President’s Message – Bruce Bassett
Welcome to a New Season!!
1994-95 was a season of challenges. One of the greatest, even amongst your officers and directorys was the Guard Rail! As you probably know by now, we overcame many obstacles and finally, the guard railing has been installed on the South Shore road and we are thankful to all woho worked so hard to have this safety feature in place.
We are still waiting for the final biological tests to be completed in the area above the "Narrows" as well as the Boise Cascade Properties so that we can give you a status report on the water quality of our lake.
This year’s board of directors are looking forward to working with you on new challenges for the 95-96 year such as road improvements, dust control, water runoff, water and road safety, shoreline laws, and other concerns.
These challenges come from you as property owners and we need your continued input and ideas. What will benefit us? What do we need to better our lake, our local environment, and our way of life? So as the lake sleeps thru winter, join us on the second Wednesday of each month at the Salvation Army Camp Pavilion on Deer Lake for out monthly meetings.
Woodcutting – Ken Brinkman
This year we had a very limited time and mount of people sign up for woodcutting. We were able to take out 25 cords of mostly Red Fir and Tamarack firewood. The season is ended now but we hope to see ytou next year when you have a need for firewood.
Water Safety – Mike Phillips
Water safety on Deer Lake was about average from a statistics point of view. Doyle Knight reports a total of 220 volunteer man hours were completed on the lake between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Most of this time was spent on weekends and involved six volunteers. They were Doyle Knight, Wayne Crockett, Jim Richardson, Don Hanna, Rick Siers, and Tom Crisp. There were citations and warning tickets given. Most of the boats involved were jet skis and wave runners according to Doyle. He reports there were two accidents on Deer Lake: one serious and the other one minor. The patrol boat was taken out of the lake after labor Day weekend and it will be returned for duty next year on Memorial Day weekend.
Please remember the volunteers are just that, volunteers, and they deserver our thanks and appreciation for a job well done.
Emergency Services – Gerry Block
It really doesn’t seem possible that we are in the countdown, and heading for the winter. We have had a good summer along with a good fall. Thanks to everyone for thinking for safety when boating, burning, etc. Station #15 did have a few calls out for incidents and accidents during the summer that might have been prevented. As usual, the regular lake users know the rules and try to abide by them.
With the closing down of many summer residences comes a problem for everyone. Our casual glances towards our neighbors property may now have to be come a regular checking system. The latest problems have involved full time residents. Guess the new breed of mischief makers don’t care. Last year we were looking for an ugly old green Dodge truck whose driver was apparently causing problems around Deer Lake. It really doesn’t matter what form of entrance intruders make into our area, they are not welcome. I like the idea of lighting a neighborhood by the use of porch light, pole lights, and motion sensitive lights. Station #15 has not had a problem with alarm systems malfunctioning and we would prefer answering a false alarm rather than find a fire or intruder.
Station #15 is in dire need of volunteers for EMS as well as fire calls. Our crew is now down to six members. As a volunteer fire department, there are some calls that go unanswered because all six of us are sometimes not in the area when the alarm goes off. We need to increase our membership. If anyone is thinking of possibly volunteering, please contact our captain, Ken Brinkman. As with any organization there are some rules and guidelines that need to be followed. The age of volunteers is 18 to 70, male or female, and no beards allowed.
Thanks again and have a safe fall and winter.
PS – its time to adopt and hug your favorite fire hydrant. Please make sure it is visible and readily accessible in case of an emergency.
Community Involvement – Floyd Stewart
Now that fall has arrived and many of our summertime residents have returned to the city, so have the mischief makers and the burglars returned to the lake. The recent rash of break-ins in broad daylight and the mischief of setting boats adrift in the middle of the night has raised many questions.
Fortunately, as of this writing, at least one of the burglars has been caught and that’s good news. However, according to the Sheriff’s Department we can look forward to more of the same, and that’s bad news.
The question your board members would like to ask is: ARE WE READY FOR A BLOCK WATCH PROGRAM?
The Sheriff’s Department will help us get the program started which may encompass Loon Lake as well as Deer Lake and it will take a commitment on the part of those who live on the lakes year round, to keep an eye open for unusual activity, know your neighbors, and report unusual activities to the Sheriff’s Department at once.
Your input and ideas are needed. You can write to the board at Box 250, Loon Lake, Wa, 99148, or call and talk with any board member.
Fisheries – Bruce Bassett
Jim Santora has been raising fish for Dlpoa for many years now. For those of you who travel the lake, you have probably seen his net pen at the end of the narrows on the East side. Jim has just released 15,000 rainbow about 9-10 inches long and should supply a very aggressive fighting fish for next year’s fishing. We owe a great deal of thanks to Jim form all of us for his continued support and efforts.
Road Committee – Jack Low
For those of you who have so far survived Highway 395, your odds of further survival are improving significantly with the road projects recently begun and completed. When all of the improvements are completed, Highway 395 should be a much safer road to drive. Much thanks to Teresa Waunch and all who have worked so hard in support of this project.
For those who experienced temporary and minor loss of control to your vehicles as you approached the lake on North Deer lake Road this summer, you were not alone. There was a little too much oil in the resurfacing mixture and, to put it kindly, the results were less than satisfactory. Looking at the positives, it gave us all a chance to sharpen our winter driving skills a little early and on the "washboard" areas, we were able to check out our shock absorbers and the fillings in our teeth. The county has scraped down the hazardous areas and will complete the improvements next summer.
The guard rail project is nearly complete and what a beautiful job has been done! The final task is to remove rock outcroppings that hinder road visibility in several areas. This has already been paid for as part of the entire project and should be completed shortly.
Dust control is a major concern for those of us who live along our lake’s gravel roads. Unfortunately, it is not a high priority item on the Road Department’s "to do" list. We are currently scheduled for oiling on Southwood Shores and East Deer Lake roads in 1998.
For such projects as dust control and other low priority road improvements which benefit adjacent properties and residents, it seems desirable to form an RID (Road Improvement District). This type of district is authorized by state law and gives property owners the abi8lity to cooperate with one another and the county in order to finance improvements to the local road system including existing private roads.
Dust control is just one improvement that can be addressed by an RID. Other projects might be road widening and/or turn outs.
Legislative Committee – Don Stragis
On June 12th the Stevens County Commissioners approved and adopted the Shoreline master Program for Stevens County.
Per state law this document was recently submitted to the State Department of Ecology (DOE) for approval. Public hearings were held and comments received. DOE is currently reviewing the document and public input and a final decision is expected within the next few months.
When finalized, this document will govern most if not all activities within 200 feet of "Shorelines of the State" or major bodies of water such as Deer and Loon Lakes.
The Shoreline management Act was passed into law by popular vote in 1971. This cooperative effort was designed to balance local and state wide interests in the management and development of shoreline areas by requiring local goverbnments to plan and regulate shoreline development. Stevens County is one of the last counties in the state to submit a master program and it has been years in the making.
Many local people have been involved in the process including several DLPOA members. There is still much debate concerning the program and, in fact, half of the eight member Shoreline Advisory Committee requested their names be removed from the document !!
Next Newsletter Newsletter Home DLPOA Home