For some time there have been many complaints heard around the lake. The list is long - SR 19 speeding, illegal parking, mis-use of our public landing, property taxes, unsafe boating, lake environment, weed control, trash thrown into the lake, under age drinking on the lake, home and property theft, concerns about the north Elkhart development and the list goes on. These issues hurt our property values. As usual, complaining resolves nothing. So a group of concerned area residents decided to organize and address issues that effect the residents at the lake and in our neighborhoods.

The old Association was not salvageable. It was "administratively dissolved" by the State for not filing tax reports, not filing Business Entity reports, etc. We had to start from scratch which presented different challenges. We had no money, no leadership or By Laws to follow and getting an organization started takes a lot of energy.

On May 22nd, 2008 we had our 1st organizational meeting. The meeting focus was to:

• Explain and answer questions about efforts to organize and the structure of the Association.
• Elect an Association Board composed of 7 members representing all areas of the lake.
• Recruit committee participants for each committee.

On June 1st the board met to select positions on the board and reviewed the committee recruitment and structure. We decided to operate with 4 standing committees.

Our Association provides value to each resident and property owner promoting friendlier, safer, and united neighbors and lake.

• This is a committee driven organization and you have an area representative in your neighborhood that can take any ideas or concerns to a committee that will listen and address issues concerning our lake community.
• The Association can qualify for State money to resolve certain lake issues that would otherwise be shouldered by property owners
• Our newsletter and website enables residents to be informed of lake news and issues, provides classified ads, and keeps members aware of up-coming events.
• The SLAHA may represent residents of our neighborhood at city, county or community meetings that could affect the safety or economic impact of our homes.

We didn't want to be a typical board driven organization, where people often perceive that the board has political motives or individual agendas. This approach often lacks support from members and member ownership in the association. So instead we organized to be a committee driven association.

• The board's job is to support the efforts of the committees and assist in ways to help them be successful.
• The board's role is to empower residents through the standing committees to fix our lake and neighborhood problems.
• The committees will determine what priorities and initiatives to tackle, NOT the board.
• This approach should promote more ownership among residents for our initiatives and ultimately our association.