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James Deamud, Chairman Denton Township 366-8032 Dick Pastula, Secretary
Verle Wetherwax
Charles Van Duser Carl L. Geiger Sheridan Cole Jay Sandow Diana Klemans - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alternates
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Houghton Lake Improvement Board PO Box 843 Houghton Lake, MI 48629 Phone : (989) 422-5915 Fax: (989) 422-2207 email: milfoil@mail.com The Jan. 23, 2001 meeting was called to order by Chairman Jim Deamud at 7:00 PM at the Denton Township meeting hall. Present were Jim Deamud, Dick Pastula. Verle Wetherwax, Charles Van Duser, Carl Geiger, Sheridan Cole, Jay Sandow and Diana Klemans Chairman Deamud introduced the special guests in attendance. They were: State Representative Rick Johnson, the new Speaker of the House, and State Representative Jason Allen from the 104th District, and
Mr. James J. Turner, Regional Representative for U.S. Senator Carl Levin, and Mr. Thomas Smith, District Representative for U.S. Congressman Dave Camp. Roll of the newly appointed alternates was called. Present were Diane Randall, Bob Gandolfi, Don House, Harland Boik and Roman Pacella. Jim Deamud commented on the concern and involvement of the community in that all the members and all local alternates were in attendance. Total individuals at the meeting was 72. A special thanks was directed to Elizabeth Fortino and the Houghton Lake Merchants Association who provided the public address system for this meeting. And a special thanks to Jeri Bushong of the Secretary of State’s office and Denton Township officials that made special arrangement to allow us to meet here during the construction of the addition to the SOS offices.
Board members were asked for additions to the agenda and the evenings speaker, Mr. Charles Uhlarik from the Corps of Engineers was introduced. A short discussion followed, clarifying that the $75,000 grant arranged for by Senator Levin went to the Corps of Engineers to cover the costs of performing work for the HLIB. Those planning costs will not have to be matched by the board. Chairman Deamud stated that the minutes of the previous meeting had been forwarded to all board members and to the four township clerks and asked if there were any additions or corrections. Hearing none, a motion to approve the minutes as presented was made and seconded. Motion carried. Secretary report was called for. Pastula reported that in addition to the faxed and emailed copies of the minutes that were going to all board members, clerks and those individuals who had specifically requested copies, that the minutes and meeting notices were being posted on the county web site. Currently there are 31 faxed copies and 56 emailed copies being distributed. Treasurers report: Bank account at $1,000 received from the four townships as start up funds and bill in the amount of $200 for the Assessment training that board members attended and $84.21 for office supplies and postage. Bills were reviewed and approved for payment. Mr. Charlie Uhlarik started his presentation with the distribution of a printed hand out of all the slide projections that he was going to review. The first part of the presentation covered the changing direction of the Corps activities. He reviewed the environmental history of the Corps and it’s current efforts to balance economic and environmental needs. He reviewed points regarding the Corps involvement in stewardship, remediation, regulatory and restoration of our national environment. The Houghton Lake Aquatic Plant Management Plan is authorized under Public Law 106-554, signed December 21, 2000. This plan, authorized under the amendment to the bill supported by Senator Carl Levin, is to focus on eurasian milfoil control in Houghton Lake. The cost of development of the plan will be born by the Corps of Engineers. There will be a 2 day workshop conducted at a location yet to be determined in the spring of 2001. The principal facilitator will be Dr. Kurt Getsinger, Chemical Control Team Leader for the COE, Aquatic Plant Control Research Program. Participants in the workshop will be members of the (1) Research & Development Center, U.S. Army (2) Army Corps of Engineers, (3) Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, (4) The Houghton Lake Improvement Board and (5) Public sectors representatives. Mr. Uhlarik reviewed the various chemical, biological and mechanical means that would be reviewed before a plan could be developed. Other considerations in plan development are management goals for short term, 1-2 years – the quick removal of milfoil and long term, 5 to 10 years, which would stop milfoil from being a nuisance. Other factors to be considered will be watershed impact of nutrients loading into the lake and limnological (soil nutrients base) in the lake. Additionally, the historical and present nature of the aquatic plant community along with the ecological impacts associated with the implementation of management techniques on water circulation, temperature and pH will be evaluated. The tentative schedule is: 1. Selection of workshop participants Feb 2001 2. Background info to participants Mar 2001 3. Two day workshop May 2001 4. Workshop info to authors for drafting Jun 2001 5. Draft Plan to reviewers Aug 2001 6. Draft Plan to HLIB for public comment Sep 2001 and adoption The cost of implementing the plan will be carried by local tax payers, possible state funding and the Federal Government depending on the availability of federal program funds. The principal federal funding program is Section 206 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) which call for a 65% - 35% federal – local match. There is also Section 602a that requires a 75% - 25% federal- local match. However, the eligible communities are listed in the Act and Houghton Lake is not listed. In the Q & A that followed the presentation, Mr. Turner of Senator Levin’s office asked for clarification and restatement of the Act, Section and match requirements. He also asked about project funding limitations and the need for directed legislative authority. Mr. Uhlarik stated that he didn’t believe that directed legislative authorization was necessary and that the Houghton Lake project should be considerably under the Corps cap. Mr. Uhlarik again stated that the management plan development and execution will happen in accordance with the noted schedule and that this community can be assured that it will be comprehensive and complete. He was advised that ReMetric’s had done considerable data collection in the lake in Sept/Oct of 2000 and asked to contact that firm with the hope of speeding up the process. Diana Klemans ask for and received assurance of continued Corp involvement during the public hearings required under the HLIB authorizing legislation. In response to a question from the audience, it was stated that the minutes and notices were not being published in the newspaper because of cost. They are being faxed and emailed and in the future will be made available at the Houghton Lake library.
No further business to be conducted, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.
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