BEAR LAKE
VILLAGE
GOVERNMENT
Home
Village Clerk
Meeting Minutes
[Meeting Archives]
Ordinances

HOPKINS PARK
CAMPGROUND
Park Information
Rates

COMMUNITY INFORMATION
Events Calendar
Keddie Norconk
Library Project
Tree Project
Wellhead Project

VISION
BEAR LAKE
Newsletters

LAKE
IMPROVEMENT
BOARD
LIB Information

Village of
Bear Lake
P. O. Box 175
Bear Lake, Michigan
49614-0175
Phone/Fax: 231.864.4300

Lake Improvement Board of Bear Lake

---

General Info | Grid Matrix Map | Questions & Answers
Estimated Computation of Project Cost (PDF)
Bear Lake Improvement Feasibility Study
Special Assessment District Map (PDF) | Assessment Roll (PDF)

Minutes:
August 30, 2007 | September 13, 2007 | September 27, 2007 | October 11, 2007
October 25, 2007 | November 15, 2007 | December 18, 2007
January 8, 2008 | February 21, 2008 | February 28, 2008 | March 6, 2008

---

How and Why The Lake Improvement Board Was Established
In the late summer of 2006, Eurasian milfoil-EWM (Myriophyllum spicatum) was spotted in Bear Lake. EWM can be extremely harmful to the ecological balance of Bear Lake. It has a fast growth rate, and can exist in a variety of environmental conditions. It reproduces via seed and fragmentation that roots in the lakebed. Both self-fragmentation and fragmentation from boat traffic caused it to spread into other parts of the lake. EWM has been spotted in many lakes in the United States and specifically Michigan. Bear Lake is but one of many that has begun the effort to control it.

The President of the Bear Lake Property Owners Association established a Community Council to Control Milfoil (CCCM) with representatives from local groups. Information was shared with the community and discussed among the CCCM as well as with the officials of the 3 municipalities.

Each of the 3 municipality boards on their own motion, voted unanimously to approve the creation of a Lake Improvement Board (LIB) under Part 309 of Public Act 451 of 1994. The LIB has legal standing under this act to contract for services to study the lake, treat the lake and also to contract for an attorney to assist the Board. It also has legal authority to assess those who will benefit from the lake improvement. The resolution which created the LIB limited the LIB to dealing with non-native invasive species.

Members of The LIB
Carver Edwards – Village of Bear Lake representative
Bob Yates – Bear Lake Township representative and Treasurer
Jack Sawka – Pleasanton Township representative and Chairperson
Don Brisbin – riparian member at large and Secretary
Allan O’Shea – Manistee County Commissioner
Ken Berensten – Manistee County Drain Commissioner

Stay Informed About LIB Actions And Decisions
The public is invited and encouraged to attend LIB meetings held at the Bear Lake Township Hall. Notice of the meetings is posted at several sites including the Bear Lake Township Hall, Village of Bear Lake Hall, Pleasanton Township Hall and the Bear Lake Library. Meetings are held on an as required basis. They begin at 7:00 P.M. and generally adjourn by 9:00 P.M.

A package of LIB material is maintained in the Bear Lake Library. It includes an update of the progress to date, approved minutes of all LIB meetings, a map of the lake with locations where EWM was found, based on a 2007 study and the feasibility study. Other important information will also be available at the library as the project proceeds.

The Village of Bear Lake has agreed to include a link on their website, www.bearlakemichigan.org, for our LIB. Visitors to the website can see most of the same material that will be in hard copy at the Bear Lake Library.