Borough of Mountain Lakes

Lakes Management Advisory Committee Meeting

12/04/07

Present:

Chair: Susan Ferguson

Members: Bailey, Dewing, Hardek, Markus, Mesicek, Mimberg, Rogers, Wexler

Borough Manager: Gary Webb

Council Liaison: Ellen Emr

Allied Biological: Glenn Sullivan

Meeting called to order @ 7:35 PM

Chair:

· November Minutes-of-Meeting – Approved

· Committee meeting dates schedule for 2008 handed out. There will be no meeting held in January.

· Lakes Management Goals for 2008 were tabled for review. Comments made are as follows:

Item #4 - Add “residents’ responsibility” within the text.

Item #7 - Dissolved O₂ level in Birchwood Lake will be monitored for another year before deciding on a method to raise its level.

Item #8 - Reference to “geese numbers” will be changed to “waterfowl population”.

A new item recommending Birchwood Lake water quality monitoring at number of points along the shoreline discussed. May require concurrent sampling at another lake for reference. Later at the meeting, committee student representative presented an idea to get high school students involved in the sampling.

· LMAC will place the text portion of the Year-end-Report on the Borough’s website.

· Suggestion was made to send a copy of the article “Fertilizers and Lakes” written by Glenn Sullivan from Allied Biological for their newsletter “Potamogetons” to the borough waterfront residents. Without naming them, it discusses Mountain Lake and Wildwood Lake bio scenarios.

Manager:

· Work on installing the stone facade on Birchwood Lake swim area wall continues. The work is expected to continue until fall of 2008.

· Pier heights at swim access areas will be adjusted and guardrails installed as appropriate for safety reasons.

· Design and logistics preparatory work for the Sunset Lake dam is mostly done. Further work will wait until borough gets commitment for 2% loan from the State of NJ / EPA. There are still some legal issues and technicalities which are to be dealt with by the Borough Council.

Allied Biological:

· End of the Year Report discussed. Use of the term “limiting concentration” explained. It can mean nutrients (nitrogen, phosphates, … ) level sufficient for growth, or a level which triggers the bloom.

· Alum is being used because it is the least likely treatment media to dissociate itself from the captured elements (it has better holding properties than for example lime or iron based media).

· A sample of the contour map prepared for another lake by a contractor was presented. The mapping was done utilizing GPS technology.

· Lakes MAC expressed an appreciation for the professional and dedicated service from Allied Biological and its representative Glenn Sullivan. Glenn’s knowledge, expertise and never stopping search for new and better ways to mitigate ongoing lakes issues inspires confidence in his guidance during our decision making processes.

· Glenn Sullivan left the meeting ahead of the budget and bids review.

New Business:

· Invitation to bid on the 2008 management and treatment program was sent out by the Borough to 3 companies. Two quotations were received on this date (11/04/07). Princeton Hydro did not respond.

· Bid tabulation and conditioning prepared by the Borough Manager was reviewed. Base costs versus optional costs were pointed out. Aquatic Technologies program is more oriented toward lakes water treatment rather than (as Allied Biological does) balancing the lakes biosystem.

· For the year 2008, will plan on algaecide treatment for the Sunset Lake (no treatment of any kind was done on this lake this year). Water lilies spread may not need to be cut back for another two years.

· The Lakes MAC is in agreement with the proposed lakes treatment activities for 2008.

Lakes Management Advisory Committee wishes to thank Gary Webb for all his support during his 9 years as a Mountain Lakes Borough Manager. He always listened to committee members and borough citizens’ concerns and suggestions and took an action. Under his management, water quality in our lakes has improved significantly. We wish Gary success in his next enterprise and will miss his technical talent, wealth of knowledge and skills in getting things done.

Next Meeting: February 5, 2008

Meeting adjourned @ 9:10 PM