This is a place to ask questions and share with your Duck Lake neighbors. Please keep the discussion cordial.
Duck Lake
Property Owners Association | Highland, MI
This is a place to ask questions and share with your Duck Lake neighbors. Please keep the discussion cordial.
Duck Lake 
May 30, 2018 at 7:42 pm
Raft close to blocking the opening to the Chevron bridge. The anchor must have pulled loose.
May 24, 2018 at 3:56 am
Missing dock section. Cottage located on east shore of small Duck. Appears a twenty foot, (2 – attached ten foot sections), have floated away. Have been eyeballing the shoreline from the boat, but no luck. Anyone? Thanks!
May 24, 2018 at 3:29 pm
Is the floating dock pieces from the cottage that looks like a swiss chalet?
June 3, 2018 at 10:46 pm
Hi bob! We found them. They washed up on the shore at the beach in south east little duck. Please let me know if you are able to pick them up.
May 23, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Hi,
I would just like to express our disappointment once again in the lake weed control company. It was just brought to my attention a few minutes ago that the lake weed control company, just did a spraying on the ( White Lake Road) , part of the lake. And as usual they only do up to one house and skip everyone else. I realize this is the main pathway into the large part of Duck Lake. Having said that, it only seems fair to circle around the other 3 homes as they are right next to each other. Especially with the high water levels at this time, there shouldn’t have been any problem getting their boat through there. Just wondering why no attempt is made to help everyone?
May 29, 2018 at 10:20 pm
Actually, the water level is too shallow for them to get their boat to all the houses, so the owner of the company is scheduling a time with one resident so they can come and use a backpack sprayer in that person’s boat.
May 31, 2018 at 12:15 pm
Thank you Matt, for keeping up on this weed situation.
May 31, 2018 at 12:37 pm
Hi Ryan Charlton, Our cove on Little Duck is extremely weedy with lake grass. How can we get them to spray please? Thank you
May 31, 2018 at 6:12 pm
Can you be more specific as to where?
May 31, 2018 at 6:17 pm
Yes, the 2nd cove to the right after you go under the Chevron bridge. The A -frame house that looks like a swiss chalet. We have a lot of lily pads but most concerning is the enormous amount of lake weed near the beach and under the diving board. Can this be sprayed to reduce the lake weed? Thank you kindly
May 31, 2018 at 6:22 pm
Please send your address to contact@ducklakepoa.org just so I know exactly where you mean. Thanks.
May 31, 2018 at 6:27 pm
Also, I’m assuming we are talking about the weeds and lake grass under the water not around shoreline? Thanks
May 31, 2018 at 6:56 pm
We do not spray anything that’s not in the water.
May 31, 2018 at 6:58 pm
That is what I was hoping. Thank you kindly for helping reduce the overgrowth in the cove.
May 15, 2018 at 4:32 pm
Update on lake level: Today the lake was 7.5″ above summer legal level. I think everyone agrees this is much too high as I see a lot of docks underwater This was due partly to a misunderstanding about how high we wanted them to keep the lake until we get the well back on line, and of course all the rain we had during the last week. They have since been told that 4″ over legal level is a maximum until we get the well back on line. Once we have the well available, the ideal level is 0-2″ above legal level. To achieve those goals, they are now spilling 12″ of water over the dam, which is a lot. But with over 250 acres of surface area, and with White Lake (now 4″over their legal level) possibly spilling water to Duck Lake, it takes a while to get back down to reasonable levels.
The Oakland County Health Department issues well permits and decided they want to implement new standards for lake augmentation wells beginning with Duck Lake. It appears they will finally issue the permit this week with some physical changes to how we spill water into the lake at the well. With that in mind the driller is tentatively now planning on beginning drilling the week of June 4. Prior to them starting, a local contractor will prepare the site to accommodate the big drill rig and set up erosion control measures.
May 6, 2018 at 2:48 pm
Board Members:
We need to find out the property owners who dump their dirty soapy laundry water (and who know what else) and into Duck Lake. When there is a north to south wind, the homeowners from the Davista boat launch to Orchard Dr. experience filthy disgusting mounds of suds on our shoreline.
If we are serious about a clean lake, we need to report and stop people from this illegal dumping. We need all property owner to be aware and report the homeowners who are ruining our lake.
May 7, 2018 at 2:51 pm
That is mostly natural. I have seen it every lake my entire life with turbulent wave action. Organic compounds trap the air when the waves are crashing creating suds. Nothing new.
May 8, 2018 at 11:42 pm
Hi Jim,
While my hope is that all Duck Lake water property owners are dong all they can to insure that all of their discharge water is contained, I cannot certify it. I agree that we should do whatever we can to confirm both ourselves and our neighbors are doing all we can to check this. However, I am currently at a loss on how we can identify the properties that are not doing so.
I agree that we need to insure that we are doing all we can to make sure our lake is getting clean. You are correct that this will be a muti-headed project. On top of aeration, we will need to look at over fertilization, broken/backed up septic’s (holding tanks), grey water discharge, and drain run off from the streets and nearby hills. I have been lead to believe that trouble areas will become more prevalent after the system has been in place a few years. Areas that should respond, and are not, can help us identify where one of the above may be talking place. As Danny mentioned, foaming of the lake is (under normal circumstances) natural. However, I am all for making sure we do all we can to make sure that it is “natural”.
If I have one disagreement with you, Jim, it would be how you addressed your message. The disagreement I have is that you only address the “board members”. Please note that a full board would represent at most 24 houses. Currently I believe that we have a few vacancies so we are closer to 20 houses. There are 1,150 (roughly) addresses in the DLPOA. Why does this situation rest upon the %.017 solely? While we represent almost the full circumference of the lake, it would be nearly impossible for us to know each and every inch of the shore line, or even worse, what may be below it. While we are working diligently to tackle the new aeration project, new well, goose round up, replacement of the zoo keeper, up keep of the Davista boat launch, buoys, and the many, many other tasks, you can only imagine we are stretched quite thin.
I am all for your plan to identify troubled areas and correct them. I hope that when we do go looking for these issues the problem may not exist at all. However, I need your help. You bring up good points, but how and where do we begin? Can I ask you to start a committee that can oversee a plan to address the above? Will we be able to gain the support of others to help with this task? How do we address issues if you were to find them? I assure you that the “board members” would be very excited and willing to suggest and possibly help with this project. But the suggestion that only a hand full of people should be able to figure this our is not realistic, or fair. Please come to the meeting this month, and every month. We meet every third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 at the Senior Center in Highland. We love to have people there with issues like these. We also love to have additional people there to help solve them. Together, we can help identify and stop this and future issues that may compromise a clean Duck Lake.
Thanks,
Ryan Charlton
May 10, 2018 at 12:35 pm
Hi Jim,
I wanted to follow up to Ryan and Danny’s responses. I went online and was able to find an article about the Foam you are speaking about. I live on the west side of the lake and do not see the Foam very often, as this is typically driven by wind direction. The prevailing wind direction for our area is from the West blowing East. But on occasion I do see the Foam when we get the windy days blowing from the East. Please know that there are house on our lake that do discharge to the water and as Ryan stated we hopefully will identify them once the aeration system is up and running. But until then this would be a huge undertaking and as Ryan also stated we are all volunteers and have a lot on our plate. Please see the article in this link from the Michigan DEQ.
Click to access deq-oea-nop-foam_378415_7.pdf
I hope this is helpful and hope if you are serious about this issue you join us on the 3rd Wednesday of most months. Please remember to check the website to verify we are having a meeting for that month.
Thanks,
Mike Tierney
May 5, 2018 at 3:05 pm
I agree with the comment concerning the lake level being too high at this point. As I look out my window I notice that many of my neighbors docks are under water and beaches are disappearing. Is this planned or do we have a different problem from last fall when the level was too low ?
May 5, 2018 at 3:26 pm
Please see my response to Phil yesterday. Yes the lake is 6″ high now, but water is being released with 6″ going over the dam which is a lot.
May 6, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Thanks Ole
May 3, 2018 at 2:46 pm
Hello…..In the discussion about Lake Level being held higher, I believe it was mentioned to let someone know if there is any issue to property going forward. After the rain in the last 24 hours the lake is only 7 inches from the top of my Seawall. In the past 2 years it has been approx 12-16 inches below it. I will be having a flooded yard and home if a boat comes by and makes a wave. Or if we continue to get rain and it comes up any higher I will be calling FEMA to get assistance. Are we watching the levels closely for all property owners?
May 4, 2018 at 8:50 am
Hello Phil, thank you for your observation and comment. I checked the level yesterday afternoon and see that it is 0.44′ or 5″ above the legal lake level. Higher than I have seen in some time. I have been out of town so I don’t know the trend in the last two weeks. We do know that the WRC has been attempting to hold the lake a bit higher than normal at our request until the well is back on line. We did get 1.5″ of rain in the last 24 hours and that much rain will certainly bring the level up in a hurry. The two lake level techs have responsibility for checking levels, control structures and wells on 36 lakes in Oakland County so you imagine they cannot immediately respond to every call they get. And I imagine they get a lot of calls after a heavy rain.
The outlet structure we have is small and cannot quickly respond to a fast rise in lake level in the manner some other lake outlet structures are able to. I will stop by this morning and check the boards in the outlet to make sure they are no higher than the requested summer level and are allowing a significant discharge of excess lake water. If something seems out of sorts, I will contact the WRC on behalf of our lake residents.
I can assure you that FEMA will take no interest in a slightly higher than normal lake level unless it is actually flooding homes, and then remember you would be dealing with the government. And that could bring up the issue of verifying whether residents are carrying flood insurance if required and that can be a very slippery slope.
The legal lake level was set by Judge Adams in 1962 after considerable detailed lake perimeter surveys and public input. In that manner, the interests of all lake residents was taken into consideration. When I was in high school, I worked summers on a survey crew for Johnson & Anderson, Inc. the firm hired to do those surveys. I remember going out to either Duck Lake or White Lake to verify information needed for that perimeter survey. To this day I have a copy of some of the survey notes on the Duck Lake outlet. That “legal lake level” is what the WRC is charged with maintaining to the best of their ability. If one resident feels that level is too high, it tends to be balanced by another resident that feels it is too low. It is a compromise that we all need to learn to live with and make adjustments to our docks and hoists if necessary.
May 4, 2018 at 5:37 pm
OLe, your will find your special place when you go to Heaven. You are the greatest, most tolerant person on the planet.
Thanks for doing this work for our lake. At a future meeting, I would like to shake your hand.
May 5, 2018 at 12:27 pm
Making adjustments to hoists and docks is not an issue. Let’s discuss the higher lake levels impacting low lying properties and the disaster that would impose on a septic field, rendering it ineffective. Am thinking not of contacting FEMA, but an attorney. A short distance from my residence is a swamp. The water was causing the nearest home to be negatively affected. When the home owner, at a town hall meeting, mentioned a lawsuit if the township did nothing to curtail the enevitable, the swamp issue was dealt with promptly by Oakland County. I am thinking any water issues with this present lake level will be thrusted on the shoulders of the township. That is the reality of this double edged sword. Love the higher water levels, but not at the sake of multiple homes being deemed uninhabitable due to a non-working septic system.
May 5, 2018 at 3:41 pm
The water is no higher than it has been for short periods of time in the past. Water is being released at the dam by the WRC. It takes time for the water to return to normal levels. No cause for panic. With the design of our dam and the limited WRC staff available to watch over over 36 lakes, it is simply not possible to micromanage the lake level. The water is only 4″ above the normal high (desired) summer water level. If docks are submerged, I would suggest that they are set too low.
I don’t believe residents are willing at this time to incur the cost for a new dam with a much longer spillway that would release water much quicker than our current dam and would maintain our legal lake level automatically within a closer tolerance than is currently possible. Maybe after our well is fixed and paid for and the aeration system assessment is past it’s five year time it might be an item for discussion.
April 24, 2018 at 10:31 am
I am unable to make the meetings. I work nights. Did Lake Savers start any of the compressors?
April 24, 2018 at 1:33 pm
Hi Raymond,
The permit is being finalized at the DEQ, and power supply details (with DTE) are still moving along. There has not been any groundbreaking yet, but we are still on track for the July turn on date.
As an FYI the meeting minutes can be found above if you wish to see any other topics covered during the meeting.
Thanks,
Ryan
May 8, 2018 at 9:03 am
Thanx Ryan for the reply!
April 24, 2018 at 12:02 am
Hello, Found a goose nest on my property today. Can you clue me in on if/how to remove the nest and eggs? I thought I read something about Goosebusters working with DLPOA to remove nests and eggs to minimize the population. Thank you in advance.
April 24, 2018 at 1:30 pm
Hi Jenna,
PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THEM YOURSELF! The DNR is very picky about how to properly address this. In short, you would have to of had taken a class (which I did), and then have to file a permit. As you are in the permit zone for Duck Lake, you will be covered under our permit. But, we will have to tell Goosebusters where to go as they are not allowed to go onto private property without permission. Can you email your address so I can pass it along to Goosebusters and I can have them address the nest? They normally will take two trips a year. One during the second week of April, and then one during the last week. They have to keep a detailed log of how many eggs were collected and then “destroy” them. But if they are not recorded properly or handled by someone that is authorized to do so, the DNR could be a pain about it.
Thank you for letting us know and I will keep an eye out for the address to pass along.
Ryan
April 24, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Thanks Ryan, I want to make sure we comply with the rules. Shall I e-mail you at contact@ducklakepoa.org ?
April 25, 2018 at 1:45 pm
Hi Jenna, thank you, and I am sorry that there are “rules”. Technically I could come over and we could remove the nest and any eggs in the nest, but we would have to make sure we document it. Just for ease we hire it out to make sure all compliance lays on them as they are a verified company from the DNR.
The email address would be perfect.
Thanks
April 20, 2018 at 7:18 am
Good morning.
If any help is needed with the boat launch on Davista please let me know. I can also help out with the zoo I cannot take on the full responsibility of the zoo but I can definitely help.
I first tried to respond in email but the email was kicked back.