The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About02/19/02 MINUTES OF THE LAKE ADVISORY COMMITTEE February 19, 2002 I. CALL TO ORDER Rick Warner called the Lake Advisory Committee (LAC) Meeting to order at 6:35 P.M. Members present: Dale Braddy, Charles Gerlach, Lauren Huntington, Rick Warner, and Shirley Gengler. Others present: Marv Mirsch, Paul Nelson; Prior Lake/Spring Lake Watershed, Craig Gontarek; President of the Prior Lake/Spring Lake Watershed District, Sue McDermott; City Engineer and Judy Pint; Engineering Secretary. II. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE JANUARY 15, 2002 MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY WARNER, SECONDED BY HUNTINGTON TO APPROVE THE JANUARY 15, 2002 MEETING MINUTES. UPON A VOTE, MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSL Y. III. WATERSHED DISTRICT PROJECT UPDATE BY PAUL NELSON Braddy introduced Paul Nelson from the Prior Lake/Spring Lake Watershed District. Paul gave an update on the Clean Water Partnership Grant Program and the current status with regard to funding. He stated that the District has received a grant for the Homeowners' Education Program. The District is currently working with the Prior Lake Association and the University of Minnesota Extension Service on the program. The District is advertising for an intern to help with water management during the summer months. This individual will help manage water closer to where it falls and will be working closely with homeowners. Curlv Leaf (MacroDhvtel Manaaement. Curly leaf infests a large area of Spring Lake. Curly leaf is an exotic plant similar to milfoil except that it grows earlier in the year. It dies at the end of June. When the plant dies, the decomposition process and its nutrients spur algae growth. The die off of pond weed creates about 900 Ibs. of phosphorous during a two week period. The phosphorous load to the lake is about 7000 kilograms. About 100 homeowners have signed up to treat curly leaf. The District has received grant money that will be used in the treatment of curly leaf. The District plans to use herbicide in some areas and a mechanical harvester in other areas of the lake. Bids went out last week for the project. Bid opening is scheduled 16200 Eagle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 553172-1714 / Ph. (952) 447-4230 / Fax (952) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER for early in March. Finalization of the contract should be mid-March and actual treatment will take place in early spring. The cost estimate for two years is $75,000 and treatment will target 50 acres. The District has a $50,000 grant, $5,000 will come from the Lake Association, and $7,000 will be contributed by shoreline owners for the treatment. Braddy questioned how long it would take to treat the lake and what impact the treatment would have on fish. Paul said it would depend on plant density and that the process usually has a positive affect on fish because native plants are created in the process that are better for fish. Early spawning should not be affected. Care Harvestina. Carp are very destructive to water quality. The District would like to harvest approximately 50,000 Ibs. of carp. The cost of the harvest is $6,000. By removing carp, phosphorous will also be removed. The DNR and watershed are looking at all tributaries that come into the lake and adding barriers to prevent carp from entering there. Alum Treatment. The cost is three times higher than what was originally estimated. The Watershed District will indefinitely postpone the alum treatment because of the long term affect and cost of the treatment and also because of the issues of curly leaf and carp harvesting. ComDrehensive Lake Manaaement Plans. Paul showed copies of a Comprehensive Lake Management Plan, a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy, an Aquatic Plant Management Plan, and a Watershed Management Plan done by different agencies. He said that each book showed what that group was planning to do in particular rather than what the community on a whole should do. He felt that there should be a long term Lake Management Plan. The Watershed District questioned whether they should be in lake management long term. He wanted the LAC opinion on whether some of the money being used for alum treatment should be used for a long term Lake Management Plan. Braddy felt that was an excellent idea. He thought that if something wasn't planned long range for the lakes, whether it is Spring Lake or Prior Lake, that future water quality will not be as good as what it is currently. He felt that there should be a master plan for Spring Lake, and for Upper and Lower Prior Lake as well. Nelson added that they are the long term managers of the watershed but that each association should have a role and each role needs to be identified to see where gaps are. The Watershed Act enables or sets up watersheds to do water planning on a watershed boundary rather than a political boundary and then the other entities within that are supposed to do plans. Marv Mirsch felt that the Watershed District should have an ultimate plan for carp management and curly leaf. He also said that the District should have a Mission Statement in the Comprehensive Plan as to what areas they should be involved with. 2 ^ -~ .-... '--'~'-~-"'-"~-'''-''-'--'-- ..-.- , ~,. -- .... '. -. ,,_._..-_._--....,'~.,," "-"--~'--'-'----'~'~-'-"'-- Braddy suggested that a Comprehensive Plan was needed and that the District should do it, lay the solution out, and pinpoint where other agencies might be able to help. The committee decided that they needed a Comprehensive Plan of attack that covers many years and would cover both Prior Lake and Spring Lake. No Phosohorous Fertilizer. Nelson showed a poster regarding the No Phosphorous Ordinance and asked whether this poster should be displayed in various store locations so consumers can see the benefit of No Phosphorous fertilizers. He will provide the City with a draft before posting it in local businesses. Outlet Channel Desian Conceot. Nelson is meeting with landowners before doing a public information meeting on the Outlet Channel Design Concept. Nelson mentioned that when you consider requests to the district for milfoil funding, consider that Lower Prior Lake has not had an aquatic survey done on it for some time. Residents are reporting that they have spotted curly leaf there. It is approximately $1 ,400 for each survey and surveys are typically done twice. Nelson showed a survey from the DNR portraying the value of the lake to the community. It showed the value of the lake used for fishing alone would be $1,000,000.00 per year. If you add on water sports such as skiing, real estate, businesses, etc. it would be worth $5,000,000,00 per year. Braddy asked if the City could offset some of the costs of the upkeep of the lake possibly with user fees, parking fees, etc. Braddy questioned the safety of the lake in regard to swimming, etc. and questioned the bacterial level in Spring Lake. Gontarek said that samples could be taken and sent in to a laboratory for testing and that samples need to be taken within twenty-four hours of testing. McDermott said she would get that information for them. No further action was taken. IV. 2003 - 2007 WATER QUALITY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM McDermott distributed maps of last year's CIP Program. She explained what projects were included in the CIP: 2002 - Lake stabilization at Island View 2003 - Lake stabilization at Watersedge Trail 2004 - Lake stabilization at Fairbanks Trail and Sand Point 2005 - Lake stabilization at Kneafseys Cove 2006 - Lake stabilization at Monroe Avenue & Kent Street 3 2007 - Nothing specifically identified for 2007 Pond dredging each year. Braddy inquired whether funding was solid and in the works. McDermott responded that each project should be reviewed by the City Council. Warner asked if anything was overlooked on the maps. McDermott stated that the city would partner with the Watershed District in regard to dredging outlets on Prior Lake. Braddy inquired if any project was more critical and should be moved up on the timeframe. McDermott mentioned that there were NURP ponds that needed to be cleaned up by developers, and that the outlet channel upgrade was not addressed on the existing map. Braddy inquired who will be replacing Lani Leichty as Water Resources Coordinator. McDermott said she would be filling in for him until there was a replacement. Braddy requested that it be noted within the minutes that Lani Leichty had done a excellent job and that the LAC wished him well. Gengler examined the chloride monitoring results and noticed that Sample #7 was high near Boudin's and questioned if the city had applied salt near there at the time of the water sampling. Huntington said that the LAC should check the next test results to see if Sample #7 near Boudin's remains high again or if it was a mistake. V. OLD BUSINESS Mirsch presented a conference flyer that he had received in the mail. VI. NEW BUSINESS Gerlach inquired what the level of Spring Lake has to be to start water flowing into it. Gerlach questioned numbers for lake content when the lake level is low and water is not flowing into it. He wanted to know if the lake is cleaner or dirtier than in the past especially in regard to phosphorous and e-coli. Braddy thought that the Watershed District would possibly have the answers to this question. McDermott said that she would call Paul Nelson. Another safety issue brought up was the age of septic systems and if sewage could spill into the lake when water levels are lower than normal. 4 McDermott said that she would put together the next agenda for the joint meeting with the City Council. Warner suggested they use the CLMP as a basis. McDermott said that Lani Leichty had prepared a year end report and she would get a copy to each member. Warner mentioned that he would be moving out of the city soon. Braddy suggested getting an article in the paper regarding a replacement for Warner as soon as possible. McDermott said that Kelly Meyer would take care of it. Gerlach asked if the city had responded to a letter from the DNR. McDermott asked for input and said anything she would send out, she would copy the LAC on. Braddy suggested that McDermott could handle the DNR letter and response. Braddy said it could be put on the next agenda. Mirsch commented on erosion of the plantings done at Sand Point by snowmobiles. He suggested that fences by put up so snowmobiles could not damage the area. VII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION BY HUNTINGTON, SECONDED BY WARNER TO ADJOURN THE MEETING AT 8:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Sue McDermott City Engineer Judy Pint Recording Secretary 5 PRIOR LAKE CHLORIDE MONITORING PROGRAM SAMPLING LOCATIONS Howard E Lake / ~I I' -~ L ~ , ~ :::.~ . ~ t:.::l t:.::l ~ o ~ -< = Cf.l /-- - f \ I / .~ l!~~~f) "'-/ . _/ 'I 1-' I ' . I i =11".'/ SPRING lAKE REGIONAL PARK I \ \ SAVAGE -~ A ,.-- >Ii I Ii\ ,PRIOR LAKE CHLORIDE MONITORING RESULTS SAMPLE LOCATION ON CHLORIDE IN mg/L I I 43.4 42.8 39.4 38.7 37.2 40.1 37.2 37.1 36.5 33.1 34.2 33.2 37.2 I I ::\Q R I 42.5 44.3 35.4 40.5 38.9 .39.6 36.3 37.6 43.3 39.1 33.4 30.8 71.3 I r ~?'q I 31.8 30.8 31.6 30.9 31.4 30.8 29.9 30.6 28.4 28.6 28.8 28.5 30.7 I I 3iH ,~1 ,~ 32.2 32.8 32.2 32.4 32.7 31.2 30.9 31.1 31.6.. 30.6 30.5 32.0 -, I ::\::\.11 33.0 33.1 32.8 32.6 32.6 33.1 31.5 31.4 30.6 30.1 30.2 30.2 30.2 I I ;W'R I 36.1 36.0 36.0 34.7 35.4 35.3 32.8 33.2 31.6 31.6 32.2 31.2 33.6 I I I 36.6 37.0 37.9 35.8 35.1 35.8 35.9 32.3 31.8 30.2 31.9 31.7 32.1 33.4 I )1 I ~~.5 52.7 37.3 36.3 34.2 34.6 . 35.8 31.2 33.0 30.6 30.8 30.6 31.6 3Uj , r ::\7Q 44.9 41.7 37.6 38.2 38.0 38.3 34.8 34.4 34.8 34.3. 34.2 34.7 33.8 I 1 r ,~RR 37.6 49.2 36.4 36.6 37.1 36.6 32.7 32.4 32.6 32.6 33.4 33.2 33.6 J 1 . . - 40.3 44.0 45.0 38.6 38.3 37.8 42.9 36.6 36.5 33.8 34.7 34.1 35.9 4l.Y March 1. 2002 39.0 82.0 85.0 35.4 41.3 34.0 39.0 29.7 34.5 33.2 35.5 34.1 36.4 36.8 '--. . --.-.... I I February 24,2001 March 23, 2001 May 1,2001 May 30, 2001 June 29, 2001 July 30, 2001 Je.5 63.2 30.7 31.6 aU.6 32.9 37.6 42.6 30.3 31.7 31.6 33.8 1 : I.. I I I I I Iii i ! i ! i i I i I..! , ! ! ! ! I ! '! i I ~! ! i I 1 I I I I I- I I Iii. i t j i i