Cinosam Club Board of Directors Meeting Agenda
Saturday, June 27, 2026
I. Call to Order and Roll Call of Officers and Directors
Confirm quorum (7 of 13).
| President: Tim Vescio | Vice President: Mark McDonald |
| Secretary: Heather Hartwig Thompson | Treasurer: Blair McKibbon |
| John Klauck | Mary Jo Ohlin |
| Marc Kmecik | Sylvie Letts |
| Misty Nielsen | Mary Dykes |
| Ed Koehler | Heidi Streit |
| Mike Petersen |
Reminder: This is a meeting of the Board. Only Board members vote. Other attendees must submit agenda items to the Board in advance of the meeting.
II. Board Meeting Minutes — Action Item
June 6, 2026 Board minutes — review and approval.
III. Treasurer
Any business?
IV. Old Business
A. Election Planning — Upcoming Board Member Seat Vacancies
- Three open Board positions — Mary Dykes and Sylvie Letts have declared their intent to run, again; Mary Jo Ohlin's decision is pending.
- Four open Officer positions — President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary. Tim Vescio, Mark McDonald, Blair McKibbon, and Heather Thompson declared their intent to run for their respective positions, again.
- Public solicitation of candidates posting by the first Sunday of June (June 7, 2026).
- Notification to Board of intent to run / re-run no later than the first weekend in July, prior to the annual meeting; provide brief bio to include on ballot by Sunday, July 5.
- Election table — follow-up whether Verna is at the 4th of July Celebration.
B. 2026 Property Tax Valuation / Tax Levies and Crow Wing County Assessor Follow-up
Tom Johnson — see Crow Wing County Tax Statement Comparison document (CWC Outlot naming convention is not the same as how the Club references them).
A few points about the county valuation process:
- Assessments are required to be conducted yearly.
- Market values are targeted at 90–95% of saleable value.
- Undeveloped land is weighted accordingly.
- In a nutshell, property values are driven by supply and demand. Since Gull Lake shore property has been in high demand with sharply increasing sales value, higher tax valuation follows.
As itemized in our proposed tax statements, property valuation is only one ingredient in the final tax amount. School district, city budget, and other non-negotiable levies are a key factor. To stress the importance, note that approximately 37% of the 2026 increase for outlots 1 and 2 were actually due to levies and not property valuation.
I asked about breaks for non-profit status. Nothing was indicated on the call. However, I did find the MN statute for non-profit exemption at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/272.02.
A 501(c)(3) federal status is required but is not sufficient by itself for property tax exemption. In reading through the statute, I did not see likely indications that we would qualify. However, it may be worth review or getting a legal opinion if we have a good contact to run it past. If pursued, the deadline for application with the state is February.
We wrapped up our conversation with a discussion of proposed valuations for 2027. These may be known already to others, but were not in the 2026 proposals I received. While it may not offer great comfort, the percent increase does drop (e.g., outlot 1 appears in line for approximately 9% increase in 2027, as opposed to the 23% increase in 2026).
The 2027 valuations she quoted are below. I believe these would still be within the standard timeline for appeal. Outlots 1–4 were $2,082,000, $339,700, $266,300, and $259,600.
I hope this is helpful and might provide some additional insight to guide the board going forward. I would defer to those with more knowledge of our 501(c)(3) status to consider application for non-profit exemption.
Otherwise, while there may not be much we can directly influence, I believe having the conversation with the county is generally beneficial to add the weight of our concerns to others they receive.
C. Cinosam Flags and Merchandise Follow-up
Sylvie Letts.
D. Open Items Spreadsheet
Review and where to post?
V. New Business
VI. Committee/Work Group Reports
A. Watercraft and Docks
New Waitlist addition — Heather Thompson.
B. Parks
Any updates.
C. Documents Work Group
Julie Carroll, Julie Johnson, Heather Thompson, Amy Collins, Ed Koehler, and Mary Dykes.
- Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws drafts — any follow-up from June 23rd Meeting?
VII. Next Meeting
- Annual Membership Meeting — August 1
- Board — September 5
2026 Celebration Dates
- July 3 — Concert in the Park
- July 4 — Saturday!
- Oktoberfest — October 3
