Aquatic weeds, likely Eurasian milfoil, visible above the surface looking out on Silver Lake just north of the DeWitt Park beach swimming area.
A former village trustee used citizens comments at Wednesday’s Village Board meeting to make a pitch for a more proactive approach to aquatic weed management on Silver Lake.
Barabra Ironside said aquatic weeds are a bigger problem than usual on the lake this year.
“With the lake being so shallow it has been a big problem this year,” Ironside said.
Chemical treatment of weeds did take place recently in select spots on the lake, such as off the DeWitt Park beach swim area.
To remedy the problem she suggested creating a lake management district. Such a district could undertake harvesting of weeds and Ironside cited success the Camp and Center Lakes Rehabilitation District has had with similar efforts.
“I thnk the lake is a beautiful natural resource, but it is in trouble,” Ironside said.
Ironside offered to work on helping create such a district.
Some trustees agreed the mild winter does seem to have exacerbated the milfoil growth this year, but no action on moving Ironside’s suggestion forward was discussed. Typically the board does not act immediately on citizens comments items.
I totally agree. The weeds are out of control this year. We have a jet boat and couldn’t even use it today because the engines sucked up too many weeds. We have never had a problem with weeds until much later in the boating season.
A lake district would be a great idea. This would also help in controlling lake levels during high water events.
why would they not forward her suggestion on. if she was still a trustee they would, but now that she’s not, whats the hurry? This town is a joke. They act with the speed of a snail, and put forth things that are not super important.
Straightening the parking stalls at the village hall takes precedence. Like it gets that many people that its a problem. How about getting some fresh businesses in, then we wont have to spend money spraying the weeds on the sidewalks, foot traffic will take care of that.
I love small town life, but hate the “big city politics” they employ.
Make Silver Lake a “non motor” lake. No engines allowed. All it does is attract drunk people from Illinois who leave their trash in our lakes. You cant even go out in a row boat during the day in the summer on that lake….no wonder everyone is fat!
Matt-
Your statement is honestly not even worth commenting on but I’m going to do it anyway.
It’s too big of a lake to be a non-motor lake. Yes, a lot of people from IL come up here and use the lake because it’s a free launch. Start charging for a season pass or per launch fee, and the traffic from IL will go down. Use that money to better the lake, by controlling the weeds, lake clean up, making a better beach area for the kids, and to get more businesses to come to Silver Lake. We live 1 mile from Silver Lake and spend quite a bit of money in the town at the gas station every season. I am sure that the business owners of your town would disagree with you as well. I would spend more money in your town but there are hardly any businesses there that I can regularly go to.
Silver Lake is a gorgeous lake that needs to be used by anyone, not just the people who live on the lake.
PS-I am not fat and I don’t use a row boat. 🙂
Heather,
I agree. If you want to use the good beach, you have to pay. Why not charge for the boats? There’s an idea for the smart people at the village hall. Although, since we are not board members, nothing will be done about it. Perhaps after their busy making all the “other” changes to Silver Lake, they might get around to the ones that will make a difference.
Has this town done anything to lure in new business? How many redneck wine glasses do we have to sell (or not sell) to get someone to want to actually do something for this town? ugh
This town has so much potential, we all know its crime free, you cant walk in your yard without the cops giving you “the look” like your guilty of something. Cant we sell that to some businesses?
This police do a fantastic job in Silver Lake…. Everyone will have their opinion… but when you have a small village, yes there will be a sense of “more tickets” and nobody appreciates them! Dont people realize that you are lucky to have a police deptartment that cares?! and a Chief that goes out of his way to make our streets safe! He cares, they care…. now…. if we didnt have them… we would have the county. Having county means… less safe streets, longer waits for help, less help, no night patrol, etc etc. Appreciate what we have and dont take it for granted!
The village of Silver Lake charges residents to use the boat launch across the street from the BP.