FLLA 2012 Year End Summary Report

FLLA 2012  Year End Summary Report

Signage: Keep Lake Ice Clean
In December, signs and trash cans were posted at all lake public accesses to encourage lake users to keep the lake clean.

Storm Water Runoff Sites Identified(February)
Members were surveyed and identified 17 sites where storm water(untreated) ran directly into the lake. A Watershed District (WSD) study of Forest Lake indicated that storm water runoff contributes 2100 lbs of phosphorus/year to the lake and is  the number one contributor of  lake pollution. Each pound of phosphorus can support 500 lbs of algae growth! This was the beginning of a program to work with the WSD and the City to address this serious lake issue.

6th Annual Ice Clean Up (March )
Sudden , early and unseasonably hot weather created unsafe  ice conditions and this event had to be cancelled.

Annual Meeting & Educational Speakers (April 24th)
Over100  people attended the meeting.
Educational guest speakers:

“Understanding  and Controlling Forest Lake Invasive Species” by Steve McComas, Pres. Of Bluewater Science Inc…discussed Curly Leaf Pondweed and Zebra Mussels

“Storm Water Runoff 2012 Management Programs” by Doug Thomas, Administrator, Comfort Lake- Forest Lake Watershed District.

Wine Tasting Social/ Fundraiser ( June 3rd)
3rd annual wine tasting fundraiser was held at Vanneli’s  restaurant  to support our 2012 lake improvement programs.

Curly Leaf Pondweed(CLP) Management Program (late April)
155 acres of CLP was successfully treated on May  as follows:  Lake 1(85 acres)…Lake 2 ( 37 acres)…..Lake 3( 33 acres). By preventing the rampant  growth of this invasive species weed  we were able :

1. Avoid the mat like weed mass at the surface which restricts recreational lake use.
2. Avoid the problem of 155 acres of CLP of dieing off and floating to shore in early July.
3. Prevent the release of an estimated 550 pounds of phosphorus from the decaying CLP which normally contributes to the summer algae bloom.

The treatment cost was $33,200. But a DNR grant of $22,500 obtained by the CL-FL Watershed District reduced the cost to  $10,700  covered by $7300 from the city and $3,400 from the FLLA.

Weed Harvesting Program
The weed harvester is used primarily to keep channels open between the lakes, provide bay and public access to deeper lake water. This part of the season went well. However, an early, extremely hot spring and low water levels resulted in heavy growth of wild celery and other shallow rooted weeds.

Later in August /September when the harvester is normally removed, these shallow rooted weeds broke loose and created floating “weed bogs”. Some of the bogs were 30ft wide and 300ft long.They restricted docked boats from navigating to deeper water. A number of volunteers worked a total of 135 hours and removed 45 dump truck loads that the City recycled. The City estimated that 405 tons of weeds were removed. We owe a special thanks to the volunteers and the city for resolving this unusual problem.

Zebra Mussel Prevention Program
The FLLA contributed $1500 and the Watershed District contributed $4500 and applied for  and won a boat  launch inspection matching grant from the DNR. The grant should have provided 880 hours of boat launch  inspections/education at the Forest Lake public launches to help reduce the risk of spreading invasive species such as zebra mussels and milfoil. However, high grant demand forced the DNR to an allocation program and Forest Lake only received 256 DNR sponsored inspection hours. Your FLLA jumped into action and formally petitioned the City to contribute $7500  to the additional $3500 from the FLLA. The request was quickly approved by the City Council resulting in a total of 1200 inspection hours for the 2012 season.

In addition, the CL-FL Watershed District hired a consultant who conducted a study of Forest Lake to determine  how susceptible Forest Lake is to the spread /growth of zebra mussels if and when they should enter the lake. This report will be available in Feb of 2013.

Boat Tie Up Social(August 20)
This normally great social event was cancelled due to rain/inclement weather.

Lake Monitoring
The DNR relies on volunteers to monitor lake water quality. This requires taking water samples and measuring water clarity 2x/mo from mid April to early October. This year, through additional volunteers from the Association, monitoring was expanded to lakes two and three. Better data on all three lakes will allow us to compete for more lake related grants. A special thanks to the following lake monitoring volunteers;

		Primary	Backup
	Lake 1	Steve Schmaltz	Jack Beckman
	Lake 2	Jim Hannon	Doug  Joens
	Lake 3	Jim Spetzman	Curt Sparks

Member Alerts on Public Lake Topics

• Marina proposal/public hearings: during the year we kept our members updated on public hearings and status of this proposal
• Lake repositions of FL political candidates: we surveyed and sent to our members the lake positions of all candidates running for a FL political position during the fall elections.

Building Support Relationships

During the past year we continued to maintain and build favorable relationships with the following organizations: City of Forest Lake, Watershed District, Mn Waters and the DNR.

We wish everyone the very best in the coming year!

FLLA 2011 Year End Summary Report

FLLA 2011 Year End Summary Report

 5th Annual Ice Clean Up (March 19th)
30 volunteers filled ½ a dumpster( donated by SRC)

 Annual Meeting (March 30th)

90 people attended the meeting.
Educational guest speakers:

“Understanding Water Clarity and Algae Blooms” by Pamela Massaro PE, Wenk Associates

“ Programs for Improved Water Clarity” by Doug Thomas,Administrator, Comfort Lake- Forest Lake Watershed District

 Wine Tasting Social/ Fundraiser ( June 3rd)

3rd annual wine tasting fundraiser was held at Vanneli’s restaurant to support our 2011 lake improvement programs.

 Curly Leaf Pondweed(CLP) Management Program (May 17th)

170 acres of CLP was successfully treated on May 17 as follows: Lake 1(70 acres)…Lake 2 ( 37 acres)…..Lake 3( 63 acres). By preventing the rampant growth of this weed we were able :

1. Avoid the mat like weed mass at the surface which restricts recreational lake use.
2. Avoid the problem of 170 acres of CLP of dieing off and floating to shore in early July.
3. Prevent the release of an estimated 600 pounds of phosphorus from the decaying CLP which normally contributes to the summer algae bloom.

Weed Harvesting Program

The weed harvester is used primarily to keep channels open between the lakes, provide bay and public access to deeper lake water. This past year the harvester was not used because weeds in channels and bay entrances were not as bad as previous years.

 Zebra Mussel Program

The FLLA contributed $1500 and the Watershed district contributed $4500 and applied for and won a boat launch inspection matching grant from the DNR. The grant provided 550 hours of boat inspections/education at the Forest Lake public launches to help reduce the risk of spreading invasive species such as zebra mussels and milfoil.

Boat Tie Up Social

In August we held a pontoon boat tie up.Aall who attended had an enjoyable afternoon!

Lake Monitoring

The DNR relies on volunteers to monitor lake water quality. This requires taking water samples and measuring water clarity 2x/mo from mid April to early October. This year, through additional volunteers from the Association, monitoring was expanded to lakes two and three. Better data on all three lakes will allow us to compete for more lake related grants. A special thanks to the following lake monitoring volunteers;

		Primary	Back up
	Lake 1...	Steve Schmaltz	Jack Beckman
	Lake 2...	Claus Mahler	Bob Abbott
	Lake 3...	Dennis Walcholz	Dennis Johnson

Building Support Relationships

During the past year we continued to maintain and build favorable relationships with the following organizations: City of Forest Lake, Watershed District, Mn Waters and the DNR.

2010  ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Lake Ice Annual Clean Up: 2010 was the fourth year that Association volunteers cleaned up a dumpster load of trash and debris from the ice prior to ice out. They then enjoyed a complimentary barbecue sponsored by Board member Pete Paider of the Forest Laker.

Invasive Species Aquatic Weed  Control  Program:  Control of the invasive species Curly Leaf Pondweed (CLP) through DNR approved and controlled herbicide treatment  has been a major goal of the Association . By working closely with the City, treated areas have increased as follows:

1. 15 acres in 2008(trial)
2. 100 acres in 2009
3. 155 acres in 2010: Lake 3(63 acres), Lake 2(37 acres) and Lake 1(55 acres)

With this year’s expansion to Lake 1 we now have an active and aggressive treatment program on all three lakes. The 2010 treatment cost was $32,000, funded $25,000 by the city and $7,000 by your Association. 

Weed Harvesting Program:  The city  and  Association worked together to continue selective weed harvesting to accomplish the following goals:

1.To keep lake connecting channels open.
2.To maintain open paths from the various bay entrances to deeper water
3.To clear open paths to deeper water for  Lake 3 public launches

The frequency and success of the program is dependent on the number of volunteers we have , so if you can, please make time to volunteer in 2011.  The Association donated $2000 to the City to help with harvester maintenance costs. Thank you to board members Blake Dalbec and Jeff Gosiak for organizing and leading the harvesting program this year.

Membership Drives:  Association membership increased from 220 last year to 300 this year but fell short of our goal of 400. The following activities were focused on increasing membership;

1. A meeting flier was hand delivered to all nonmembers living on the lake inviting them to attend the Association annual meeting. We signed up 30 new members.
2. Board members recruited and  spoke at at lake condo and homeowner association meetings.
3. “Arts in the Park” summer program. This activity helped increase membership, helped educate the community on the Association and lake issues and raised money by selling lake related items.

Thank you to Board member Gayle Hove for organizing and running  “Arts in the Park” for the third year in a row and thank you to the Association volunteers who worked at the booth over the 14 summer weeks.


Watershed District(WSD): The association continued to work closely with the local Comfort Lake-Forest Lake WSD to improve water quality. In response to our emphasis on starting a program to help prevent invasive species (zebra mussels and milfoil) from entering Forest Lake, The WSD provided funds to the DNR for 100 hours of public launch boat inspections and boater education on Forest Lake this past summer. The WSD continued their matching grant program to homeowners ($3000) and to commercial properties ($15,000) for installing rain gardens/lakeshore restoration projects to keep phosphorus and pollutants out of the lake.

Fundraisers:  

1. The spring Wine Tasting Event was, again, a very successful fund raiser for the Association. Thank you to Board members Chance Norby and Bob Muske for organizing this event, to the other Board members who helped, and to our many association and non association members who supported the event with their donations and attendance.

2. The fall Boat Cleanup was offered as both a convenience and fundraiser. Thank you to Pete Paider for organizing the event and to Abbra Carpet Cleaning for their indispensable support.

Documentation of Lake Value to the Community/City: This past year the Association worked very hard developing a data base that documented the economic and recreational value of the lake to a community base much broader than just lakeshore property owners. For example, did you know that  85% of the people who use the lake do not live on the lake?  This and other lake usage facts was very instrumental in building understanding and alignment with the City Council and other city officials on the lake as an economic and recreational asset and community priority.

Election Candidates’ Positions on Lake Issues:  The Association arranged to have candidates for the office of Mayor or City Council explain their position on selected lake issues.This information was both sent to you and posted on our web site to provide you with information as input to your overall voting decision. Thank you to Board members Blake Roberts and Bjorn Larsen and to Liz Swanson for organizing and implementing this project.