Community Corner

Public Hearing on May 22 Regarding the Lake Beseck Beach Treatment

The town's park and rec department is seeking permission to treat the recreational area with an aquatic herbicide designed to reduce weeds.

Update:

The public hearing has been rescheduled for Wednesday, May 22, 2013.

Original Story:


I wanted to reach out to our community to let you know that Middlefield Parks and Recreation is working on addressing the complaints that were received last year regarding the invasive plants that started to encroach into our beach swim area.  Last year definitely seemed to be our worst year for invasive plants.  

Over the last couple of years, lifeguards have been trying to manage the live and dead floating plants in our swim area with a special rake.  A few terrific volunteers have also helped by gathering the debris and making piles on the beach for removal. 

Various options have been explored to help with the problem.  (raking/hand harvesting, benthic barriers, dredging, aquatic herbicides, etc)  No one solution is perfect, most are costly or require a lot of maintenance.  After some research on what works, what doesn't, it seems that the most recommended way of controlling the plants was by aquatic herbicide.  

What we have learned from professionals is that the herbicide is lighter than water, so the treatment has to be applied directly to the plants by an underwater sprayer.  The plants then absorb the herbicide and begin to die off for the season.  Due to the herbicide being lighter than water, it does not get a chance to penetrate the soil and it dissipates quickly.  We have been told that no trace of the product is found after 13-15 days, however, it is safe to swim after 2 days of the application.  

A successful target date that centers around water temperatures and plant height estimates the application date to be approximately June 1st.  (One month prior to our official opening swim season)  The beach will be closed for 2 days.  Signs will be posted to notify the public.

Abutting property owners will be notified by certified mail of the swim area treatment plan.  Please note, the notices will go out to all waterfront property owners, however, the treatment is ONLY for the beach swim area, not the entire lake.

An Inland Wetland public hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 7:00 PM at the Middlefield Community Center.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask.

Sincerely, 

Amy Poturnicki, President
Lake Beseck Association


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