submitted by Steve Burgoon
The New Year brings new opportunities for the TLIA Lake Committee. With the addition of 7 new members over the past year, the team can now work on multiple projects. Judd Lautenschlager has taken over as the Lake Committee Chairman. He is the team leader and, as a TLIA Board Member, he is our team representative. Judd is also the key linkage to our lake management contractor.
At the January meeting Judd finalized sub-committee assignments. There are 8 sub-committees – glad we have a team of 18 members!!! Judd and a small team are researching Lake Management vendors and will be providing a recommendation, first to our committee, and then to the TLIA Board for 2015.
The team has also spent some time researching the potential need for winter aeration of the lakes (adding additional oxygen for the fish) to help prevent a fish kill like the one that occurred last year. While there are some methods that we might deploy to help the lakes, the costs, which are more than $25,000, come with considerable risks and therefore, far outweigh the benefits, at this time. When you consider the chance of a repeat occurrence is less than 5% (the last known winter fish kill was prior to 1984, more than 30 years ago.) The team is in agreement to purchase a Dissolved Oxygen (DO) meter so that we can assess the DO content in the lake at any time to continually evaluate the lake oxygen levels as part of our Lake Management Protocols.
The Shoreline and Storm Water Management sub-committee will begin to research native plantings and the best practices that could be used to help filter out pollutants that flow across lawns and community property before they enter the lake. That team will work with the Barrington Area Conservation Trust and their Conservation At Home (CAH) program to help educate and encourage implementation of these ideas in the community. This team will also work with the Silt Removal Team regarding the remediation project portion at Lathan’s Landing. Do note that we have cleared some of the nuisance invasive species and deadwood at the Lathan’s Landing, in advance of plans, to repair the drainage and re-landscape that area, using spoils from the silt removal project.
The other purchase that the Lake Committee recently recommended and approved by the Board, was that of a second Gander Disbander. The original, deployed by the Beach area, has proved quite effective. Plans are to place it in the southern portion of the Main Lake.