Members
present were Vernon Wilson, John Slaton, Bruce Johnson and Pete Deschenes. One
final review was made of the Proposed Plan that incorporated the changes
provided by Bill Lindenmuth and approved by the full LGA Board. Also reviewed
was the proposed transmittal letter to Dr. Brown, LGWCC; Dr. Richardson, TAG;
and Pete Deschenes, LGSB. Both documents will be forwarded to the Ex. Dir. of
the LGA for distribution.
Additional discussions focused on the future activity of the Committee. The
consensus was that the Weed Committee & the Environment Committee should combine
their resource and membership and become one committee. We will renew these
discussions with the Chair of the Environment Committee.
It was
agreed that the Weed Committee should get on the agenda for the next meeting of
the LGSB & the TAG to formally present the Proposed Plan. John Slaton & Bruce
Johnson will work on updating the backup documentation. It was agreed that as
President of the LGA, John Cataldo should make these presentations. Since John
was not in attendance, there were no objections to this proposal.
Being no
other business, the meeting was adjourned.
LGA Aquatic Weed Committee Meeting - Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The primary focus was to
discuss the revision of the Lake Gaston Association’s Recommended Lake Gaston
Management Plan. It was approved by the Committee and we recommend that the full
Board vote to approve it at our next monthly meeting on November 7.
We would propose that a "friendly" cover letter be sent with this Plan to the
LGSB, the LGWCC and the TAG. I'll be glad to draft the letter after the Plan is
approved by the full Board. We recommend that the letter go out over your
signature.
If you agree with this process, please have Moira forward the attachment to all
Board members so they have an opportunity to review it prior to our next monthly
meeting.
Pete Deschenes
LGA Plan
2007
Lake
Gaston Association
Recommended Lake Gaston
Management Plan
Lake Gaston is heavily
utilized not only by lakeside property owners, but by anglers, boaters, and
other visitors. Vegetation management activities have the potential to
significantly affect (1) access to outdoor activities such as swimming, boating,
skiing, and angling, (2) property values in and around the lake, (3) local
businesses, (4) the county tax base, (5) water quality, (6) the environmental
health of the system, and (7) tourism.
Hydrilla is a highly
invasive aquatic weed, able to propagate by fragmentation, and through tuber and
turion production. The Lake Gaston Association (LGA) recommends the use of
triploid grass carp as the primary effort to control and/or eradicate the
federally listed noxious aquatic weed hydrilla in Lake Gaston. Herbicide
treatments will be used to supplement grass carp based on available funding.
The vegetated acreage of
hydrilla in Lake Gaston has fluctuated annually, but has remained around 3,500
acres. Previously treated areas with herbicides have never been hydrilla free
and therefore the infested acreage is likely to be greater than 8,000 acres
since hydrilla has been observed growing at a depth of 20 feet. “Since 2000,
hydrilla has colonized waters as deep as 15 feet, which would include 40% of the
lake or a potential total acreage of 8,120 acres (John Madsen’s assessment for
2004, 2005, and 2006). There has not been a lake infested with hydrilla which
has successfully controlled hydrilla with herbicides alone. Herbicides are
expensive. They are potentially dangerous, and therefore must be applied by a
licensed applicator in accordance with the label.
Therefore, the LGA
recommends stocking grass carp at a rate of 15 fish per vegetated acre of
hydrilla, based on the Fall Total Lake Survey plus that acreage privately
treated with contact herbicide. That the grass carp are a minimum of 12 inches
in length and be widely distributed in several coves from bridges which would
facilitate off loading. That future stockings be based on a total of 15 fish
per vegetated acre until hydrilla is controlled without the excessive use of
herbicides. The stocking rate should then be reduced 5 fish per vegetated
acreage and released in the area where hydrilla is prevalent.
Herbicide treatment
using public money will consist of only systemic herbicide treatments on
hydrilla in coves where success of reducing the tuber count is achievable. It
is recommended that multiple year treatments be applied to these coves in order
to eliminate tuber count. Contact herbicide and algaecides using public money
would be limited to public boat ramps, dry fire hydrants, and other invasive
vegetation (IE Eurasian watermilfoil, Brazilian elodea, Lyngbya, etc). Since
Eurasian watermilfoil is not the preferred food of grass carp, aggressive
treatment of these areas with contact herbicide is recommended.
Definitions used in this
plan:
Vegetated: The biomass of
plants.
Infested: The area where
there are known tubers which equates to hydrilla.
Acre: Unit of land
measure equal to 43,560 sq ft (about an area 208 ft x 208 ft).
Fall survey: The vegetated
acreage of all aquatic plants in Lake Gaston
Aquatic Weed Committee Meeting
September, 2007
During the past three months the Committee has set its
priorities and acted on a number of issues. The LGA Plan for noxious weed
management ( info on the LGA Website ) has been reviewed and revisited based on
additional information gathered during 2007. Major input came from reports
presented at the South Carolina Aquatic Plant Management Society ( SCAPMS )
annual meeting and current data being generated by Virginia Tech’s grass carp
tagging & tracking study.
The Committee agreed to update and reissue the Plan. The
updated Plan will be available by the first of October. It will then be
presented for consideration to the Lake Gaston Weed Control Council; Lake Gaston
Stakeholders Board and the Technical Advisory Group. The updated Plan will
continue to emphasize the utilization of additional grass carp to a stocking
level of 15 grass carp per vegetated areas and the consideration of considering
this biological tool as the primary tool in the management of hydrilla.
We recognize and appreciate the work of the LGWCC Public
Affairs Committee. We will continue to support their efforts to more effectively
communicate with the Lake property owners. Also, we will continue to coordinate
our responses to specific inquiries from LGA members.
The LGA Website will be updated to include a synopsis of the
SCAPMS meeting and encourage all interested LGA members to review this
information. Also, please note the article in this Bulletin regarding the
activity of the LGA Lake Environment Monitors. A lot of work by a number of
actively engaged volunteers focused on the mission of protecting and improving
the quality of our Lake Gaston
Aquatic Weed Committee Meeting
August 15, 2007
Two members were not present; Bruce Johnson & Calvin
DeShields.
The agenda focused on improved communication with
property owners on the status of various treatment tactics. Wally gave an update
on the grass carp tagging project. Several of the transmitters are no longer
functional, but initial data suggests that the grass carp do not travel far from
the stocking point. The average current log of travel indicates that a couple of
miles is the average. Additional carp will be captured and tagged to get data on
the travel and habits of more mature carp. When Wally gets more info from
Virginia Tech, he will publish a PSA on behalf of the Weed Control Council.
Wally and David Little are working on the LGWCC
website. The intent is to make it more current and eye catching. This would
include giving Wally the flexibility of updating pages without going thru the
webmaster.
The balance of the discussions centered around some
suggests that Bruce Johnson distributed to members via E-mail. These suggestions
were to be included in an update to the LGA Position Paper on weed management.
Bruce is currently attending the S.C. State Weed Council meeting and is hoping
to garner additional input for the Management Plan. The Committee agreed to
table discussions on Bruce's E-mail until Bruce could personally guide us thru
these recommendations. The group is also anxious to hear from Bruce regarding
information coming out of the meeting in South Carolina.
Being no other business, the meeting was adorned.
Pete Deschenes
Aquatic Weed Committee Meeting July 18, 2007
Turn out for
today's meeting was very poor. Two LGA Directors were present, Calvin & Pete.
Fortunately, Bruce Johnson & Wally Sayko were also present.
The Weed Committee
mission statement was reviewed and discussed in some detail. It was agreed to
leave the mission statement as it currently stands.
Bruce discussed the
LGA Weed Management Plan. It was agreed that the Plan was over a year old and
needed to be updated with current information. Bruce agreed to do this with the
help of John Slaton (see what happens when you don't attend a meeting). The
updated Plan should be available for review by the Committee by our next
meeting.
Clarification was
made to a Bulletin article regarding the status of public treatment.
Being no further
business, the meeting was adjourned.
Pete Deschenes
Acting chair
Aquatic Weed Committee Minutes – June 20, 2007
- Bob Etheridge, Chairman, called the meeting to order.
Fred Kneisel, Pete Deschenes, Bill Bryant, Ron George, John Cataldo, Jack
Saunders and Wally Sayko were in attendance.
- Bob brought up an issue from a member regarding
timeliness of notices before hydrilla treatments are performed. The member
was concerned that announcements might not be timely in weekly newspapers and
it was not certain that an individual would see a notice posted on a dock.
The member in question was put into contact with the LGWCC contract applicator
and his issues were resolved.
- Discussion then addressed what recommendation might be
make to the LGWCC Public Affairs committee to improve communications with lake
residents. Several ideas were discussed to improve website content, and
communication with the applicator.
- Pete Deschenes said he had contacted the President of
the LGWCC to determine who might go to the annual South Carolina Aquatic Weed
Conference planned for 15-17 Aug. It was decided that it would be appropriate
for the incoming LGA Weed Committee Chair to attend to represent the LGA.
- Bob thanked all in attendance for their cooperation and
support during his tenure as Chair of the committee. John Cataldo thanked Bob
for his leadership and contributions. Bob’s term expires at the end of the
month.
- There being no further business, the meeting was
adjourned.
Lake Gaston
Assn. Aquatic Weed Committee Minutes: 5/16/07
The Committee met
at the ANPC building in Littleton .
Members present
were: George, Slaton, Cataldo, Saunders, Etheridge, Sayko, Underwood,
Winebrenner.
The meeting was
called to order by Chairman Etheridge at 9 o’clock. He said there were two main
topics he felt needed to be discussed today.
The first was the
report to be given at the annual LGA meeting on June 9 and the second was the
meeting tonight in Brunswick County, Virginia on the proposed weed control
contribution.
Bob will not be at
the annual meeting on the 9th but has asked Tom to give his report.
It would include clarification of the relationship of the LGA and the Lake
Gaston Weed Control Council, which our committee had been asked to do. The LGWCC
has created a Public Relations Committee to keep the residents informed on weed
control activity. The LGA Weed and the LGWCC Public Affairs Committees had a
joint meeting and created a “flow chart” and the following PSA information (I
have a copy of the PSA) to solve both problems and to keep the public better
informed about noxious weeds and their control on Lake Gaston. There will be
further PSA information releases in the future. It was suggested that Chris
Cheek of Professional Lake Management be at the annual meeting to answer
questions about the treatment areas this year. Tom will email him asking him to
attend the meeting/
The Brunswick
County Board of Supervisors meeting this evening at 7pm. at the Brunswick County
Senior High School in Lawrenceville, VA. will deal with the county’s
contribution to the LGWCC for the treatment of noxious weeds in Lake Gaston for
the treatment year 2007.
John Cataldo has
asked six residents from Brunswick County to speak during the public comment
portion of the hearing in favor of the $116,000 requested by the LGWCC from the
five counties bordering the lake. The speakers represent various interests
within the county. The public comment time is scheduled to be held during the
first part of the meeting.
John Slaton said
there will be a meeting at 10 o’clock in Raleigh on May 24 at a place to be
determined with Rob Richardson and Craig Ellison. The meeting will address the
aquatic noxious weed issue. He urged as many members as possible of the LGA and
the LGWCC to attend. He will let us know the place for the meeting as soon as
Rob lets him know.
There being no
further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:05am.
Tom Winebrenner,
Secretary
Lake
Gaston Assn. Aquatic Weed Committee Minutes 4/18/07
The meeting was called to
order by Chairman Bob Etheridge at 9:04 am. The meeting was held at the ANPC
Building in Littleton.
Members present were:
Etheridge, Deschenes, Cataldo, Underwood, and Winebrenner.
Moira asked that she be
given the Weed Committee minutes of November, December, January, February and
March. Tom said he would email them to her.
The Brunswick County
Board of Supervisors was going to meet on April 19, 2007, to discuss the
reduction from $116,000 to $40,000 the amount of money contributed to the Lake
Gaston Weed Control Council to combat noxious weeds. It was urged that all
members of the LGA and the Weed Control Council from that county attend the
meeting to voice their opposition to the proposed cut.
At the LGA annual meeting
on June 9, 2007, in its report the Weed Committee should emphasize the
cooperation with the TAG group, the Stakeholders group and the Weed Control
Council. The flow chart should be included to show the organizations and their
relationship to one another.
Moira asked for the Weed
Committee to have input into the June-July bulletin. John Cataldo agreed to put
something together for her.
Via telephone, Jean
McCarter confirmed the $76,000 reduction was on the Brunswick County agenda for
the 19th. Another budget hearing is to be held on May 16.
Hard copies of the
proposed noxious treatment areas should be made available for the June annual
meeting.
There being no further
business, the meeting adjourned at 9:40 am.
Tom Winebrenner,
Secretary
Lake Gaston Assn. Aquatic Weed Committee Minutes 3/21/07
Members present:: Etheridge, Cataldo, Saunders,
Slaton, Deschenes, Winebrenner
The meeting at the ANPC building was called to
order by Chairman Etheridge at 9 o’clock.
Bob spoke about the Lake Gaston Weed Control
Council approving the “flow chart” put together by Wally Sayko, chair of the
LGWCC Public Affairs committee. The chart showed all of the organizations
interested in the control of noxious weeds on Lake Gaston and their relationship
with each other. Any information submitted for release to the public would be
put on the LGWCC website and the LGA website. It was agreed that all
organizations need to do a better job of communicating with the public at large.
The number of grass carp desired by the Army
Corps of Engineers has not been made public but the LGWCC voted to request 7,720
sterile grass carp be introduced in 2007.
Pete attended a meeting of the North Carolina
Weed Control Council in Raleigh two weeks ago. He feels it would be a good idea
for someone from the LGWCC to attend each one of these meetings. It is an
excellent opportunity to network with people who want to control noxious weeds
as much as we do.
Pete spoke about Duke Energy being more
involved with the condition of their impoundments than Dominion Power was with
theirs. There will be a meeting in South Carolina of their state organization
that controls noxious weed treatments. The meeting will be held on August 15-17
in Myrtle Beach. The registration fee is $80 and the hotel rooms are $80 a
night. He thought it would be a good idea for several people from the LGA and/or
the LGWCC to attend and hear what another state is doing to combat noxious
weeds. It would also provide us another opportunity to network with others with
the same interests.
John Slaton said the speaker for the LGA annual
meeting on June 9, 2007, is Rob Richardson from North Carolina State University.
There being no further business, the meeting
adjourned at 10:05 am.
Tom Winebrenner, Secretary
Lake Gaston Aquatic Weed Committee Minutes of February 21, 2007
The Weed Committee was called to order by
Chairman Bob Etheridge at 9 am. on Wednesday, February 21, 2007.
Members present: Etheridge, Deschenes, Bryant,
George, Cataldo and Winebrenner
Visitors present: Doc Dougherty and Wally Sayko
A lengthy discussion ensued concerning the Lake
Gaston Weed Control Council, its Public Affairs Committee and its relationship
with the LGA Weed Committee. It was agreed that better communication is needed
to inform the public about noxious weeds in Lake Gaston. The general public has
the impression that they are not kept fully informed and this should not be the
case. The local media covers the news well but the public may not like what it
reads and that is why they feel they are not kept informed.
Bob read the draft statement by Jack Saunders
of the role of the LGA Aquatic Weed Committee, the TAG group, the Stakeholders,
and the LGWCC need to cooperate more. Doc feels the perception is the four
organizations are working in opposition to each other rather than cooperating to
solve the noxious weed problem. This perception needs to be changed.
Several others felt the statement was too wordy
and needed to be more concise. The question was asked would a Lake Commission be
the answer?
Wally Sayko agreed to work on a flow chart of
the organizations. The LGA might look at sponsoring several forums to educate
the public about noxious weed control.
Ron George moved, the motion was seconded by
Bill Bryant, to write an updated mission statement and to put together a flow
chart of the four organizations. The motion was adopted..
A discussion took place about the Corps of
Engineers survey. It is estimated that there are now 3,100 infested acres, a
reduction of 800 acres.
The meeting adjourned at 10:15 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Tom Winebrenner, Secretary
