Membership Cards Ready
If you have paid your Dues and Assessments in full, your 2016 Membership Cards are now available at the RRA Office. You may stop by to pick up your cards or if you contact the office and we can hold them for you.
We will be mailing cards out the week of April 11th.
Please note that if we do not have a membership application for you on file or you are not a member in good standing, you are not able to receive Membership Cards.
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 “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
President’s Comments March 2016 Board Meeting
By Tom Sopko
RRA Board President
- In general, the Board does not respond to non-dues paying member comments. There is insufficient time to respond to all Member inquiries, let alone those inquiries of non-dues paying Members.
- In response to the question about “does it exist in any of the rules that someone can be prohibited from buying property?” We cannot prevent people from buying property. We can make rules preventing certain convicted people from living in the Association. However, we also need to be careful of instituting rules and by-laws that we cannot enforce.
- Board will respond to the Mayors request for a joint meeting. An agenda will be prepared tonight. Update: We have provided the Mayor three agenda items. The meeting is scheduled for April 14.
- Just want to remind Members on the difficulty of collecting bad debts. David King, our attorney, highlighted this in his comments at the January 2016 meeting.
- The Board’s has provided priority direction to Dan Mullins, the Association Manager. Priorities:
- Preparation of the Association for the Members. Memorial Day. 4th of July. 50th Anniversary.
- Dredging
- Members running for the Board. Three seats open. Four candidates. There will be a ballot. Had there been 3 candidates for 3 seats the Board would have done away with the Ballot. Here are the four candidates:
- Ed Baitt
- John Lindemann
- John Martin
- Jack McMillin
Notice: Third Reading of Proposed Amendments to By-laws
The RRA Board of Directors next meeting will be on Thursday, April 7, 2016 at 7:30 pm in the Village Hall. At this meeting, the Board will have the third reading of the following proposed Bylaw changes:
- An amendment to Article XIV of the By-Laws. Article XIV sets forth the manner in which the By-Laws may be amended. Click on the link below to see Article XIV as it proposed to be amended to read. It is proposed that Article XIV of the By-Laws be amended to read as follows: Proposed Amendment to Article XIV
- It is proposed that the following Section 5 of Article I be added to the By-Laws. An amendment adding a new Section 5 to Article I of the By-Laws that would prohibit certain registered sex offenders from being Active Members of the Association and from residing in the Roaming Rock Shores Subdivision. Click on this link to see the proposed new Section 5 of Article I.
- An amendment to Section 1 of Article V that would allow the Board of Directors to dispense with the ballot process in uncontested elections of the Directors. Click on the link below to see Section 1 of Article V as it is proposed to be amended to read. It is proposed that Section 1 of Article V of the By-Laws be amended to read as follows: Proposed Amendment to Section 1 of Article V
- An amendment replacing the term “husband and wife” with the term “spouses” where appropriate, including specifically in Section 4 of Article I and in Sections 2, 5, 6 and 7 of Article II. Proposed Amendment
You can find a copy of the current By-Laws on this website under Association Info/Documents & Forms. If you have any trouble finding the proposed amendments or the current By-Laws, please contact the Association Office at 440-563-3170.
2015 Dredge Operation Summary
By: Dan Mullins
RRA Operations Manager
Operation for the season began April 16th, the day after the road weight limit ban ended. Our first task was to prepare the dewatering site which involved stock piling the material from 2014 to make room for the incoming material from 2015. This task was incorporated into the regular duties of the maintenance department along with the spring clean up from the previous winter, roadside clean up’s, downed tree limbs and pot-hole repairs, both pools had to be opened, beach clean ups, buoys installed on the lake, volley ball and tennis courts all had to be ready before Memorial Day, the start of the summer season. These tasks continued through April and May. During this time period, one of our full-time employees went out on a medical leave for most of the 2015 dredge & summer season. This loss of 25% of our manpower was a big setback, but adjustments were made and we moved forward.
The staging area at Fishermans Cove was installed, pictured below, and the work at our dewatering site continued. This staging area was a challenge due to the heavy amount of silt in this cove. The barges were launched and the dredge crew finished a channel at the end of Plum Creek removing 90 yards from this cove. The dredge crew then moved to the small, unnamed cove, on the northeast side of the lake. This cove was cleaned out removing 150 yards of material to assist with road drainage on Morningstar. The dredge crew then headed to Fishermans Cove. On the way towards Fishermans Cove, a call came into the office that a very large tree had fallen into the lake at the mouth of Plum Creek. The maintenance crew was able to utilize the excavator and barges to remove this very large oak tree from the water. The dredging platform made this task safer and decreased the amount of time it usually would take to remove this type of obstacle. Prior to having the dredge platform to work from in the water, tree’s this size would take on average 2 to 3 days cutting pieces small enough to handle safely from a boat to remove. The tree in the below photo took 3 hours to remove from the lake. This versatility allows us to remove these types of obstacles from the lake in a safer and more efficient manner.
Material being removed from the lake moved into high gear on June 17th. The access to Fishermans Cove was finished and the dredge crew, in between keeping all of the other summer amenities maintained, began dredging. For the month of June, 8 days were spent on the water dredging and 550 yards of material was removed from Fishermans Cove.
July was a busy month with the Fourth of July Fireworks and all of the other summer activities going on. Maintenance of the dewatering site, and access drives continued daily, pictured below. Another large tree was removed from Island Cove. The barge platform again made this task safer and allowed us to return to dredging the next day to Fishermans Cove. Along with their regular summer duties, the dredge crew spent 11 days on the water and removed 550 yards of material from Fisherman’s Cove.
The month of August was the end for all but 2 part time summer employees. This kept the full-time crew focusing on amenities and the winding down of the summer season. The crew dredged on the water a total of 9 days for the month of August and removed 550 yards of additional material from Fisherman’s Cove.
With the pools closing in September and the slowing of the need for grass mowing this allowed the dredge crew to remove 1,000 yards of material in Fishermans Cove in 10 days time. Our full-time employee returned to work on light duty, this had a positive impact on our production.
The month of October proved to be the most productive dredging month. This was due to manpower strictly focused on dredging. They were dredging daily for almost the entire month and removed an impressive 2,900 yards in 18 days. The weather was unusually dry and this allowed us to maintain our dewatering site easily in a month that is normally rainy and cold. Before and after pictures of Fishermans Cove below:
The barges were removed from the lake the last week of October before the lake draw down on November 2nd. There was the intention to continue dredging from the shore if the lake draw down was sufficient enough to allow this, unfortunately the cycle of drawn down did not allow us this opportunity.
Overview – The 2015 season total of removed material from the lake was 5,790 yards. We used 255 gallons of off road diesel and 193 gallons of on-road diesel. Our bulldozer consumed 65 gallons of off-road diesel for the season and our push-boat used 35 gallons of regular gas. We are very pleased with the performance of our equipment. We had no mechanical breakdowns in the 2015 dredge season. With this being our first full year incorporating the dredging operation along with the regular duties of the maintenance department, I am calling this season a great success!
Moving forward in 2016, the dredge crew continues to improve on the knowledge gained and improving the process. The dredging schedule for 2016 will be to finish Fishermans Cove, then move to Nature’s Cove and then onto Sugarcreek.
We are planning for another successful season in 2016!
Annual Cleanup Day and Expo ’16
Mark your Calendars! May 7th will be the day of the Annual Roaming Shores Cleanup Day as well as Expo ’16 at the Clubhouse.
The Cleanup day is your opportunity to get rid of your “unusables”. Goodwill will again be present to accept donations and provide tax-deductible receipts. This event is FREE to residents of Roaming Shores Village. There is NO LIMIT on loads, however, no commercial or landscaping vehicles will be allowed.
Unacceptable items include tires, refrigerated appliances, batteries, barrels or drums, bullets or shells, commercial waste, dirt, rocks, bricks, tree stumps, combustible materials, liquid and hazardous waste, toxic materials, paint cans, yard waste, food waste and gas cylinders
Expo ’16
After you’ve finished up with Cleanup Day, stop by the Clubhouse between 9am and 1pm for Expo ’16. The Expo is your opportunity to meet with local businesses one-on-one.
Expo ’16 Exhibitor and Vendor Registration Packet.
Lake Management and the LMC
By David Ernes – Lake Management Committee
What is lake management? You have no doubt heard that term used in many contexts. It has many definitions, from simple (the act of managing a lake!) to a very complex and wide-ranging series of activities. These can include the study of a watershed, evaluating problems experienced in a lake, remediation efforts and even social programs. The RomeRock Association Lake Management Group (LMC) is a Board sponsored group of unpaid volunteers that are devoting their time to further the enjoyment of our lake. It has evolved over the years.
In 2010, a Lake Management Report was prepared (7/9/2010) which included the selection of a professional consultant, in our case, EnviroScience, who continues to serve in that capacity today. In 2013, the LMC was divided into three sub-committees, each with a specific task. Of the three sub-committees, two sub-committees remain active today. They are the Lake Depth Control sub-committee who coordinates the dredging operation and this sub-committee the Lake Sediment/Nutrient Control. For simplicity, many of the communications from this sub-committee, like these articles, are now being issued under the banner of the LMC and the Love the Lake Logo. Past articles can be found under the Lake Management section of the RRA website.
Today, the activities of the LMC continue on several fronts. The most visible relates to education and outreach, primarily thru these articles to inform the residents of Roaming Shores. This effort is intended to give everyone information so that you can choose activities and practices that can control and possibly reduce the nutrients entering the lake. These nutrients are partially responsible for the occasional algal bloom, as well as other issues (clarity, etc.). Beyond education, we are monitoring the water quality through testing, identifying sources of nutrients from the watershed as well as investigating control methods such as rain gardens and buffer zones. We also monitor literature and other resources to keep current in the ongoing efforts and regulations within our state and elsewhere. If you would like to become part of our group, please contact us and bring your skills to assist your friends and neighbors to keep our lake something we can enjoy for years to come.
BE LAKE RESPONSIBLE
50th Anniversary Lanyards and Koozies now Available
The RRA Office now has 50th Anniversary Lanyards and Can Koozies available for sale.
The Lanyards are $2/each and include a bulldog clip and a sealable membership card holder. Perfect for the pool! Keep your card handy and dry!
Koozies are $1/each. Perfect for the beach, picnics, or our on the lake. They are collapsible for easy storage and portability.
You can purchase yours at the Association Office, they will also be available at the Annual Meeting on April 30th.
2016 Early Bird Drawing #10
The winner of the final Early Bird Drawing for 2016 and recipient of $50 is Gerald Wise of Lot #355.
Congratulations to all of the winners this year!
Reminder: Dues and Assessments for 2016 are due by May 1st. After May 1st, a 10% late charge will be added. Also, if you have your boat in the lake, it needs to have 2016 RRA Boat Decals affixed by May 1st.
2016 Polar Bear Plunge!
Over 130 plungers raised over $11,000 for charity in this year’s Annual Polar Bear Plunge! Amazing! Thank you to everyone who participated and came out to watch. Special thanks to Gayle Zirkle, Chris Plickert, Lee Posiadala, Shawn Morris and the rest of the Polar Bear Club members and volunteers! The plunge was dedicated to the memory and honor of Emily Plickert, a student at Grand Valley High School and resident of Roaming Shores, who tragically passed away in a car accident last year.
Click here to see pictures from the event. There are also tons more pictures on Joey the Polarbear’s Facebook page!
Also be sure to read the article published by the Star Beacon.
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