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3.h Discussion on request for letters of support for Washington County Aquatic Invasive Species grants Staff Report Date of Meeting: February 6, 2019 To: City Council From: Neil Soltis, City Administrator Re: Letter of support for Big Marine Lake Association grant Background: Mike Blehert. President BMLA is again applying for an Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) grant from Washington County and is seeking a letter of support from the City of Scandia. Issue: Should the City provide support to the BMLA grant request? Proposal Details: The following information was provided by Mike regarding the 2018program and plans for 2019. The BMLA has employed two methods to kill EWM during the last four years; multiple herbicide treatments in one day by PLM (contract applicator) and spot treating by the BMLA. PLM's treatment of areas larger than 1/2 acre and the BMLA’s spot treating of smaller areas combined with root ball injection of single or small plant groupings have enabled the BMLA to reduce EWM acreage in BML from 40 acres in 2014 to 5.5 acres at the end of 2018. But, in 2019 we’ll have a third tool or method since PLM will apply a new herbicide to more effectively kill EWM, especially in areas smaller than 1/2 acre. Some of the 5.5 acres of EWM found at the end of 2018 is in very small 0.2 to 0.3 acres spots, too small for PLM to treat effectively since herbicide drifts away from small plots. The BMLA has spot treated these small areas and returned several times duri ng the year to treat surviving EWM. At best, this has been 50% effective. The new herbicide, introduced for limited use in 2018 is called Procellacor and it has several advantages over the herbicides used to date. The dwell time to kill EWM can be as low as six hours compared to 24 hours for other herbicides, the amount applied is only about one gallon instead of 25 gallons/acre and there are no swimming or fishing restrictions. The only applicator approved by the manufacturer is PLM and they only acce pted a few contracts in 2018 to test and learn how to apply and control the dose. PLM will again be the only approved applicator in 2019 and with our approval, they plan to use this new product on the small plots of EWM in BML. Procellaor is approved by the appropriate regulatory agencies and the MNDNR. If it works well, and the work in 2018 should help insure success, then the odds of the BMLA achieving our long term goal to reduce EWM in BML to less than five acres will greatly increase. I also want to thank you and the City of Scandia for funding increased boat inspections at BML and Bone Lake in 2018 and again in 2019. A copy of the letter approved by the Council in 2018 is attached. Options: 1. Approve a Letter of Support for the 2019 grant 2. Take no action on the request for a Letter of Support Recommendation: Option 1 – Approve the Letter of Support 14727 209 th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073 Phone (651) 433 -2274 Fax (651) 433 -5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us February 7, 2019 Maureen Hoffman Washington County Public Health and Environment 14949 62nd Street North Stillwater, MN 55082 Dear Ms. Hoffman, The City of Scandia supports the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District (CLFLWD) in its proposal for preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) through the implementation of watercraft inspections on Bone Lake and Forest Lake. The CLFLWD’s current proposal follows four consecutive years of successful AIS Prevention proposals to perform watercraft inspections in Washington County. Forest Lake is currently infested with four distinct AIS: zebra mussels, curly-leaf pondweed, Eurasian watermilfoil and a variant of flowering rush that produces viable seeds. Bone Lake is infested with Eurasian watermilfoil and curly-leaf pondweed. This proposed project would be a significant step in preventing the spread of all of these species, especially zebra mussels and flowering rush. Forest Lake’s high recreational popularity makes AIS spread prevention a key part of protecting surrounding waterbodies including Bone Lake. Bone Lake is not currently infested with zebra mussels, and the City of Scandia supports efforts to keep it that way for as long as possible. We fully support this project and hope the grant proposal is well received. Sincerely, Christine Maefsky, Mayor City of Scandia