LIA Monthly Members Meeting
10:00 a.m. Aug 6, 2016
Celina Moose Lodge
Tim Lovett welcomed everyone to the members meeting and the membership stood for the pledge of allegiance.
Ted Bertke gave the treasurers report. Ted reported that there was a net income of $14,000 in the LIA account for July which now totals $47,494.31.
Mark Piening spoke about the completed 2016 Membership Drive. He noted the income from it was $17,281, the third highest to date. Over 60% of the members included a donation with their $15 membership fee. One very generous member included a donation of $1,000 with membership.
Mark Piening noted the 2nd Annual Kickoff to the Summer and 5K Color Run events were a great success. We had about over 900 participants in this year’s Color Run compared to 625 participants in last year’s Color Run. The LIA thanks Park Manager David Faler and his great staff for the outstanding support they provided the Kickoff. There were 40 vendors and ride providers and 40 participants in the car show. There were 25 participating teams in the both the beer pong and corn hole tournaments. Nasty Nick, the morning DJ, was a new addition and the feature bands, Sun Down and Mustang Sally were well received. Mustang Sally was a bit expensive but they attracted a large crowd in the evening. They enjoyed playing for the crowd and offered a significant discount to play again next year for us. Mark noted several of the vendors were local groups fundraising for their organizations. Income from the Kickoff was about $33,000 and the profit for the LIA was over $10,000.
Mark Piening reported our next major fund raiser is the 2016 Bar Stool Open on August 13th. So far 103 teams have signed up and we will get more signed up this week. Last year we had 163 teams but we probably won’t get that many this year. People are concerned that since the Lake depth is down due to continued drought in the watershed, they may have trouble navigating the channels.
Stan Wilker reminded the membership that the Kids Fishing Derby will be on September 7 and encouraged members to assist which they will discover is a very rewarding experience. Lots of homemade cookies are needed for the kids.
Stan Wilker reported that the goosinator installed at the Windy Point Beach by the LIA seems to be doing its job of keeping the geese off of the beach.
Glynn Barber from FFT reported on a 30 day test his firm ran recently on the Lake’s water. A small area on the south side of the Lake was dammed off and a small amount of his product was poured in the Lake. The Lake water beside the dammed off area was the control for the test. His product quickly reduced the algae in the water as well as the microcystin toxin down to levels acceptable for recreational uses. After 30 days, the algae and microcystin levels remained low. The control water maintained the high levels of algae and microcystin throughout the test. The LIA has posted Glynn’s presentation on the tests and his product on the LIA website. Glynn indicated his firm wants to demonstrate his product’s ability to greatly reduce the microcystin level in the entire Lake and maintain the low levels. His firm is willing to sell the product to the State to treat the entire Lake at cost and provide 50% financing for the treatment. By showing his product can reduce the toxin in the entire Lake, his firm would be able to sell the product to deal with algal toxin problems throughout the world. Meetings are planned with ODNR to discuss the treatment of the Lake.
Milt Miller asked Tim Lovett to give the LRC update in his place. Tim reported the Prairie Creek Treatment Trains one and two planting restoration has been successful and the treatment train is now treating Prairie Creek water. He noted water lilies in the littoral wetlands area of the treatment train are filling the area.
The establishment of the plantings in the Coldwater Creek Treatment Train is ongoing. The LRC hopes to start pumping the Creek’s water into the treatment train soon. The local Rotary Club is going to submit a grant request to Rotary’s headquarters for the construction of a walkway around the treatment train. We will know in the fall if the grant request is successful.
Tom Grabow gave the Grand Lake dredging report. He noted that all three dredges are pumping. Last year at this time, 172,000 cubic yards of silt had been removed from the Lake, 190,000 has been removed so far this year. Brutus is dredging Coldwater Creek and the area where it enters the Lake to a depth of 12 feet which will again provide a silt trap there. The area was dredged in 2012 and had filled in again.
Tom noted the dredge crews are working four 12 hour days and 8 hours on Fridays each week. They lose three days of production each time they relocate a dredge. It takes all of the dredge crews to move a dredge, all of its piping, and other associated equipment.
The Hoedag is finishing up at Riley Bay and it will then go to Beaver Creek.
Tom asked boaters to mark any stumps they find in the Lake and he hopes to remove them in the fall if the Lake level is high enough. The barge holding the 30 ton crane used to pull up the stumps draws a lot of water and cannot be used in shallow water.
Tom plans to have two dredges pumping into the Coldwater Creek Treatment Train containment area later his summer. It will be a first for the Lake to have two dredges simultaneously discharging into one spoil area.
David Faler gave the Park Lake Update. David said the Lake watershed has gotten only 3 inches of rain this summer and the Lake level is 10 inches below normal pool level. We have had only 14 inches of rain this year compared the 37 inches last year. We are in a drought. Indian Lake is 6 inches below normal and Lake Laramie is also down 6 inches. He noted the Park attendance continues to improve.
Dave noted GLSM has the only approved seaplane landing area in Ohio which can be used without special permits. The State is looking into having seaplane landing areas on some of the other Ohio lakes. It was noted that one could taxi a seaplane to some of the bars in the upcoming Bar Stool Open where the channels are wide enough so air is another possible mode of transport for the BSO!!!!
Dave reported campground attendance is way up this year. The new splash pad has had some issues but they have been resolved and the campers love it. The campground was full the weekend of the LIA’s summer kickoff and many campers told Dave they had specifically come to attend the Mustang Sally concert from as far away as Tennessee.
The Park has gotten funding to improve the boat ramps which will be used to power wash them. Last year the dead ash trees were removed in the Park and this year 180 if their stumps have now been ground out. Due the drought, the Park staff has been watering the young memorial trees donated by the public three times a week.
Tim Lovett noted that ODA staff have not been attending the LIA meetings since the public hearing on the construction of a new very large poultry facility in the watershed. Apparently an ODA official was not pleased with a comment he made for the record during the hearing that ODA’s inadequate process and regulations would result in the approval of the facility although the facility would further contribute to the degradation of the Lake.
Tim Lovett reported that a recipient has been selected for this year’s LIA $500 academic scholarship. The recipient will be introduced to the membership at a fall meeting.
Tim Lovett noted that data he obtained from the AccuWeather website for Celina showed the average rainfall for April thru July is 16 inches. This year only 7.75 inches have fallen, less than half the average. He indicated the LIA does not have any control over the Lake level. There is a board representing the various interest groups affected by the Lake’s level that makes recommendations to the State on the Lake level to maintain.
The winner of the 50/50 received $15.
The Members Meeting concluded at 11:30 am.
Submitted by,
Tom Rampe
Trustee
Lake Improvement Association