Birch Lake Improvement District
2018 Annual Report
Birch Lake is a shallow
suburban lake with an area of 123 acres and a maximum depth of 6 to 8
feet. It is considered to be one of the
healthiest lakes within the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization
(VLAWMO). Concerns over maintaining the
quality of the lake led lake property owners to petition the City of White Bear
Lake to form the Birch Lake Improvement District (BLID) in 2006.
A board of directors elected
by improvement district members governs the Birch lake Improvement
District. Current board members are:
Dale Bacon at large, Ryan Hoops, secretary; Steve Laliberte, chair, Terry
Huntrods, treasurer and Jim Grisim, vice chair.
The board is responsible for implementing the Birch lake Sustainable
Lake management plan. These
responsibilities include carrying out scientific studies on lake water quality,
maintenance of recreational utilization of the lake and communication to the
membership regarding threats to lake quality.
During 2018, the following
activities were carried out by BLID:
The
annual cleanup day was held on May 5, 2018.
Eight residents participated.
City public works provided pickup of the trash bags.
BLID
members continue to participate in VLAWMO Citizen’s Water Monitoring
Program. This involves taking biweekly
lake water samples and making water clarity and lake level readings.
During
winter months, BLID operates an aeration system to prevent complete fish kills
from oxygen depletion. This year the
permit to operate the aerator required specialized training in the operation of
an aeration system.
We
contracted with Blue Water Science to conduct a weed survey prior to
harvesting.
BLID
conducted weed harvesting during August.
Fifty-three acres were cut. The
weed harvester was reconditioned improving cutting bars, cables, and controls.
The twelfth annual BLID
meeting was held on June 20, 2018. Nineteen
of the 62 parcels in the district were represented. The 2019 operating budget of $21,587 was
approved by the membership for submittal to the White Bear Lake City Council. Terry Huntrods was elected to a 3-year term. The next annual meeting is June 19, 2019.
In 2019 the BLID will
continue to maintain the lake through harvesting and aerator operation. We will stock the lake. We will participate in the VLAMO filtration
project on 4th and Otter Lake Rd.
Submitted for the BLID board
by Stephen Laliberte, Chair
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