Government, Concerns & Realities:

With many details useful to all, as well as newcomers and prospective buyers.
Prepared by Fred Paine,  a lifetime summer resident.

This information & the interpretations below aren't necessarily the official position of the Club, nor Board.

Cinosam Club Corporation, incorporated 1921 as "A Summer Colony for Masons and Eastern Stars," oversees members in three legal land plats of land; "Cinosam Club" (either side of Cinosam Road) "Cinosam Tracts" (south of Cinosam Club and westerly, toward Gull Lake; and "Cinosam Acres."

Any living person/nuclear family (not corporations) owning property within these three land plats is eligible to pay dues and thus be a member of Cinosam Club (Corporation). Dues ( $80) are paid on a ("nuclear") family/household basis. This generally means parents and children, or other relatives living in one dwelling.

Those persons owning land without structures are eligible to pay dues and thus be members. No person or nuclear family is eligible to have more than one vote, regardless of the number of lots owned.

Dues have traditionally paid taxes, liability insurance related to Club-owned parks , "outlots," and docks, maintenance and Board-approved improvements such as beach sand, replacement trees, etc. From the start, most Club maintenance and very many improvements have been accomplished entirely by volunteer labor.  A current exception is contracted removal and re-installation of main boat docks (not side-access docks) on a seasonal basis. Docks have in many cases been constructed by volunteers, with materials paid for from Club Dues.

The Cinosam Board is elected by the Club membership. President, VP, Secretary and Treasurer are elected for 1 year terms. Other Board members are elected for 3 year terms, with three persons being elected each year to maintain some continuity. Thus there are 9 Board members who are not officers and 4 Board members who are, (for a total of 13 members on the Board). The Board decides lesser and routine matters. Traditionally, major issues are put to a vote of the entire membership of the Club.

Board meetings are open to the Club membership and are announced via a board at the highway entrance on Cinosam Road.

Secrecy in the Club has been a long-standing difficulty. In a growing community of Cinosam's size, (now 167 property owners) many recall the days when competing demands were fewer, like the number of residents.  As not everyone can be pleased by every decision, individuals have often raised issues—or even incorrect information—in opposition to  many of the decisions made. In the past, some have ceased to pay dues when the Club or Board would not agree to their demands. The conflict between citizen-Board-members making decisions governing the Club and the desire / necessity to be friendly toward one's neighbors has been an ongoing characteristic of Cinosam since its founding.

Thus secrecy has been used over quite a number of years to diffuse and delay such complaints until some action or another has been completed. This website's goal is to make known all such information as can be obtained which serves the interest of the Club and its membership as a whole. Exceptions can occur, while issues are investigated or new proposals are developed. These exceptions are generally few and of short duration.

 Until now, those paying dues (and thus the taxes) have allowed non-dues-payers a "free ride" when they sold their properties. This is true for lakefront owners as well as inland properties.

Financially, the Club has always operated "on a shoestring." Funds are retained for emergencies. such as lawsuit, high-cost repairs, uninsured losses, etc.

Boat spaces are limited. The Board decided some years ago that placing small boats on the shore, which had been traditional, would no longer be allowed. The current 25 slips for larger boats are in very high demand, with more persons waiting for boat slips than now have them.

Under current rules, slip-holders retain their slips for life or until surrendered. Boat slip privileges do not attach to a member's own property and cannot be passed from generation to generation nor sold with the property.
At present, $315 annual fee is paid for boat slip use. This compares with fees many times as high at area marinas.
Many members are less than pleased with this arrangement, and changes seem bound to occur over time.
Possible changes
Real estate agents are often said to assert that Cinosam property ownership carries with it the right to a boat slip. This is false. "Property ownership does not guarantee a boat slip."
Boat slip owners are responsible for a larger initial fee, their own private "side dock" section and the removal and installation of their own boat lifts. The hillside has been used by owners to store their lifts in winter. Hillside erosion has been an ongoing problem which results.

Roads in Cinosam are county owned. From Cinosam's  start, the county has been reluctant to maintain "the right of way" (ROW) which Cinosam deeded to it. However Cinosam Road has been repaved, and several side streets, or portions of them, have been improved with the addition "class 5" sand-gravel-clay mix. This has been accomplished by petition of sizable groups of owners along each road.  Crow Wing County accomplishes this class 5 addition to the road surface when ever it finds the work  convenient. The county does not routinely repair potholes, etc. This is done by the owners on a voluntary basis. Speed and dust are a problem on some side roads.

Building in Cinosam has become an issue, particularly in recent years. The local building and zoning department is said by many to be erratic and bureaucratic in enforcing building standards. Cinosam members have expressed their wishes concerning building limitations (building size, proportions to lot and existing structures, residential use, no "pole" or metal buildings, values of new structures within 125% of five nearest structures on other's lots. The current mix of structures ranges from old "single wide" trailers to lakefront homes in the realm of a million dollars in assessed value.

The general mix is of older cottages or cabins upon which Cinosam was first developed in the 1920s, and higher value, year-round homes generally built after 1980 or 1990.

Several multi-unit rental properties have been built, mostly in recent years. Either owner or renter may pay the dues for each family rental unit. There have been concerns about the renters as a group, their use of Cinosam Club property, and their alteration of the Club's character. In general, the Club has been guarded in accepting renters.  Some have made valuable contributions as volunteers.