Deer Lake Property Owners' Association Newsletter -- Spring 2000

President’s Report Bruce Bassett

I want start this letter by thanking all those people that volunteered with the outlet clean up. The work was hard and we appreciate your time and energy. The outlet project is working as expected. We are experiencing flooding conditions yet the outlet culvert is only ½ full where-as last year it was over the top which added 2 feet to the lake level. We will have some minor high water issues around the lake but the ditch is allowing the water to flow out almost as fast as it comes in. The ditch will empty the lake of floodwater more quickly this year than in previous years. This should eliminate the need for a wake speed control this spring. Additional benefits with the reduced flooding problems include the excess water that for the last 3 years flooded into the sewer system causing the P.U.D. to have to spend extra Monies to pump and dispose of this water. You should know that the Stevens County P.U.D. contributed ½ the funds to open this outlet ditch. This was a generous offer and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them publicly.

The ranch at the north end of the narrows has been purchased by the U.S. dept. of Fish and Game. They have at this time put approx. 13 steps in the creek allowing for better water flow and increased fish reproduction. It is my understanding that they intend to make this a Refuge allowing for limited camping and recreational use. I’ll give you more information as I receive it. There is an opportunity here for D.L.P.O.A. to either sell the 20 acres that we purchased in order to protect the lake from the ranch 's run off or give over the management to the U.S. Dept. of Fish and Game. or do nothing. Let us know which you prefer.

On May 6^th of this year we will have our spring clean up. We will also be having a meeting with the consultant selected by the Dept. of Public Works of Stevens County and Jim Whitbread, county Engineer, who will discuss our ongoing road projects with the citizens of both Deer Lk. and Loon Lk. The meeting will be at the Loon Lk. School at 3 p.m.

Our board meetings are the second Wednesdays of the month at Loon Lk. School at 7 PM. Please join us!

County Report – by Fran Besserman

A number of years ago Washington State’s 39 counties formed a legislative Steering Committee made up of county commissioners from various locations within the State. I have once again been appointed to this committee and am in Olympia every other week thru the month of March when this legislative session ends. As of January 10, I have been tracking the many bills our Legislators have introduced into both the Senate and the House. At present there are 46 Senate bills and 34 House bills, enough to confuse anyone.

Last week I spent Thursday and Friday at the capital building meeting with a number of our legislators including Bob Morton and Cathy McMorris. A message the counties are trying to send is that when the legislature passes a bill that counties have to enforce there should be enough dollars that go with it for implementation. Local funds should not have to pay for the enforcement of a state law. One example is: The state does not pay for prisoners that they house in the Stevens County Jail. We pay for it out of our current expense budget. One of the largest expenses we have is paying for indigent defense, which amounts to more than $400,000 per year.

I thought you might like to see a list of some of these state imposed mandates to all counties.:

• · State wide even year election costs
• · Binding interest arbitration
• · Juvenile Justice bill – chemical dependency
• · Becca, Truancy and related court costs
• · Domestic Violence reporting requirements (effective July 1997)
• · Indigent Defense
• · Health Care treatment for incarcerated youth and adults, inc. MH and CD
• · Enforcement of Meth Lab laws.
• · TB Quarantine
• · HIV/AIDS civil holds
• · BRB and Board of Equalization costs
• · Judges’ Salaries
• · State audits.
• · State Patrol accident investigation (formerly provided by Patrol)
• · Court assigned interpreters
• · Number of designated noxious weeds
• · GMA Required permit assistance staff
• · Indigent Burial

DLPOA’s Annual Spring Cleanup needs your HELP!

For many years now, the Deer Lake Property Owners Association has been dedicating one Saturday morning in the spring and fall to cleaning up the debris from our beautiful lake’s roadsides. This year the date for the Spring Cleanup is May 6, 2000. We need your help!

After a long winter our roadsides are a mess. We always have wonderful volunteers to assist but never quite enough in the spring to tackle all the roads coming in from the highway. This is where you can help. You don’t need to have a pick-up or truck (if you do though that is great too) just the ability to walk along and put trash in bags from our road cleanup partnership with Stevens County. Family members of all ages can join in. Don’t look only within your own family, remember the friends that came to visit you last summer and said "Hey if you need some help around here let us know, we would love to help," now they can. It only takes three hours of community spirit to get our roads ready for the fun in the sun season, please join us on May 6 from 8:30 to 11:30 in beautifying our lake, then come on over to the fire station at 12:00 noon and enjoy a chili feed to satisfy the appetite that you worked up. Call Colleen King at 467-1920 or email me at crking9999@aol.com with your name and phone number so I can coordinate the cleaning teams. Thank you in advance for your help!

Results from the D.O.E. taken last summer should be available by our annual meeting. I hope to see you there.

Roads by Theresa Waunch

For many years DLPOA has had unmet transportation goals. A year ago in January we prioritized these and the results are as follows:

I.3/4 mile of East Deer Lake Road sub-base/base work was possible until about May through the Gravel Roads program. It was contingent upon

1) waivers being signed and returned, and

2) a culvert location determined by the local residents and county engineer.

Unfortunately the deadline to meet these requirements ended and at present there is no other available funding.

II..0.2 mile of East Deer Lake Road being serviced by county.

Specifically this entailed winter maintenance. In July I was told it was "a go" but with the new county engineer we needed signed waivers. This should be functional by next winter.

III..Southwood Shores Road sub-base/base work.

Had possible RID status funding but the probability of it becoming a reality is not anticipated.

IVNorth Deer Lake Road Plowing to be Continued?

Yes, this will be plowed.

IV.Cedar, Pines, and Tamarack Bays to receive Sand at Turnouts.

Thanks to Mike Phillips and Commissioner Fran Besserman this one got done.

VI.Do we get a Master Transportation Plan?

Yes, Commissioner Fran Besserman instructed our county engineer to include it within the growth management work. The price tag on this is $15,000 and it will not only benefit Deer Lake’s roads but also Loon and Wait’s Lake.

VII.North Deer Lake Road potholes related to PUD work.

The county fixed these prior to the November DLPOA meeting.

VIII.Deer Lake Resort Culvert Status

Jim Whitbred, our county engineer, conferred with the resort’s owner, Dean Crummy, and they agreed to commence work this summer.

In closing I would like to say that it has been my pleasure to be part of realizing these goals. However, due to my divorce, I have resigned from my transportation position. I wish DLPOA every continued success in its endeavors.

Water Safety -- Committee Chairman Doyle Knight

Deer Lake boat: Approx. 56 hours patrol on the lake. Other Sheriff boats: Approx. 70 hours patrol on Deer Lake.

Seven tickets were written to boaters for violations ranging from No Life Jackets (PFD’s) On Board ($90 penalty) to Violation of Emergency No Wake Ordinance ($250 fine, 10 days in jail, plus attorney’s fees).

During the period of the No Wake Ordinance 28 vessels were stopped and either warned or a criminal citation was issued. If, over the winter, the lake rises to the point that the Emergency No Wake Ordinance is put back into effect, we anticipate that the number of criminal citations for violations will increase. Twenty boats were ordered to shore until adequate life jackets were on board.

Seventeen buoy permits were issued. It should be noted that buoys must be marked in accordance with the uniform Waterway Marking System AND a permit must be issued for their placement or they can be removed.

On Deer Lake, no boaters were arrested for boating under the influence of alcohol. This is probably due in large part to the lack of a retail liquor outlet on the lake.

During the summer of 999, Stevens County Sheriff’s marine officers were involved in the investigation and/or body recovery of three separate boating fatalities. The first victim drowned while boating in the Spokane River near the Bowl & Pitcher in Spokane County, and his body was recovered near Suncrest after it had bone over Nine Mile Dam. The second occurred in Long Lake at Tumtum, and the third in the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt within Stevens County jurisdictional boundaries. None of these victims were wearing life jackets when they drowned. No fatalities occurred on Deer Lake, and no serious injury boating accidents were reported on our lake.

Although exact numbers are not available at this time, boating complaints on Deer Lake were down, including complaints about personal watercraft ("jet skis"). During the summer, several personal watercraft operators were contacted regarding the location in which they were riding. PWC operators were encouraged to do their wave jumping and spin maneuvers in the center of the main lake, rather than near the shore. Furthermore, they were encouraged to help police each other in order to avoid irritating those seeking peace and quiet in the lake cabins.

Marine officers presented boating safety education to a variety of groups around Deer Lake. We also spent a week in May presenting boating safety to the students of Loon Lake School, many of which are children living around Deer lake. We also made two media presentations to the Spokane television stations.

For the year 2000 we are hoping to expand our educational efforts to other schools in Stevens County. We are also hoping to gain more ground on the issuance of buoy permits. A lot depends on the effects of I695. While I695 won’t affect the Sheriff’s marine fund, it will certainly have a large affect on our total manpower. When we are shorthanded, like we were in 1998, we won’t be able to devote much time at all toward boating safety.

Please note that you must be age 14 to drive a personal watercraft in the state of Washington.

Fisheries by Bruce Bassett

We have had such a mild winter it will be interesting to see what fishing surprises we have in store for the spring opener. I have 10,000 brook trout in my pen that will be released when the flow out the ditch subsides. The brookies will run 6-7 inches, small but they grow quickly from this stage. Jim’s pen hold 15,000 rainbows and they will be freed before you read this report.

The Fish and Game just released 21,000 rainbows averaging-8 inches into our lake on 3/24. This should be a great year for holdover rainbows, Mac’s and silvers. Remember we have had 1,000,000 silvers planted over the last 3 years and that equates to fantastic silvers or fat Mac’s maybe both. If you do well this opener let me know. I’ll pass the information on in the next newsletter.

SHOOTING SAFETY (or lack of) by Tim Dschaak, VP, DLPOA

Date: Saturday, Christmas Day, 1999

Time: Mid-afternoon

Event: BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Shotgun blasts raked across the water's surface in a menacing motion to kill or maim the target!

Location: No not Bosnia, Chechnya, or any other war zone! The location was the beach in front of my home on Deer Lake; Tamarack Bay. My neighbor, several homes north down the beach was trying to bag a couple of ducks for Christmas dinner (?)!

While I have no problem with any responsible adult attempting to put food on the table for his family and friends, I do have a problem when the safety of my family (I and my grandchildren were out walking on the beach, feeding the ducks) is at risk! The scenario outlined above was risky enough that another 30 degree turn towards our direction could have resulted in disaster for us!

Up to this point, my assignment as chairman of the "no shooting zone" committee was only my attempt to participate as a working, contributing DLPOA board member. My approach was to try to be as objective as possible, considering the sensitivity of this issue. Since my experience as outlined above, I am now a pro-active supporter of a "no shooting zone" for our lake.

Like it or not, our lake has developed into a "residential" neighborhood---we cannot afford to have our residents pulling out any old weapon and start shooting (whatever the reason) for safety's sake!!!! You don't expect to be able to do that in any other "residential" location; why should our "residential" area be any different ??? The safety of our families is at stake!

Your DLPOA board has voted to pursue a "no shooting zone" ordinance that would apply to all "people intensive" zoning areas out to the F20 (forestry) zone, to include the lake's surface. In actuality, this is a very narrow band of properties around the lake. We owe this to our families and all DLPOA members to make this area a safer place to live, play and enjoy.

Your input with regard to this issue would be most welcome and appreciated.

In Search of "The Dock Mess Monster" by Larry Nokes

We, on Deer Lake, have a monster of our own to worry about. No it’s not like "Nessy", Scotland’s famed serpent. But, I feel, it’s just as ominous a presence. As you clean your beaches his spring the "Dock Mess Monster" rears its ugly head. All the Styrofoam that flakes off our docks and contaminates our beaches is truly a monster to deal with. I hope you feel that a long term goal should be the elimination of Styrofoam for floatation.

There is presently a State low mandating the encapsulating of any flotation material that might flake, break or be chewed off. Doing this makes Styrofoam much more expensive to use. Other methods of flotation should be considered. Barrels, if they can be acquired inexpensively, are a good alternative. Good old Cedar Logs work great if you can find and afford them. Commercially manufactured floats are available but at a dear cost. An alternative I tried last year, which has worked great so far, is PVC Pipe.

I used thin wall sewer pipe and fastened a deck of pipe logs under my dock. This gave great floatation and was very stable. It is also a very cost effective solution and is obviously environmentally conscious. If this sounds like a viable solution and you would like more information feel free to call me at 233-2088.

If you are as tired as I am of raking and picking the "Dock Ness Monster" off your beach, do your share to clean up the lake and work toward elimination of the Styrofoam blight from our waters. Lets send "Messy" packing!

DLPOA Business – by Mike Phillips

Enclosed in this newsletter you will find an envelope for the Y2K dues. We are still only asking $12 for the year. We would appreciate your support.

And, speaking of support, we also are going to need a bunch of people for officers of DLPOA next year. If you have ever had an urge to be on the board, this is the year for you. Please come to the April 12th board meeting if you think you might be interested.

This year’s annual meeting will be at Camp Gifford , Saturday, June 17th. More information will be coming in the form of a postcard when the meeting time gets closer.

Camp Gifford hopes to have its new dining hall completed in time for the annual meeting. Please be aware that both Pinelow and Camp Gifford need to rent their camps to make ends meet. Because of this situation there may be a shift to Pinelow if there is a need to rent out Camp Gifford. We will put out signs if there is a last minute change. Thanks for your patience.

Officers of DLPOA

Committees (and Board Members) of DLPOA

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