Environmental Commission gets update on lake drawdown

On June 20, in its first meeting since February, the Van Buren Township Environmental Commission received an update on the proposed Belleville Lake drawdown, set for 2019.
Matthew Best, who with his environmental background had been assigned to the Environmental Commission, was not present, but sent a brief written report on the subject.
Since Best was promoted to the position of director of public services and began that job in January, he has been extremely busy and had cancelled the last three monthly Environmental Commission meetings.
Filling in for him on June 20 was Ron Akers, director of planning and economic development.
In February the commission agreed there were no serious environmental concerns with the drawdown and recommended the board approve it. In the February minutes it was noted the drawdown recommendation would be on the township board’s next agenda.
The item is yet to be back on the township board agenda.
Best’s report said since the Environmental Commission recommended the lake drawdown for 2019, his department has been working on the next steps of the process.
Before presenting it to the township board, he said his department has to meet with Eagle Valley, the dam operator to determine the necessary permits, coordinate with the Huron River Dam Network, develop a public outreach/participation program to set up volunteers and to disseminate information about the drawdown to lake residents and businesses, and determine feasibility of the lake drawdown.
Best reported they have met with the Huron Valley Dam Network and reported the desire for a drawdown and was to meet with the dam operator on June 22.
He said after that they would do the last two items, meeting with township engineers to determine the feasibility of a drawdown.
Commission Chairman Dave Brownlee asked Director Akers if the township had a deadline or a target date?
Akers said he was not sure, but it would depend on the process and how long it took to get everything in place.
“When and if the township gives the go-ahead, there will be more discussion on this commission. Once it’s set,” Brownlee said.
Brownlee said he had been studying details of a drawdown and seawall contractors told him they don’t care if the water is drawn down or not. They work anytime, he said.
He said the township has to learn what five feet of water removed from the lake means to Sandy’s Marina. Getting input from Sandy’s was also discussed in February. He also said individuals can’t remove trees or stumps without a permit.
Township Trustee Paul White, who is liaison to the commission, said lowering the lake will take pressure off the seawalls.
Brownlee said most of the damage would come if the water level was down in the winter. He said contractors didn’t perceive problems if the water was down for a couple of weeks. He said they need to prepare a fact sheet to give to the public.
Brownlee said there is potentially more information to come.
In other business in the 45-minute meeting, the commission discussed Commissioner Tony Gibson’s concerns with Cadillac Asphalt because a large amount of asphalt is stored next to a gully with the water from that emptying into Belleville Lake.
Commissioner Gibson was unable to attend the meeting because of a death in the family, but he had the item placed on the agenda. He has studied satellite photos
and he thinks the township should discuss with the company its containment system, concerning the rainwater coming off the piles of asphalt, which is carcinogenic.
Akers said the stream from this area runs through Van Buren Park and enters the lake near the beach, which is tested regularly. He said he would look into the situation and that testing data is on a website.
Akers said that stream runs from Willow Run through what was Tyler Dam. YCUA discharges treated water into the stream and it enters the north side of Van Buren Park.
Brownlee said there was a brief agenda that evening, but he is glad they had an agenda at all, after all the meeting cancellations.
He said there are questions on the drawdown, such as what MDEQ requires, and a lot of other questions and issues.
Commissioner Merritt asked if the drawdown would disturb the ecosystem.
“We need to all go on the internet,” Brownlee said. “It’s not Ron’s or Matt’s problem. We should go on line and do research.”
He said there is a lot of vacant property on the lake and asked how will that be cleaned up in a drawdown?
“You want it to be successful,” Brownlee said. “It’s going to be a joint project.”
Commissioner Norm Debuck said there is a particular stump that hits his pontoon boat and maybe it could be sawed shorter if it couldn’t be removed.
Brownlee said there is a lot of milfoil in the lake now and when the water is down they need to know if there is anything they can do about it.
Brownlee said he’s sure in the future someone will come up with something to deal with milfoil in a lake with a river running through it. They haven’t found a good way to deal with it yet.
Debuck said he recently saw an island of weeds, 100′ wide, moving down the lake.
Brownlee said he didn’t get the coal tar pamphlet that was supposed to be put in the spring water bill. He said the last the commission heard, the brochures were being ordered and they were going out in the spring water bill. He said it’s already been two years since they started on this and now it’s past the time when people are having asphalt work done and the residents have no way of knowing coal tar is harmful.
He mentioned all the work done by the late Dr. Dave Wilson on the coal tar project.
Akers said he would follow up on that, too.
Brownlee gave a brief report on the testing for toxic algae in Belleville Lake done last year. He said last year they put a contraption on his dock and others took samples. They found there was not a significant number of toxic algae in the lake. He said they want to do it again this year and he can get kits for those interested to take samples when they are out on the lake on their boats.