Recent Events & Meetings

RECENT EVENTS AND MEETINGS

The ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTIONS was held at the Barn October 26. 2024. Nomination chair Joyce Nero presented her report that renominated the Officers: Danny Albro, Kelly Albro, Ken Brown and Kathy Fallon for another term. She also nominated Directors John Berchem, Ken St Onge, and Kevin Obrion for another term. All were reaffirmed in their positions. One new Director, Ed Kane was voted in unanimously. Congratulations to Ed! He has been a long time member of LMPA and I'm sure he will add a lot to his new role. We have the full complement of Directors at 14. LMPA has a lot to figure out for the coming season. The cost of treating and keeping the lake healthy is more challenging every year. We now fight Hydrilla and Cyanobacteria! Our next Directors meeting is January 25.

A great big thank you to the bands: SUNDANCE and JAKE AND THE BROS, who gave their time and talents to benefit our cause at the fundraiser October 26. Attendance was around 100 people and more than $3500 was raised. Thanks to the businesses who donated to the raffle. We urge our members to patronize these businesses. They support us and we support them. The next major event for LMPA is the annual meeting and elections to be held at the Barn October 26.

A Directors' meeting was held Saturday, September 14, 2024. A nominating committee was selected for our annual meeting on October 26 at the Barn. They will prepare a slate of applicants for membership and Directors. The date of September 29 was reaffirmed for the Rock for Mishnock Fundraiser. We hope to see a lot of folks for a fun evening! It's all for a worthwhile cause, our lake.

A Directors' meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 14, 2024, 10am at the Mishnock Barn. The purpose is to make final preparations for the fundraiser set for September 29.

August 9, 2024: Finally, we get two negative tests in a row for Cyanobacteria. The advisory for lake restrictions from DEM has been removed, the signs are down, and people can use the lake however they want. This issue has been followed closely, especially by lake side residents. A big sigh of relief can be heard around the lake! No doubt it will be a busy weekend.

July 30, 2024: There was a Directors meeting on July 23 when we talked about the cyanobacteria problem. There was no resolution. As I write this, it is still a problem. The last test was still positive . There is no enforcement of lake restrictions, though they are posted.

July 24, 2024: The latest update regarding Cyanobacteria is that our water sample tested negative for Cyanobacteria! DEM will be back tomorrow to take another sample. Hopefully it will test negative and we can take down the warning signs. Yipee. Spread the word.

July 16,2024: The following email was sent to the Directors at LMPA on July 15. DEM should be testing the lake today(July16) for Cyanobacteria. Fingers crossed.

As you know, Cyanobacteria is in our lake and signs are posted telling people about it. There will be another test of the lake tomorrow (July 16) and another one week later at the same locations. The hope is that we get two negative tests and the warning signs can come down. This is disappointing to many who hoped to use the lake, but LMPA's job is to help transmit good information.

As this is happening, we have lake treatment scheduled for this Thursday and signs will be put up for that. These signs state "no restrictions" for swimming, boating etc., but that doesn't mean the signs about Cyanobacteria are revoked. They remain in place and tell people to stay off the lake. This is confusing but LMPA doesn't make the rules. We are a volunteer organization working with DEM as best we can to look after the lake. Just pass the word that the sign regarding Thursday's treatment for invasives does not replace the one about toxic Cyanobacteria. People can call the number on the sign 401-222-7727 if they want further clarification We are the messenger, but we didn't write the message.

An email from DEM dated July 11, 2024 states the following:

Our sample came back indicating there are toxins present in the bloom in Lake Mishnock. We will be issuing an advisory and RIDEM will continue to monitor the waterbody over the next few weeks.

Five signs telling people to stay off the lake are up and some more signs are on the way. If you live in the area spread the word.

Below are key portions of a letter written July 9, 2024. This is a big deal. Lake Mishnock contains(click to learn more) cyanobacteria. We should know more in the next few days. Spread the word and stay away from it.

The water was murky this morning at Mishnock Beach Association. It is now disgusting!

DEM has taken samples from both the north and south sides of Lake Mishnock. They have confirmed it is a cyanobacteria. They are taking the samples to the Department of Health to confirm what type of bacteria it contains. It may take a couple of days for the results. Please be aware that it is not only green, it may also be brown, yellow and green.

It started as a haze like pollen. This morning was green, yellow with brown spots as if plant material was dissolving from the treatment. Now it is a big mat of brown, yellow and green stuff. Disgusting!

Please pass this along to other officers, neighbors or post on Friends of Lake Mishnock. I will keep you updated.

Pond and Lake will be treating the lake for a second time on June 25, 2024 commencing around 11am. They will use Sonar and Procellacor. Signs have been posted. The only restrictions are no irrigation until the next day, June 26.

Pond and Lake won the bid (see below) and will treat the lake Friday, June 7. 2024 with Sonar. This will be the first of several treatments this summer. We hope to essentially knock out Hydrilla. Notices will put up this week letting residents know of the treatment. Last week a letter of explanation was distributed around the lake making people aware of Hydrilla and what LMPA and DEM are doing about it.

Bids have been received for Hydrilla treatment. The Executive Committee and Director O'Brion are meeting Saturday April 20, 2024 to evaluate the Bids and pick the winner.

Earth Day cleanup for West Greenwich is Saturday, April 20, 2024. Meet at old park and ride exit 6a on Hopkins Hill Rd.

A Directors' meeting was held on Saturday March 16, 2024. The big item of discussion was the approval of the State Grant for lake treatment this spring/summer. This is a big deal for LMPA. As noted elsewhere, Hydrilla verticillata has been detected in the lake. It is a dangerous invasive. Our grant can cover up to $17000 in treatment costs. The next step is to solicit bids for the treatment. We are hoping to knock out this invasive in one season. Our request for bid requires at least 4 assessments of lake conditions during the season. This is whole lake systemic treatment. The vendor is required to follow all State and Federal rules for safe application of low dose fluridone, the product of choice for whole lake treatment. Solicitation for bids to do the work will go out the week of March 17. This project requires careful monitoring and coordination with DEM

Below is a list of recent donors who added extra money to their yearly membership dues. Thank you!

Dan and Kelley Albro

Joyce and David Nero

John Florio

Hennessey Construction

Sparrow Industries

Diane Blaquiere

Mary Lyons

Cathy and Gary Brown

Mike Berek

Alicia Curtin

Finally, thank you to Senator Leonidas Raptakis for his role in obtaining another State grant in the amount of $2000.

Lookin after all these nasty invasive plants ain't cheap!

The annual meeting for LMPA was held on Saturday, October 21, at the Mishnock Barn. The letter inviting all members is at the bottom here. The Nomination Committee recommended Frank and Tracy Calderone to become Directors. They were elected unanimously with a raise of hands by the members. We are thrilled to have the Calderones on board. They love the lake and want to do their part to preserve it for future generations. Also, three Directors of long standing were confirmed to continue as Directors -- Diane Blaquire, Steve Shriner, and Neil Digris. With the Calderones, we have a full complement of 15 Directors.

Director Kevin O'Brion gave a presentation about the lake's history, starting with glacier action thousands of years ago and ending with our latest Pond and Lake report. (Quite a summary) As to the Pond and Lake report, the big news is that we have a new invasive, Hydrilla verticillata. It is wicked stuff. Under the right conditions it can grow from 1 to 4 inches a day! This problem has been reported to DEM. The report has been shared with Rhode Island Watershed Watch. Our organization will be working with all stake holders to do all we can to make sure Hydrilla doesn't take over here as it has in many parts of the country. Florida for example is spending millions. We need a plan in place by early next spring.

The Rock for Mishnock fundraiser and benefit concert is rescheduled for August 12, 7 to 11. Our next Directors meeting is July 22. Everyone should bring raffle donations to the meeting. The Neros, as usual, are leading the charge in getting donations for raffle prizes.

A Directors meeting was held June 3, 2023 at the Mishnock Barn. We discussed the upcoming treatment of the lake and the forthcoming fundraiser. There was general agreement that the lake looked good. Stephan St. Onge and Nick, from Lake and Pond, had recently toured the lake. The only meaningful area of concern is the presence of phragmites, an aggressive invasive plant. During the upcoming milfoil treatment Nick will evaluate the extent of phragmites and give us a price for treating in the Fall.

Information about Earth Day cleanup on April 22, 2023 for West Greenwich and sponsored by the West Greenwich Land Trust can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/wglandtrust/

Information about Earth Day cleanup for West Greenwich and sponsored by the Conservation Commission can be found here: https://www.wgtownri.org. This is the one most of us have participated in throughout the years and is convenient for those living near the Lake. It meets at the Hopkins Hill park and ride on April 22 at 8am.

See pictures from past trash cleanups here.

A Directors meeting was held March 18, 2023 at the Barn. In addition to conducting business, we enjoyed seeing each other! We are all tired of winter and Covid! I even saw a few hugs.

Our annual fundraiser will be Sunday, August 20, 2023, doors open at 3pm. It will be another "Rock Mishnock" with prizes, just as last year. Food will be provided by Wicked Pizza. Cash bar. Tickets available before the event. Donations will be solicited. Those who donate will receive a letter verifying our IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non profit status.

We discussed two additional invasive weeds. Our existing contract only covers Milfoil. Pond and lake will be asked to give us a price for dealing with these new invasives. Treatment normally takes place sometime in early June. Next Directors meeting June 3.

The Annual Meeting for 2022 was held November 12 at the Mishnock Barn. Nancy Brown, Ken Fallon, David Nero and Joyce Nero were reelected as Directors for three year terms. Steven St. Onge, Michael Berek and Kaitlynne Morris were elected as new Directors for three year terms. Steven is a long term and active member who some of us thought was already a Director.. Michael and Kaitlynne are new to the organization. They bring youth and enthusiasm! Kaitlynne has state government and grant writing experience. Michael has been a prominent member of the Mishnock community for years and eager to help look after the lake.

We discussed the end of year report from Pond and Lake. Everyone was happy with last year's treatment. The lake looks good. There was some discussion of new invasives. We will have Pond and Lake evaluate in the spring . Next Directors' meeting March 18, 2023

Attention Shoppers! For those who order through Amazon and want to make a donation to LMPA, Amazon makes it easy. This costs you nothing because Amazon donates a small percentage of the purchase price to qualified non profit organizations like LMPA. Here is a direct link to this feature

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/20-2446561

The 2022 annual meeting is set for Saturday, November 12, 10 am, at the Mishnock Barn. Notices have been mailed to all directors and members. We will discuss this past years activities and elect Board members. We hope to see some new faces!

Update Directors Meeting from June 11, 2022

The Directors Meeting for June 11 ending up being held virtually instead of at the Barn. Basic business was conducted but there were some technical problems. We hope to go "live" next time. Next Directors Meeting is August 27. Our Annual Meeting for all members is scheduled for November 12, 10 am at the Barn. A "Rock for Mishnock" and raffle is scheduled for September 11.

Directors' Meeting Saturday, June 11, 2022

There will be a meeting of LMPA Directors Saturday, June 11 at the Mishnock Barn. This is only our second "in person" meeting since the arrival of Covid. We can see if we recognize each other and then talk about fund raising. It is great to see that summer is arriving. There have been several swan sightings, but no swan nest sightings!

The Pond and Lake Connection will be treating the lake this Thursday, June 9. There has been growth since last year. In Little Mish the milfoil is already growing out of the water. Notices were posted today, June 6. Written notices were mailed to all abutters in February notifying them of future treatment. Here's hoping the treatment lasts for many years. Mitigating invasive weed growth is costly.

January 8, 2022

LMPA held its first virtual meeting Saturday, January 8 due to Covid concerns. Steve Shriner did a great job of hosting the meeting. Not everyone attended but we had a easy quorum. The issue before the Directors was how to treat the lake for invasive vegetation. The Board voted unanimously to accept the three year contract from Pond and Lake. We just finished a three year contract and were happy with the results. We are hopeful that another three years of treatment with Procellacor Aquatic Herbicide will drastically reduce the amount of milfoil. As someone said, "We've got it on the ropes, let's finish the job.".

August 28, 2021

Our Annual Meeting and Elections are scheduled for Saturday, October 9, 2021, 11am to 1pm at the Pavilion behind Town Hall, 280 Victory Highway, West Greenwich RI. This is a lovely setting and we hope for a good turnout.

Pond and Lake will survey and treat Lake Mishnock for invasive milfoil Wednesday, June 16, at 0900.

June 2, 2021

There will be a meeting for Directors on Saturday, June 12, 2021, 10am at the Mishnock Barn. This is the first meeting since Covid "took over". The agenda is open, but we will certainly discuss the upcoming lake inspection, milfoil, treatment options for the future, and fundraising. It will be good to get together.

March 4, 2021

It has been many months since the LMPA website has been updated. Two factors converged at the same time: Covid 19 and the slow deterioration of the platform for maintaining the website. The Covid pandemic brought to a halt our meetings and activities. Our website provider decided they didn’t support the platform I used for over 15 years. Increasingly it became obvious another website would have to be created. The original was the repository of much of the organization’s history. I did not want to lose that. In any event a new website is under construction with the hope of keeping as much of our history as is reasonable. I’ll admit to a little hoarding. Your patience is appreciated. We keep our domain name and change the website host. Without the technical help of Mike Berube this would not be possible. Thank you Mike!! Mike will continue to work with me in building the new website.

On February 15, 2021, The Pond and Lake Connection sent out Notices to all lake abutters explaining upcoming periodic lake inspections and targeted treatment of invasive vegetation. These Notices are required by The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and are part of the permitting process. When the time comes for treatment Notices will be posted around the lake.

It’s been a difficult year, but daylight is in view! I hope many of you have received vaccinations and the rest will soon. The vaccination process, after a rocky start, seems to be moving well in West Greenwich.

We have two audacious cardinals nesting near our home and they’ve been singing the joys of spring since mid February. Nancy and I have seen flocks of robins, red-winged blackbirds, and killdeer. So, they think it’s spring. We’ll have a Board meeting as soon as we think it’s safe.

The LMPA annual meeting was held November 2, 2019, 10:00am at the Mishnock Barn, 200 Mishnock Rd, West Greenwich. We had a good turnout, probably the best in a couple of years. Three Director positions were up for review, and we discussed the year-end report from The Pond and Lake Connection. Steve Shriner, Neil Degris, and Diane Blaquire were unanimously voted in for another term. The Pond and Lake Connection representative, Nick McMahon was available by phone, but we decided we had no questions important enough to interrupt his Saturday morning. All agreed that this year's treatment was a great success. There was limited discussion on how to insure that funds continue to be available for the lake's continued good health. Treatment cost on average is about 7000 per year. There will be further discussion of this. The annual Pasta Dinner Fundraiser is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, March 15, 2020. The next Board Meeting is Sunday, January 18, 2020, 10 am, at the Barn.

Lake Mishnock was treated on May 29, 2019 with ProcellarCor, a new herbicide/algaecide that has proven itself in other New England lakes. We have a new management contract with The Pond And Lake connection. All evidence, as of mid September, is that it has done a great job on the milfoil. Our hope is that this treatment will be effective for up to three years.

There will be a Directors' meeting at 1000 on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at the Mishnock Barn to plan for the annual membership meeting.

The annual Pasta Dinner Fundraiser and Raffle was held Sunday, April 14,2019 at the Mishnock Barn. Bobby was unable to cater this year's event so we used Meal Works. They did a good job. All the comments I heard were favorable. Unfortunately we had more food than we needed. The turn out was not what we hoped for. Nonetheless we did net about $2000.00 from the event, thanks primarily to the raffle. In addition to the Wooden Bench another major raffle item was a Barbecue Grill donated by Home Depot in Coventry. We can thank the Neros for hustling lots of raffle donations. Please shop with those vendors who help the lake by donating raffle items. This year's vendors can be found here.

We are using a new vendor, Pond and Lake, for treating the lake, also a new product. Early evidence suggests this could be a game changer for controlling milfoil. Pond and Lake have sent notices to all lake abutters and have applied for relevant permits.

Other news is the fear that Canadian Geese may be establishing themselves on the lake. Historically we've had swans to run them off, but we are not so sure this will happen this year. Our old male swan died two years ago and the new male may not be so territorial. We should know more soon, when mating season starts.

The annual meeting was held December 15, 2018 at the Mishnock Barn. The first order of business was the election of Directors. The nominating committee (Ken Brown, Diane Blaquire and Kelly Albro) had previously met on November 13. The Committee had been informed that all directors were willing to run for another three year term if there were no other applicants. There were no other applicants. As a result Nancy Brown, Ken Fallon, Joyce Nero, David Nero, Joann Wahl and James Wahl were nominated and elected for another three year term