7. Staff Report-BMLA Letter of SupportSCANDIA
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: February 4, 2015
To: City Council
From: Kristina Handt, Administrator
Re: Big Marine Lake Association letter of Support
Background:
Washington County received $202,000 from the state for aquatic invasive species prevention aid.
They used a request for Proposals in January. Michael Blehert, President of the Big Marine Lake
Association (BMLA), contacted me this week for a resolution/letter of support for their grant
application.
Applications are due to the County February 18t11. After that date (Feb 18-March 6) the County
will share a list of all applicants in a jurisdiction with each City Council and ask for feedback.
So we can either comments with the application or afterwards.
Issue:
Should the City provide a letter of support to the Big Marine Lake Association for Aquatic
Invasive Species Prevention grant?
Proposal Details:
BMLA is requesting a $10,800 grant to pay for a study that will provide data to help manage AIS
in BML and funds to support a new treatment protocol. Since Big marine Lake is the largest
recreation lake in the City, they are also seeking support from the Lakamaga Girl Scout Camp,
Vet's Camp, Washington Cty Big Marine Park and the Watershed District. Eurasian Water
Milfoil (EWM) was discovered in BML in 2004. It was reported to the DNR by scuba divers,
but property owners did not learn of this until 2009. That's when the BMLA was formed. The
pattern in lakes similar to BML is for EWM to populate the lake within six years. The DNR is
quite pleased that the EWM in BML is still under good control after 11 years. In 2014, there
was only 38.6 acres all in the same general areas as in 2009. Considering that the lake is 1800
acres and about 800 of those acres can support EWM, the BMLA's efforts to control the EWM
have been very successful. Their objective for the next two years is to reduce the EWM to less
than 10 acres. Additional background is provided in the resolution approved by the BMLA
included in your packet.
Fiscal Impact:
The BMLA is not seeking any funding from the City, just a letter of support for their grant
application. Funds would come from Washington County as provided by the state.
Options:
1) Provide a letter of support
2) Wait until March work session to provide comments to the County on all applications in
Scandia
Recommendation:
Option 1.