Keep up with the Manchaug Pond Foundation!
Let me tell you, check your dock and anything else you may have in or a few feet away from the lake! If you don’t live on the lake, it is worth taking a ride down. My neighbor was kind enough to give us a heads up! The flag is out straight as the wind is incredible! It is blowing across the lake toward the channel and has broken up the ice and sent it crashing into the shore bringing anything in its path with it!
Today my kitchen window thermometer has reached a high of 71 degrees. And yes, it is in the sun. 🙂 Here’s a few photos taken this morning. Also, I am pleased to report that the Manchaug Pond Association Proposal for the s.319 Nonpoint Source Competitive Grants Program for the “Manchaug Pond NPS Improvement Project” is a go! Our start up meeting with the project managers – CEI’s civil engineer (he made the presentation at the MPA annual meeting 2 years ago) and environmental engineer – has been scheduled for April. The paperwork process is complete: forms submitted, letters for affirmative action and to establish the MPA as a vendor have been sent, project scope and sequence approved, and the contracts signed. Total cost of the project is $219,370 with the U.S. EPA funding 58.9% with $129,250 and the MPA and towns of Douglas and Sutton matching with 41.1% with $90,120 worth of services. Specifically the EPA pays for the engineers, the designs of the bioretention and leaching catch basins, vegetated swales, and plunge pools construction materials, educational material, and supplies. The matching contribution is the use of the towns highway department’s construction equipment and the salaries of the highway super, …
A lake neighbor shared her story of watching the eagles this winter as they perched on this tree in front of her home. An adult and immature eagles where regularly seen over a few months this winter. If you missed the eagles on Manchaug Pond or would like to see more, check out these websites! The first has great photos of both adults and young, perched and in flight. The second and third site are eagle cams – a movie camera pointed at the eagles’ nest which will take you through the nesting, egg laying and hatching and the raising of the young eaglets. http://www.eagletmomsters.com/prints.html To watch eagles nesting in Massachusetts, check out this site. http://www.firstlightpower.com/eagles/default.asp Or in Washington State, this site.http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/eaglecam/index.html Explore those sites for links, movies, eagle sounds and more. And check in daily!
MPA is on the right course. The readership for the blog has skyrocketed! And MPA membership continues to increase! This demonstrates the 40 year old association knows the concerns of the lake and the people who use it and is proactively moving forward. Our blog counter shows the numbers for this month already significantly higher than totals for February. We’re talking daily numbers from 11 to 45 times higher than the numbers from the beginning of last month! The counter keeps track of new and returning visitors as well as their view of different pages as well as specific days and subject searches! For instance someone did a search looking for info on “Manchaug Indians”, another on the District. As for the numbers, clearly the day after the Sutton Selectman’s meeting at the Senior Center stands out and builds more from there. I guess press is good – even if you are missquoted, portrayed as the bad guy, or are billed as having a single issue. and the MPA mailbox was smiling with checks when I checked it Friday – unsolicited donations and new and old members renewing their committment for 2007. This was an unexpected surprise to me as …
Thursday I thanked the Sutton Fire Department for the safety ladders by the dam, thinking of a boy who had fallen through the ice near Swenson’s Island many years ago and not realizing that Thursday night the Douglas Police and ambulance service would assist one of our youngest lake residents. Deepest appreciation to the Douglas Police Department and ambulance service for their quick response to the call and for finding their way through those dark and winding remote roads in record time. I am told a number of cruisers responded, blocking traffic to allow passage of the ambulance. Also worthy of our gratitude is the Douglas Highway Department for the plowing and sanding of these private ways and for the decision makers who realize that safety of all our citizens uppermost – even during a budget crunch. Here’s the quote for the day: “Sometimes we must do more than our best, we must do what is required.” Winston Churchall
March 22nd and we still have a lot of ice and snow covering the lake. They’ll be no swimming in March this year! Funny how some years the lake is frozen in November, others not at all, and this year we didn’t see ice until January. Thanks to the Sutton Fire Department for the safety equipment.
For our property owners in other states, let me tell you it is 57 degrees, sunshine, blue skies and no wind. Beautiful day! Fuddy the caretaker of the dam was happy with this snow cover as he explains that this will melt and give us water to fill the lake for the spring level. Fuddy thinks we are in good shape. 🙂
This photo was emailed in and titled “Waiting for Spring!” The Interface Dam Caretaker opened the gate agood 12 inches to take care of this snowstorm and the tremendous amount of runoff expected. Our lawyer did say that with all the “what if” of the future, the ONE THING WE CAN BE CERTAIN OF IS THAT GUILFORD IS GOING AWAY! I knew he was right, but I never thought I would hear that news yesterday. Those opposed to the District say that the state regulates the water level for Manchaug and that no dam owner could drain it down. Maybe to an extreme, but every year I see it different. Reality is that there is about a 9 foot spread. NINE FEET! up or down, whatever is seen fit and still within the state range! Our Dam Caretaker is a wonder! He does a tremendous job! Thank God the caretaker is dedicated, and concerned about keeping us happy and will spend the time needed to fine tune the lake level on a daily basis. Thank God over the years Guilford was concerned about the residents on Manchaug Pond. NO state official tells Interface to open the dam, the caretaker watches …
Today is St. Patrick’s day and here’s a bit of Irish blessings for you. If any of our members of Irish ancestry wishes to submit a few more words of wisdom – please do! And yes I know… I have already been asked what this has to do with Manchaug Pond as first it was the Native Peoples and then it was the Swedish who settled most of the shores of Manchaug Pond not the Irish! Well, today’s Manchaug Pond is a blend of many nationalities, backgrounds and experience. And St. Patrick wasn’t Irish either! May love and laughter light your days,and warm your heart and home.May good and faithful friends be yours,wherever you may roam.May peace and plenty bless your worldwith joy that long endures.May all life’s passing seasonsbring the best to you and yours! View of Manchaug Pond from Area 8, Summer 2006 Wishing you always…Walls for the wind,A roof for the rainAnd tea beside the fire.Laughter to cheer you,Those you love near you,And all that your heart may desire.Stairs leading to a home in Area 7 May neighbours respect you,Trouble neglect you,The angels protect you,And heaven accept you. Fall asters on the earth embankment, Manchaug Pond Dam …
Click the title of this blog entry to read what the Telegram reporter got out of last night’s meeting. After hearing Sutton Selectmen last night, one, or I should say two, things stay uppermost in my mind:1. we need a district to give ALL PROPERTY OWNERS a voice! whether you love or hate the MPA, whether you’re a Douglas or a Sutton resident, whether you’re a registered voter or not, whether you’re a business or individual, whether you have been on the lake 106 years or 1 year, whether you formed the association or never heard of it, whether you swim or otherwise use the lake you live on or not. A District would give you the vote by ballot or proxy and the facts- you’d decide. Whether you want a Dam or not. Whether you want chemical weed control or not. What action or non action you want on any other subject. (see MPA’s Proposed Objective #1 for the District: “Provide a strong, single voice for the over 120 current property owners abutting Manchaug Pond who reside in 32 communities in 7 states.”) 2. we need to remember our common goal is the welfare of Manchaug Pond! There was …
Yesterday’s questions came from a caller and neighbor in Area 3 I haven’t talked to since the summer. (Winter hibernation!) She asked: Q: If I chooses to support the Manchaug Pond Watershed District, where will my tax money go? The town general fund? Will I get a separate bill? How much will I have to pay? A: All tax money assessed for the District will go to the District. You will be billed by the town on your property tax bill (quarterly in Douglas and semi-annually in Sutton) with the amount for the District appearing as a separate line item. The amount you are taxed will depend on two things: first, the budget you and other members vote on at the District’s Annual Meeting the year before and secondly, the assessed value of your property which is determined by the Town. This makes for a proportionally fair assessment. The MPA has proposed a first year budget of $8,000 based on the expenses of other Massachusetts watershed districts and state requirements for municipalities. This would include a bond for the treasurer, audit, mailing costs for the annual meeting warrant, and a stabilization fund, and perhaps but may not be needed, attorney …
A MPA member called the MPA President today from Florida for an update an lake events as he hasn’t gotten his Massachusetts mail in awhile. So if you haven’t gotten your mail from the Town, or the MPA newsletter, here’s the latest meeting announcement! The Sutton Board of Selectman has called a public meeting “with the abutters of the Pond to hear your support and concerns.” The Meeting will be held thisThursday, March 15, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at the Sutton Senior Center on Hough Road in South Sutton. (Off of Whitins Road ) The Board of Selectman explained in their letter, “We have heard many discussions by the association about the benefits of forming such a district, but as a Board we feel that we have yet to actually hear from the Sutton residents…” The MPA encourages all to attend, both Douglas and Sutton property owners on Manchaug Pond, with waterrights and, if you like, those who rent or have other interests. You do not have to be a registered voter or a Sutton resident to attend and voice your opinion. If you cannot attend the meeting Thursday, the Board ask that you contact them in writing: Selectman Chairman, …
