Fall 2015 Chairman's Corner

By Dale Bacon

The ninth annual meeting of the Birch Lake Improvement district was held on June 17, 2015, at White Bear Lake City Hall.  A near-record 24 district members were in attendance. 

Chairman Bacon reviewed the highlights of 2014 – 2015.  In addition to a review of operational items such as weed harvesting and aerator operation, special emphasis was placed on the following topics.

•   Board members participated in a wide range of conferences, such as the Road Salt Symposium and the Shallow Lakes Conference.  This is all a part of an effort to stay abreast of emerging regulatory and scientific issues. 
•   BLID is supporting VLAWMO to conduct water sampling and analysis to establish a chloride base level for Birch Lake.  This will enable BLID to monitor the lake for potential road salt impacts.
•  The BLID blog site has been updated.  Members were encouraged to visit it at Birchlakeimprovementdistrict.org.  The blog serves as the repository of BLID related information and is upgraded on a regular basis.

The fish survey was completed on September 6, 2014.  It demonstrated that the only fish species impacted by the 2013-2014 winter kill was the largemouth bass.

The lake was stocked with 2,000 largemouth bass on October 16, 2014.  We should see results in 2016!

Special items in the 2015 -2016 plan include updating the BLID’s 2008 Sustainable Lake Management Plan, conducting a lake sediment survey, conducting a member survey, and painting the harvester.

The membership approved the 2016 budget of $13,000.  This will be presented for approval by the White Bear Lake City Council on October 27, 2015.

Tom Merritt was re-elected to a 3-year term on the board.  Tom serves as BLID treasurer.

Following the business meeting, Chip Welling, coordinator of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Invasive Plant Control program, gave a presentation on DNR programs to control aquatic invasive species.