Alpine Lake Informational Meeting — Minutes

1 June 1, 2024 Marion Town Hall Informational Meeting PRESENT: Chris Schroeder (Chairman) Michael Baranowski John Manion (Interim Secretary) Eric Trater Mary Sue Braun (Treasurer) Jason Kundinger (Lake Management) GUEST: Rich - Organic Settlement Removal Systems Approximately 26 Lake Alpine Residents • Meeting called to order at 8:34 a.m.– Chris Schroeder • Pledge of Allegiance • Chris asked if there were any questions regarding the last board meeting minutes? No questions so Chris made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Mary Sue Braun and Michael Baranowski. Motion Approved. • Treasurer’s report – Mary Sue reported the checking account is now at $24,560.49. Government investment pool is at $117,530.33. We are now out of CD’s and all of our investments are in the Government Investment Pool (averaging 5.25%) as the rate of return is higher than CDs are offering. Our total assets are $142,091.02. No questions were asked by the attendees. Chris made a motion to approve the Treasurers Report, seconded by Michael Baranowski. Motion approved. • Lake Management Update by Jason Kundinger o Lake Management Plan was reviewed and additional comments were submitted to the WDNR on May 24th. The total cost of the plan submitted was $5,000. Additional costs were for Aquatic Plant Mapping was $1,300 and the update to the 5-Year Plan was $760. o If there are any comments from the WDNR we will have to approve the plan and send it to Waushara County and the Town of Marion. Once approved this plan will be valid until late 2029. This plan starts immediately after WDNR approval. o Jason discussed the mapping and weed sampling of the lake and explained how the sampling was performed and rated. Weed species are identified and the report lets us know which areas of the lake we need to focus on. Milfoil areas of concern are in the south bay, west of the park, and in the upper channels. There is a high density of curly leaf pond weed in the upper channels making it difficult to navigate boats in there. The early weed growth is likely attributable to the warmer than usual weather. o Treatment is scheduled and approved starting June 10 th and the first cutting will be the week of June 17th. There is a second cutting in late August and possibly another in mid- July but that cost would be double our usual cost but it could actually do almost double the cutting. 2 o There are 3 dominant invasive weed species in the lake and treatment is adjusted to control this. Treatment is only done in the navigation lanes. Treatment does not kill the weeds as it will grow back next year. To kill the weeds, they would have to be removed by the roots. o Question was asked if the lake couldn’t have been sprayed earlier and minimized the weed growth? Jason explained the treatment has to be scheduled in advance and that is based on the typical water temperature. If we sprayed when the water temperature was too low, it would be ineffective. Plus, we have to wait for the permit to be approved first. We are actually spraying the lake 3 weeks earlier this year than last year. • Geese Remediation Update by Michael Baranowski o We were able to eliminate 48 eggs, mostly on the islands and a couple on shore. o There were 13 eggs that were not sprayed, most of which we could not find. Six of the eggs were on property we were denied permission to enter. o It was an early spring and the permit was early too so there was a second hatching and a couple of them were missed. o There are 16 adult geese that were counted on the lake and this is down substantially from four years ago. o The timeframe for this process has expired but if you should see a nest, please let Michael know where it is. o Pink flags can be removed now. o Member asked if it is possible to get a permit to hunt on the lake? Michael said that it may be possible to hire someone to hunt the geese and the cost is up to $3,000. Member replied her son would do it for free. o One member said we need to stop feeding the geese. Most members have never heard of doing this. o Chris said he has a couple email contacts at the DNR who he could forward questions to. They will not attend our meetings but we can still ask them questions. Perhaps they can answer the inquiries about hunting the geese? • Muck Removal Update o Chris said Tom Wood gave him a contact name at NewTech Bio and Chris called him for information on the process and the cost of their muck removal process. o The process is applying buckets of pellets over a 2–3-year timeframe with no guarantees. o Cost is $205/bucket, 4 buckets per acre. You would likely only use this on the shoreline, not the entire lake. The product is delivered for free but we would have to store it and apply it. He estimated the total cost for the lake would be $45-$50 thousand dollars. o The rep said people can do this on their own. He recommended we trial it in a specified area and see if it works for us. • Rich from Organic Sediment Removal Systems o Rich explained in detail their process for removing much in lakes and ponds around the country. They have been in business for 35 years and do large and small projects. o They measure the amount of sediment in various areas of the lake to determine how much should be removed. He said we could do the measuring and explained how. o They use diver dredging, use hydraulic pumps for removal, bring in barges with large augers, etc. He said the best way to remove much is the hydraulic method. This entails using barges. He said they’d want to do 5-10 acres at a time to make it more cost- effective but they can do target areas instead of the entire lake. o It would be our responsibility to obtain permits. He recommended hiring a firm to work with this. o Cost would vary on size of area but is usually about $30/liquid cubic area. This comes out to about $35,000 to remove one foot of sediment on one acre, excluding all additional costs [permits, dump costs, storage bins cost ($8,500 each), disposal costs, etc]. o This process can be done April through September. o Most lakes accumulate 12 inches of organic material (muck) every 20-25 years. 3 o One member asked what effect muck has on weed growth? Does removing muck reduce the weed growth? Rich explained that aerating the bottom of the lake would naturally decompose the material. o How narrow of an area can you work on? Rich said he can do channels as narrow as 8 feet. He can do small areas and uses different equipment depending on the size of the project. o Rich felt that cutting weeds was not cost effective because the weeds aways return. o A member asked if having city sewer would help the lake? Rich said the impact would be very minimal as the septic systems are sealed and have little impact on the lake. o Are grants available for a muck removal project? Yes, but plan to use a professional grant writer to work on this. Linda Payne just forwarded an email with a list of a couple available grants. Chris said he has some experience writing grants but it is a vast undertaking. o Chris noted the importance of looking into all member suggestions and evaluate what makes the most sense and what is within our budget. o A member suggested that people could put muck mats along their property line as they have been approved by the DNR. o A member would like us to do a trial area to see if the process works for muck material. Chris said we would discuss this. o Another member asked about using some aerators in the lake to see if this would help? • Public Comments o Chris got a call about asking if there is interest in getting Bugtussle, a fiber-optic line, to our homes? It is a line that goes to each home and costs $2/foot to run to your home. Enough lake members would have to sign up to make it worthwhile. Another member heard that a larger carrier is going to buy out Bugtussle so she said just wait until that occurs, if it does. o Pontoon boats have been violating the No Wake rule on the lake again. A member said he would put in and take out any buoys we put in the lake. Or perhaps put signs up? Especially on the islands. Some feel Airbnb boaters don’t know the rules? Others feel it is our residents who are the worse violators. Eric Trater explained how he requires his guests to sign off on following the lake rules. o Bill Elliott said the DNR would not allow the We Really Kare Fishing Club to plant minnows this year. Instead, they will release 400 walleyes. • Motion to adjourn at 9:55am made by Chris, seconded by Eric. Motion Approved.