Rotary to donate for lake aeration

CELINA - The Celina Rotary Club will donate up to $5,000 to help the city purchase a mechanism to oxygenate the water in the east channel at Pullman Bay Park.

City council members Monday night unanimously passed the first reading of an ordinance accepting the donation to purchase a linear aeration system that has proved successful at other places along the lake.

Adding oxygen to channels on Grand Lake is improving water quality and spurring the return of aquatic vegetation not seen for a long time, state park manager Brian Miller said at a recent Lake Improvement Association meeting.

Many homeowners along channels have installed about 100 feet of the linear aeration tubing, which sits in the middle of the channel on the lake's bottom and emits a continuous stream of tiny bubbles visible on the surface. The system is removed during the winter.

Tests recently taken near Behm's Landing, where linear aeration was installed, indicate no microcystin toxins, according to Miller.

The city also was able to install linear aeration at the hot water hole on Lake Shore Drive in May with a $4,549 donation from the Celina Lions Club.

Councilman Ed Jeffries said the scum that lined rocks in the corner of the hot water hole is no longer there, a fact he attributed to the installation of aeration.

"I talked to a guy who caught three bass there Friday so it has (positively) affected fishing," Jeffries said.

"It looks a lot cleaner to the naked eye," councilman Bill Sell said.

"Anytime we can get oxygen into the water column, it's going to be a good thing for the lake," city safety service director Tom Hitchcock said.

Council members on Monday night also unanimously voted against two pieces of legislation on final reading - a resolution endorsing a liquor license transfer that would allow the former Club Oasis on Main Street to reopen under new ownership and an ordinance authorizing the fire department to travel long distances outside of the area to assist other fire departments during emergencies.

After recently learning that prospective club buyer Chad T. Schmitmeyer, who planned to reopen the club as Boots 'N Bourbon, was no longer interested in acquiring the liquor license, council members decided there was no reason to pass the ordinance.

Former Club Oasis owner Christopher Wendel, who still owns the building, has said he is negotiating the sale of the business with two other individuals.

Council members shot down the ordinance authorizing the fire department to assist other departments outside of the area due to concerns it could leave the city vulnerable.

Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel had suggested council members vote it down and wait for something more workable to be presented to them.