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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/21/94 MINUTES OF THE LAKE ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 21,1994 1. CALL TO ORDER: The Lake Advisory Committee meeting was called to order on Wednesday, September 21, 1994 at 6:36 p.m. by Chair Jody Stroh. Members present were: Jody Stroh, Bill Packer, Pete Patchin, Tom Watkins and John Wingard. City staff present were City Engineer Larry Anderson and Water Resources Coordinator Lani Leichty. Public attendees were Mr. and Mrs. David Hunt. II. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING. MOTION BY WATKINS, SECONDED BY WINGARD, TO APPROVE THE AUGUST 17, 1994 MINUTES. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. III. EURASIAN MILFOIL UPDATE: Three members of the LAC, Stroh, Watkins and Wingard. Watershed District Manager Jerry Meysembourg and Leichty from City Staff attended a Eurasian Milfoil Workshop on Saturday. September 17, 1994. There was a discussion as to what was learned at the workshop and how that knowledge could be applied to the treatment of milfoil in Prior Lake. Watkins mentioned that it was a good workshop and that the next LAC meeting should be devoted to spending time addressing a plan of action for 1995's treatment of milfoil and how to best use the remaining money the District has. lnfornlation highlights from the workshop mentioned at the LAC meeting were: Methods of control are chemical. mechanical and biological. The DNR currently won't allow the use of Sonar as a treatment method. Milfoil needs light. space and nutrition to thrive. Milfoil receives its' nutrients primarily out of the sediments. . There will be good and bad years for milfoil growth depending upon many environmental factors. MUfoil. once it is established, tends to grow quickly in the beginning stages of its career until it peaks. then it levels off and eventually reaches a stage of decline, which can take 10 to 20 years to occur. The herbicide 2,4-D will kill off dicotyledon plants (two seedlets). but will not haml monocotyledons (one seedlet). Milfoil is a dicot. Planting monocot plants after treating an area with herbicide and continuing to apply herbicide to the sanle area is one method of treatment. Meysembourg of the Watershed District will be invited to participate in this discussion at the next LAC meeting. Leichty agreed to compile infomlation gathered from the workshop into a summary fomlat which will be distributed to each member for the next meeting. IV. PRIOR LAKE PUBLIC ACCESSES: The next topic of discussion was the Lake Access Study Report. Leichty showed the committee several changes that were made in the report. These changes included: revising the Scenic Overlook definition; adding "obtain a drainage easement" 4629 Dakota St. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 4474230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER to the suggested classification for Lime Road-South; and adding verbage explaining which lots in Red Oaks have had the waterfront vacated in the past. The committee then went through the report section by section and recommended the following changes: Add page numbers to the report. Winter access definition: add DNR's definition of motorized vehicles to clarify the allowed vehicle use of this defmition. 2) Lime Road-South access: change "obtain a drainage easement" to "reserve a drainage easement" . 3) Terrace Circle-South access: add "remove the snowmobile sign" to the suggested classification. 4) Eighth Street access: change the suggested classification to vacate a portion of the right-of-way and consider constructing a storm water quality pond at the end of the storm sewer outlet. 6) Terrace Circle-North access: change suggested classification from "Vacate" to "Scenic Overlook" . 10) Quaker Trail access: change "obtain a drainage easement" to "retain a drainage easement" . 11) Lords Street access: suggested classification will be "Winter Access". Add the list of issues that were discussed during the LAC meeting to the report. 17) Cove Avenue access: change the suggested classification wording on vacation to "Vacate a strip of land between the pavement and waterfront. Vacate the remaining waterfront back to the lot owners of Kneafsey Cove and maintain the public roadway;". 18) Flint Road access: change the first sentence in the suggested classification to read "Vacate a strip of land between the roadway and waterfront". 19) Lot 34 of Red Oaks: add "retain a drainage easement at the end of Red Oaks Road". DNR Public Access Recommendation: Add the following to section 2, "E. Consider constructing a city marina at Lakefront Park, revenue could be generated from the marina by leasing boat slips and through gas sales. Issues section: At the end of the fourth paragraph add the following, "The DNR would like to be notified before the City vacates any of the sites listed in this report". The Summary section will be revised to reflect the recommendation of changes listed above. The committee was directed by City Administration to provide a recommendation for the Lords Street Access to be included in the report. Leichty provided the committee a list of pros and cons for keeping the access open and a map showing the winter accesses and the historical open water areas on the lake in the winter. The issue of safety for ice fishermen traveling to the deepest part of lake, next to the Lords Street Access, was mentioned. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt commented that they were very concerned about the safety of the neighborhood in this area due to the extra traffic volumes caused by the use of this access in the winter. Hunt said that they have spent a considerable amount of money trying to resolve this issue and are strongly in favor of seeing this access closed permanently. Mrs. Hunt said that she was nearly hit by a vehicle coming off the lake at this access. There was lengthy discussion of safety at this access. Those present realized that whichever way the members chose to vote on this issue that it was not the final outcome, Council would ultimately have the final say in the decision. PATCIDN MADE A MOTION TO RECOMMEND THE LORDS STREET ACCESS AS A WINTER ACCESS AND TO ADD THE LIST OF PROS AND CONS TO THE REPORT, WINGARD SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION PASSED WITH THREE AYES, ONE NAY AND ONE MEMBER ABSTAINING. V. SURFACE WATER USE REPORT Packer mentioned that the committee should work with the Scott County Sheriffs Department this winter about getting more buoys placed in hazardous areas and areas that have had repeated problems on the lake. . 2 '" ---~~"-'-"'-'" -,- .,--,.,.---"~~,.."..-..,.~".~~--,,_.,..,~--_._.._~---..---------~..,--"---_..~ VI. OTHER BUSINESS The LAC will address the committee's goals and objectives for 1994 at the next meeting to see if any outstanding issues need to be addressed before the end of the year. VII. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Patchin, seconded by Watkins to adjourn the meeting at 8:45 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, ~~ Recording Secretary The next LAC meeting is scheduledfor Wednesday, October 19,1994 at 6:30 p.m. LACM9.ENG 3 ~lWWmobjle5 : x fee (: 5f?ul t-mli:- ~ IOrn(Jh C[jke5J <:i' hed'>t3 tK ton::;kt-.. jIJOW/11r1:>i/e. 51~n. tv R.efYlo.}r. G' T~o.CL- c,yJe 5pNhJ Lake- ~/}lrLcJ flul - LACEMP EURASION MILFOIL MANAGEMENT PLAN SUGGESTIONS 1. EACH COMMUNITY IS IN THE LEARNING PHASE OF MILFOIL TREATMENT. 2. WE SHOULDN'T BITE OFF TO BIG OF CHUNK AT ONCE. A METHOD OF TREATMENT, OR SEVERAL, SHOULD BE DECIDED UPON AND TRIED ON AN EXPERIMENTAL BASIS. THE METHOD CHOSEN SHOULD BE CAREFULLY OBSERVED OVER TIME IN THE FIELD TO SEE HOW EFFECTIVE IT IS. 3. TEST AREAS SHOULD BE IDENTIFIED AS THOSE AREAS TO BE TREATED AND MONITORED. 4. ONCE A METHOD HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS EFFECTIVE, LARGER AREAS CAN THEN BE TREATED USING THIS METHOD. 5. NEW METHODS OF TREATMENT SHOULD BE KEPT AWARE OF AND INCORPATED INTO THE MANAGEMENT PLAN IF THEY SEEM TO BE A VIABLE OPTION. SUMMARY NOTES EURASIAN WATER MILFOIL WORKSHOP DNR - Chip Welling: - Only one lake was added to the list of eradication in 1994. - Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM) is a perennial plant, it was - First discovered at Lake Minnetonka in 1987. - Realistic management of EWM is not eradication, but control of growth. - EWM displaces native plants and reduces dissolved oxygen concentrations. - EWM gets most of its nutrients primarily out of the sediments; oxygen, phosphorous, etc. - Reservoirs are typically some of the worst places for milfoil, because there were no native species prior to its beginning, it was a man made basin. Rationale of DNR in '93-'94: - Can only work on a limited number of lakes. - Looking for additional funding. What is the DNR doing? 1) Public Awareness, 2) Inventory, 3) Control, 4) Research -High priority sites in 1994 were those with little or no infestation, low priority sites were those heavily infested. -DNR will have at least $100 K in 1995 to spend for control. Cooperators: Soil Consv. Districts, Cities, Watersheds, Lake Assoc. Responsibilities of cooperators: -Conduct Assessment -Submit proposal of work to be done -Contract work to be done -Pay for work Types of control work: - Public accesses. - Control that will be benefit more than one lake shore owner. - Channels, from shore to off-shore. Work that will not likely be done by lake shore owners. Methods of control: - Herbicide; 2,4-0 - Mechanical harvesting - Hand pulling Alternate herbicides: - Garlon 3A - earliest application would be fall of 1995 - Sonar or fluridone - DNR has an on going study and will not allow the use of Sonar until the study is over, if then. The study should run through 1996. Why is there a decline of milfoil abundance over time? Possible causes: - Nutrient depletion from sediments; nitrogen and phosphorous can be taken out quicker than they are laid down. - Over time loose gooey material is deposited on the lake bed, which is hard for the EWM plant to derive nutrients from. - Shading from silt and plants that grow on milfoil. - Parasites or pathogens: Diseases caused by fungi or microorganisms. - Harvesting/herbicides. - Toxin accumulation, material build-up from plant decay. - Climatic fluxuations; has there been a lot of rain?, sediments in the water, etc? - Competition from other macrophytes. - Herbivory. -- I ,- Army Corp of Engineers - Craig Smith, Ph.D. Biology of Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM), unique characteristics: 1) Its very weedy and can spread very rapidly. 2) It has a highly plastic growth form, it adapts to the environment that it grows in. - Tends to its stems long enough to get its biomass up at the surface. - Northern milfoil doesn't grow quite as large a canopy as EWM does. - There will be good years for milfoil growth and bad years. ~ ~ ~ ~ :::s ~ "" ~ I,(J TIME. (/0-20 ~g.s) Factors contributing to the success of milfoil growth. - Fertility: Nuisance growths of the plant are primarily restricted to fertile lakes or fertile locations in less fertile lakes. - Disturbance: Invasion is facilitated when disturbances open up habitat suitable for aquatic plants. - Human Activities: These activities spread the species between lakes. There's an apparent relationship between management and EWM persistence. , - EWM is good at invading new habitat areas, those that have been disturbed. - Rota-tilling is essentially making good growing beds for EWM. - When using herbicides you need to be selective, if all plant life is killed off it can make a good bed for EWM. - The main means of spreading milfoil is by human activity. - You can't stop the spread of EWM entirely. - There are no quick fixes for EWM management. Management Techniques: - The least disturbance is the best. - Evaluate the risks to the water body before doing anything. Maybe doing nothing is the best thing to do. - Implications for management; a long term outlook is needed, you will not be able to eradicate EWM completely. Is there a best water temperature to treat at?, month?, etc. - 10 degrees Celsius or - 50 degrees Fahrenheit. - April and May are good months to treat, EWM tends to die back some in the fall. - 2,4-D is a plant herbicide. In high concentrations it makes the plant respire more quickly, using up most of its reservoir of nutrients. - Once EWM gets established in eutrophic lakes (Le., Upper Prior Lake), it can be a worse problem than in oligotrophic lakes (Le., clear lakes). In the study done by the watershed in 1993 the lakes had the following trophic status: - Spring Lake: eutrophic-hypereutrophic category - Upper Prior Lake: eutrophic-hypereutrophic category - Lower Prior Lake: mesotrophic category Definitions: Oligotrophic - clear, low productivity lakes, nutrient poor. Mesotrophic - intermediate productivity lakes. Eutrophic - high productivity lakes relative to a basic natural level, nutrient rich. Professor - Mr. Ray Newmann .-- Control Methods: 1) Mechanical 2) Chemical 3) Biological Biological Control: could take 10 to 15 years to become established. Classical method: -concern - create new problems -costly and time consuming Native & Naturalized method: -enhance local native controls -may not be adopted -less likely to create new problems The potential for biological control of EWM with native and naturalized invertebrates; Aim: To see if potential control agents have been identified elsewhere. Insect Control: -Caterpillar -Midge -Weavil Some leaf damage does occur, but not to a significant degree. Ed Miller- Feasibility of Replacing EWM with Native Species. -Try to maintain the diversity of the lake. If you kill off everything, then what will grow in its place? Replant an area with native vegetation, deny the space to EWM. -Oicot: plant with 2 seedlets, broadleaf plants. -Monocot: plant with 1 seed let. -EWM is a dicot plant. When you spray weeds you use 2,4-0. -Spray EWM with 2,4-D; then follow with a planting of monocots. A year or two later hit the same area again with 2,4-D, which won't kill monocots. -White Bear Lake used 2,4-0 at 100 Ibs/acre and found that Chara worked well as a planting to keep down EWM. -How many bags of seeds should you plant per acre to regrow native vegetation? The recommended amount from the nursery. Gene Geller (Dentist) - Waconia -They used divers to search for EWM. -All of the divers were volunteers. They used "Wanted" posters to search for new recruits. -The best application rate of 2,4-0 for them was 80 Ibs/acre at 55 degrees F. in the spring and fall. 90% of the time they used "Aqua-Clean". -They do field checks every spring and fall. If an area is sparse they use divers to hand remove EWM, 2 hours per diver. -How did they keep their divers? Through free, updated training. Kept the divers times restricted to avoid burnout, and gave gift certificates to ones with 5 dives. -They used 50% chemicals and 50% divers for treatment. Buddy Diving Services - Bud Miller -He will be using Global Positioning System (GPS) in the future to map locations of EWM. -Coast Guard may be initiating a radio beacon base station, which would obtain stationing on-the-f1y with a hand held device. -Legislative Commission of Minnesota Resources (LeMR) won't support the use of chemicals in the lakes! -Sonar: Concerns are about effects on lake eco-regions. LACEWM.ENG