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Fall '11 Newsletter
END OF THE DOCK
Ken Klehr, President
The 2011 Lake Washington Directory has been printed. Greatest directory yet! Currently the Shoreline Captains are distributing them. If you have not received your directory yet, please contact us at info@lakewashingtonassn.com or call myself or any board member.
The Lake Washington Board deserves recognition for all the time and effort put into protecting and preserving Lake Washington for our and future generations. This group has been extremely active this year. Some of their accomplishment:
1) Formed Cormorant/Pelican Impact Committee
2) Treated 68.75 Acres Eurasian Water Milfoil
3) Water Quality Monitoring May-September
4) Special Water Test Northwest Culvert
5) Applied and Received State Grant $9955
6) County Grant $4000
7) Second Highest Membership 227
8) Printed and Distributed New 2011 Lake Directory
9) Published 3 Newsletters
10) MembershipMeetings
a. Annual Meeting 128 Attended
b. County Water Patrol Safety Presentation
c. Pot Luck/BBQ 77 Attended
11) Supported Shoreline Restoration Project
12) Supported CRP 62.2 Acres Pheasants Forever
13) Attended MN Waters Lakes and Rivers Conference
14) Updated Website
15) 9 Board Meetings February-October
16) New Board Members
a. Cathy Klehr
b. Sandy & Mike Wosmek
17) Member Meeker County of Lakes
18) Member Minnesota Waters
19) Finalizing Lake Vegetation Management Plan
20) DNR Increase Watercraft Inspection
Next time you see a Board Member say thanks.
Special thanks to members Ron Bubany, Invasive Species Committee and Arlan Lovald, Cormorant/Pelican Impact Committee.
I plan on taking the pontoon out to enjoy the fall colors. Need to go. Thanks for your support over the years and hope to see you out on the ice enjoying winter activities.
SOCIAL COMMITTEE
John Fink, Kim Winter
Dates to save for 2012 on Saturdays:
May 5th, 2012 Free Pork Chop Dinner/ Annual Meeting
August 4th, 2012 Pot Luck Dinner/Reports, Door Prizes
Both meetings will be at the Dassel Rod & Gun Club near Lake Washington
FINANCE / FUND RAISING COMMITTEE
Lyle Walker
Thanks to continued strong support from our members, the financial position of your Lake Association at September 30 remains solid with total funds of $96,000. Treatment of 69 acres of the lake was completed in August at a cost of $31,000. That bill was paid in September. A grant in the amount of $9,955 has been received in October to partially offset the treatment cost. The new directory has been completed and distributed and we are pleased that advertising revenue covered the cost of printing and assembling the directory. Sixty members contributed $1,235 to the Dassel Fire Department through the Lake Association and those funds will be forwarded to the Fire Department in October.
INVASIVE SPECIES COMMITTEE REPORT
Steve Grotbo, Pat Hanson, Milt Lueneburg, Bill Ooley, Ken Klehr, Kim Winter
This has been a very challenging and busy year for our committee. We started in mid May assessing for Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM) growth. By mid June we started seeing aggressive growth of EWM. With timely support from the DNR and PLM, our treatment applicator, we received a DNR permit and grant approval to treat 70 acres the first week of July. Then our politicians decided to shutdown the State the 1st of July, putting our EWM treatment on hold. The State was back 3 weeks later but detailed budget and administration issues needed to be resolved delaying treatment until August 23rd.
There was some question about treating EWM this late in the season. Joe Eisterhold, DNR Invasive Species Specialist, and Patrick Selter, PLM, agreed that as long as EWM was actively growing, which was verified, the treatment will have a positive impact on reducing the EWM population in the treated areas. So on 8/23 spot treatment of 68.75 acres for EWM started at the culvert between Stella and Lake Washington heading north and then along the north shore ending at Stoney Point/Clifford Addition. A post treatment assessment was conducted the first week of September reflecting a successful chemical treatment for EWM. Also this post treatment assessment indicated little if any effect on native vegetation in areas treated.
The cost to treat these 68.75 acres was $31,281. We have receiving State grants money of $9,955 and expect $4,000 from Meeker County thru the Meeker County Association of Lakes (MCAL).
Next year our strategy is to continue assessing EWM growth through out 2012 with focus on areas treated in 2011 and proposed 2012 treatment area and meet with the DNR and PLM over the winter to discuss spot treatment of 70 acres starting at Stoney Point/Clifford Addition going east. Also at this meeting we want to cover the simplification of data exchange on waypoints and EWM locations. In addition, we will pursue available grant money including State and County.
The Invasive Species Committee would like to thank Milt Lueneburg, Bill Ooley, Ken Klehr, and Ron Bubany for the countless hours they spent over the summer gathering data to assess EWM and native vegetation growth.
SHORELINE CAPTAINS/MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Cathy Klehr, Rick Johnson
We have added several new members this year bringing our total to 227. Thank you to all our loyal members for your membership. The financial support you give us each year is critical in maintaining a healthy and quality lake.
Special recognition goes out to the Shoreline Captains. This has been a very busy 2 years for them in obtaining information for and in delivering of our lake directories. The volunteering of your time in being an important link between lake residence and board members is invaluable.
Jenna O’Brien - 219 St
Jim Barnes - 217 St
Christine Ullom - 233 St
Shari Johnson - 218 St
Milt Lueneburg - CSAH 14
Ray Haugland - 233 St
Grace Brinkmann - 213 St
Cathy Klehr - CSAH 14, 233 St
Ruth Fink - 233 St
Jim & Barb Wendling - 213 St
Phil Flores - 233 St
Sheryl Faust - 229 St
Mary Jo Lyke - 213 St
Sharon & Gary Daniels - 233 St
Jenny Kjell - 705 Av
Bob Paulson - 215 St
John Bartz - 233 St
John Sandstede - 708 Av
Nancy Finkenauer - 708 Av
We currently have 2 Shoreline Captain openings on 215 St.
If you can help out, call Cathy at 320-626-2056 or contact us at info@lakewashingtonassn.com.
COOKBOOKS
Cathy Klehr, Jenna O’Brien
Lake Washington cookbooks are NOW available for $10. To purchase a book you can contact Cathy @ 320-626-2056, Jenna @ 320-275-4728 or go to info@lakewashingtonassn.com and we can get a copy to you.
COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Rick Fernstrom, Steve Ullom
This fall, 17 additional email addresses were added to the Crime Alert list used by Meeker County Sheriff Norlin.
Email & Crime Alert Statistics:
70% of Lake Washington residents have provided the LWIA an email address.
113 Lake Washington residents have not provided an email address.
24% of Lake Washington residents that have not provided an email address are paid members.
73% of provide email addresses now receive crime alert email messages.
51% of Lake Washington residents now receive crime alert messages.
Crime Alert Trend:
On March 9th, 2010, the Crime Alert list included 34 of 205 resident email addresses (~17%)
On April 2nd, 2011, the Crime Alert list included 179 of 262 resident email addresses (~68%)
On September 12th, 2011, the Crime Alert list included 197 of 270 resident email addresses (~73%)
Please continue to receive, read, and provide the Sheriff feedback/tips regarding the crime alerts. These alerts are for us and give insight as to events that happen allowing us to prepare, increase vigilance, and prevent/minimize the activity from impacting our daily lives. Four Crime Alerts were communicated this year including a personal property theft at Ellsworth Landing, a personal property theft on the west side of Lake Washington, a personal property theft on the north side of Lake Washington, and a narcotic search and arrest in Darwin.
At the bottom of every Crime Alert:
For crime prevention information go to the Meeker County Sheriff's Office Website: www.co.meeker.mn.us
Meeker County Sheriff Confidential Tip Line: 320-693-5411 / Crime Stoppers of Minnesota 1-800-222-TIPS (8744) or via cell phones using SMS text messaging technology: Text "TIP674 plus your message" to CRIMES (274637)
If you no longer wish to receive this notification, please e-mail your request to be delete from Crime Alert notifications to rebecca.miller@co.meeker.mn.uswith subject of Crime Alert.
Important links:
www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html Lake Washington’s number is 47004600. Latest fish survey data, stocking reports, water quality, water level, lake maps are available there.
www.minnesotawaters.org/ is the website for Minnesota Waters (an organization that advocates for lakes and rivers in the state). Individuals can join and receive monthly electronic newsletters, along with quarterly mailings. This organization provides news about Minnesota Waters, Resources and Stewardship, Conferences, Zoning Issues, Treatment Plans & Actions throughout the state, and Funding Sources. They also provide up to date information on the status of current legislation and sponsor a yearly Conference with workshops on every issue impacting waters in Minnesota everyone is invited to attend. Lake Washington is a member of this organization.
www.mnaction.org is a group of 22 conservation and environment non-profits mobilizing Minnesota citizens. They help us connect with government and business leaders to protect our precious air, land and water.
For changes of address, e-mail, phone or any other updates, please contact us at info@lakewashingtonassn.com
CORMORANT/PELICAN IMPACT COMMITTEE
Milt Lueneburg, Arlan Lovald, Rick Fernstrom
On Monday September 19th, the letter below was mailed to area politicians requesting support in controlling the rising cormorant populations and impact on Lake Washington bait and game fish. As of this writing, we have received one response from Senator Scott Newman supporting the LWIA request for the DNR to meet and continue discussing concerns. Additional progress will be reported as it is received:
Lake Washington Improvement
Association
September 19, 2011
-P.O. Box 68
-Dassel, MN 55325
-Office of the Governor
130 State Capitol
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55155
-Dear Governor Mark Dayton,
-On behalf of the Lake Washington Improvement Association and the entire membership, we are asking for your attention to a serious problem in the Meeker and McLeod County areas. Over the past decade, Lake Washington residents have observed cormorant and white pelican populations soar to unprecedented levels in the Pigeon Lake rookery on Hwy 15 near Dassel, Minnesota. In a U of M report published in 2004, Pigeon Lake was assessed as maintaining the third largest cormorant population in all of Minnesota. Following repeated concerns by Lake Washington residents regarding heavy flocks of feeding cormorants, white pelicans, and the noticeable drop in bait and game fish populations, a meeting was requested with the Hutchinson DNR in May 2011 to discuss and learn about the problem. The DNR insisted nothing should be done and that census data did not support an impact on bait or game fish. Shortly after the meeting, the U of M released an updated report covering the change in cormorant and white pelican populations in Minnesota between 2004 and 2010. The report revealed that the cormorant population has grown on Pigeon Lake rookery at such a rate that now it maintains the largest population in all of Minnesota. With this information, a second meeting was requested with the Hutchinson DNR to discuss further options to control the population. A meeting has not been granted and we have only received email responses indicating the continued belief by the DNR that there is not a concern or problem.
-We need your help in urging the DNR to meet with Lake Association Members in the area and work together to develop options, support our cause, and seek the necessary Federal permission to actively control the increasing cormorant and white pelican populations on Pigeon Lake. Our lakes are at risk and the DNR needs to recognize our collective lake region support to reduce the risk.
-Attached is a copy of the last informative email provided to the DNR summarizing the local impact and desire of the area Lake Associations to work together with the DNR on reasonable solutions.
-Please contact me at your earliest convenience with your support on this matter. This letter and supporting information will also be mailed to Representative Dean Urdahl, MN Senator Scott Newman, Congressman Collin Peterson, US Senator Amy Klobuchar, and US Senator Al Franken.
-Regards,
-Rick Fernstrom
-Board Member, VP
-Lake Washington Improvement Association
-Mobile: 320 428 1478
-Email: rgf4296@yahoo.com
Special thanks to Mike Engel for creating and maintaining the LWIA webpage at no charge!! For your personal or business internet solutions, please contact Mike Engel, ADimation.com, LLC mike@adimation.com, http://www.adimation.com .
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