ROGERS LAKE AUTHORITY
~MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF APRIL 9, 2014
A meeting of the Rogers Lake Authority (RLA) was convened at the Rogers Lake Clubhouse at 7:30 pm on April 9.~ The following members were present: Richard Smith, Dennis Overfield, Mike Secord and Robert Recor. The board's secretary, Elizabeth Sunshine and approx 8 attendees, including Devin Carney who is currently running for the congress in our district, were also present.
The meeting was called to order at approx 7:31 pm. The minutes from the March 14th meeting were discussed. A motion was made by Robert Recor to approve the Minutes of the March meeting as written. It was seconded by Dennis Overfield and approved by unanimous vote.
Special Guest
Mike Secord introduced Devin Carney as a special guest who had come to the meeting to learn of the problems we have been encountering with weed control and to see where he may be able to help. He is running for congress in the vacancy that will be left by Marilyn Giuliani's retirement. He told a little of himself, his background, that his family has property on Rogers Lake, how he had spent time here growing up, and how the preservation of our lake is of great importance to him.
Police Patrol Boat: "New" used boat, a 2009 Triumph 17ft with 60 horse power mercury and a biminey top, has been approved costing each town $5,684.75. The total cost of the boat is $11,369.50. Additional costs include: shrink wrapping of the boat $250 and winterization $275. Storage doesn't need to be accounted for now as Mike will keep it on top of the hill with other RLA property. Boat registered will be looked into for the next meeting.
Budget: There is $30,000 still allocated in budget for dam. This may potentially be able to be used for weed control in the absence moneys allocated for mats in this years budget.
Weed Control: Both towns are to split the $150,000 cost due New England Environmental for studies on the lake and presentations. New England Environmental agency will handle all communicators and feedback from the citizens. Primary area of concern with most severe adverse effect is at boat launch. There are also safety concerns of weed entanglement both on people and boats. Dredging in some areas of the lake was discussed as part of a possible long term solution for weed control and lake depth issues from sediment back fill near the launch.
Dam Repairs: March 21st Jacklyn Talbot contacted RLA in regards to fish ladder. They requested and were given pictures for website that they are preparing. Discussion regarding the dam repairs and the fish ladder conveyed that building the fish ladder was one of the stipulations of the Steep grant in order to get the funds for the dam to be repaired. However, the fish ladder spillway was built lower than the original 14 inches below the surface of the lake and could cause issue in the maintenance of water height. The dam was not open during the recent heavy rain in an effort to raise the level of the lake in order to have the fish ladder operational by the end of April. However, the heavy rains raised the lake levels faster than the delayed opening of the dam could
reduce the water level causing damage to several local residents homes. Because of the resident complaints the key to the dam has been returned to Richard Smith. For safety reasons a fence is to be built on either side of the dam running perpendicular to the road in order to keep pedestrians from walking onto the dam.
Wells: The topic of well contamination concerns was discussed relating to any proposed use of chemicals in the lake to control weeds. It was noted that pollution or impurities to wells would come from above the wells rather than flow backward from the lake itself.
Mats: $5000 for mats was removed from budget in order to pay for boat. No further action will be taken with mats currently. Currently there is no action items in place for 2014 to combat the weed growth except deploying the mats that we currently own and moving them as applicable.
New Business:
A letter in opposition to chemical use was received from Diana Young and Ralph Young was and duly noted.
Mike will request Police presence on the lake from Ralph Eno for memorial day weekend. This comes out of the Lyme town's budget.
Motion to adjourn was made and seconded. Meeting adjourned at approximately 8:39 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
 ~Elizabeth Sunshine
Secretary for RLA
elizabethsunshine@sbcglobal.net
The next meeting of the Rogers Lake Association will be on May 14th at 7:30pm at the Rogers Lake West Shores Clubhouse:
Agenda for next Meeting:
- Budget
- Police Patrol
- Weeds
- Benthic Mats
- Boat Launch
- Dam Repair
- New Business
- Old Business
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