Turtle Lake Association Newsletter
Spring, 2001                        Editor: Rob Kaye
text-only version

Fall Association Meeting Report

On Sept. 30 of last year, the lake gathered for the annual buoy take-in day. A nice sized turnout resulted in a relatively short work load for all, and the lack of fog this time made for easy pick-up.

Following the take-in was the fall meeting of the Association.

Treasure's Report
Balance on hand as of 7/15/00 - $3044.89
All outstanding bills are payed.

Milfoil
There is a large bed just outside the buoys from the Turtle Inn and also along the south side. Please report any Milfoil sightings to Rob at (847) 895-1149 or rekaye@mindspring.com, or Dick and Elaine Gronert at rrgeg@elknet.net.

Dick Gronert will look into another spraying this year, but fears that we won't be allowed until 2002.

Dockuminiums
The board authorized another $100 towards the legal fund to fight the dockuminiums. Since the fall meeting, the Wis. Supreme Court has kicked the case back to the Appellate Courts, which are somewhat sided with the developers.

Lake District
The board has assembled an advisory committee to gather info. They are attempting to get a lake district member from a nearby lake to come and discuss pros and cons with the membership. More info to come.

To get a full copy of the minutes, call Association Secretary Linda Kaye-Witt at 262-728-5315 or go to rekaye.home.mindspring.com/TLA.html


Lake News & Tidbits
Do you have any interesting lake news? Call Association "Secretary for Life" Linda Kaye-Witt at 262-728-5315 or e-mail her at pandafru@elknet.net

Membership Dues are due!
Dues are $25 per household and are active from July to June. This donation helps us provide you lake information through this newsletter along with allowing us to support various lake organizations like the Dockominium legal fund or the Wis. Assoc. of Lakes. The milfoil spraying comes from this money also. Send those dues in!

Turtle Lake Association
Judy Jaeger
N. 6615 Anderson Dr.
Delavan Wi. 53115


Recent News and Notes

Board President Rob Kaye, along with long-time friend and expert note taker Darren Franzen attended a four hour Lakes Conference organized by WAL and the UW extension. The meeting covered three topics.

1) Geese and their problems.
Once geese move in, it is tough to get them out. Discourage them from staying by leaving your shoreline as natural as possible with tall plants and grasses.

2) Shoreline restoration
A natural shoreline helps keep a lake healthy (and helps with the geese!). Leave a natural buffer at least 5 feet wide. Do not fertilize your lawn. Fertilizer runs into the lake creating algae.

3) Rules of the Water and enforcement.
PWCs must go no wake 200' from shore, as opposed to 100' for other boats. Officers can ticket offenders with video-taped evidence. Call the Walworth County Sheriff  (262)-741-4400 to report violations. This will help justify them coming to Turtle Lake.

This is a VERY short synapsis of the details of the conference. Kudos to WAL for putting on this very informative session. For complete notes, call Rob (847) 895-1149 or visit the web site.


The Board would like to welcome Audrey Green as the new Lake Specialist for Walworth County.
Ms. Green will be working with all lakes in regards to many issues, but especially lakeshore management. She will be attending the annual meeting in June to discuss, among other things, shorelines and zoning. Also, Ms. Green will be working with lake organizations to obtain grants for conservation projects.

Shoreline Notice

Remember that it is illegal to dump anything on the shore or lake that permanently alters said shore, such as a gravel entryway to the lake. If you see such activity, help protect Turtle Lake by calling the DNR at 1-800-TIP-WDNR. A warden will respond any day of the week for violations of environmental issues.


Wisconsin Area Lakes Annual Convention
A large contingent of Turtle Lake folk attended this year's annual WAL convention in Steven's Point. Among the many topics discussed were the declassification of wetlands by the Supreme Court. Although these wetlands are primarily unaccessible, the fear is that this will open more lands than this for development.

Another hot topic was about contacting your state reps to voice concernsregarding Turtle Lake. Our rep is Neil Kedzie who can be contacted by phone at 608-266-9650 or email at Rep.Kedzie@legis.state.wi.us. Our Senator is Judy Robson (262-266-2253 or Sen.Robson@legis.state.wi.us)

Our reps are there to work for and with us. We've already sent emails and received responses. Be sure to be heard.

The highlight of the second day were speeches by the new Governor of Wis., Scott McCallum and the new director of the DNR, Mr. Bazzell. All in all, it was two days well spent, with lots of informative sessions and talks.

For more details on the conference, attend the buoy day meeting. Then check out the web site.