Grundtner steps down as lake association president

Battling invasive species and expanding the dock highlights longest leadership tenure since association’s inception

When Jerry Grundtner retired in 2013, he wanted to do something with his time that would give back to the community. After 25 years as a homeowner on the shores of Forest Lake, Grundtner knew how valuable the lake is to not just the homeowners surrounding it, but the city. So he joined the board of the Forest Lake Lake Association. Three years later, he became vice president of the organization under then-president Stev Stegner, and by the fall of 2017, he was selected as president.

Grundtner served in the role for seven years, the longest a president has served for the local organization since its 2007 founding by Blake Roberts, before stepping down.

“I enjoyed it because I felt it was important. We’ve lived on the lake for so many years, so I didn’t mind spending the time. One year goes to the next year, and pretty soon it’s three years, four years,” he joked.

But he’s at that point now, noting it’s time to move forward with new leadership.

Battling aquatic invasive species has become a passion of Grundtner’s through the years, especially as a shoreline homeowner.

“I took a very active interest in the AIS issues with the lake, became very engaged in it, still am engaged in it,” he said.

Eurasian watermilfoil was the buzzword of lake associations in the mid-2010s, and members of the Forest Lake Lake Association had been hoping their waters would be spared from the invasive species, but Grundtner knew the association had to plan for it.

In 2018, Eurasian watermilfoil was detected in the lake, and Grundtner led the lake association’s full-court press against its spread alongside the Department of Natural Resources and the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District.

“We knew we were maybe going to get it, so when we found it, now we’ve got to move forward to try to eradicate and try to control this,” he said. Together, the three entities began treating the lake, and so far that work has kept the invasive species to Forest Lake’s first lake, with the lake association spending up to $30,000 each year for the treatments with the lake association’s funding.

“We’ve been extremely successful. We’ve controlled it … and that’s because we’ve been very diligent,” he said.

He also has focused his efforts on battling flowering rush, another invasive species. It is nearly eradicated in the lake.

The lake association has worked with the city and the watershed district at times on various projects, including the much-debated weed harvester. But expectations of contributions by each entity and each entity’s focus of the lake’s health has been often tricky and muddled.

“It was very convoluted and very confusing trying to reconcile who was paying for what and when and where. So I suggested why don’t we try to come up with an agreement between the three parties that clearly spells out exactly how much we’re willing to spend on the lake, and lake quality improvement,” he said.

The agreement took six months to hash out, but Grundtner calls it “phenomenal.”

“It’s very cut and clear as to what gets paid for out of this fund,” he said.

Another joint venture Grundtner oversaw, this time between the lake association and the city, was to increase docking in the downtown area. The previous dock, roughly 75 feet long, would hold somewhere around 10 watercraft, depending on lake depth and size of the craft. That would frequently deter lakeside residents from taking their boats to the downtown area to shop and dine.

The lake association worked with the city over the process of a couple years – and in conjunction with a downtown redevelopment plan, which Grundtner was also a part of – and in 2023, the dock at Lakeside Memorial Park was expanded to hold up to 27 watercraft for a total cost of about $49,000, $15,000 of which was provided by the lake association. (The city opted for the $49,000 option, compared to a smaller and tighter option at a cost of $25,000.)

“It’s been a great benefit to the residents who live on the lake,” he said, adding businesses also saw the value, as well.

The biggest push Grundtner wanted to make in his time as president was to build a better communication system between lakeside homeowners, association members, and the public, all to grow the organization’s membership base, a number that’s gone from 280 to 530 in his time at the helm.

“It took a few years, but I think people started to see the value, and then when the pandemic hit in 2020, everybody was sitting at home and the lake became even more important to them, and we saw our membership jump in 2020,” he said.

After seven years in the role, he’s ready to hand over the baton, proud of what the association has accomplished during his tenure as president.

“I’m extremely happy I was able to be involved in the growth of the organization, and helping to improve the lake. … I think we’ve come a long way. From that standpoint, I’m very happy with the time I’ve spent as president,” he said.

Chris Parrucci, a longtime association member and two-year board member, took over the role as president on March 1.

“Those are very big shoes to fill based on his longevity with the board and his accomplishments,” he said, calling Grundtner “instrumental” and a “wealth of information.”

But Parrucci is already getting to work, aiming to build upon Grundtner’s membership push, saying that right now only a little over half of lakeshore owners are members of the organization.

“It’s incumbent upon all of us and the lake association to protect that resource for generations to come,” he said.