Polar Bear Plunge Recap
It was a cold Plunge, but that’s just the way the Polar Bear Club likes it! Thanks to everyone who turned out for this year’s Plunge whether you were one of the brave souls who took the plunge or were there to support those who did! You can see our album using this link. There are tons more pictures on Joey the Polar Bear’s Facebook Page.
This year’s Polar Bear Plunge raised $7,211.00 with 94 Jumpers for our local South County schools and Breakfast with Santa. A big thanks to all 33 of our business sponsors and all of the local rescue teams. The Club also thanks all those that volunteered for the event. Justin Szalay, Dave Crossman, Marge Morris, Marilyn Morris, Mike Chevalier, Thomas Zirkle, Nancy Pirnat, Barbara Maruna, Maureen Plickert, Jack McMillin, Tom Spoko, Amanda Marie Rumbaugh, Rebecca Zirkle, Makayla Joles, Donny Joles, Meadow Plickert, Jordan Whitman, Jasmyne Whitman, Jessalynn Singleton, Mary Kerchelick, Stacy Bowden Senskey, Bruce E Parker
Thanks for making this years event a success.
Gayle Zirkle – President
Chris Plickert – Vice President
Shawn Morris – Treasurer
2017 Early Bird Drawing #9
The winner of Early Bird Drawing #9 for 2017 and recipient of $100 is Don Schonaurer Lot #365! Congratulations!
Next week’s drawing will be the final drawing of 2017. The final prize is $50.
STARS Club Dog Training Demonstration
The STARS Club will host a dog training demonstration on Saturday, March 25th at 10am in the Clubhouse. This demonstration will use a provided dog. Please do not bring your dog to this event.
Instructor info: For more than twenty five years, Mike Shaft has been training dogs of all breeds and sizes. His experience includes military and police dog training, as well as family dogs.
The cost to attend this event is $10. Payment can be made at the door. Please RSVP to IT@roamingshores.org. The event will be cancelled if there is not enough participation.
President’s Comments Feb 2017 Board Meeting
By Tom Sopko – RRA Board President
The Board wishes each Member a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
I apologize for canceling January Meeting. The weather was bad, and forecasted to get worse. It seemed to be the prudent thing to do. We contacted as many regular attendees as possible. Hopefully you got the message.
As we discussed at the December meeting, the Association will host Roger Corlett, the Ashtabula County Auditor at the Clubhouse. Roger will discuss with the Membership how real estate taxes are accessed, collected, and dispersed. The meeting date is targeted to include the snowbirds.
For 2017, the Village of Roaming Shores elected to maintain their own Village owned roads. Previously, they paid the Association to maintain their roads. The Village owns approximately 1.75 miles of roads. For the month of January 2017, the Association maintained the Village’s roads along with our own Association private roads, while the Village set themselves up with the necessary maintenance equipment.
As we begin 2017, the Board wishes to remind you of the capital improvements done by the Association. Examples are, the new Office building; the Clubhouse renovations which included painting, doors and windows, flooring and lighting; the pavilions concrete flooring; and the dredging; just to mention a few. These all occurred at no additional costs to the Membership.
And just as a reminder, your Directors are unpaid dedicated volunteers.
And we thank you for your continued support.
Morning Star Closed – Wires Down
Update: This issue has been resolved.
Please be advised that Morning Star Drive between Lake Crest and Acacia Circle is currently closed due to trees and wires being down. The Illuminating Company has been informed. Click here for up-to-date outage information.
It is very windy outside today, the potential for other downed wires, trees, and power outages is high. The Association will be closing roads for safety if there is a hazard. Use caution when venturing outside today.
Downed power lines are dangerous. Never touch them. For safety’s sake, always assume that a fallen power line is live, and follow these guidelines:
- Avoid touching the downed line with your hand or an object, such as a stick, broom or pole.
- Avoid touching anything, such as a car, object or equipment, or anyone who is in contact with a fallen power line.
- Keep children and pets away from fallen electric lines.
- Avoid driving over a fallen power line.
- Call 911 immediately to report a fallen power line.
Board Meetings to Move to Clubhouse Beginning April 6th
Please note that beginning in April, RRA Board of Directors meeting will be held at 7:30pm at the Clubhouse.
RRA Board Meeting attendees are invited to remain in the Clubhouse after the Board Meeting for a brief social time with other Association Members and family members. We will be serving pizza and other enticing goodies donated by other welcome participants and supporters.
Board of Directors Election Update
Nominations for this year’s Board of Directors election have been received. The deadline for nominations was Feb 28th.
Jim Swartz and Ron Morris submitted their nominations, they are both incumbents. As there are only two individuals running for two open seats on the Board, the Board voted that ballots will not be mailed, per the Bylaws.
The notice of the Annual Meeting will still be mailed on March 29th.
2017 Early Bird Drawing #8
The winner of Early Bird Drawing #8 for 2017 and recipient of $150 is Terry and Robin Gilbert Lot #2276! Congratulations!
Next week’s drawing will be for $100.
2016 Dredge Operation Summary
Prepared by: Dan Mullins, Operations Manager
The 2016 dredging operation began April 16 right after the road band was lifted. The maintenance crew had the task of consolidating the material that was taken from the lake in 2015 to the dewatering site that was now dry enough for recollection, pictured below.
This task took approximately two weeks to complete, and involved using our bulldozer to re-pile the approximate 5700 yards of dewatered material. During the dredging operation over the summer the maintenance crew uses the bulldozer to keep spreading material as it is removed from the lake.
The dredging barges were launched at the beginning of the month of May. The maintenance crew moved the barges to Fishermen’s Cove to begin dredging where they had left off last season. Material began being removed from Fishermen’s Cove beginning May 18. The dredging operation continued in Fishermen’s Cove through mid June where another approximate 2500 yards had been removed from the lake. At this point the maintenance crew also had to start preparing for the summer activities and having the amenities ready for the season.
Utilizing our summer help to take care of most of the day-to-day work, general cleanup, trash removal and lawn maintenance allowed us to concentrate on our next area to dredge which was Nature’s Cove. A previous silt pond that was installed in the end of this cove had failed and blown out. This cove is the main inlet for a large agricultural farm on the west side of the lake. From mid June through mid July the maintenance crew removed approximately 1550 yards of material from Nature’s Cove.
Nature’s Cove
The dredging operation continued in July along with the preparation for our summer activities, 4th of July, and our 50th anniversary. It was a very busy summer. With Nature’s Cove complete, the dredging operation then moved to Sugar Creek Cove. Next to the south end of the lake, Sugar Creek Cove had the next significant amount of silt build up and was identified as a cove that has the most boat docks that are unusable due to silt build-up.
A staging area or take out point was installed at the inlet of this cove. The maintenance crew did try to remove material from the inlet of this Cove from land in December 2015 but was unsuccessful due to high water. A staging area or take out point was installed at the mouth of Sugar Creek near beach #2. This staging area had to be installed from land as it was too shallow to do from the water. This takeout point in Sugar Creek will now cut our turnaround time by two thirds. The dredging crew will return to Sugarcreek and keep dredging the south channel up to the takeout point at the east end inlet of this cove. The staging area at beach #2 will be used in 2017 as a takeout point for the fastest turnaround in this cove. The amount of material removed from Sugar Creek last year was approximately 2490 yards.
Below is a map of the lake showing the areas marked that have been dredged:
Looking forward to 2017, we will begin dredging in Sugar Creek. Our turnaround time in 2017 versus 2016 will be much faster with the addition of the staging area/takeout point added at beach 2. This will be a significant improvement in offloading the material. The amount of material still needing to be removed from Sugar Creek will determine the dredge operation for the season.
In conclusion, overall the 2016 dredging operation went very well removing 6,300 yards of material from the lake, fuel cost diagram below:
I would like to add the maintenance crew continuously looks for improvements to increase our efficiency for the dredging operation. I am also pleased to report for the 2016 season there were no injuries involved with the dredging operation or damage to any of the equipment. Within the maintenance department safety is our number one priority on all of the projects and tasks done here at Roaming Shores.
I would also like to mention that many residents took advantage of the topsoil and fill dirt that was made available to the residents free of charge that was located at the maintenance garage. Some residents came to pick up truckloads of material and other residents came with just a 5 gallon bucket to be filled. That service will be available again this year. We will keep material stored this season again at the maintenance garage free of charge for the association members. Looking forward to a successful 2017 season!
Spring Cleaning (Lake-Responsible Style)
By Dick Hurwitz – Lake Management Committee
Alright, so you’re looking out your window at the snow and cold and wondering when spring is going to come again to Roaming Shores. Then—just maybe—you start thinking about all the cleanup chores associated with spring and you think Maybe a little more snow and cold won’t be so bad. You soon remember, though, how good you feel when your house and deck and dock are clean, and how proud you are when you hit the water with a shiny boat; and you actually start looking forward to some of those cleanup chores. This year, however, you also start thinking about our Roaming Shores’ Love the Lake campaign and ask yourself how you can make your spring cleanup as “green” and lake-friendly as possible. The purpose of this article is to provide some answers to that question, to recommend some eco-friendly products, and to let you know where you can get more detailed product information. So get comfortable, take another quick look at the snow and cold, dream again of spring, and read on.
Powerwashing
There are a lot of cleaning products recommended for use with the powerwashers we use to clean our houses, decks, docks, watercraft, outdoor furniture, and probably other things as well. A number of them claim to be “eco-friendly” or “environmentally safe.” However, the labels also include directions for what to do if the products are ingested or get in your eyes; and they recommend you do not use them where the water they are mixed with may run off into a pond or lake. In this case, the safe thing to do is use the powerwasher without any additional cleaning products. Water alone, under the proper pressure and with the proper nozzle setting, should do a fine job.
General Cleaning
Look for products that are biodegradable, plant based, and free of phosphates, chlorine, and petroleum distillates to clean your outdoor things. (It is probably a good idea to use them inside too!) The following are a few recommendations:
- Bon Ami Liquid Cleanser
- Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Glass Cleaner
- Method Floor + Surface Cleaner
- Bill by Eco-Me All-Purpose Cleaner
- BOULDER® Citrus All-Purpose Cleaner
- Sun & Earth All Purpose
- Green Works Natural All-Purpose Cleaner
- Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner
- Advantage 20X Cleaner – all natural multi-purpose cleaner
For more information on these products, refer to the Lake Management link on the Rome Rock Association website (http://www.roamingshores.org/RRA1/). Look for “Recommended Cleaning Products.”
Boat Cleaners
The following products are recommended for marine cleaning in a lake-responsible way:
- EcoDiscoveries All-Purpose Boat Wash (removes dirt, salt, and stains from boats)
- EcoDiscoveries Boat Seat Cleaner
- M2 from EcoDiscoveries (for mold and mildew)
- EcoDiscoveries Marine All-Purpose Boat Cleaner (designed to cut through grease, stains and other soils)
- Spray Nine All Purpose Cleaner (for removing mildew or stains, preventing mildew, removing black streaks or marks from fiberglass and vinyl boat seats)
- Simple Green Marine All Purpose Boat Cleaner (multiple uses)
- West Marine Pure Oceans Crystal Boat Soap (for cleaning all marine surfaces)
- West Marine Pure Oceans Hull Cleaner
- West Marine Pure Oceans Nanotec Fiberglass Cleaner Wax
- West Marine Pure Oceans Aluminum Pontoon Cleaner
- West Marine Pure Oceans Citrus Bilge Cleaner
- West Marine Pure Oceans Non Skid Deck Cleaner
Additional information on most of these products can also be found on the Association website.
Now it is up to you. Make the decision to follow the recommendations in this article when you are planning and doing your spring cleaning.
Decide to BE LAKE RESPONSIBLE.
E-Mail Blast Sign-Up
