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September 2011 Newletter

It's the end of another fabulous summer on Morse Lake. This summer saw some of the hottest temps on record which means lots of boating, swimming, skiing, tubing, fishing, etc... Great summer to be "lake people"!

The Dam Valves Remain Open
As of the this morning, 9/19 at 9:14am the lake is down just over 2 feet from the normal elevation. Lake is reading 807.86' and top elevation is 810'. We are losing about 1” per day. Until we get a significant rain that will dramatically increase the level and flow of the White River, the valves will remain open. Hopefully, you have taken care of your boat and dock situations. Visit our website to check the daily water level reading - http://morseh2o.org/water-levels/

Citizens Water
As you know, Citizens took over control of the Water Company on August 26th. Citizens Water now owns the reservoir. What does this mean for residents living on Morse? We don’t have all the answers and Citizens probably doesn’t know all the questions at this point. One change for MWA is the new Citizens Water web site and links from our web site www.morseh2o.org Visit our web site and click on Water Levels on our home page, you will find a link to new Citizens Water web site.

As Citizens goes through their staffing and organizing of the new organization, we will get a better understanding of their new company. We do have a PR/communications contact person as we did with Veolia. Citizens Water continues to have a service advisory board, which one of our board members continues as a member, same as with the Water Company.

General Meeting
Our next general meeting for the public will be held on Tuesday October 4th at the South Harbour Club House. Please mark your calendars for this meeting. We hope to have more information for you concerning Citizens water at this meeting.

Friendly Reminder: As fall and cooler temps approach, please remember to bag your leaves - DO NOT BLOW THEM IN THE LAKE! Leaves and other yard waste contain Phosphorus which cause algae blooms and big problems for our lake! Read more about how you can help our water quality on our website (we have an entire section dedicated to water quality!) - http://morseh2o.org/morse-water-quality/

Donations Always Welcomed
Please help us continue to support the Morse Community with a donation of any amount. Use the PayPal feature on our web site or make checks out to Morse Waterways Association and send them to: Jim Schneider, 2460 Cape Henry Ct. Cicero, IN 46034. MWA is a non-profit 501(c)3 so your donation is tax deductable.

Thanks for your support of Morse Waterways Association.
Jim Schneider, President

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Newsletter - August 3, 2011

MORSE 5th ANNUAL LAKE CLEANUP – An Eco-friendly Green Event
On Saturday July 31st, MWA held its 6th annual lake cleanup. Working from 8:00 until 12:00pm, we pulled 9 dump truck loads of debris and logs from the reservoir. Thanks to David Beaudin our primary man on the chain saw and his sidekick Jim Schneider for an excellent job of trimming the branches and logs to fit more in the dump trucks. Thanks to Pat Comer and the Cicero Street &Utility department for the big equipment and hauling away the debris. For our third year, MWA went eco-friendly by recycling the wood at GreenCycle on Rt. 19, thus eliminating the burning of this wood.

Thanks to Marina Limited Partnership Dock repair and Construction department for helping with a few of the really large trees again this year. I think they were even larger than last year. We could not have gotten these out of the lake without their assistance. Please look at the pictures to see the 40-50 foot tree. If you need dock work, please show your support and contact Paul Deaton at (317) 336-7180.

Our street crew, lead by Dean Denhart for the 7th year, cleaned out the mess of trees, limbs and garbage that had gathered near the Cicero docks by the old Waterfront. Judi Schneider walked the entire causeway picking up 4 bags of trash. This clean up will help to made a good impression on our out-of-town Cicero Triathlon participants next Saturday August 6th.

Special thanks to Larry Seacat who has spent most of the last 7 clean ups in the water organizing the boats and trees to prepare for the backhoe removal.

Check out pictures from the cleanup in our Lake Clean Up Day 2011 Photo Album

Here is list of the other 30 volunteers on Saturday. I apologize if I missed anyone from the signup sheet. Many of these volunteers continue to help every year. Please join us next year for this event which benefits all of us on the water.

• Dean Denhart
• Mary Jane Olsavsky
• Don Smith
• Joanne King
• Chris Miller
• Jim Schneider
• Nancy Smith
• Jim King
• Rusty Miller
• Judi Schneider
• Gary Helgemo
• Pat Comer
• Jack Settlemire
• Brian McCarley
• Tom Sims
• Wes King
• Matt Clarke
• Gary Rhodes
• Miguel Calixto
• Bruce Woolridge
• Carl Hasty
• Phil Burris
• Donald Miketa
• Jim Koss
• Larry Seacat
• Wayne Ambrous
• Stan Hampton
• Sam Zajac

Chuck McCarley

The Dam Valves are Open.
Keep an eye on the water level at your dock, although the water drain should be at a relatively slow pace. Indianapolis Water has done an excellent job of managing the water flow from the reservoir. The water level is only a few inches below the dam and the valves have been opened for about 10 days. Friday night’s 0.41 inches rainfall did help a little bit. You can track the water level from our web site. Click on the Water Levels on our home page. www.morseh2o.org

2011 Flotilla
This year we held our 3rd annual Flotilla on July 16th. The winning boat was decorated as a pirate ship and won the $200 gift card from our sponsor Wireless at Work (your local Sprint stores including the Noblesville location at intersection of Rt. 31 and 32). Second prize of $125 gift card went to the Christmas in July boat with Santa towed on tube. Third prize of $75 went to boat with a patriotic theme.

Donations Always Welcomed
If we pulled some big logs from your docks, please consider giving a donation to our organization. We did have some clean up day expenses. Please help us continue to support the Morse Community with a donation of any amount. Use the PayPal feature on our web site or make checks out to Morse Waterways Association and send them to: Jim Schneider, 2460 Cape Henry Ct. Cicero, IN 46034. MWA is a non-profit 501(c)3 so your donation is tax deductible.

Thanks for your support of Morse Waterways Association.
Jim Schneider, President

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Morse Waterways Association News Letter 7/20/11

ANNUAL LAKE CLEANUP - SATURDAY July 23rd
We need your help!
This year marks the 7th year for our annual lake cleanup. We traditional pull 8-10 dump truck loads of logs and debris from the reservoir. As in the past few years, our primary focus will be in Cicero area near the 236th bridge. This location tends to be the holding spot for all the fallen trees coming from Big and Little Cicero Creeks. We want to clean this area prior to the Cicero triathlon on August 6th.

The Cleanup will start at Red Bridge Park at 8:00 and last until 12:00. We need lots of people to work from pontoon boats and walking the shore line. Wear your old clothes and shoes (no sandals). Expect to get wet. In this heat, that could be a welcomed event. We do need people to pick up garbage along the bridge and causeway.

For those of you who live on other areas of the lake and have nuisance logs, please let us know at mwa@morseh2o.org We will do our best to work with you to get these removed. If you live on the north end of the lake, you can help us by towing your logs to Red Bridge ramp on Saturday morning (or Friday- tie them off with an old rope).

What we need: (Contact Jim at mwa@morseh2o.org if you can help with either of these 2 items.)
• Pontoon boats to pull logs. Bring ropes.
• Chainsaws and operators for cutting up the logs.

Go to our web site if you want to see pictures of cleanups from the prior years. http://www.morseh2o.org

Donations are always welcomed. Use PayPal on our web site or send checks to: Morse Waterways Association
2460 Cape Henry Ct.
Cicero, IN 46034

Thanks for your support of Morse Waterways Association, a nonprofit organization promoting safety and the environment within the Morse Reservoir watershed.

MWA President
Jim Schneider

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Final Reminder for the Dinner Dance Fundraiser!

The MWA Dinner Dance Fundraiser is THIS FRIDAY June 24th and we need YOU! It is NOT TOO LATE to RSVP!

When: Friday June 24th 6:30pm
Where: South Harbour Clubhouse
What: Dinner, Dancing and maybe a few drinks too! All to beneift the MWA! Win raffle prizes from many local businesses!

You can RSVP right now...

Simply email Margie Schwier- schwierteam@egixmail.com with the following information:
1. Your name
2. Number of guests in your party
3. Phone Number
4. Email Address
**After you RSVP please mail your check to Margie Schwier, 958 Laurel Lane, Noblesville, Indiana 46060

More details are available on our website!
I challenge each of you to pass this on to ONE neighbor, friend or relative! Help us support Morse Lake & The Morse Waterways Association!

See you on the 24th!

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June 2011 News from the Morse Waterways Association

What a fantastic Memorial Day lake weekend - and more 90 degree temps are forecasted for this week! There are a lot of fun things going on around Morse Lake - Lights Over Morse Lake Poker Run, Fishing Day, Safety Days, Dinner & Dance Fundraiser etc... For a complete list of events please visit our website - www.morseh2o.org

Dinner & Dance Italiano - Fundraiser!
Mark your calendars and get your reservations for our 3rdannual Dinner and Dance Italiano fundraiser for the “over 21 crowd” to be held on Friday evening June 24th at the beautiful South Harbour Club House. This year will offer a lasagna dinner catered by Fazolis and back by popular demand - music provided by DJ Sunny Moon. Beer and wine included in the low price of only $18 per person. Go to our web site for a reservation form www.morseh2o.org The Morse Waterways Association needs YOU! Please help us keep Morse Clean & Safe for years to come!

Also on June 4thwill be the annual free Kids Fishing Dayheld at Red Bridge Park. Please go to our web site for more information www.morseh2o.org

Please consider volunteering for this weekends Safety Days! We are still in need of volunteers! We are still in need of volunteers to help work 2 hour shifts of Safety Days. This includes handing out Indiana Boating Law Booklets and greeting boaters at the marina. Safety Days is this SATURDAY & SUNDAY - Please contact Andy Sheets if you are willing to help! Available shifts - Saturday & Sunday 12-2pm and 2-4pm Andy Sheets - Andy.Sheets@Century21.com 373-3434

Enjoy the warm weather & safe boating!

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Found: Jet Ski Lift

There is what I think is a jet-ski lift floating next to our boat lift at dock # 749 (866 S. Lanyard Dr.), and another one farther back in the inlet.

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April 27th, 2011 Newsletter

It’s time to welcome in a new boating season…once the rain stops. Get your boat cleaned up, wipe the cobwebs of the skis/boards, and get your fishing license. Remember the 84 degree temperature we had in March? It seems like Mother Nature temps us each year to start the season earlier.

So, what has been going on with Morse Waterways Association this year?

Our next MWA public meeting will be held on May 5^th at Red Bridge Park Community Building beginning at 7:00pm. The results from the Morse Reservoir/Cicero Water Quality Study will be presented. Get an update on algae situation/issues and learn about other future grant efforts. Please come and take part in this meeting. This is our lake and we need to preserve this vital resource. In addition, our local DNR Conservation Officer will be on hand to present and answer all your questions on safety and boating.

Our new Board of Directors took office in January. We expanded the Board to 14 members this year to help with our activities. Here is list of our chair persons for our committees:

Safety Awareness Days June 4, 5: Andy Sheets
Fundraiser June 24: Kim Wert and Margie Schwier
Flotilla July 16: Mat Clarke
Lake Cleanup July 30: Chuck McCarley

Amanda Sheets has taken on our marketing, communications and public relations responsibility. She has created our new web site and is sending out all our email communications.

Roger Goings, Andy Sheets and Detlef Rathmann oiled over 200 goose eggs on the island last month. This oil process prevents hatching of the eggs and hopefully will keep the geese from returning the following year.  Morse Waterways representatives have attended DNR classes and have a permit for this process.

Check out all the Morse Lake spring and summer events on our new web site www.morseh2o.org.

If you have any topics you would us to address or have any information you want us to share regarding the lake, please send us an email at:  MWA@morseh2o.org

Donations are always needed. Our annual insurance invoices ($950) are due and we recently paid our dues to the Upper White River Watershed Alliance which has assisted us with our grant funding and water quality. If everyone contributed just $10 or $20, we will have sufficient funds for our 2011 expenses. Your contribution is tax deductable, since we are a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Send donations to Jim Schneider, 2460 Cape Henry Ct., Cicero, IN 46034 or use the PayPal link on our web site.

Jim Schneider
President, Morse Waterways Association

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Springtime Choices Impact Morse Lake Water Quality!

There are plenty of sings that spring is in full force.  Sometime these signs are natural indicators like flowers poking through weathered mulch, or migrating birds like sandhill cranes flying far overhead; but others, are signs of human life awakening after winter.  These signs like people cleaning up boats, or washing cars and bikes in their drives, or the often dreaded spring clean-up around the yard – all can bring potential risks to local water quality.

As you are preparing your home and yard for spring, be sure to consider the impacts your lawn has on water quality.  Your individual choices and actions make a difference!

Your Lawn Fertilizer Choices
Many mature lawns do not need fertilizers, particularly fertilizer with phosphorus in it.  Remember one pound of phosphorus running off into the water can grow 500 pounds of algae.

• Follow the instructions on the bag and use only the right amount.  More is not better!  Any fertilizer that is not used by your lawn will end up in local stream or reservoir – growing potentially toxic algae and producing bad tasting water.
• If you use a lawn care company, make sure to talk to them about no-phosphorus fertilizer and minimum application rates throughout the season.
• If you are already using no-phosphorus fertilizer, or no fertilizer at all, or if you are asking your applicator to use no-P products, take the no-phosphorus pledge at www.ClearChoicesCleanWater.org.

Check it out to see how many people are on the map – take the pledge to show your support for healthy Indiana waters and get on the map yourself!


Your Yard Clean-up Choices
There are several natural ‘fertilizers’ and pollutants that accumulate over the winter, decompose, and find their way into the water as well.  Things such as leaf litter, pet waste, and general landscaping yard waste all contain nutrients such as phosphorus that can also add to spring and summer algal blooms.

• Please bag or compost leaves – do not rake leaves or other yard waste like last year’s flower stalks or grass clippings, etc.  into the ponds or streams or storm drains!
• Pick up and dispose of pet waste in the garbage!

Even some other simple spring-cleaning backyard behaviors like car or boat washing and oil changes can also be a significant source of nutrients and other pollutants to the local streams and drinking water supplies.

• Used oil from a single oil change can pollute up to 1,000,000 gallons of freshwater.
• In order for one ounce of biodegradable detergent to be safe for fish, it needs to be diluted by almost 20,000 ounces of water.
  
  

These pollutants get to the reservoir through direct runoff from yards or street-side storm drain inlets that discharge untreated to nearby streams or to the reservoir itself.

Consider the choices you are making around your home as you begin spring yard work.  Protecting the water quality of Morse Reservoir requires everyone to do their part to make sure their property doesn’t contribute pollution to our water supplies.  You can make a difference – make a clear choice for clean water!

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Need Your Help For Clean Water Indiana!

Please see the recent press release below from the Indiana Wildlife Federation! We need YOUR help!

Conservation Funding Needs Your Support!

Two essential conservation funding programs, the Indiana Heritage Trust and Clean Water Indiana, are in trouble. Neither programs were included in Gov. Daniels's proposed budget or the budget bill (HB 1001) moving through the House of Representatives.

CALL OR WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TODAY and tell them Indiana's natural resources rely on these programs.

We need funding for the Indiana Heritage Trust at $750,000/year in the biennial budget. The Indiana Heritage Trust is the state’s only dedicated land acquisition program for conservation.  This is a visionary program, setting aside important lands for state and local parks, Fish and Wildlife Areas, Nature Preserves, State Recreation Areas and Historic Sites.

We also need the State Assembly to reinstate the $500,000 cut in dedicated funding for Clean Water Indiana. The program was created to protect and enhance the water quality of Indiana’s lakes, rivers and streams, by reducing the amount of polluted storm water runoff from urban and rural areas entering surface and ground water.  The program assists Indiana farmers and other property owners with technical expertise to complete projects to conserve soil and water.

In addition to contacting your Representative concerning IHT and CWI funding, please contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to ask for their support to reinstate the $500,000 in dedicated funding to the Clean Water Indiana Fund.

Please ask these Senators to speak with Senator Kenley, the chairman of the appropriations committee: Charbonneau, Broden, Boots, Hershman, Hume, C. Lawson, Miller, Mishler, Rogers, Tallian, Waltz, and Wyss.

Click here to find your legislator's contact information.

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Meet MWA President & Founding Member, Jim Schneider

After moving to Morse 10 years ago, I discovered quickly that I knew nothing about the reservoir concerning the rules and regulations for boating, docks, lake ownership, regulatory and controlling agencies. It was very confusing trying to locate the correct agency to address issues about floating trees, Ecoli, algae, no wake zones, buoys, speed limits, etc. I had some knowledge of boating having spent a few vacations camping on Lake Cumberland with my wife and 2 boys. My father-in-law’s 14 ft. runabout provided my kids the opportunity to learn to ski, tube and fish.

In May 2005, a small group of 8-10 people formed Morse Waterways Association. We envisioned ourselves as home owners association for the lake. We met weekly to create a mission statement, setup a web site, open a bank account for donations and organize a public meeting. Our goal was to educate ourselves and to become a resource for people living on the lake. As a key member of this organization, I have had the opportunity to meet hundreds of people living on the lake and have become good friends with many.

I spend most of my lake activities driving the boat for skiers and tubers, cruising the lake on my Seadoo, occasionally kayaking, and fishing in the evenings from my dock watching the sunset. Most of all, we enjoy entertaining our friends on our deck with some adult beverages and watching all the lake activity.

I am a partner in Salt-Free Water Systems which provides residential, commercial and industrial properties with environmentally friendly water conditioner systems. These systems are an alternative to traditional water softeners using no salt or chemicals. I serve the community through volunteer work Habitat for Humanity, Morse Waterways Association and the Upper White River Watershed Alliance.