LLPOA LAKE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING RECAP
February 13, 2024
inform & educate residents; develop sustainable lake management solutions
1. Lake Management Contract – Reviewed the 2 weed spraying estimates for eradicating the early invasives (mostly curly leaf pondweed) and we will recommend the low bidder, McCloud Aquatics, for $14,000 to the Board. This is a 1 time application in early spring with 1 follow up “bump up” application if necessary.
2. Weed Harvesting Contract – Reviewed the plan and schedule for monthly weed harvesting for 3 days each month in the months of May, June, July, August and September at a cost of $1,600 per day. We will recommend a contract with Lake Monster Harvesters to the Board for this work. The committee expressed concern with getting lake management contracts in place in a timely manner given the current situation and asked that updates be provided as they are approved by the Board.
3. Biodredge – After discussion on the positive results of the applications we have done the last 2 years we will recommend we purchase biodredge material again this year. We will again offer homeowners the option of purchasing and applying their own material near their pier and shoreline. By doing this last year our bulk purchase lowered the cost of the bags by $20 per bag. Tom will follow up with McCloud on pricing for this year.
4. Goose nest identification – We had a small group of volunteers ready to walk around the lake perimeter to identify possible goose nest locations. Unfortunately the weather has not cooperated since we got this group identified. We will have to wait until we get another good freeze or until all this ice is gone and do this by kayak. It was again discussed that the best way to deter geese from our lake is for lakefront homeowners to have buffer strips and/or fencing at their shoreline. A simple garden fence from a local home improvement store, hardware store or even Amazon has proven to be very effective in deterring geese from lakefront property.
5. Status of Geese Away lights – We are taking inventory of how our Geese Away lights fare through the winter months. Some have moved and some appear not to be working. We have a 3 year warranty on the lights. Anyone interested in purchasing a light to deploy on their pier or on their own property can reach out to Tom at tomcasey@lochlomondlake.com for information.
6. Homeowners purchase of small aerators – A number of homeowners have expressed interest in purchasing their own small aerators to try and improve the water quality by their piers and lakefronts. We ask that any homeowner purchasing a device reach out to the Lake Management Committee so that we can track the locations of these devices. We will also make available purchase information we collect to share with homeowners interested in purchasing their own device. We also want to remind homeowners to be mindful of where they deploy these devices so as not to affect other residents’ use of the lake. LLPOA owns the lake and reserves the right to have homeowners remove devices that are viewed as detrimental to the use of the lake.
7. We are soliciting ideas for information to include in a spring newsletter to be distributed to all homeowners. We are looking for lake related information that would be for all residents as well as information specific for lakefront homeowners. Please forward any ideas to Tom at tomcasey@lochlomondlake.com.
8. Summer Kickoff – Last year’s Summer Kickoff Event was a big success. After discussion, the consensus was to hold it again this year and possibly combine it with the Spring Cleanup for South Beach. Chris and Sarah will be taking inventory on the plant status of the floating islands and the new buffer strip at South beach. We will be looking for volunteers to help with cleanup tasks as well as activities for the kickoff such as kids fishing lessons, kayak lessons and boat rides. Anyone interested in helping out, please respond to Tom at tomcasey@lochlomondlake.com.
9. Future lake management funding – There was a short discussion around the challenges and uncertainty of the LLPOA budget and Lake Management budget for 2024. The main concern is will we have enough funding going forward to properly maintain the lake, beaches and the dam.
