The annual meeting of the Lilly Lake Protection and Rehabilitation
District was held on August 18, 2007 in the Wheatland Town Hall. Jeff
Butler, Bob Herda, Andy Lois, Don Puchalski, Ron Vollmer, Sheila
Siegler, and many lake residents attended. The main topics discussed
were as follows:
Water Tests
The latest water test came in at 26 / 100. That makes two good tests
in a row. The beach can be safely
re-opened. Wheatland tests only the water at the beach. It does not
test further out in the lake or in front of private property. Jennifer
Reed reported a level of 43 / 100 at her property while the beach
tested at 1733 / 100. You can take a water sample to Burlington for a
$20 test.
The Town has been testing the beach water since 1996. Last year was the first time that a problem was detected.
Goose Invasion
During a spring roundup, USDA officials tried to grab the 2 adults and 3 juvenile geese they could find on the lake. The adults flew off, even though it was supposedly molting season when geese can't fly. We did not get charged for the failed capture attempt.
The invasion seems to correspond to the wheat harvest. Andy Lois reported seeing a lot of geese feeding in his fields after the wheat was harvested. They apparently look for water to spend the night. They are now gone. Jack Bobula had to clean up the beach every day during the invasion.
How To Repel the Geese
Purchase artificial (or real) swans or owls?
Any artificial predators may work for a few days, but then the geese
get used to them. Swans are aggressive to geese only when mating and
protecting their young. Swans and geese swam together on the lake
earlier this summer. The DNR is trying to get rid of non-native mute
swans. You have to jump through expensive hoops (like getting the swans
neutered) if you want to keep them on the lake.
Shoot the geese?
Goose season runs September 1 - 15. Ron's grandson is a certified
hunter who is willing to dispatch the geese with a bow and arrow if you
give him permission to go on your property. He will use his own
equipment and give you the gooseburger.
The Town has an ordinance
against shooting close to dwellings. Gun harvesting of geese is
definitely out of the question because of the distances bullets can
travel. There may be a way to get a waiver for bow-and-arrow hunting.
Put a low-voltage electric strip on the swimming pier to give them a
mild zap?
That's really problematical because people use the pier too. The geese
are not just on the pier. They're all over the beach.
Ordinance Against Feeding Geese?
The Town attorney can draw up an ordinance, but then how are you going to catch the feeder? Even if you post signs saying there's an ordinance against something, people don't read the signs.
We may know who the feeder is. We're just waiting for an
ordinance to be able to nail him. And so what if people don't read the
signs? That's their problem. You can still ticket them for the offense.
Weed Control
The weed spraying is less and less effective. The spraying service
said that the lake level was low this spring, which encourages weed
growth. Homeowners disagreed with the perception of low levels. The
service came out
even though water temperature was not optimal because homeowners wanted
them to get started on weed eradication.
Weed harvester: $35,000
We need to purchase a
weed harvester. You can get one with a 4-ft cut that cuts 4 to 5 feet
down for $35,000; that includes the trailer. You could store the
machine at the Transfer Station. You'd also need to get a dump
truck to haul the weeds away and find a farmer who will accept the
weeds. Any pesticide on the weeds may make the weeds unacceptable to
farmers. You'd probably have to cut 3 times per summer (once per
month). Some grant money might be available to help with the cost. You
could also require a $15 to $20 per season sticker for all watercraft
to offset costs.
Weed harvesting: cost is more like $100,000
The $35,000 is just one of the many costs. You have to factor in the
dump truck (Wheatland does not own a truck), insurance, and the salary
of someone who will go around the lake at 3 miles/hour cutting weeds.
Weeds are like grass: you cut them and they come back. Years ago,
someone here at Lilly Lake cut the weeds, and they just came back. At
Pell Lake, they're out every week cutting weeds. At Loon Lake near
Antioch, they're spending roughly $50,000/year to
harvest weeds. The machinery suffers numerous breakdowns.
Permit to cut weeds
The DNR requires a permit to cut weeds. Tom Gerner has asked the DNR to
come out this week to look at the weeds that are topping out to see if
we will be allowed to cut them. The DNR may be sympathetic to getting
rid of the milfoil, as long as you don't harm native weeds. We may be
able to increase the spraying where the milfoil tops out.
Hire someone to cut the weeds?
Two years ago, we contacted Paddock Lake. They were not interested in
providing weed-cutting service. We need to review the situation again
to see if someone would do it for hire.
Dredge the shore areas
When the dredging project was done in the 1970's, they dredged the
middle of the lake first. That dropped the water level near shore, and
the barge could not get in to dredge the shore areas, especially the
area roughly from the Puncochar property to the beach. Dredging is the
real solution. When you chemically treat the weeds, they die and break
down forming muck at the bottom of the lake. The DNR might allow some
cleanup of the north side of the lake.
That won't help. Roughly 70% of the shoreline is badly weedy.
At the time of the dredging, there was an idea to use a small
(8-inch) dredger to circle around the lake and pump continuously. You
could dump the sludge on the Riley property.
Riley offered his property back in the 70's, but the DNR wouldn't
allow the sludge to be put there.
Funding a dredging cleanup
Back in the 70's there was federal and state money to be had, but
that's probably not the case now. Doing a dredging now will not be easy
or cheap.
Paperwork on dredging project?
Who has the paperwork on the original dredging project? The DNR should
have it, but the project was 30 years ago. They may have trouble
finding it. Jennifer Reed will contact the DNR to see if she can get a
copy of that paperwork.
Committee to investigate solutions
Lilly Lake homeowners have to form a committee to investigate solutions
and present them to the District and Town Boards.
Tax Rate
The District tax rate will be about 4 cents per $1000 depending on how the current reassessment comes out.
Engineer Associates of Elkhorn tested feasibility, prepared initial
plans, and got a permit from the Wisconsin DNR. In 1974, Jensen and
Johnson
of Elkhorn took over planning and preparation of environmental impact
statements.
Johnson and Averill of Waukesha completed the design and development of
the whole project. Robers Dredge of LaCrosse did the dredging. Mann
Brothers
of Elkhorn constructed the disposal site.
Back to Lake dredging
A 12-inch cutterhead sucked out muck and weeds. Two miles of welded, 12-inch polyethylene pipe carried sludge to the gravel pits. A booster station around the Riley and Topczewski property helped pump muck up hill. Property owners were paid $0.15/ft per year for a pipeline easement. Some of the muck was also applied to 160 acres of farmers' fields. Farmers got $40/acre/year for the loss of use of their land. After project completion, they got the benefit of decayed organic matter on their fields. People report seeing fish coming out of the pipe at the gravel pit. The entire shoreline was cleaned and graded at completion of the project.
During the dredging, use of the lake was minimal. The shoreline
stretched
out 200 ft in places. You could do a little boating and swimming in the
middle of the lake. One pocket (about 100 ft by 300 ft) on the north
shore
had to be left because the water level was too low to work it. It was
only
in 1980 that the lake filled back out to its present size.
Back to Lake dredging
New muck is accumulating at the rate of about 1/4 inch per year. At that rate, it will be about 200 years before Lilly Lake has to consider another dredging project.
Many thanks to Kathie Cashman for these pictures of the dredging
operation. Note: The full-size
versions of the photos run 150KB to 260KB.
 Dredging rig |
 Lake view 1 |
 Lake view 2 |
 Dredging site in winter |
or
Back to Lake dredging