President’s Message – Bruce Bassett
I went on vacation to Mexico on April 23 for 12 days and when I got back it was summer and kids were swimming in the lake. I missed the springtime. I sure hope it was nice. Mexico was great, especially the fishing, but not comparable to what we have here! I’ve been all around most of the world and there are some fabulous places to visit but Deer Lake is a hard place to beat!
DLPOA has a wonderful and very dedicated group of people who serve your best interests and work hard as officers, directors, and committee members to have a positive impact on the quality of live on your lake and the surrounding properties.
We are losing several of our very faithful, hardworking board members. Nancy Hurd, Gerry Block, Jerry Groom, Floyd Stewart and Jack Low are taking a well deserved break from the services they have been performing. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these people as well as everyone who has helped your organization continue to improve. Our lake is doing great and is getting better every year.
Anyone who ever comes to Deer lake can appreciate the dedication and efforts by your Board members on behalf of the Deer lake Property Owners Association.
Those of us that have property on or near Deer Lake as well as those that come to visit can really be proud of the beauties that are here and the many benefits that are provided. I want to thank all of you for your support while I have been President and wish you continued good success. Have a great summer. Look forward to seeing you at the Annual meeting and Picnic/Potluck.
Deer Lake Cleanup a Big Success – Shawn King
The spring clean-up was reported as quite a success. Even though scheduled early, and on the first day of fishing season, the troops were out in force. Almost 4,000 pounds of garbage was hauled off the roadways around the lake and many pounds of chili were hauled away from the table at the fire station. It is impressive to see the amount of community support for this project and the results. I have seen and heard remarks about how nice a majority of the private lots look already this year, and I am glad to see that as an awssociation we can come together to benefit the lake community. Much thanks to the Waste Transfer folks and Olson’s Sanitation of Addy for their support. If there are ny ideas for lake beautification projects please feel free to call me or any other board member.
Emergency Services – Gerry Block
This is my last newsletter submission for DLPOA. Lori Foreman, DLPOA board member and a member of SCFPD #1 support team will be writing the articles in the future.
I am proud to say that our Deer Lake fire station #5 is active again. The new recruits are doing well and we will have an eight member station. The recruits are in various stages of training and will be responding when training is completed. I appreciate the enthusiasm that they bring to our community. I have seen these individuals in action and we can all say thank you. Paul Kemble and I appreciate every single one of them.
I want to thank everyone for the positive support given during the rebuilding of our station’s personnel. I also want to thank the individuals in the community that have contributed toward the events that have been sponsored by DLPOA and SCFPD #1. This is a great place to all home!
With the upcoming summer events and El Nino weather changes, I am asking everyone to be more than careful when having a beach fire. We all love the tall trees that surround our properties. With the drying winds and fire sparks, we are setting ourselves up for a real disaster if we are not careful. I pray that the weather will not allow for a ban on beach fires as has happened in the past. A "burning ban" is not fun and robs us of a family tradition – beach fires. Please be alert to fire danger and have a safe summer!
Road Conditions – Jack Low
I have been getting quite a few phone calls recently about some of the gravel roads around our lake. The following is taken from the minutes of the March 12 meeting of the Stevens County Road and Bridge Advisory Board (of which I am a member), and this should answer many of the questions I’ve been hearing.
Review of Gravel Road Program Projects:
Until this year, the county had a 7 year maintenance and preservation program for oiled roads. Beginning in 1998, the program was changed to 5 years. This means that work is provided to approximately 119 miles of oiled road per year, and increase from 85 miles for previous years. The Gravel Road Program prioritizes roads by ADT (Average Daily Traffic) and by width of right-of-way. Stevens county has a partnership program in which the landowners pay 50% of the roadway surface improvements and the county pays 50% of these same improvements. The expense to provide four inches of gravel and three applications of asphalt is approximately $60,000 per mile. This represents a cost of $30,000 for the landowners and $30,000 for the County. Minor changes in alignment, improvements to the drainage, and widening of the existing road would be over and above this cost. Should people elect to participate in this partnership program, the county would provide the "basic" improvements under the Gravel Road Program. In addition, Southwood Shores road – because it is designated as a "minor collector" is eligible for some County help with the road. I f you have questions, please call Public Works, Colville, 684-4548.
Can you walk on Water? – Mike Phillips
We may be able to just about do that if we don’t all help keep an eye of our lake accesses. Milfoil is a week that becomes so thick along the shoreline out to a depth of thirty feet that if you can’t walk on it, it looks like you can. You won’t be able to swim in it, get a prop powered boat through it, or fish in it. Loon Lake is in the middle of an uphill battle to save their lake from this week. So far as we know, we do hot have this problem. Incoming boats from other lakes are the most likely source to transfer the week to our lake. The way to avoid the transfer is to check the trailer and boat for any piece of weed. Take any weeds found away from this lake. You won’t have to be able to identify the week if we just remove all weeds from our boats, trailers, and the back ends of our towing vehicles. If you invite a guest out to the lake and they launch on this lake please remind them to check their vehicles for any weeds, especially Milfoil. Thank you for all you assistance in this important matter. Information on Milfoil can be obtained by calling Jim Richardson at 233-8401.
Help Wanted!!
New people and new ideas. Sometimes that is what it takes to take an organization to the next level. If you feel you can make a positive impact and can devote the time to serve DLPOA as an officer, committee member, director, or work on a special project, please feel free to contact any of the current board members or come to the annual meeting when the elections for officers and directors will be held.
How’s the Fishing at Deer Lake?
The fishing forecast for 1998 is fantastic... I am writing this on the second week of May and have caught two large Mackinaws, one by trolling and another by jigging along with a number of rainbows just fishing from my dock. The rainbows being caught right now average about fourteen inches or larger with only a few smaller ones mixed in.
There is a long term year round Deer Lake resident and avid fisherman who says he can catch his limit every time he takes his boat out but, in spite of bribes and threats, will not reveal his favorite fishing spots or the methods he uses for catching fish. Oh Well !!
The game department planted 30,000 rainbows and 250,000 silvers. Add to this 15,000 rainbows and 10,000 brook trout released from our pens and we should enjoy great success for the rest of this season. Kids, young and old will enjoy the brookies because they can be caught from the docks. Good Luck Fishing!