Platte Lake Improvement Association Updates

We welcome a new Board Member

Steve Peterson — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 21:33:10 GMT

The PLIA Board is pleased to welcome Paige Reed as it’s newest Board Member.

Paige has been active in the PLIA Communications Committee this year as the person who manages our Face Book and Instagram accounts. She has been very effective in increasing engagement with our members and friends. Paige was appointed to fill a vacant position on the board, following our bylaws.

Paige and her husband Todd are full time residents of Platte Lake after retiring from Houston, Texas and purchasing Todd’s family home in the summer of 2022. Paige retired after working in commercial real estate for one of the top firms in the US, specializing in Class A, downtown office properties for over 20+ years. She graduated from Texas State University with a degree in Journalism. Her background includes marketing, major social events, social media and public relations for her firm as well as assisting neighborhood associations and local sports leagues with their platforms.

As a native Texan, Paige is experiencing Michigan for the first time. She loves exploring the area and experiencing all four seasons.

202 Shoreline survey results

Steve Peterson — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:31:46 GMT

2022 Shoreline Survey Results are here

Shoreline best practices webinar

Steve Peterson — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:30:23 GMT

The State of Michigan has created a webinar that describes best practices for shoreline management: Advancing Inland Lake Stewardship through Shoreline Best Management Practices https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rec

New Lake Depth Map

Steve Peterson — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:28:22 GMT

Here's a link to the most detailed depth map of Platte Lake we've ever seen.

Dialog with the DNR Event Recording

Steve Peterson — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:25:25 GMT

Here is a link to a simple video of our Dialogue with the DNR Event 6/17

Dark Sky and Light Polution

Steve Peterson — Fri, 14 Jul 2023 16:06:46 GMT

Dark Sky and Light Pollution. This week the dark sky group out of Northport did a program at Rotary which was very good. Around the lake there are obviously homes with more light than necessary, and therefore, light pollution. Here’s the website.

https://leelanauenergy.org/dark-sky

One hundred and fifty years of Michigan fish hatcheries

Steve Peterson — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 12:41:51 GMT

Here’s an interesting article by our partners at the Hatchery.

Results of our 2022 Shoreline Survey

Steve Peterson — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 16:54:39 GMT

This fall the PLIA volunteers walked every inch of the inhabited Platte Lake shoreline looking for Cladophora. Why? Cladophora is a green algae that is unique in that it serves as a reliable marker for nutrient overloading such phosphorous and nitrogen. It is important to minimize the amount of these nutrients because they cause excessive algae and plant growth, which will then affect the water quality where you swim and play. Here's a link to the Report.

Scott Jones joins the PLIA Board

Steve Peterson — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 18:42:32 GMT

The PLIA Board is pleased to welcome Scott Jones as it’s newest Board Member.

Scott and his wife Debbie are full time residents of Platte Lake. Scott is a retired manufacturing professional who specialized in running manufacturing plants for private and public companies in several locations throughout the US. Scott’s outdoor life extends to hobbies in hockey, hunting, and golf where he spends the majority of his time when not working on home and land projects.

Scott has been active on our Science and Research committee.

PLIA makes an argument for the resumption of walleye plantings in Platte Lake.

Steve Peterson — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 21:15:44 GMT

The PLIA knows that it’s membership has enjoyed fishing for walleye in Platte Lake. The walleye plantings have been discontinued by the MDNR for about 6 years. Recently the PLIA contacted the MDNR with rationale for the resumption of those plantings. You can read our letter and the MDNR response with these links.

Although we were not successful, the PLIA board felt it is important for members to know that we are advocating on their behalf.

Of particular interest is the abstract that used the data from the MDNR and did a simple statistical analysis looking for the correlation between walleye planting and coho returns. You can see that there is actually a positive correlation. Obviously mature walleye will eat smolt, but the impact of that walleye population, in spite of plantings, remains of no consequence according to this objective statistical analysis.

The PLIA plans on participating in the 2024 salmon marking study that Mr. Heintzelman referred to in his response. Conceptually, the idea that smolt release at the lower weir will reduce predation by birds, fish, otters etc. in Platte Lake on the smolt population and improve mature salmon return is interesting. The impact on fish rearing could mean that fewer fish, at less cost, could be produced for the same return rate. Now that is a win-win.

If you missed the annual meeting

Steve Peterson — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:53:38 GMT

If you were unable to attend our Annual Meeting August 6th, here is the link to the Zoom recording. Like many meetings, the recording started before the meat of the meeting started, so it takes a bit before your get the beginning of the meeting. Also, you'll need to copy and paste the Access Passcode below

Topic: 10:00 AM Saturday August 6, 2022 PLIA Annual Meeting

Start Time: Aug 6, 2022 09:30 AM

Meeting Recording:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/M8Ch-KPE4SQ-IhkwWdXYPAHP6DsNwLYpX7OcH7VO1mhEfpV7AxhL0Q_gAAuFoGg-.d6YOP5mmciT5_51m

Access Passcode: hp+kF7#G

Check out the Platte Lake T-shirts at our new store!

Steve Peterson — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 19:27:21 GMT

PLIA Store

Minutes of 2021 Annual Meeting

Steve Peterson — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 13:02:24 GMT

Here’s the Minutes of last year’s Annual Meeting.

What is an Ice Shove and How Can I Prevent Damage to my Shoreline?

Steve Peterson — Sun, 08 May 2022 21:44:00 GMT

Some Platte Lake residents have experienced their shoreline being pushed up by the ice. So, how does this happen? Well, several physical properties can work together to “shove” ice toward your shoreline. Temperature fluctuations, changing water levels and the prevailing wind can all contribute to push ice onto the shore with considerable force. This force has been known to move houses off of their foundations, push boulders the size of SUVs and snap trees in half. Do we have your attention?

As you know, Platte Lake covers 2,516 acres, is 3.3 miles long and roughly 1.6 miles wide. When temperatures decrease, this large ice sheet contracts, forming stress fractures. Water from below fills these cracks, freezes and expands the ice sheet. When temperatures rise, the ice expands, as well. Lastly, changing water levels also cause the ice to crack, cracks, again, fill with water, freeze and the ice sheet continues to expand. Unfortunately, this happens all winter long, continually expanding the ice sheet. It just keeps getting wider.

Prevailing wind also comes into play. Typically, the land temperature causes the water near shore to freeze last and thaw first causing a huge, very heavy, floating ice sheet on the lake. The bigger the lake, the more force the wind can apply to push this heavy mass of ice toward shore. You see this in the summer in the form of bigger waves.

So, what can you do to protect your shoreline? Landscapers recommend a 3:1 slope, meaning a gradual rise of 1 foot for every 3 feet of shoreline. This will create a ramp for the ice to slide on top of the ground rather than pushing up against it. This will also reduce erosion from wave action once the ice is gone. Please know that it is your responsibility to obtain all necessary permits before you begin any shoreline work.

Here's a TV feature from Minnesota:

at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsqbZCq2cT4

31 years of Average Water Temperature Available to view

Steve Peterson — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 20:10:23 GMT

Here's the link to the info.

Winter Drone Footage Available now!

Steve Peterson — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 20:08:01 GMT

John Ransom of the Benzie Conservation District, normally does all our lake and tributary sampling. He's recently become a licensed drone pilot, and shot footage recently of the Lake and tributaries in February. Here's the link:

https://youtu.be/KluW02C_AKM

Do you have a lot of Canada geese on your shoreline? Find out why. Educate yourself about best practices for managing your shoreline.

William Anderson — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 21:30:39 GMT

Educate yourself about using environmental DNA to monitor the inhabitants of our lake.

William Anderson — Thu, 03 Feb 2022 21:19:42 GMT

Here is a link to a webinar from EGLE describing how they are using a new technology eDNA and qPCR to identify native and invasive species in Michigan lakes. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/930290611830040847

Board approves updated Privacy Policy

Steve Peterson — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 14:06:14 GMT

The policy, which is more comprehensive, isn't really a new one. Here's the link to it, if you'd like to take a look.

TC Record Eagle Reports on Wil Stepping down after a lifetime of service

Steve Peterson — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:02:14 GMT

https://www.record-eagle.com/news/platte-lake-improvement-association-president-to-step-down-after-lifetime-of-service/article_c6ae1eca-f618-11eb-93db-6f91ad576736.html

Record Patriot Reports on Wil Swiecki stepping down as President

Steve Peterson — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 15:28:18 GMT

Here's a link to the article in the Record-Patriot

Here are the bylaws showing the changes and corrections we made

Steve Peterson — Sun, 08 Aug 2021 01:14:17 GMT

At our Annual Meeting, John Collins, chair of our Governance Committee reported that we've made some changes to update our bylaws. Here is a marked up copy of the bylaws showing the changes

PLIA Board Creates new structure to encourage engagement

Steve Peterson — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 13:50:04 GMT

Designed to more evenly distribute the many tasks of the PLIA, and to create opportunities for member engagement, the PLIA Board has created a new committee structure. Four distinct committees now exist, the Governance Committee, Communications Committee, Science and Research Committee and the Finance Committee. Each of them is encouraging PLIA members to bring their individual expertise to the group and help PLIA achieve its ongoing mission.

The Governance Committee, chaired by board member and attorney John Collins, will address the governing articles of the organization including bylaws, board member recruitment and insuring that PLIA is compliant with State and Federal 501(c)3 requirements.

The Science and Research Committee will focus on sustaining and improving the lake monitoring program. Exciting new projects such as the Deep Trekker underwater ROV are part of this team’s work. Wilfred Swiecki, who has been studying Platte Lake for decades and is integrally involved in current monitoring activities, will be the committee chair.

Keeping the membership and public in general informed about the many activities and opportunities of the PLIA will be the responsibility of the Communications Committee. This includes email messaging, website management and the production of the annual report. Membership database management is also included in the scope of this group. PLIA secretary Dr. Jerry Heiman chairs this workgroup.

The Finance Committee, chaired by PLIA treasurer David Fuhrhop, is responsible for both the fund flow of the PLIA and insuring that our fiscal strategy allows us to meet the goals and objectives of the organization.

This new structure will provide a framework for PLIA activities as the organization moves forward. Knowing that the membership of the PLIA represents an untapped resource of talent, each of these committees is identifying opportunities for members to participate and will be posting those on our website.

NEW - 2021 Annual Report

Ashley Rossi — Sun, 18 Jul 2021 22:51:11 GMT

The 2021 Annual Report is now available! Read it here

2019 Swimmer's Itch Study

Ashley Rossi — Sun, 18 Jul 2021 22:47:40 GMT

Read the 2019 Swimmer's Itch Study from Freshwater Solutions here.

We also have a follow up piece on preventing swimmer's itch - check it out here.

We've got 29 years of lake temperature data!

Ashley Rossi — Sat, 17 Jul 2021 13:04:50 GMT

The chart showing the volume weighted average temperature of the lake is here.

Aerial Drone Survey

Ashley Rossi — Fri, 16 Jul 2021 13:15:54 GMT

In 2018 we commissioned ZeroGravity Aerial to do a drone survey of the lake to quantify the presence of eurasian milfoil (an invasive aquatic plant). Here is the info from that effort:

Summary

2018 Swimmer's Itch Study

Ashley Rossi — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 17:21:28 GMT

In 2018 the PLIA participated in a study being done by Oakland University to better understand swimmer's itch. Here are some documents related to this study:

Study overview powerpoint

August 6, 2016 Presentation

February 2017 Progress Report

June 2017 Presentation

MSU Extension Bulletin on Swimmer's Itch

2017 Annual Meeting Presentation

Ashley Rossi — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 18:52:18 GMT

Here's a copy of the presentation made at our 2017 Annual meeting.

The analysis of sampling programs study we commissioned has been published!

Ashley Rossi — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 18:53:23 GMT

Last year the PLIA commissioned a statistical analysis to determine the minimum number of samples needed to detect changes in the total phosphorus concentration in Platte Lake. Dr. Eric Smith of Virginia Tech and Dr. Ray Canale collaborated on the study, which has now been published in the peer-reviewed journal Lake and Reservoir Management. Here's a link to the article: An Analysis of sampling programs to evaluate compliance with numerical standards: total phosphorus in Platte Lake, MI