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Written by David Lee
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December 2009 |
As most know, heavy September rains have exposed a structural issue with the dam and caused the city to take immediate and prudent precautions to lower the lake level – which removes water pressure off the dam. At present, the lake has been lowered by ten feet, and this has negatively affected homeowners, especially those who live on the lake. However, this event happening at the end of the boating season is one positive. Another more important positive is the lake bottom has been exposed in our coves, which gives homeowners and BLHA an opportunity to address the buildup of silt much less expensively than if the lake were full.
BLHA commissioned a study that indicates the lake contains at least 7000 cubic yards of silt in nine different coves, with heavy concentrations in several. But in order to remove the silt, three ingredients are needed:
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Written by David Lee
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December 2009 |
In 2008-09, several projects were completed which substantially improved our beach facilities, including the addition of beautiful stone walls and associated landscaping. More shaded tables were added to support our picnickers, and, of course, the oval stone fire pit was dug so our members could enjoy our lake later in the night, and later in the year.
Surveys of our membership however, point to one missing element at the beach – bathrooms. The homeowners association, in response to this, placed a port-o-potty at the beach. However, those of you who have used this "facility" in mid-summer are aware that it's not the experience we would prefer. Also, there are no sinks, changing tables or other amenities normally found in bathrooms seen at other private or public community areas. Frankly, our members deserve a higher standard of hygiene than what's being provided.
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Written by Chip McDaniel
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December 2009 |
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Thanks to all our members, 2009 was a high water mark (pardon the phrase) for BLHA membership with a total of 265 members. Please join us again for 2010. Your continued support makes possible the maintenance of the lake, the beach and the picnic ground areas.
As you may know or may read in other articles in this issue, BLHA is planning to "excavate" silt from several coves while the lake level is down. Even though this type of removal is much less expensive than the "dredging" operations that have been used in the past, the removal of an estimated 7,000 cubic yards will cost considerably more than has been saved over the past 16 years in the BLHA Silt Fund.
Yes, there have been developers who have silted our lake, and the BLHA has worked with the city and county (and even threatened lawsuits) to stop these "point sources" of silt. We've even forced some of these developers to pay for silt removal from the lake. But as our watershed becomes more developed, these sources are diminishing and other concerns take center stage. There are many storm water runoff issues within the city that need to be addressed (and we're working with the city on that also), but even if there were no "point sources" what-so-ever, the lake is still subject to the process (albeit slower) of natural siltation.
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Written by Chris Kimberley
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September 2009 |
After the final stage of laying half a ton of crushed oyster shells was completed recently, the Berkeley Lake Homeowners Association Beach Bocce Ball Court ("BLHABBBC") is now officially open.
Wednesday evenings will usually find a game in progress and anyone is very welcome to join in. No experience is required as it is a very simple game to learn and requires no special skill.
While the court was prepared for the Italian game of Bocce Ball, the French version of the game, called Petanque, is more usually being played. A blend of both, called PetOcce is also possible but is usually played by folks of mixed French – Italian heritage.
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Written by Steve Seitz
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September 2009 |
Reflections... This term carries significant meaning for residents of Berkeley Lake. For some, it might simply be the definitions our dictionary lists for the word. For others, it represents this newsletter that is distributed to all our residents and advertisers. However, if we pause to reflect on one definition, "concentration of the mind; careful consideration" we may begin to see an image form in our mind's eye of pristine waters, a lake... Berkeley Lake.... What a lovely image to have on a summer's day.
For the past several months, I have been focused on challenges facing our state waters. To put this in perspective for our community, the term "state waters" represents the streams, ponds and lake within our city limits. The challenge I bring to your attention is the impact of storm water runoff from development sites along Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (PIB) that bring unwanted sediment into our state waters. Many of you have seen the muddy water following a rainstorm.
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Written by Dudley Simpson
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September 2009 |
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This message is written in mid-August and summer is almost over, school starting and Labor Day almost upon us. Time for many of us seems to go faster every year. For your information we've had the lake fertilized twice and the few weeds we've encountered have been treated. If anyone sees any weed growth at the shoreline, please contact Steve Seitz or me and give us the information.
Tests are being conducted on the need for lime to be added to the lake and early results would indicate the need for lime. If water hardness is too evident, the fertilization does not work well and the high cost of fertilizer is wasted.
A problem still exists on the lake – that is we have too many small, stunted bass that have eaten just about everything else. Our bluegill and crappie populations are way down. In the last few years with the help of some fisherman and your BLHA, we've stocked over 50,000 threadfin shad as forage for the bass hoping to get spawn from them. We think they helped, but they are gone. If they spawned, which they may have, our starving bass consumed them all.
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