Duck Lake

Property Owners Association | Highland, MI


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Updates: Nov 5 Meeting, Augmentation Well, Marine Patrol & By-Laws

Hello all – lots of updates to share. We’ve done our best to address the most common questions that have come through the hotline and web. Thanks so much for your enthusiasm!

November 5, 2015 Meeting
Many people have expressed confusion or dislike about the “active” vs “inactive” program, so thanks to helpful feedback from all of you we will no longer use these terms. However, we do still need contributions from lake residents, as the funding for the POA is 100% voluntary. We hope you will decide to become a “Duck Lake POA Volunteer” and contribute toward the betterment of the lake. Remember, your taxes go to the Oakland County Duck Lake Board, and cannot be used for the operation of the PAO, which is a separate entity.

That said all members, regardless of your decision to volunteer time or money, have voting rights on POA matters. The meeting which will take place on November 5 is for all Duck Lake residents and their families who want to come. If you can’t attend, please call the hotline for information. If you would like to become a volunteer, you can sign up at the meeting and may pay by cash or check.

Augmentation Well
The augmentation well pump is no longer functioning, which has led to a noticeable drop in the water levels. Management of the water levels and therefore the augmentation well is the responsibility of the county and therefore out of the control of the POA. This means we DO NOT get to vote on the decision to either replace or repair the pump.

We have therefore requested a special meeting of the Duck Lake Board, which Highland Township is working on our behalf to get scheduled. We will post the date, time and location as soon at is is available. This will be an open meeting, so you are welcome and encouraged to attend and give your opinion (but you can’t vote).

Bob would like to extend special thanks to the Highland Township Offices and Joel T. Brown of the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office for all their hard work.  This can be a long and complex process and thanks to their hard work we estimate that we are about two months ahead of the expected schedule.

Marine Patrol
The final Marine Patrol vote has been temporarily delayed.  Lake members from three lake subdivisions reported on the hotline possible fraud in their subdivisions regarding the Marine vote. We are therefore awaiting guidance from legal counsel and will post and update when available.  Thank you for your patience.

By-Laws
On the request of many of you we have posted the current POA by-laws on the website. You can view and download them here: https://ducklakepoa.org/by-laws/

As always, please feel free to call the hotline or submit an inquiry on the website if you have any questions. comments, concerns or ideas to share.


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Upcoming POA meeting & carp removal update

Please remember you must be a registered active member to attend the November 5th meeting.  ID’s will be checked.  There is still time to become an active member.  Applications will be available at the October 21st general meeting.  You can also call the hotline to join.

 

Carp update: Thanks to the Lake Family Member Jeff Jolokai and his team,  over 100 carp were removed from Duck Lake.  The largest was 30 lbs. Did you know that one 4kg carp can  one million eggs?  Yes, carp have a history of totally destroying lakes.

 

Thanks,
Bob


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Message form the President: Lake Pump Update

As your Association President, I would like to recommend the following action at this time to correct our well problem.  Invest between $2,000 to $2,500 and have our failed pump motor repaired.  The only other choice at this time, is to totally replace the well assembly on the existing  site.  This cost would be about $25,000 to $28,000, it is your decision.

 

I will share a wealth of information about our well at the October 21st general meeting.  Hopefully, this will help you make the right decision when you vote on the fate of our well in the future.

 

Robert F. Jones
President, Duck Lake Property Owners Association

UPDATE (October 26)
The decision about the lake’s well pump will go to the Duck Lake Board as it is a matter of lake quality and maintenance. A meeting has been requested, and the date will be published when available.


End of Summer Update from the President, Bob Jones

Hi folks,

Bob would like to share a few pieces of important info:

First, many Lake Family Members have asked for a copy of the Oakland Country Lake Improvement Board’s 5 year budget. You can download a copy here.

Now for some unfortunate news: our Duck Lake augmentation well pump has died again. As usual Oakland County is working with our Association 100%. An investigation was made to determine whether the pump could be repaired, but it’s been determined that it is not repairable. Oakland County has scheduled a camera inspection for the Week of Sept. 7, which will reveal the integrity of the well housing, pickup screens and shaft conditions. Cost estimates of repair or total well replacement will be discussed after camera data is analyzed. More info to come.

Finally, we hope you will be pleased to know that next season all weed treatment, invoices and treatment maps will be placed on our website so you can see when and where treatments are being administered.

We hope you have had a fantastic summer and have a very enjoyable Labor Day weekend.


Live goose roudup cancelled due to Avian Flu

We’re sorry to announce that the Oakland and Macomb country DNR service has decided to cancel the live goose roundup for the 2015 season due to concerns that have emerged from the discovery of a goose carrying the Avian Flu in Macomb County.

Michigan is the 21st state to report incidences of this virus in addition to the Ontario province in Canada. At this time, it has only been reported among wild bird populations and has not been found to have infected domestic birds or humans.

This has also led to the cancellation of all poultry and waterfowl exhibitions in Michigan for the rest of 2015. You can read more about this here.

UPDATE [6.11.15]

Please report any dead water fowl or strange-acting birds immediately to the Duck Lake hotline: 248.887.0824. DO NOT TOUCH these birds.

The proper authorities will be notified to come an collect the bird. All geese will be collected within a 10 mile radius of an infected bird.