HOA Dues At Work

South Channel and Old Channel Dredging

The targeted clean ups of the ends of the Old Channel and the South Channel took place early in January 2022. Four large container loads of muck plus some large tree limbs and stumps were removed from the south side of the fountain in the Old Channel.  Three similar containers plus smaller branches were hauled out near the Loch Lomond gate.
Channel end dredging is necessary due to grass clippings and other debris that fall into the lake and are pushed along by winds and natural water flow to the ends of the channels.
Appreciation goes to the Jacobson and Wightman families for allowing access through their properties for the crews and equipment. The operations were organized and coordinated by Water Committee Chair Tony Lester, with assistance from Director Byron DeVries.


Lake re-stocked with tilapia

2021’s stocking of Lake Interlochen with tilapia for algae control was performed May 3 as HOA directors Tony Lester and Ken Seipel dumped 155 pounds of tilapia at various places in the waterways.

Rush Creek Dam Repair

Proactively, your HOA Board identified cracks and made repairs in our 50-year-old impound dam on Rush Creek. Supervised by Water Committee Chair Tony Lester, the job was completed before the October rainfall, which would have caused more damage.

 

Dredging West and North Channels

In a major two-day project, on September 14 and 15, 2020, the ends of the West Channel and North Channel were dredged and cleaned out. Sediment was vacuumed by divers using a hydraulic dredging system that removes silt without impacting aquatic life. The yucky silt was pumped into six large containers, lined with a bio-degradable burlap, and hauled away.

The HOA Board is thankful to the Geisels on Porto Bello and James Yae on Findlay Drive for allowing use of their driveways and yards for the best access. The job was performed by Fort Worth-based American Underwater Services under the coordination and supervision of Water Committee Chairman Tony Lester with assistance from Ken Seipel, Roger Pendleton, and Ralph Sobel.

Dredging channel ends is necessitated because of grass and yard clippings and other debris that falls into the lake and are pushed along by winds and the natural water flow to the ends of the channels.

Here are some photographs from the dredging job:

 

Tilapia Re-Stocking

Lake Interlochen was re-stocked with 155 pounds of tilapia on May 4, with five distribution points throughout the lake. This is done annually to help with the control of algae.

 

Outflow Clean Out

Our lake maintenance program calls for periodic clean out of the outflow structure, a 30-inch diameter pipe which feeds directly into Village Creek. Some residents noticed that the lake was maintaining an above normal level, about three inches higher than usual. An extremely rainy spring contributed to the high lake levels. Early in July our maintenance crew removed debris from the outflow, mostly tree branches, and lake water began exiting as designed.

 

North Channel Dredging

The end of the North Channel was successfully dredged end of May. Four large containers of silt were vacuumed out by a hydraulic dredging system that removes sediment without impacting aquatic life. The HOA Board is thankful to the Geisels for allowing use of their driveway and yard for the best access.

The initial project in this new maintenance program was the dredging of the West Channel in 2018. Next scheduled dredging is the South Channel, then the Middle Channel.

Dredging channel ends is necessitated because of grass and yard clippings and other debris that fall into the lake are pushed along by winds and the natural water flow to the ends of the channels.

The following photographs are from the North Channel dredging job.