Happy Spring Harwood Lakers,
I hope everyone enjoyed their Winter!
A few updates from around the lake that took place while lake life was dormant during the cold dreary days of winter.
Inter-county Drain Commission Update
The Project continues to be on hold due to the Appeal submitted by Roberts Camp Ground to the St Joseph County Circuit Court.
Neighborhood Watch
I am happy to announce that Harwood Lake now has a Neighborhood Watch Program in place which is being headed up by Garrett Glodek. This is in coordination with the Cass County Sheriff Department who provided us with 4 signs free of charge and some informational data.
Lake Monitoring,
Unfortunately, Micorps/MLSA lost their funding for this program due to a gap in Grant Monies. What this means for us is that there will be no State funded Support or Data Keeping for the year. Also, no Training Programs Through MLSA / Micorps.
However, I have been notified that we can continue to monitor our water clarity (Secchi Disc testing) and also monitor for Invasive Species and do a Shoreline Assessment. We will need to save the Data and add it in next year so there is no gap in our data collection. We will not be able to do the Phosphorus Testing this year.
Recreation Passport,
The Law regarding the Recreation Passport that was to begin enforcement this year has now been put on hold due to COVID 19. This means for the time being there will be no penalty for not having the Passport required to use DNR boat ramps. This may change during the course of the summer. I will update if I see this change abruptly.
In Closing,
I look forward to seeing all the happy faces on the lake this Summer. Let’s work together in making this Summer on the Lake safe and memorable.
Happy Spring, Jim