June 2011 Minutes

Officers in attendance were President Tim Lovett, Vice-president Mark Piening, Treasurer Pat Lovett, and Master at Arms Bob Sachs.  Directors in attendance were Dave Myer, Stan Wilker, Tony Seger, Tom Rampe, and Jeff Vossler.  Secretary Anderson was excused from attendance at the meeting.

Vice President Piening announced that the Association will be hosting a Golf Outing on Saturday, July 16th, to raise money for the LIA’s programs.  It will be at Northmoor Golf Club and the cost will be $45 per participant.  Many door prizes will be awarded.  Domino’s Pizza, Pepsi, and Bud Lite were recognized for their support of the outing.  The goal is to raise $5,000.  We are hoping to get 100 hole sponsors.  He thanked Tony Seger who is sponsoring 10 holes.  Further information and sign up information can be found on the LIA website.  Volunteers are needed to help support the outing.

Linda Severt reminded the members that the Bar Stool Open will be on August 6 this year. Sign up forms are being distributed to the participating bars and restaurants.  Members are encouraged to sign up soon before there is sell out.  Many very nice door prizes will be distributed to the participants.  The theme is “Get back on the Lake”.

Tom Rampe reported that grant money is still available to repair or replace failing septic systems in the Lake’s watershed.  The grants can go up to $7,500 and will be available for a year.  Contact the Mercer County Soil and Water Office for additional information.

Tom Knapke, the Facilitator for the Lake Restoration Commission (LRC) reported the Commission met with the Directors of ODA, ODNR, and OEPA on June 1st.  The Directors are supportive of the many efforts on going to improve the Lake and the grants requests the LRC will be submitting.  ODNR just awarded the LRC a $24,500 grant that will be combined with $25,000 of LRC funds to award a contract to Battelle Institute.  Battelle will review the 60 proposals that have been submitted by various companies to improve the Lake and identify the three best for further evaluation and testing.  They will also provide scientific and technical advice to the LRC on the various activities that have begun to improve the Lake.

Brian Miller reported that the Lake level remains high.  The $3.8 million alum treatment program for the Lake is going very well despite the wet weather.  The contractor, HAB, is working 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hours per day.  Approximately 23 tanker trucks a day are delivering the 1.7 million gallons of alum solution and 707,000 gallons of sodium aluminate that will be used to treat the Lake.  The chemicals are coming from Ohio and the pipe fitters that assembled application equipment were from an Ohio local. The project is supporting Ohio jobs.  Brian noted the rough fish removal is going well.  Over 10 tons have been removed.  The nets have been moved to the area near Its Its.  Please stay clear of nets which are marked with bouys.

Brian reported that despite the wet weather and the warning about the water, the park campgrounds had over 85% occupancy over Memorial Day weekend.  Some of the sites were underwater and straw was passed out for some sites that were muddy.  Mowing has been a big challenge this wet spring.  Members are encouraged to pay their dock fees which are half off this year.  The fees are important to support the operation of the park.  Brian noted all of the memorial trees have been planted for this year and he thanked the LIA for managing funding for the trees.

The carp derby is going well.  Over 200 people have signed up and many are bow hunters.  One participant has caught over 200 pounds of carp.  Brian said that permits should be obtained by homeowners installing channel aeration.  The permits are extremely simple and easy to obtain.  The location of the aeration equipment may be useful for research on improving the Lake.  Brian noted that planning is ongoing for a full summer of Lake related activities including the 4th of July fireworks and the Governor’s Cup Regatta.

Brian reminded the members that monitoring bouys have been placed on the Lake and monitoring equipment have been placed on 4×6 posts on the four corners of the Lake.  The equipment is closely monitoring the Lake’s water quality during the alum treatment.  He noted that Buckeye Lake has also been posted due to the microcystin toxin appearing there.

Brian thanked the LRC for its efforts to improve the Lake.  He noted the Coldwater High School Civics Class installed five park benches along the West Bank.

Brian reported the dredging under Tom Grabow’s supervision is going well.  All three dredges are working and over 64,300 cubic yards have been dredged this year as of June 2nd.  That is equivalent of 4,300 large truck loads of material.  The order for the dredge to replace the 42 year old one on the Lake has been placed at a cost of $668,000.  A contest is planned to name the new dredge. Check the website for details. The remainder of the $750,000 will be used to place riprap along the shore at Harmon’s Landing.  The park staff will also restore the old oil derrick rock island in the Lake.  He noted that 50 core samples will be taken from the material in the Lake’s bottom.  They will be analyzed to determine what can be done with it commercially if it is removed from the Lake’s center.

President Lovett noted that among the letters he had received was one from Dalton Williams, a 7th grader.  Dalton proposed that the Lake should be dug deeper and the excavated material sold to farmers who could use it to enrich their soil.  The letter is indicative that the condition of the Lake is getting the public’s attention.  Although the Lake’s water should not be contacted, we can still have a good summer on the Lake.  There are a lot of activities underway to improve the Lake and they have just begun.  The alum is to stabilize the Lake and is a first step.  Long term fixes are underway in the watershed.  Please be patient and continue to support the LIA.  The funds we raise are used to help fix the Lake. We need to get private industry interested in the saving the Lake.

Tim noted he will going to make a presentation to a group that is trying save Lake Erie.  That group has been interested in our successes and how they can copy it.

Tim Shaw won the 50/50 drawing and graciously to the LIA’s fishing derby for challenged kids.

Tim closed the meeting by encouraging each member to sign up a new member. Our goal is to double the membership to 2,200.  The larger the LIA membership, the stronger our collective voice will be for restoring the Lake.