December update

Season's Greetings,

It's been a while since my last update.  Our lake neighbors John Cretzmeyer and Barb Jacobson have been in print lately for their extravagant Christmas lights.  This is their last year.  If you haven't driven past their house on the west side of the lake in the last 10 years, you need to do it. It is spectacular.

I took this photo a few years ago.

(click on photo to enlarge)

The White Bear Lake water level lawsuit appears to have taken the next step.  The city of White Bear Lake still needs to sign off at their next council meeting.  Funding is going to be interesting.  Lots of money involved.  Basically, the agreement is to use the Mississippi River for the water source, instead of city wells.  The state legislature needs to deal with the funding.  The latest from the Press Publication is here.

I had an interesting discussion with lake resident Ted Jagger about the WBL water level problem.  Many of you may remember a few years ago that there was a company tasked with running a sewage treatment pipe past Bald Eagle Lake.  In the process, they ran into a lot of water that they had to pump out.  In the end they pumped literally billions of gallons of water (up to 4,000 gallons a minute) out of the watershed and into the storm water system.  To both of us, this seems to have coincided with a significant drop in the water level on White Bear Lake.  It was in the news in the beginning of all of this discussion, but it seems to have fallen off the radar. See this article in the Pioneer Press from 2011 (written by John Brewer). (John's parents live on the lake.)  Will White Bear Lake recover, since there is no longer any pumping in this manner?  Time will tell. I hope so.  It's a treasure for our community.

In the end, though, the DNR believes that we have a long term problem of over using the watershed and it is best to begin the process of moving to surface water for our water source.

The Bald Eagle Island house made the news this week, also, but not because of the development.  Apparently three young (16, 14, 13) teenage delinquents were involved.  This is the second break-in in the last year.  From Hans Stachowiak:  "I was present when the police arrested them, there were no regrets, no"sorry" to hear from the kids, the level of violence and damage was unbelievable. We needed three days to repair and clean up the house."

The son of a friend of Nick & Jane is now living there to help prevent future occurrences.

As far as the island development is concerned, Hans' next hurdle is a planning commission meeting on Wednesday, December 17 at 7:00pm at Heritage Hall to discuss the needed variances and Conditional Use Permit.

The RCWD has a new newsletter.  We still don't know who will replace Harley Ogata on the board.  They might have made a decision at yesterday's meeting.

If any of you are interested in getting a 2015 calendar of Bald Eagle Lake sunsets taken by me last year, I have put together a collection of photos and put it out on Lulu.com for anyone to purchase.  It is a large high quality calendar and I am pretty much offering it for pennies mark-up.

Here is a sample of the pictures included.

(click on photo to enlarge)

Have a great time with family and friends over the holidays.

Regards,
Jim

Zebra Mussels in White Bear Lake

I forgot to mention in my last blog post information that I received from Matt Kocian of RCWD earlier this month.

Hi Jim,

As I’m sure you've heard, zebra mussels were found in White Bear Lake this fall.  Based on the spatial distribution (found at multiple locations around the lake), it’s likely that the introduction occurred 1 or more years ago.  This is the first time that zebra mussels have been found in the RCWD.  I expect DNR will continue boat inspections at both White Bear and Bald Eagle to prevent the spread of zebra mussels via boat.  However, it’s also important for lake shore owners to be vigilant about docks, lifts, and other lake shore equipment.  The DNR has some info for lake residents here:  http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/shoreland_owners.html. 

Thanks

Matt

Update on the Island development and Dam development

Regarding the Dam project and according to the Hugo City Council Meeting of Nov 3rd:

1. Total project cost = $640K
2. Grant received from MNDOT = $252K
3. MN DNR has agreed to a grant = $160K
4. Remaining cost of $228K to be split between the RCWD and Hugo.
5. RCWD has committed to $113K.
6. Hugo to attempt to get funding from St Paul Water Utility and communities surrounding the lake.
7. This was approved by the Hugo City Council at this meeting.

So, that's great news.  I suspect that we will see construction begin after the water goes down next spring.  It is probably too optimistic to think that it will take place this winter.  Time will tell.

Island project

The island project has been approved by the Township board.  It will now move to the planning commission for further discussions and approvals.  The White Bear Press has an article in today's paper on the meeting and decision.

'Tis the end of my sunset photos for the season. I have collected all of my sunset photos for 2014 and placed them in an online album on them on Flickr if you would like to view them.

Have a great day,

Jim

Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) and Town Board Election

Greetings,

I just received a call from Harley Ogata.  Harley lives on Hugo Rd. Harley has been on the board for the RCWD.  In his tenure he has helped to guide the Alum treatment, the Oneka Ridge golf course re-use irrigation project and the dam replacement.   He has served us well!

Harley is resigning from the board.  Harley has represented Ramsey County, so we need someone from Ramsey County to step up and volunteer for the board.  You will need to decide quickly, the decision will be in November.  Harley would be glad to talk to anyone that is interested in taking on this role.  You can contact Harley at: 653-0885

I think you can also contact Phil Belfiori at:

Email:

 pbelfiori@ricecreek.org

Phone:

 (763) 398-3071

I took this photo on my way home from work.  It is the little lake next to the Gateway trail crossing on Hwy 96.  The sunset couldn't have been lined up any better and it just looked spectacular. Good thing I had my camera.

(click photo to enlarge)

(The following is only relevant to White Bear Township residents.)

On another note, I was trying to find out who is running for a spot on the White Bear Township board.  It took me a while, but I finally found the info. There are two seats open.  Seat A and Seat B.  People running for seat A are:

- Kevin Chandler

- Ronald J. Denn

- Steve Ruzek

For Seat B, Robert Kermes is unopposed.

I know very little about these candidates.  But, I do know that one of our neighbors is hosting a meet and greet for Steve Ruzek.  Tom Fiutak and his wife, Colet are hosting the gathering at 5770 West Bald Eagle Blvd, next Sunday evening, the 26th. 6:30  - 7:30pm.  If you are interested in finding out more about Steve, you can contact Tom at 651-724-1822 or.

I wouldn't have normally announced this, but I would hate for any of us to be ignorant of the candidates when we get our ballot.

I got to the sample ballot for my location via: http://xnet.co.ramsey.mn.us/elections/precinct_finder/ , then clicked on the sample ballot.

Obviously, if you don't live in WBT or Ramsey County this won't be of much interest for you.

Regards,

Jim Moore

Fall colors & Bald Eagle Island

Fall colors are amazing this year, so I went out last weekend to find some beautiful sights to photograph.  I have a favorite road just north of H2 on Centerville, in North Oaks.  It was prime last weekend.  I also drove around the neighborhoods near Pine Tree Lake (east of White Bear Lake) and found some beautiful settings to photograph.

Then on Tuesday, I brought my camera to work so that I could take some pictures in the evening in Stillwater and along Hwy 96.  I have been wanting to take pictures on this route in the fall since I started working in Somerset almost two years ago.  But last fall was such a bust for fall colors that I didn't see anything worth photographing.  Finally, this year's colors are amazing.  I don't think I have ever seen more beautiful fall colors.

So... This link will get you to my favorite shots of my two shoots.  Hope you enjoy.

Here's one of them:

On a Bald Eagle Island development front, the proposed development got a tie vote from the planning commission.  The next big event for this project is before the Town Board.

Public Hearing on the Bald Eagle Island Project

Nov. 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at Heritage Hall.

This could be an emotionally charged event.  If you want to have a say in whether it passes or not, I suggest you make it a point to attend.  I suspect it will be standing room only.

Regards,

Jim Moore

President, BEAA

Great news: Bald Eagle Dam update

I received some good news in an email from board member Jim Aschman, yesterday. 

Jim wrote:

I attended the RCWD (Rice Creek Watershed District) meeting today. They had a discussion on the Bald Eagle Lake dam replacement. It seems that the DNR is going to fund $160k and RCWD is going to kick in $120K.  Hugo is expected to leave in their $120K.  With MNDOT contributing $252K, we have a total dam fund of $652K. The updated construction estimate is $637,263.  Hugo needs to accept the grant at their meeting, probably on Oct. 22.  Should be a go for next year.

 

On another note:

If some of you still have your boat lift with canopy in the water and the seagulls are loving it, you might want to consider getting the Gull Buster.  It is a small local company.  The seagulls were loving my canopy several years ago and made an absolute mess of it.  I've had the Gull Buster for two years now and the canopy is as clean as can be.  It has four extendable diagonal posts and you run fishing line around the 4 posts and diagonal across the posts.  I can still take the canopy off without removing it.

Photo (click on image to enlarge):

This was taken in my front yard on Sept 15th.

 

A fall photo from the bluffs near Lake Pepin, taken last weekend (not anywhere near peak colors):

 

Regards,

Jim

Update on a number of subjects

Bald Eagle Island

I came across a few items this week that might be of interest to you.  I happened upon an article on the potential future owner of the island (Hans) just posted on the White Bear Press page.  It looks like Hans is moving forward with his plans.

Purple Loosestrife

It turns out that there hasn't been much progress on it this year.  I do know that there are some biological measures that we can take via a beetle that eats the plant.  These beetles have to be collected from other sites where they exist and then transplanted to our infestation.  This will need to happen in June or July when the beetles are most active.

From Rice Creek Watershed's Facebook page

Rice Creek Watershed District

September 22

DNR Aquatic Invasive Species Specialist Keegan Lund examines an aquatic plant sampling rake held by RCWD District Technician Catherine Nester on Bald Eagle Lake. The RCWD and DNR recently collaborated to complete a plant survey on Bald Eagle Lake. Water clarity has been markedly better on Bald Eagle Lake this year, in large part due to the spring application of aluminum sulfate (“alum”). With increased water clarity, the RCWD and DNR hopes to find an increase in native aquatic vegetation – especially at deeper depths. The results of the survey are being complied, but early indications are promising. While on Bald Eagle, the DNR and RCWD also worked to remove (by hand) an invasive plant – flowering rush.

Horseshoe cattail bed concern

This is the large cattail bed east of the island in the middle of the lake.  Concern was espressed that this bed has been getting smaller.  I happen to have a few pictures from 1945, which show the cattail bed to be pretty much the same size. So, I don't think there is any change in its size.

And, of course... A Bald Eagle Lake sunset.

I happened to be canoeing in Quetico Provincial Park in August and took this photo at McAree Lake.

Click an any of the images to get a larger version.

Regards,

Jim