LAKE PLACID CLEAN UP

CULP Board members and numerous volunteers worked on the cleanup / clearing of the lake’s main channel by Zipp Camp this past weekend and made significant progress in keeping the main channel upriver open and ready for the lake to re fil. Board member Mark Dietz headed up the effort and was successful in securing 4 – 5 skid steers and operators for the day’s efforts. Special thanks go out the Mark, Clark and Kim Weldon, Ed and Liz Hilsdorf and Alvin Zarazua for their support and a great many thanks to the equipment operators on Saturday, Travis Engelke, Nick Walker, Kyle Kolbe and others.

I would also like our lake community to know about another property owner getting into the action. On Saturday, during all the work, Scott Stewart, Paradise Lawn and Maintenance, who has a house on Reiley Rd, came down to the river bottom we were working on and offered to provide additional assistance on Sunday. The next day Scott showed up with his three sons, Tyler, Tayden and Talon and 4 pieces of machinery, track skid steers and a small excavator. It was quite an experience watching Scott and these young men operate these machines and amazing to see the results. See the pics.

Over the weekend this great group of volunteers cleared all the brush out of the main channel, cut trees and brush and attempted to clear the main channel to improve navigability upriver.

Thanks everyone for all your support and hard work this past weekend keep that equipment maintained for the next clean up.

Bill Fisher, CULP President

on April 5 and 6 2025. Board members are enlisting any individuals who own and can operate skid steer equipment and has already secured the use of 3 – 4 skid steers. The plan is for this is to be mostly mechanical however we will need able bodied volunteers to chain saw a few trees and help remove vegetation that the equipment can not get to, especially along the waters edge.

This is our second such clean up in the area and plans are for it to go quick but cannot be accomplished without community support. If you assisted with the initial clean up of this area you witnessed how much work can be done by our lakefront community and the camaraderie developed meeting and working alongside your neighbors.

It is getting close to the completion of the new dam and having water in our lake, so cleanup like this is essential to the enjoyment of our lake. We simply cannot get this done without substantial lakefront community support, physical or financial to accomplish any cleanup. Mark your calendars and plan on helping clear the lake main channel.

CULP Board of Directors

According to the notes from the March 2025 engineering construction meeting held on March 13, 2025, and attended by Keith Strimple of the Lake Placid WCID, the substantial completion of our new dam is now estimated to be July 5, 2025. Folks, this is coming soon and is now a little over 90 plus days before the expected increase in our lake’s water level will begin.

Many of our lake front community have made temporary improvements such as docks and stairs and where clearing has occurred there are burn piles. The very last thing our lake front community needs is for any of these structure / piles to break loose and impede the operations of our new dam as they begin testing the dam and ultimately filling Laker Placid. As a key reminder, any debris removal by Sundt or damage to the dam gates will result in change orders to the contract and increase construction costs to US. I for one feel we are already paying enough for the luxury of a new dam and the return of our beautiful lake, and this is one additional cost that we as lake front property owners can collectively control and avoid.

Each waterfront property owner needs to assess the area of their lake front and begin the removal of grown-up vegetation which could impede your access to the lake. Plans should be made by each lake front property owner to remove burn piles and other debris and dismantle all temporary docks/stairs/structures from the riverbed prior to the substantial completion date of July 5, 2025. If you wait until the water levels begin to rise it may be very challenging or impossible to address these issues.

This should be a community effort by all the lakefront property owners. If you have neighbors who cannot clean up vegetation for health reasons or due to their age, help them out. Contact your property owner’s association or any CULP Board member to assist in the marshaling of potential resources to assist those neighbors in need.

Everyone, this is the last big effort to get your debris cleaned up so that you will be able to enjoy your lake front property as early as possible. Also, not a bad idea to take advantage of the less than sweltering heat during April and May.

CULP is developing plans to clean up / clear areas of the main channel in the coming weeks so please follow our Facebook page for further announcements.

CULP Board