Official outlines budget for Lake Mitchell
The city of Mitchell will continue to invest in projects in and around Lake Mitchell in 2012.The city of Mitchell will continue to invest in projects in and around Lake Mitchell in 2012.
Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department Director Dusty Rodiek outlined approximately $80,000 in lake projects Tuesday during a meeting of the Lake Mitchell Advisory Committee at the Rec Center.
They include:
* About $40,000 to $45,000 as a 25 percent match for federal funds for a project at the Sportsmen’s Club boat launch.
Under the project, the parking lot and the boat ramp would be moved to the other side of the bay. This would provide more space and closer access to a Sportsmen’s Club restroom, Rodiek said.
“If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right,” said Councilman Greg McCurry, who serves as the council’s liaison to the committee. Other committee members echoed that sentiment.
* $17,000 for the revival of a youth program to have teens working on city projects, including some by the lake.
* $10,000 for shoreline work to reslope a public beach. A similar amount of money for the project was included in the 2011 Parks Department budget.
* $7,000 for work on the Sportsmen’s Club, including repair of the ceiling, countertops and other needed improvements.
* $5,000 for algaecide to reduce the algae in the lake.
* $3,000 for work on the Kibbee Park restroom.
* $1,000 for adding habitat, including tree piles, rocks and other material to improve fish habitat.
The committee was strongly in favor of the projects and said efforts to improve the lake are being noticed and appreciated by local residents and visitors.
Rodiek said he is completing his budget, which is more than $2 million, and will submit it to the City Council later this month for review.
In other business:
* Committee members are staying in contact with the state Game, Fish and Parks Department in an effort to have a state park designated at Lake Mitchell.
They have been told park proponents need to create a feasibility study and report back to the GF&P.
Gov. Dennis Daugaard was lobbied for a state park when he was in Mitchell this summer for the Capital for a Day event.
* The committee was shown a model of the signs designating adopted access areas.
People, groups and businesses are “adopting” the areas and promising to keep them well maintained. The signs will be placed this year and will name the access area and/or give a number for them.
* Beavers in the lake are dining on trees and in some cases, toppling them.
The committee will find out if a state trapper can come out and remove the beavers.
Once of the beavers is as large as a big dog, according to committee member John McLeod. A GF&P employee advised people to “just shoot them,” according to committee members, but Rodiek said that would be illegal within the city limits and he feels the state worker was merely joking.
* An effort to clear algae from the lake has been slowed when it was revealed that a Nebraska man who has been working with the committee does not have a license to apply an algaecide. He will be asked to obtain a license.
* The West End bridge will be removed and replaced with a wider bridge as part of the bike trails project, the committee was told.
* Debris in the lake is a continuing problem, especially at times of high water.By: Tom Lawrence, The Daily Republic
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