2013 was an interesting spring, as winter hung on as long as possible. The late spring, combined with ample amounts of rain, led to a rather weedy spring and summer. To add to the perfect weed storm, our permits to the DNR were delayed due to a mandatory pre-treatment inspection by a DNR representative. This pushed back our treatment about 3 weeks, so weeds didn’t actually start to regress until late July. Once the weeds died down, the ponds were more pleasant to all of the users.
Lake Restoration was once again the company we used. They were helpful throughout the process by facilitating the DNR permitting and answering any questions we had regarding treatment.
Regarding finances for treatment, there seems to be a constant need to raise revenue annually by the DNR, and permit fees for lake treatment is a line item that they want to increase. With that said, we need to be proactive and plan for a possible increase in the coming years, along with the usual 2-3% annual inflationary increase that the treatment companies pass along to the homeowners associations.
For budget year 2013, we did not collect money from homeowners on the waterway because there were ample funds in the ESHA checking account to take care of all ESHA business activities including the treatment of all ponds. For this 2014 budget year we are asking for a $15 increase from the 2012 dues to rebuild our account and continue all ESHA business activities including treating the ponds and keeping our shorelines and waterways beautiful in order to maintain our property values.