FUNDRAISING
The next Fundraising mailing is scheduled for mid-May. It was suggested that we apply for a grant to print a new educational pamphlet to be included with the mailing. If the pamphlet is not ready, it was suggested that we include a short paragraph with educational information in the May mailing.
GRANTS
We hope expect to hear about our January grant submissions by our April meeting.
LAKE MANAGEMENT
Lime green algae has been spotted under the surface of the lake. A late algae treatment last October does not seen to have been effective. Algae treatments will start in April or May this year.
DAM UPDATE
Our dam improvement projects was reviewed in a phone call with CT DEEP, our engineer from Haley Ward (Dave Bautista) and Dean Williams. DEEP was appreciative that Dave had a pre-meeting with them last Fall. They were very complimentary about the thoroughness of our submission. All questions DEEP had have been answered. DEEP will do a site visit between 3/17 and 3/31. DEEP stated this is a fairly simple project. They will review it for a few weeks and give an initial conclusion. At that time, we can submit to the Army Corps of Engineers. The plan is for any changes DEEP may require to have been incorporated in the plans before submitting to the Army Corps. This makes things go faster. Final approval from DEEP should be in 6 months or less. DEEP was informed about our strong desire to start the project in September 2025. One problem that might arise is a delay due to Federal staffing cuts by DOGE.
One final thing that needs to be done is spec sheets which specify exactly how much and what kind of material we need for the dam project. Dave Bautista from Haley Ward promised them by 3/13. MLIF cannot get bids from contractors without them. MLIF has contacted two contractors. The Town requires at least three. MLIF will contact Jake Muller, Town Project Director, for additional names of contractors.
MISCELLANEOUS
Ellen reported on a conference by the CT Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) about invasive aquatic plants, especially Hydrilla. Greg Bugbee, Principal Investigator, is monitoring all lakes for Hydrilla using satellites and drones. He will come in person if someone reports Hydrilla. Hydrilla came from aquarium plants and is highly invasive. It is currently making the CT River un-navigable in places. It will probably show up around our boat launch first if it comes here. The best remedy is native plants. Pond and Lake Connection (PLC), our lake management company, will monitor for it. CT Federation of Lakes has a poster with Hydrilla information. It was suggested to shrink the poster to letter size so it can be sent out with a Fundraising mailing.
Greg Bugbee does lake surveys. Recent ones for Mamanasco Lake were in 2005, 20012, and 2016. We will contact him to do a survey in 2026. He was already booked for 2025.
NEXT MEETINGS
There will not be a Board meeting in April.
The May Board meeting will be on May 1, 2025 at 7:30pm in the CVS Community Room.
The date of June 19 was suggested for our Annual Meeting at 7pm with location TBD. It was suggested that Greg Bugbee come to speak about invasive plants and what the CT Agricultural Experiment Station does. Another possibility is someone from PLC. There was a discussion about how to get more Mamanasco watershed residents involved with the MLIF Board. It was suggested to apply for a T-Mobile grant for increasing community awareness. We will discuss these ideas at the next meeting.
