Lake Garfield Working Group December Meeting

The Lake Garfield Working Group (LGWG) held their monthly meeting in the town hall on Monday evening, December 17. Foremost on the agenda was an interview with Lake Buel property owners Kyle Pierce and Pete Hagen, who gave an account of the nature and history of the Lake Buel Tax District and its experience in controlling the pervasive weed growth in the lake. Both Kyle and Pete have lifelong association with Lake Buel and were a wealth of information concerning its social, economic, recreational, and ecological facets. Among the salient points of interest was that the Lake Buel Tax District raises $86,000 a year in taxes to pay for the forty hours per week of weed harvesting that takes place from Memorial Day to Labor Day, a season which is anticipated to lengthen, as it did this year, by an additional three weeks. This expense is in addition to the initial expenditure by the tax district of $230,000 for the purchase of the harvester, truck, trailer, and conveyer used in the operation.

On the evening of Wednesday, December 19, members of the LGWG attended a joint Monterey Select Board and Finance Committee meeting to present our work to address the three issues of phosphorus loading, blue-green algae (cyanobacteria), and invasive weed growth. The LGWG recommended that an annual appropriation of $50,000 be made through an article on the warrant of the May annual town meeting to fund multiple efforts at addressing these related issues.

After lengthy discussion focusing primarily on doubts some members of the select board and finance committee expressed regarding the reliability of the research presented and the cost effectiveness of investing in the unknown biology of the lake, nothing was determined. The select board and finance committee had many questions and wanted more detailed information to support the request. The question of who would put an article on the warrant for the town meeting in May was discussed. The possibility of an article to have a re-vote on a Lake Garfield tax district was also raised. These issues will remain on the agenda for the next LGWG meeting, on Monday, January 14, at 7 p.m., at the town hall, unless otherwise posted on the town website. All interested parties are encouraged to attend.

— Steve Snyder Chair, LGWG