Ohio Lake Communities Association (OLCA) Meeting

by R.D. Gainar, CEBS – Lake Management Committee Chairman

Roaming Shores is a member of the Ohio Lake Communities Association (OLCA). This organization consists of 22 Ohio lake associations similar to ours and is one of our primary sources of current information and helpful experience on many common lake community problems and issues. Your Lake Management Committee Chairman and other Roaming Shores representatives attended the Spring 2014 OLCA meeting on April 23-24 at Willowdale Lake in North Canton, Ohio. In addition to an introduction to Willowdale, the newest lake in the OLCA community, we enjoyed the informative program that included topics involving legal issues, Ohio dam safety updates, fish management, human resources, dredging project updates, and office management issues and solutions.

In addition to the very useful information on these topics, I met and talked to six lake managers that are either mechanically dredging currently or are planning to start a mechanical dredging project in the near future. None of the lake communities reported that they are planning to hydraulically dredge their lakes. Lake Lakengren manager, Kevin Thorpe, has used the barge-dredging method, which we are planning to use here at the Shores, for over a year now and is very pleased with the results. He reports that the operation has proved much faster than originally expected and continues to be within budget. Lake Lakengren residents are very happy with the results so far and hope for similar outcomes when their coves are dredged. Director Ed Baitt included all improvements that Kevin had suggested in the Lake Depth Improvement Sub-Committee’s design and planning of our dredging project so we can expect a similar, favorable outcome.