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Lake Improvement District again OK'd on Round
Staff Writer A petition for a Serpent Lake Improvement District was turned down by the Crow Wing County Board earlier this month, but the Round Lake Association had better luck Tuesday.
Round Lake has had a LID in place since 2004 and the district has been assessing lakeshore property owners $62.13 a year for the past five years so it could make improvements to the lake. The assessment was only good for five years and it has expired, bringing the association back to the county board table.
This time the association asked the county to support another five-year assessment and to increase it to $135 per property owner. The monies would go to the district's continuing efforts to manage the lake and to control the aquatic vegetation.
Several Round Lake property owners spoke in favor of the LID at the public hearing. After listening to the comments, commissioners voted 4-1 to support the LID.
Commissioner Doug Houge, who voted against the resolution, did not comment during the meeting on why he voted against it. During a break, Houge said he has never supported LIDs and he voted against the LID for Serpent Lake too. Houge said he does not support the idea of having private individuals paying for the lakes. Houge said the DNR should fund these lake initiatives.
LIDs have become quite the topic for the county board. On Aug. 11, the county board denied a petition for a LID for Serpent Lake on a 3-2 vote. Six other LIDs were previously established and two others are being sought by property owners.
Commissioners Paul Thiede and Phil Trusty, who voted against a LID for Serpent Lake, supported the LID for Round Lake. Thiede said the public may accuse him of being inconsistent, but he said LIDs cannot be a consistent issue. Thiede said the LID on Round Lake has been around for a while and the district's efforts have been successful, educational and have been based on science.
"I'd like to place a moratorium on them, but we can't," said Thiede stating that each LID is different and should be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
Trusty said he supports the Round Lake LID because the district has done a good job managing the lake and he had not received any negative comments from constituents on the LID.
Commissioner Rachel Reabe Nystrom said, "I am astounded (listening to Thiede's and Trusty's comments supporting the district) and I am completely in support of the district and I appreciate the people wanting to take ownership of their lake. I don't want to say anything more because I don't want to say something where they'll (Thiede and Trusty) change their votes.
"You've done a good job, but Serpent Lake did everything we asked them to do and they still didn't have the opportunity to try. I think people in this county will be shocked (with the vote)."
Trusty said the LID for Serpent Lake involved a lot of issues and if they came back to the board for support of a LID he would not vote for it.
Chuck Jorgensen, president of the Round Lake Association, said during the public hearing that the district has had problems with invasive species, including curly-leaf pondweed over the years. He said the district has been able to reduce the pondweed by 20 percent with its treatment of the lake. Jorgensen said the district also has decreased the amount of phosphorous in the lake.
Jorgensen said Al Cibuzar of A.W. Research and Cyril Durrenberger, who's been involved in environmental issues since 1972, both live on Round Lake and have helped with making improvements to the lake. Cibuzar said the district's efforts are heading in the right direction to improve the lake.
Durrenberger was not present at the meeting, but he sent an e-mail to another neighbor, Kurt Martin, who read his letter to the board. Durrenberger said if the treatment of the pondweed is stopped the infestation will quickly build up and large areas of the lake will not be useable for any type of recreation and the aquatic environment will be damaged. Durrenberger said once the aquatic environment is damaged, it is impossible to return it to its original state.
Martin said, in his opinion, "We've taken our funds very seriously and have spent our money frugally. We've always looked at how the funds would impact the lake ... We ask you to place your trust in us so we can continue the fight. We don't want this to spread to other lakes like Gull."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
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