Weed Harvesting on Lake Hopatcong Ahead of Schedule
More collected this year to date than all of last season.
Weed harvesting on Lake Hopatcong is ahead of schedule for the summer season, and is already ahead of what was collected for all of last year, according to Steve Ellis, regional superintendent of the state's northern parks. He reported to the Lake Hopatcong Commission at its meeting on Monday night.
“We’ve collected 1,300 cubic yards of biomass this season, when we collected only 1,100 cubic yards all of last year,” Ellis said.
The service is currently running four harvesters, two dump trucks and two conveyors, and has gone from three to six employees running the machinery.
“So far the equipment has been running pretty well,” Ellis added. “There have been a few problems with gas line breaks, belt failures, things like that.”
The next areas on the list for harvesting include Castle Rock, Halsey Island, Brady Bridge and Prospect Point.
PJ_Wolf
6:23 am on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Not necessarily a positive statement, may simply indicate more septics than ever are failing which is the more likely scenario.
Roll Back Our Tax
1:22 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
PJ...very true. With sewer rates for Hopatcong at $322/quarter, who can afford the connection? Here's the scary part. Refinancing debt issues that supposedly paid for past projects along with new debt for water, sewer and capital expenditures now totaling $61M, where do you think those rates are going to go? People don't have the money to fix bad septic systems because taxes are going through the roof and reassessments are coming.
http://hopatcong.patch.com/articles/reassessment-approved-despite-residents-opposition
Sad state of affairs in Hopatcong. But we keep spending like there's no tomorrow.
Watershed
1:15 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The increased numbers of weeds has more to do with the mild winter we experienced last year combined with the lower lake levels through the spring. There was no ice cover last winter, allowing the sunlight to reach the bottom and the weeds to continue to grow. In the spring, the lake remained low through most of May, again allowing for accelerated weed growth.