Lakes Lines, February, 2018
The main lake was frozen over for several weeks this winter, and many enjoyed the ice fishing and skating. However, with the temperatures roller-coasting from single digits to the 50’s and back down again, extra caution needs to be exercised as ice conditions may be harder to judge than normal.
Speaking of the extreme temperature fluctuations, they might have had something to do with the recent slip that occurred on the face of the dam. You may have noticed the large tarp on the face of the dam over the past couple of weeks. This is covering a very minor slip that poses no threat whatsoever to the integrity of the dam or anything else. As our emergency response plan specifies, whenever anything out of the ordinary occurs with any of our dams, the Dearborn County Emergency Coordinator and the Dearborn County 911 coordinator and IDNR have to be contacted. This was done immediately to prevent any undue panic or erroneous information getting published. Compared to past slips, which were on the order of two to three feet deep and up to 80 feet wide and 50 or 60 feet from top to bottom, this one is only about 6 inches to a foot deep and is only about 52 feet wide and 30 feet from top to bottom. We are monitoring it for any change until we can get it repaired. That won’t be until later on in the spring because we need to be able to get clean dry earth to replace the material that has slipped.
The boat registration forms and boat driver exams will be going out soon. We try to tweak the test each year so that the questions remain relevant and address issues that seem to have been a problem the previous year.
The lake treatment dates for this summer are May 22, June 26, and August 14 (if needed). Spot treatments will take place as needed.
Only about a month until we close the sluice gate, so if you have any sea wall or dock repairs to do, now’s the time. If we have a lot of ice on the lake, then we might have to delay the closing, bur barring that, the date we will be closing the sluice gate is Saturday, March 3.
Have a great spring!
Dave Patterson,
Chairman, Lakes and Parks Committee