Roads End faces inclusion

City ordinance would expedite annexation process

Friday, Jul 30th, 2010
By: Terry Dillman
Newport News Times

A proposed ordinance introduced during Monday night’s regular session of the Lincoln City Council would enhance the city’s ability to annex areas outside city limits and within the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) by requiring signed consents to annexation as a condition of continued water service.

The city supplies water service to most of its 6,078 accounts from three storage tanks via gravity feed. Booster pumps serve customers at a few higher elevations, including one for the Port Lane area of Roads End. The imminent failure of that aging booster pump station and the price tag to replace it prompted council members to find a way to expedite the annexation of Roads End district, located at the north end of the city.

“It’s been on our agenda for years,” City Manager David Hawker said. “It’s time to move forward.”

Potluck a Success

Fun Was Had By All; Despite Soggy Skies

Some sixty-five residents of Devils Lake came out Saturday, August 7^th for the Second Annual Potluck on the Point.

Attendees spent the evening visiting with their neighbors while enjoying great food.  Several party goers were heard to say that what made it really fun was the ability to socialize with those you already knew as well as having the chance to make new acquaintances.   Every shore of the lake was represented!  Our friends at the Devils Lake Water Improvement District joined in with our Lake Manager and our Board Chair and another Board member in attendance.

Mother Nature tried her best to interfere offering up the first rain of the summer.  These were seasoned lake residents who didn’t let the dampness spoil their evening.  Not one person had enough sense to come in out of the rain.  Visit our photo album to get a little taste of the event.    The consensus was that the Potluck should continue and to that end we have selected the first Saturday in August every year. So mark your calendar for August 6^th, 2011 and plan on a fun evening.

We still trying to locate the owner of a few serving utensils so take a look at this photo and email me if you’re the owner of anything shown. If you have any ideas on more ways we can get our community together to enjoy our mutual company let us know and we’ll do what we can to promote it.

August DLWID Board Meeting Report

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District held its August board meeting in the District offices on Thursday, August 5th, 2010.  The meeting was attended by approximately 10 interested parties.

Hot Topics.

Executive Session of the Board: The Board of Directors held an Executive Session preceding their regularly scheduled meeting.

Lake Level Update: The Board discussed the current lake level as measured at the dam structure, being 8.03’ + 18” or 1.5’ equaling 9.53’ above MSL.  The discussion continued related to the staff gauges which currently read 9’ 3” or about 3” lower than the read at the dam.  It was reported that Greg Beaman and both from the Oregon Water Resources Department surveyed both staff gages the day previous, and they verified the readings for the dam’s base 8.03’ and top 9.53’.

Native Vegetation: It was reported that there has been strong interest in the Shoreline Planting Guide recently published by the District. Lakefront property owners interested in the guide are best to download the PDF version from the above link.  The board approved the printing of 100 copies primarily for contractors, nurseries, and government agencies that have all expressed interest in the guide. If downloading the guide presents a hardship please contact the District.

Save our Shoreline: The Save Our Shoreline campaign is currently recruiting property owners for projects to be planted this fall.  It was recently discovered from the Department of State Lands (DSL) that homeowners can apply for a free general authorization permit from DSL to plant aquatic vegetation to prevent erosion.  It was decided to incorporate this streamlined permitting process into the SOS program as soon as possible.  Some preliminary research has been done related to the use of special signage easily identifying properties involved in the SOS program.

Devils Lake Plan: A draft update to the Devils Lake Plan was presented to the board for their initial reaction and comment.  The board discussed their review of the draft and provided staff guidance on the document.  Look for more on this document in upcoming meetings.

Many More Topics: Several other items were discussed including reports by the Lake Manager on many important topics.

City paves way for expansion

Roads End tops list for annexation

PATRICK ALEXANDER
The News Guard

A new law that could boost Lincoln City’s ability to annex adjacent areas, starting with Roads End, received a warm welcome from Lincoln City Council at its Monday, July 26 meeting.

The proposed ordinance would allow Council to designate any area outside its limits but within the urban growth boundary, or UGB, as an annexation target.

The area’s residents would then have 60 days to sign a consent to annex or risk having the City shut off their water supply.

How to Participate in a Water Rights Proceeding

The City of Lincoln City and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon made a presentation and answered questions related to the use of water from Devils Lake to irrigate the golf course at the June Devils Lake Water Improvement District board meeting.  The Board of Directors of DLWID passed a resolution by a vote of 4-1 indicating support for the proposal. Since that time, several residents have expressed their opinions on the matter; some support the proposal, some do not.  For the record, the Navigator has not taken a position on the proposal.

The proper place to express your opinion on this proposal is during the formal Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) application process.  In order for the City to meet the terms of their agreement with the Siletz Tribe they will apply for a change in the Point of Diversion (P.O.D.) of their existing Rock Creek water right. This process is described in OAR 690 Division 380 Water Rights Transfers.

In an attempt to simplify the process for interested parties we have summarized the required steps below.  The summary is necessarily general, and may not specifically address the facts in this specific application. Water rights can impact citizens in unexpected ways; that is why a formal process has been established.  If you feel, the City’s proposal will have an impact that is not being considered follow the steps below to provide public input into the process.

Attend the August DLWID Board Meeting

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Board meeting will be held in its offices above Radio Shack Thursday August 5th at 6:00pm.  There is an Executive Session planned from 5:30 to 6:00 before the regular meeting.  The best way to stay informed is for all lake front homeowners and interested parties to attend these important meetings.

There are many topics of importance to lake residents on this month’s agenda.  These discussions include; an update on the lake level and the operation of the D-River dam including the OWRD’s efforts to survey the lake staff gauges, a report on the high level of interest in the Native Vegetation Guide, and an open discussion on modifications to the Devils Lake Plan. The board will discuss responses to the RFP for an erosion study and provide updates from the City on the Septic Tank Revitalization program.  The Lake Manager will provide a report on progress relate to the Communications Plan and an update on the next phase of the Save Our Shorelines program.

Please follow the links below to access the latest agenda, staff reports and meeting minutes:

Agenda and Staff Report 2010-08-05

Meeting Minutes 2010-07-01

Lake Level Update – 9.53’

If you have been watching the lake level over the past month or more you would have observed it to be very consistently the same height.  If you have been wondering what height, well according to Paul Robertson our Lake Manager the level has been holding right at 9.53’ above Mean Sea Level.  To ensure accuracy the District has measured each section of the dam to 18” above the concrete base.

In his letter dated March 5, 2009 OWRD Watermaster, Greg Beaman established this 18” maximum after having the concrete base surveyed at 8.03’ above MSL.  Therefore, the most accurate measurement of the lake level is at the dam structure, 8.03’ + 18” or 1.5’ equals 9.53’ above MSL.  Observations made this week show water barely flowing over the dam.

If you were a close observer of lake level, you would notice that the staff gauges currently read 9’ 3” or about 3” lower than the reality just described.  Indeed this discrepancy was only recently discovered; it appears that when the Oregon Water Resources Department re-established the height of the concrete base of the dam in 2009 they did not re-establish the accuracy of the staff gauges.  The OWRD has committed to perform a survey of the gauges sometime in the future.  It will take a bit of detective work to determine how many years of historical data were affected by this 3” discrepancy.  It is clear that all recent discussions about lake level have been influenced this variance.  Decisions have been made using a mixture of field observations and references of lake levels as observed at the dam and measured at the staff gauges.

The good news is that no matter what the recorded level has been the actual level as observed where the water meets land has been correct; and by all reports lake stakeholders seem to be satisfied with the result.  Watch for information on updated staff gauges at the DLWID Lake Level Report.

No Aquatic Hitchhikers Allowed

I was returning from Devils Lake today and much to my surprise I spotted a “Boat Inspection Ahead” sign on the shoulder of I-5 near the Aurora rest area.   The signs encouraged travelers to prepare to pull off at the rest area for a voluntary invasive species inspection.  I was not transporting my boat but being the curious type I pulled off to see what I could learn.

ODFW Employees Ready to Help Locate Aquatic Pests

Waiting for my arrival were two Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife employees who were more than informative.  This boat inspection stop is part of Oregon’s Aquatic Invasive Species program, which kicked off the end of May.  The program has four new mobile inspection teams, which will visit some of the State’s busiest boat ramps this summer to help keep aquatic invasive species out. The Aquatic Invasive Species program is jointly operated by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon State Marine Board.

In addition to appearances at popular boat ramps,  the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will put up these signs along Oregon highways asking boat-towers to stop for a voluntary inspection. There are no penalties for not stopping or not having a boat inspected. Nor are there penalties if invasive species (quagga or zebra mussels, New Zealand mud snails, Eurasian milfoil or other plants, etc.) are discovered during the inspection. The boat, however, must be cleaned by a decontamination team before it can launch in state waters.

New Solarbee White Paper Published

Over the past couple of years, we have been communicating with Joel Bleth, President of Solarbee, Inc.  He recently contacted us at the Devils Lake Navigator because he wanted us know they have updated a short paper “Common Sense Suggestions for Lake Restoration Projects” that he thought could useful to the stakeholders of Devils Lake.

You can read it online, by following the above link or download a pdf version if you prefer.  Follows is a brief excerpt from the paper to get you started..

A lake restoration project should be a rewarding experience, ultimately creating community pride and value for a job well done when the lake’s water quality clears up. Lake stakeholders often spend thousands of man-hours over several years discussing the lake’s water quality problems and analyzing possible solutions. One or more studies by lake experts may be commissioned, followed by years of arduous efforts to raise money – sometimes millions of dollars – to restore the lake. But, all too often, after the “solution” is implemented the water quality is as poor as ever or else worse. Consequently, many lake groups are facing the same water quality problems today that they worked on years ago, despite spending a lot of time and money in the interim.

This relatively short paper offers five common-sense suggestions to help lake stakeholders ensure that their lake restoration project is successful the first time. Most of the discussion centers around harmful blue-green (cyanobacteria) algae blooms (HABs) as opposed to weed (macrophyte) problems because weeds, while a nuisance, won’t kill you like blue-green algae blooms can.

Keep Reading →

Welcome to the Navigator

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District has determined that they will not pursue placement of SolarBees® on Devils Lake. In honor of that decision, we have chosen to retire the nosolarbees.com site.

Introducing the Devils Lake Navigator, a more comprehensive location for our lakeside community to stay informed. Please bookmark the URL for this new site at www.dlakeoregon.com. We will continue to bring you updates on lake treatment options but it will no longer be the primary focus of our site. We will bring you regular updates on the DLWID meetings as well as City and County activities that may affect lake living. We’ll provide you information on the latest lakeside developments; therefore reports on issues like the Septic Tank Revitalization Program and Save Our Shorelines will be a major component of our efforts to keep you informed.

It is our desire to help foster the renewed sense of community that has surfaced around the lake in recent years. To that end, we have created a new section entitled “Lakeside” where we hope to keep a dialogue going about living on the lake, events, activities, goings on. Please help us with this endeavor by sharing; let us know if you have planned an event, had a particularly great weekend, landed a trick, caught a big fish, or improved your property. After all, we share a common backyard and if we share common experiences life on Devils Lake might be just a little more fun! If you have, any ideas on how to improve this new section send us a note.

Please enjoy the new site and visit often.

Mitchell Moore