LIA Members Meeting
10 a.m. August, 3 2013
Minutes
Celina Moose Lodge
Board Members Present: President Tim Lovett, Vice President Mark Piening, Sgt. of Arms Dave Eyink, Treasurers Ted and Diane Bertke, Secretary Eric Morris, Trustees Jeff Vossler , Tom Rampe, Seth Brigham , and Dave Meyer. Absent were: Brian Morris & Stan Wilker due to prior engagements.
Tim Lovett welcomed everyone and led the pledge of allegiance.
Ted Bertke gave the treasurers report:
Beginning of July $51079.95
Income $1912.30
Expenses $6824.13
August 1 Balance $46,168.12
Tim Lovett began the meeting with news of the onetime donation
of $20,000.00 to The Regatta that is to be held on August 24th, and
- th. He said that The LIA felt it was important for the event to be
held due to the economic impact on the area. Tim said that in a
unanimous vote. The LIA board decided to donate the money to
keep the event.
Mark Piening spoke about the Bar Stool Open that is to be held August 10th. He said that he needs around 50 to 55 volunteers for the event. He pointed out the Judge sign up board that was present at the meeting. He said that members can sign up as soon as they would like. He asked that members help find volunteers to fill the open shifts. Mark said that the event is expecting between 100-120 teams. He said that the weather is projected to be great and said that the lake is in good shape. Tom Rampe mentioned that the Judges Picnic is to be held on Friday August 9th. He said that the LIA is providing food and soft drinks at the judges picnic and that judges do not need to bring a dish.
Eric Morris spoke about a new Co-ed Flag Football Tournament that is to be held on September 14, 2013 at KC Geiger Park in St. Marys. The tournament will be 7 on 7 with 10 person teams and at least two games are guaranteed to each team. Eric noted that there will also be football contests and concessions at the park during the tournament. He said that Buffalo Wild Wings is going to host an after party later that night for the participants of the tournament.
Eric Morris offered an update on the new Zombie Walk event that is to be held on the East Bank in the 2nd shelter house on October 26, 2013. He said that there will be a screening of the Ohio State vs. Penn State game at 8pm that night at the shelter house. He also said that there will be beverages and food at the event. Eric noted that admission for the event is $10.00 per adult. Eric said that 92.1 The Frog is sponsoring the event. The Frog will be holding a 5 round Halloween/ Zombie related trivia. He mentioned that there will be trivia, 50/50 drawings and door prizes. Eric mentioned that it is NOT required that people participate in the Zombie Walk itself and that people are more than welcome to take part in trivia and other festivities during the night.
Mark Piening offered a report on the Membership Drive. Mark said that members should have received their membership cards. He said that if members have not yet received them that there are extra cards available upon request from the LIA.
Dave Myer talked about the Guardians of the Lake Award. He said that the LIA is currently taking candidates for the award and that if members know of a candidate to let him know. Dave also mentioned the Fishing Derby that will be held September 11, 2013. Dave mentioned that the LIA is in need of baked goods for the derby.
Milt Miller with the LRC gave an update. Milt talked about the Prairie Creek Treatment Train. He showed photos of the area and pointed out several areas of successful treatment. Milt said that .4 milligrams per liter of phosphorous is coming into the treatment train from the lake and it is leaving at .04 milligrams per liter which is a significant improvement. He said that the improvement of the water once it goes through the process is making an impact on the lake. Milt mentioned that the North Shore Lighthouse has been rewired and now works and is able to be seen at night as a point of reference once again.
Brian Miller State Park Manager gave the Lake Update. Brian started by saying that the lake level went down a little he said that it is 2 inches below. Brian said that the park is seeing a lot of campers with boats still. He noted that the State Route 127 sales are bringing a lot of campers to the camp ground as well. He said that the park is still offering the discount on the campsites and cabins. Brian said that he is seeing great results with the Linear Aeration projects. He said that as they are pulling samples from the channel by Behms Landing and noted that the two most recent samples are showing no micro toxins and e coli in the water. Jeff Vossler mentioned that the water quality is much better since the aeration project.
Francis Springer from Soil and Water Francis updated members on the all of the things Soil and Water are doing. One thing that they are excited about is a demonstration to begin before October from Electrocell and Ag Solutions. The demonstration will be based on 4 or 5 hog buildings in the watershed area and will show the successes that the company has had in other areas of processing manure to reduce odors and encourage phosphorus settling in the manure pit. Francis said that the process makes manure more feasible to transport to new acres and reduce commercial fertilizer in those areas. Francis said that the companies are going to hold tours to show the process. She also mentioned that if people have manure discharge complaints that they should bring them directly to Soil and Water that way Soil and Water can respond quickly and more efficiently to the complaints.
Tim Lovett took the stand to say that The LIA isn’t saying the lake doesn’t have problems. But the lake is showing improvement in many areas. The following facts were presented to members during the meeting from the Tetra Tec Report.
- A total of 3,563,088 gallons of aluminum sulfate and 1,781,444 gallons sodium aluminates was applied to GLSM in 2011 and 2012
- This represents 27% of the total aluminum dose needed for the entire lake
- Post application sediment cores show the aluminum dose to date has accumulated on the lake bottom and is inactivating phosphorus as designed
- 91% of the phosphorus entering the water column during the summer algae bloom season comes from the lake bottom (internal loading)
- The alum application has reduced the internal phosphorus source during the critical summer period by 43% since 2010
- Currently, the effective aluminum concentration in the lake sediments from the alum application will permanently remove 364,000 pounds of phosphorus from the lake system
- 364,000 pounds of phosphorus equals:
- 6.2 years of pre-application internal loading or
- 4.2 years of annual phosphorus inputs from the watershed or
- 2.9 years of total annual phosphorus load to the lake
- Water column phosphorus was approximately 43% lower in 2011 and 30% lower in 2012 than it would have been without the alum applications
- Nutrient management plans and watershed phosphorus controls are now being implemented, however, there is still a lot of phosphorus entering the lake and already in the lake and watershed. Even greater water quality benefits can be realized in future alum applications (i.e. as external loads are decrease, more alum is available to address internal loads).
- Economic benefits of the alum treatment are evident.
- After the 2009-10 algal blooms, GLSM tourism declined by 25%.
- Tourism in the area (based on hotel revenue) increased by 9% since the alum application program began in 2011.
- The growth trend is increasing. Tourism dollars were up 1% in 2011 and 8% in 2012.
- GLSM annual tourism dollars are significant ($44.5M) and 8% annual increases essentially equal the cost of past annual alum applications.
Tim also mentioned that 6 more people are able to take advantage of the Aeration Program. He encourages people to take advantage of it based on the results that Brian Miller had mentioned in the Lake Update.
Tim Lovett opened the floor for questions and comments.
Dave Eyink LIA Board Member had a member draw the winner of the 50/50.
The Members Meeting concluded at 11:05am
Submitted by,
Eric Morris
LIA Secretary