The Roads & Maintenance update was provided by outgoing Roads & Maintenance Chair, Gary Campbell and the 2021 Roads & Maintenance Chair, Mary Beth Huffman. If you have any questions please email Mary Beth at bod.mbhuffman@ilpoa.org.

Another busy month with:

• Along with the normal day to day stuff (potholes, monitoring lake water level, etc), the guys have been preparing for winter:
  • Received salt
  • Ordered rubber blades for the snowplows
  • Winterized the community hall outside bath
  • Servicing lawnmowers, blowers, etc
  • Pulled patrol boat & moved to shed
  • Mulching, blowing & burning leaves in community common areas
• The booster club has contributed a total of $16898.31 this year to help with equipment maintenance, community center upgrades, and road patch materials.
• Troubleshoot & replaced entry lights with LED & installed timer to control same.
• Installed a culvert on big bear
• Cleaned the grates on the valve box & effected repairs
• Cut dam & spillway
• Installed rock at the front entry
• Build pads to allow us to drive the excavator out on Cove 9 to begin removing the tree that washed down during the flood and to remove excess deposits of silt & river rock/gravel at the rental docks
• Burned trees from Cove 9 & those downed during the tornado.
• Burned hay bales left on the spillway
• Cleaned rock from Cove 1 & 5
• Cut shoulders on Lakeshore near Big Bear to facilitate drainage
• Build new valve box top & repairs to valve box assy
• Replaced retaining wall block on spillway that someone saw fit to move (For the ramp)
• Repaired leaks at the office (Caulked windows)
• Put up Christmas lights & manger
• Meetings with the bridge builder & Crawford Electric
• Starter & relay replacement on Red truck
• Installed new thermostat at the community hall

Winter priorities include:

• Culvert replacements
• Extending Cove 1 & 9 boat ramps
• Repair the Wall that failed at Cove 7 bridge
• Repair Cove 5 (Weld broke) & 9 docks
• Remove excess mud around Cove 9 dock
• Finish Cove 9 tree stump removal
• Place rip/rap along Cove 9 wall dock
• Repair exit gate loop & install concrete
• Repair guest entry gate
• Remove piers at the old start gate location
• Repairs to the guard shack
• Keep the roads clean & safe for our travel!!

As it is very visible now, we receive many questions regarding the buildup of dirt and silt in Cove 9 (and all the coves for that matter) and if we are going to remove it.  The simple answer is no, we do not have the money to dredge/excavate in Cove 9 or any other areas.  There was a member vote on that years ago that was defeated.  It is extremely expensive to excavate.  A machine big enough is very expensive to rent, then where to put spoils where they won’t end up back in the lake? A huge expense to remove off site.  And there are very few windows that the water is low enough and even when it drops, it is so very muddy that the excavator and trucks would sink without expensive mats to hold them up.  That being said, we are going to attempt to do some spot removal – around the docks at Cove 9 and if possible, a “channel” in Cove 9.  All of this would be close to the banks where we can deal with the conditions.  All of this is a big MAYBE, depending on the weather and water level, and would happen in conjunction with the wall repair at Cove 7 so that there would only be one rental.  We did have a few days in early November that we were able to get out there with our smaller machine, but soon after the water level rose and it has not been accessible since.

Here’s wishing each of you a Happy New Year!! May you each have a safe, healthy, and blessed 2021!!

Gary Campbell (2020), & Mary Beth Huffman (2021)