the concerns above. Each of the questions has its own merit and I hope I can fulfill your inquires…
– First a New Lock and New Key every year? We had the intention of following some of the HOA’s on the lake that practice this already. I know personally of at least three HOA’s that change their lock and key at a minimum of every two years. This process is not locked in stone. If everyone agrees that every other year is better, please come and discuss. The amount of time and effort that goes into changing out the keys is extensive. However, if you felt that it helped improve the lake and reduce the amount of non-associated traffic, we are willing to do so.
– A tax on duck lake? Please do not feel this is a tax. As mentioned above, this is common practice already in many places on duck lake. I hope that a dollar or two a month is worth the price to help keep our lake private. To be clear as well, the Davista boat launch is available for ALL DLPOA members (roughly 1150) to use. However, MANY choose to use their HOA launches as some HOA’s tie into their HOA funds into their key price and would put lean’s on their house if not paid.
– Using Bob Jones voluntary cry as injustice? This was a good question. I believe the main point, or rallying cry, was where was the money at? My hope is that you have took the time to see exactly where it is now. Mike Ricard has done an amazing job of combing through the bank notes to identify each and every dollar that was sent in weather through the zoo funds, lake funds, or the voluntary funds. I wish I could say that our Lake Assessment funds were enough to cover all of what we wish to do. However, the Lake Board would not even reimburse us for the rooms to have our meeting in which was demanded by the by laws. Again, if you feel that there is a better way that we can both, protect our lake from non-residents and not pay for it, please present your solution. We choose to go with a less expensive key than before for the simple fact that spending 25 dollars to just pay for a lock and a key would rob us of extra money that could be used to help the boat launch. Last note, HOA’s that I can speak of Axford Acres, and Jackson both change their keys at a minimum of every other year.
– is that really going to solve the issue of some homeowners letting their friends dock boats, pontoons, etc at their homes for the entire summer? NO! It will not. As long as people allow their friend’s to borrow their key or use their lake, we are pretty hapless. The association is not a policing association. We count on each and everyone one of you to hold your neighbor accountable for their actions. I do not have a plan or an attack program that can insure each and every boat on lake should be there. This was the first step I decided to take to help make it a little harder for people to get on our lake. This is the only property that the DLPOA owns and is in charge of. I promise the board is wide open for ideas? How do we make sure that the boat is the home owners? Our first line of defense is not letting them get in the water! Please come to the meeting to discuss this more. The board is all ears!!!
-The agenda should be what is good for the majority and not their own private agendas? To date we have put up safety signs, took notice of, and plan on replacing or properly identifying all of the buoys on the lake, and have made hidden objects visible to boaters at night. Add in the work of goose round up, free coast guard inspections, and the new lake study and you have our full year. My hope is that none of these were kept from anyone? I understand that frustrations can grow on issues not understood, but our meetings are posted and all are welcome. We cannot pass any “agenda” without adhering to the rules of the by-laws. Please come to meetings! Please! Show us what the majority is thinking and what we are missing. We are doing this for you!
-Is this boat launch really the problem or is it the individual subdivisions launches that need to be controlled? Dan, another great question! As mentioned above, this is what we can control. The DLPOA is responsible for the Davista boat launch. Let’s lead from the front and then make sure the others follow!
-What is the value to changing the lock and key to any site every year at the cost of $5,000 to the residents? This seems to be an unusual burden to put on our community ! A security camera would make a hole lot more sense at the boat ramps? Bruce, I love your idea. Yes a security camera would be ideal. We have even toyed with the idea that other lakes use and that is to a hire security company on busy weekends. The question is what launches do we put these at and who pays? If we put up cameras, who is going to check them, and what do we check for? All good questions, but that is why we need your input to help us figure out how to solve these dilemmas. I promise you, we do not pretend to have these answers. We need people like you to come help us figure them out.
-Myself and half a dozen of my neighbors are going to buy only one key and share it. Kind of “In your face” with this asinine idea of forcing us to purchase a new lock and close to a thousand keys each and every year. We all are curious who is making money on this idea? And what happens to the old lock/keys? We are betting whoever is pushing this idea will make money selling them to other HOAs? Sorry I would address your name but I don’t know who wrote this. As for the idea of sharing a key, GREAT!!!! This is a fantastic idea! If you and your dozen neighbors all have one key that lessons the chance’s of having 11 more keys for others to get. PLEASE understand, we are not after your 25 dollars! We are truly trying to insure that ONLY the people who pay their hard earned money( and their guests) enjoy this paradise. I love the fact that you and your neighbors are that close, as it should be. Please use that to help insure that others aren’t using their dock to house “lock key” boats. Also, as mentioned above, please look at the treasure report and you will be able to see exactly how much money was brought in from the Davista boat launch key change out. Again, I cannot speak to other HOA’s and what they do with their key money. However, you can rest assured, you have full visibility to your key money.
-will you have keys at the next meeting available for purchase? Hello Kelly! Yes We will have the keys for you to purchase at the next meeting. If you would like it sooner just please call the hotline and I will make sure I get one to you ASAP. We will make sure that we have someone on call all spring to try our best to minimize this hassle of obtaining the new key.
Last note, for the lights on the buoys,
I completely understand your view on the lights and wish you had been at the meeting to express these when the issue was presented and debated and then voted on. As mentioned above, there is a new board (or as named above “sheriff” or “city folk”) in place. The board consists of almost 20 members that all ran for and were voted into their posts. As an elected trustee, it is up to each trustee to hopefully voice the collective voice of their district. I am not sure if you have had a chance to discuss these issues with him or her. This would allow us to have a true feel, or pulse, of the lake and their feelings towards decisions such as the lights.
I promise you that no one brought the red lights into the discussion to purposely hurt or hinder anyone’s lake experience. The buoy that leads to the Ramada canal has had a red light on top of it for the last four seasons. Many people thought this was a great idea and asked if we could look into lighting all of the water entrance ways in the same matter. We also were tasked with replacing or refreshing all of the worn out or damaged buoys. This was addressed as I am sure your view would benefit greatly from not having to look at a worn out half sunk buoy in front of your house either. To move forward with this, we did ask for people to gather opinions on the lake as well as taking into consideration the cost. As a new board we are very open about our finical situation and we present an update on our lake and volunteer funds each meeting (with ins and outs and budgets). We also post the minutes from each meeting with all of the topics covered for your viewing as well. If you were to look, you would see when and how the lights were reviewed, discussed and ultimately approved. The light that was on the Ramada canal cost twice as much as did the ones we put on the other lake buoys. We did this in an effort to be fiscally responsible, so we can save money for other projects. However, as we have come to find out, the lights are brighter than expected. We do believe however, that we have a solution. The bulbs inside the lights are all in sequence and we should be able to disconnect half the lights, dramatically reducing the brightness of the lights. Our hope is that this may be a good compromise that will allow both continued safety, as well a non diminishing effect on your view of Duck Lake. Why some feel strongly about not having the lights, and justifiably so, we have others that feel just as adamantly for them. So my hope is we can find a workable solution together. I promise if you attend the meetings with both an issue, as well as a solution, you voice will be heard.
To clear up two other quick points from your notes above. In regards to the “no-wake” after dark, I am afraid many are misinformed. I too, thought the same thing when taking over this role. However, during this years free coast guard inspection on Duck Lake (which I recommend EVERYONE partake in) I asked this question and got a surprising answer. There is NO state law that mandates no wake after dark. There are many private lakes that have their own established “Lake Rules”, but nothing in the Michigan State law that states this ( side note, this does not pertain to pulling any skiers, tubers, or surfers. There are laws for that). If we wish to pass this, or other rules on Duck Lake, there would need to be a well established path on how the rules are made, and how they would be enforced. This could include music level and no wake zones as well. Once again, I encourage you and everyone else to please attend these meetings. We all live in this area so we can enjoy the fruits of our beautiful lake. I choose to run for this position because I wanted to help insure Duck Lake stays “living” for generations to come. While myself and the board may have some new ideas, we only move forward with them after they are presented and discussed. If we don’t hear any feedback until after the action has been passed we will continue to run into situations like this. I do know one thing though, breaking the lights, or stealing the lights is really a demoralizing and money wasting idea. I am not accusing anyone of this, but these actions have already taken place twice. I would much rather find a working solution that we can all agree upon, rather than arguing and vandalizing.
I apologize for the lengthy response, but I wanted to make sure your concerns are addressed. I hope that you will be able to make future meetings as it is nice to have people like you in attendance that obviously have a strong interest in keeping Duck Lake beautiful.
Regards,
Ryan Charlton
President DLPOA
February 1, 2017 at 7:33 am
Ryan, unlike 1/2 our society today I still choose to use peoples real names and do not embarrass myself with name calling. Thank you for your hard work, I know this is time you could spend with family/friends, yet you choose to help our community. I will make sure I get with my District Trustee with my thoughts about technology like the security camera, cloud and free Wi-Fi in connection with locking the gate.
February 1, 2017 at 7:31 pm
Bruce,
Thank you very much! I’m excited to learn from your ideas!
January 31, 2017 at 3:41 pm
will you have keys at the next meeting available for purchase?
January 31, 2017 at 9:40 pm
Myself and half a dozen of my neighbors are going to buy only one key and share it. Kind of “In your face” with this asinine idea of forcing us to purchase a new lock and close to a thousand keys each and every year. We all are curious who is making money on this idea? And what happens to the old lock/keys? We are betting whoever is pushing this idea will make money selling them to other HOAs.
We also are going to invest in a can of black spray paint, to alleviate any flashing buoy lights. That is an easy fix.
Maybe take this into consideration before OUR money is wasted on un-needed flashing buoy lights.
The lights will not see much “dark of night”…. if you know what we mean?
February 17, 2017 at 2:42 pm
Ryan answered most of this already, but let me just add – the bouy changes were discussed at the meetings and voted upon. If you are concerned about money being wasted, I don’t think vandalizing them will save money, only cost us more to repair/replace the damage.
Also, vandalism is a crime and I encourage anyone witnessing it to please call the police.
Finally, once again, please come to meetings to discuss any problems or concerns you have. Also, you are encouraged to run for any of these volunteer positions at the October meeting if you feel we are doing a poor job. Thanks.
January 30, 2017 at 11:44 am
I agree with Fluffy as well. The partying on Big Duck with extremely load music (I cannot hear my own radio over them) and the very loud boats. How about the boats going too fast too close to the island making waves come crashing over my seawall and washing away my dirt and grass. The bay area next to Flynn road should be a No Wake area. The huge waves are causing property damage. Also, Who is responsible for checking that Boats are registered to the specific property owners?
January 30, 2017 at 7:09 am
Are all of the boat launches changing keys? including the launch in Axford Acres? I thought we just changed a couple of years ago.
January 30, 2017 at 8:07 am
This announcement is specifically regarding the DLPOA boat launch on Davista.
January 31, 2017 at 6:26 am
Why only the Davista site ? What is the value to changing the lock and key to any site every year at the cost of $5,000 to the residents? This seems to be an unusual burden to put on our community ! A security camera would make a hole lot more sense at the boat ramps.
January 30, 2017 at 6:37 am
Will a new lock and key be required on ALL BOAT LAUNCH SITES to Duck Lake,? Be careful before you answer this question and make sure you know all the sites!
January 30, 2017 at 8:08 am
This announcement is specifically regarding the DLPOA boat launch on Davista – this is the DLPOA website.
January 29, 2017 at 7:08 pm
Is this boat launch really the problem or is it the
individual subdivisions launches that need to be controlled. I don’t mind paying every so often if the fee is going to improve that boat
launch.
January 29, 2017 at 5:06 pm
The board needs to address ongoing issues of noise on the lake instead of unnecessary blinking lights! Loud boats, inconsiderate boaters blasting their music ( some with foul language) so loudly that even with doors and windows shut and air conditioning on you can’t even hear the TV in your own home, boats going in the wrong direction on the lake, skiing and wake boarding after sundown are just a few of the on going issues. Partying in the middle of Big Duck and throwing beer cans over the side to either sink in the lake or float in and land along the shore (I’ve picked up as many as a dozen at one time) and the underage drinking out on the lake are few other issues. Believe me there are many parents that would be mortified to hear their kids out there…….voices really carry on the water! As far as new keys every year….is that really going to solve the issue of some homeowers letting their friends dock boats, pontoons, etc at their homes for the entire summer? This is happening and adding to the traffic on the lake. One home is like a small private marina. I think the board needs to address their priorities. The agenda should be what is good for the majority and not their own private agendas.
January 30, 2017 at 10:15 am
Amen to that! I agree 1000% I am sick of these boats blasting their music, crappy or not!
January 30, 2017 at 11:42 am
I agree with this as well. The partying on Big Duck is extremely noisy music (I cannot hear my own radio over them) and the very loud boats. How about the boats going too fast too close to the island making waves come crashing over my seawall and washing away my dirt and grass. The bay area next to Flynn road should be a No Wake area. The huge waves are causing property damage. Also, Who is responsible for checking that Boats are registered to the specific property owners?
February 17, 2017 at 2:37 pm
Fluffy, as a member of the board, I can say that other than people calling the police, there is not much we as a board can do about the problems you mentioned. You can call the police whenever you see anyone breaking the law, including going the wrong direction, pulling people after sunset, littering, etc. They are responsive and they will come out.
FYI, please let me know if you know of some agenda that we have other than what is posted on this site or discussed in the meetings. I am not aware of any. Also, if you feel any of us are doing a poor job, you can run for one of these volunteer positions at the October meeting and I encourage you to do so.
If you would like to have a discussion about any of these topics, please come to the meetings. You can see the dates of the next meeting under the calendar on this site.
January 29, 2017 at 2:27 pm
Are you saying you will replace the lock and key every year going forward ?
January 29, 2017 at 4:07 pm
That is how l understand it – That every year a NEW LOCK & A NEW KEY… Another way to say an additional $25 a year on your property taxes. I can see replacing the lock/key every other year, if that frequent. Does Duck Lake really have an issue with non-authorized persons taking advantage of a key that is years old? I believe not. Also, on the topic of installing blinking lights on every buoy – Another waste of money, as well as one more source of “light pollution” l think most of us would rather not have to endure. Sounds like the new Lake Board has a city slicker on board who welcomes unneeded change.
January 29, 2017 at 10:09 pm
Yes, the intent is to change the lock every year. A practice typical of most HOA run boat launches. Fees will be used to cover expenses not covered by our special assessment.
This has a been an agenda item at DLPOA meetings for about a year now.
January 31, 2017 at 3:30 pm
This is weak. One of the campaigning points of the new board was the “injustice” of Bob Jones’ voluntarily funded lake association to cover such expenses. Now you have one upped that by adding a fee to something that is required for access to the lake that we live on. Additionally, you’ve added inconvenience to the homeowners to obtain a new key on an annual basis.
When a new lock was first proposed, it seemed warranted as the current key has been in circulation for quite some time. Replacing it annually seems a bit much. Making it a money grab is just pathetic. I’d rather have a key charge to cover only the lock & key cost and a separate fund to cover additional expenses.
What other HOAs practice this?
February 3, 2017 at 12:27 pm
Great letter! Got a question..you may already know the answer. Several years ago Oakland County established a Duck Lake Improvement Board which took on at least 2 responsibilities : weed control & lake level mgmt. Weed control previously by various HOAs was haphazard at best. The Board covers their costs by assessing, as I understand it, every lot owner with lake access a fee on our yearly tax bill (I pay about $170 a year). The Board rakes in a ton of money every year for their efforts. I assume the Board has to answer to someone every year how much $ received and how spent. I don’t remember ever seeing anything from this Board to the assessed residents highlighting how the funds are spent. Back in the ‘Bob Jones’ era Bob got his hands on a year-end financial statement which he copied in one of his letters (wish I had saved it). Lots of $ on several items,one of them being a ‘contingency fund or emergency fund’ (can’t remember). Anyway, my question is would there be benefit in your mgmt. team introducing yourself to this Board (maybe you have already done this) and getting a non-voting seat in their meetings in an attempt to get them to allocate some of their funds and efforts to a few of wants/needs of the lake lot owners that the Board is taxing every year? Just Saying.
February 6, 2017 at 8:53 pm
Hey Dan,
Great question. The Duck Lake Improvement Board (DLIB) was initiated at the request of property owners surrounding Duck Lake, and the Duck Lake Property Owners Association (DLPOA) acts as liaison with the DLIB. The DLPOA has a seat on the DLIB.
The DLPOA provides budgets that inform assessment rates (that appear as DUCK LK IMP BD on your tax bill) and we contract for services that are then paid using those assessment funds. Weed control and water quality studies are examples of those services. We provide financial reporting of assessment funds (maintained at the Township) and association funds on a regular basis. These reports are available on this website on the Treasury page.
Lake level management is handled by the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner (WRC) through a separate assessment (DUCK LAKE LEVEL on your tax bill). While the DLPOA has no official standing with the WRC we do communicate with them frequently.