CITIES AGREE TO LAKE BOARD RESOLUTION

We are proud to finally announce success on establishing a Lake Board to take care of the invasive weed problem on Walled Lake. On November 18, Walled Lake City Council approved the Lake Board resolution contingent on the Novi City Council doing the same. This past Monday, January 12th, after extensive research and consultation with experts over the last several weeks, the Novi City Council unanimously approved the formation of a Lake Board for Walled Lake.

Our deepest appreciation goes out, not only to Mayor Landry and the council members for their thoughtful and respectful consideration of this proposal, but to all of the volunteers and supporters who rallied to make this happen over the last seven months. We also remain mindful of the lakefront residents who may have hoped for a different outcome and were wrestling with concerns regarding this approach. What was emphasized repeatedly in the meeting on Monday was that the Lake Board is the ONLY way that the problems of the lake can be uniformly addressed and managed, and the ONLY way that specific questions about timing, treatment, and assessment can begin to be answered.

The next step will be for the City Councils to select their own representatives (one from each city) and begin reviewing submissions for the lakefront property representative who will sit on the Board. A subsequent Lake Board meeting (held in short order) will then begin the process of fielding a formal engineering study of the lake with which to solicit bids from multiple lake management companies.

We will keep you posted as the Lake Board activity progresses. There is a possibility that an initial "lite" treatment could begin already this summer but that, of course, is yet to be determined.

Thanks to this momentous decision, we can all look forward to a much improved lake lifestyle for many years to come.

Petition Drive Update

Thank you to all who helped make the petition drive such a success. After many hours (and weekends) of volunteer work in the last 60 days, signed petitions were presented to the Walled Lake and Novi City Councils the week of October 20th. We were able to capture signatures from more than 55% of lakefront property owners in both Walled Lake and Novi (exceeding the 51% requested). The City Attorney of Novi (a shared resource with Walled Lake) is currently validating the signatures in preparation for the cities' passage of the Lake Improvement Board resolution. Within the next few weeks, a meeting of the cities, representatives from LAHA (Dave Hultgren and Greg Iszler), and representatives from Oakland County will be held to review details of the Lake Improvement Board process. According to Cindy Uglow, Novi Community Coordinator, this is the first step prior to official City Council review in an upcoming council meeting. Letters were sent out to council members and city officials in Novi and Walled Lake last week. We will continue to press the cities to keep this initiative moving forward toward resolution prior to the end of this year. Once again, we couldn't have accomplished this without the help of a number of energized association members. You should feel very proud of the results we have so far achieved. We will keep you posted on the progress.

Volunteers Hit the Streets to Gather Signatures

Over the next few weeks, a number of volunteers will be going out to property owners with deeded access to Walled Lake to gather signatures for the Lake Board petition. Nearly 30 volunteers came out this evening at Bayside to help move this initiative forward.

We are eager to achieve our 51% goal for each city council as quickly as possible to maximize the chance that we could begin addressing the weed problem already next spring.

As you meet with the volunteers or pick up the information left at your door, please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions or clarification you may need. Refer back to this website frequently for the latest information on the petition drive.

If you'd like, feel free to sign and complete the petition on your own HERE. Simply drop it in the mail (LAHA, P.O. Box 12, Walled Lake, MI 48390) or call 313-303-8669 to have it picked up. We will contact your neighborhood captain and let them know that you have already contributed.

Thank you in advance for your support during this important effort.

Call For Petition Drive Volunteers

We are calling for all interested volunteers to join us this coming Tuesday, August 26th at 7:30pm in the back room at Bayside to kick off our Lake Board petition drive.The City Councils of Novi and Walled Lake have approved the petition drafts that we submitted, and have cleared the way for the gathering of signatures. At the meeting, we will be passing out petition forms, mapping volunteer areas, and handing out FAQ sheets and a copy of the final resolution.

We will also be answering any questions you may have (or think you may receive) as we make the push for signatures. We have 300-400 signatures needed so the more volunteers that show up, the easier each of our assignments will be. Thank you in advance for your valuable time and support on this effort.

Please RSVP to greg.iszler@lahalifestyle.com .

Lake Board Letter to Walled Lake Mayor William Roberts

Monday, August 18, 2008
To: William Roberts
Subject: Walled Lake Petition Drive

Thank you for hearing the request of the Lakes Area Homeowners Association at the last City Council meeting. We greatly appreciate the Council's consideration and support regarding the health and vitality of Walled Lake.

Based on the Council's encouragement at the meeting, we will proceed with the petition for resolution, as submitted, and begin collecting signatures of Walled Lake residents with lakefront property and those with backlot deeded access on Walled Lake to achieve the 51% approval that the Council required to approve a Lake Board. In parallel, we will be gathering signatures in Novi to meet that City Council’s requirements for Lake Board resolution. (Last week, we presented to the Novi City Council and were given the go-ahead on the petition - also as submitted - by Clay Pearson on Thursday.) If you have any questions or require any further details as we embark on this process, please contact me directly at 313-303-8669 or via this email address.

Together with the City of Walled Lake, we look forward to doing whatever we can to protect the appeal and value of this very special regional asset.

Sincerely,
Greg Iszler
LAHA President

Lake Board Letter to Novi Mayor David Landry

Monday, August 18, 2008
To: Landry, David
Subject: Walled Lake Petition Drive

Thank you for hearing the request of the Lakes Area Homeowners Association at last week's City Council meeting. We greatly appreciate the Council's consideration and support regarding the health and vitality, in this particular case, of Walled Lake.

Based on my conversation with Clay Pearson, we will proceed with the petition for resolution, as submitted, and begin collecting signatures of Novi lakefront homeowners on Walled Lake to achieve the 51% approval that the Council required to approve a Lake Board. In parallel, we will be gathering signatures in Walled Lake to meet that City Council's requirements for Lake Board resolution. If you have any questions or require any further details as we embark on this process, please contact me directly at 313-303-8669 or via this email address.

Importantly, I also wanted to re-emphasize our association's commitment to both Walled Lake and Shawood Lake. The consultants that our volunteers contacted strongly recommended that the lake issues for Walled Lake and Shawood Lake be handled independently for three primary reasons: the dual-city involvement for Walled Lake, the different life stage for each lake, and the unique bio-environments (and treatment approach) for each lake. As I mentioned in the City Council meeting (and as we have reinforced in both our association meetings and on our website), we are eager to assist Shawood Lake in exploring similar remedies, if needed. The timing difference has simply been the result of active volunteerism. LAHA enjoys a particularly active volunteer group of 8-12 Walled Lake residents who have invested considerable time and resources pushing this initiative forward. We continue to encourage such participation from Shawood Lake residents but unfortunately have received little membership interest or volunteer participation from that area of late. We hope that the interest expressed during the City Council meeting suggests more active involvement ahead. All LAHA officers are eager to provide them the same guidance and support as we have with Walled Lake's group of volunteers.

With the City of Novi, we look forward to doing whatever we can to protect the appeal and value of these very special lake environments.

Sincerely,
Greg Iszler
LAHA President

Lake Board Petition Presented to the Novi and Walled Lake City Councils

On Monday, August 4 at the Walled Lake City Council meeting and on Monday, August 11 at the Novi City Council meeting, LAHA representatives submitted petition drafts for the establishment of a Lake Board for Walled Lake. Both Councils encouraged LAHA to proceed with the petitions, as presented. (Copies of the petitions and a draft of the Resolution may be found in the "Find a Particular Subject" section links at the top left of the association website.)