LIA goals include more collaboration

CELINA - Lake Improvement Association members on Saturday set their goals for the year, including better collaboration with other groups and government agencies to improve Grand Lake's water quality.

LIA President Nick Rentz said the goals reflect the opinions of more than 400 people who have completed surveys this winter. Those surveyed said better collaboration should be the primary goal. Groups included the Lake Restoration Commission, Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District, Mercer County Ag Solutions and other state and local agencies to improve cleanup efforts.

LIA members also will reach out to lawmakers to ensure they are aware of what's happening around the lake and the area. The organization will host a candidate forum for the three people running for 82nd District state representative at 10 a.m. April 7 at the Celina Moose Lodge. The forum will be primarily for LIA members.

The second goal is to better advertise the good news about the lake to farther-reaching media markets, such as those in Columbus and Dayton. Rentz said efforts to reach out to media outlets in those cities are underway. Outreach to individuals from those and other areas will be targeted with a new video series about the lake on the LIA website.

Rentz encouraged members to promote the lake through individual pictures and videos on social media showing recreation and activity on the lake to promote tourism. The group's large membership can make a difference in showing how much the lake is appreciated, supported and enjoyed, he added.

"We're over 1,500 strong here. People will take notice of a membership that pays to be a member of an effort this big. There is such a thing as strength in numbers," he said.

Other goals include continuing to improve lake amenities. One proposed project is the state-planned construction of a path and bridge through a vegetation area that connects a parking lot and the Coldwater Creek Treatment Train. This will allow more pedestrian access and a longer nature path to enjoy.

Rentz said members also are looking at constructing more playgrounds such as the one recently built at Villa Nova and considering ways to help control the goose population.

The group also will continue to provide the channel aeration program. The LIA helps by paying $500 to home-owners for use of aeration in stagnant channels to help keep the water moving.

In other news, LRC Chairman Tom Knapke reported the West Beach Project is moving forward. That project involves using additional rock walls, silt traps and aeration to improve specific areas of the lake, beginning with West Beach at Villa Nova. Knapke gave no timeline for the project, saying a start date depends upon the availability of state funding.

The LRC approved a $36,666 grant to start water testing in the lake, the treatment trains and the littoral wetlands to show the positive results being attained from the trains, Knapke noted. Treatment trains use vegetation to help remove phosphorus and other impurities from water flowing into the lake. Professor Stephen Jacquemin and his students at Wright State University-Lake Campus will perform the research.

The LRC also is helping to fund a manure dewatering trial beginning today and running for three weeks. According to Theresa Dirksen, Ag Solutions coordinator, the trial will test the effectiveness of some new technology.

Jeff Keller, watershed technician of Mercer County Soil and Water, said the agency is applying for a $360,000 grant to help fund projects in the Beaver Creek area. Projects include grid soil testing, best management practices and buffers along the creek and improvements to three-quarters of a mile of the creek branch running through Elks Golf Course along U.S. 127 by widening the stream and slowing the water flowing through to remove nutrients.

This would be the first stream-restoration work around Grand Lake, Keller noted.

LIA Trustee Stan Wilker reported the LIA's Winter Dance was a big success, raising $14,500 for the organization. He confirmed the Bishops have been asked to entertain again at next year's event, which is set for Feb. 23.

"We hit a home run with that band," he said. "They were really, really good."