02-29-16 Special Elbel Committee Minutes

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identified. This property is privately owned, and a portion of it went up for sale recently, and a land trust is taking steps to protect that portion of Lydick Bog. Mud Lake has three (3) plant communities that I am aware of. It is very different than what we see in the other sites. Fifty -five (55) plant species were documented, and eighty -seven (87) percent of those were native to Indiana. There have been five (5) endangered threatened and rare plant species documented from Mud Lake. I found two (2) plants that were state endangered, which means that they're known from up to five (5) places in the state that have never been found in the county before, so there's so much that we don't know about the plant life that exists at Mud Lake and throughout the Kettle Lakes Region. There have been a handful of bird surveys conducted at Mud Lake, some of them are very historical and others are much more recent. There are many unique species that have been spotted in the Mud Lake area. Mud Lake is threatened by the potential for development, and climate change is a threat to all of these systems. Degradation to the wetland as a result of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers is a threat especially if the property were to change hands and different management techniques would take place on the golf course. The biggest threat is invasive species. Mud Lake currently has an invasive species that will probably spread around the entire lake within the next twenty (20) years and remove the biodiversity that is present there. The Kettle Lakes region is incredibly unique, and Mud Lake is a part of that region. Each of those lakes provides a different aspect of uniqueness to the Kettle Lakes Region in terms of endangered threatened and rare species and other conservative species. There is a lot we do not know about the plant life and the animal life that uses Mud Lake and the Kettle Lakes region, and only a portion of it is truly protected. The committee discussed whether Mud Lake is private or public. Mr. Namestick responded that it is his understanding that it is not public. There is no public access. His guess is that the city owns the lake and a portion is under private ownership at the north end. Mr. Damrill stated that the Department of Natural Resources might have legal lake limits on Mud Lake. The commission came to the conclusion that they needed more information on the ownership of Mud Lake. Councilmember Broden inquired about the distance between Chamberlain Lake and Mud Lake, and Mr. Damrill guessed that it was about ten (10) miles. Dan Brazo and Matt Cielen presented on the Audobon Sanctuary program that the University of Notre Dame Warren Golf Course is a part of. The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf is an education and certification program that helps golf courses protect our environment and preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf. By helping people enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide, improve efficiency, and minimize potentially harmful impacts of golf course operations. It looks at water quality, water quantity, irrigation, chemical usage, wildlife habitats, and outreach to the public. Getting this certification is a time consuming effort, and you recertify every two (2) years. Then you would have a consultant come out once a week to check on upkeep. The consultants would cost about $5,000 per year. The summary of the program is available in the Office of the City Clerk. Mr. Cielen stated that there is a savings in maintenance once you have established native areas. It is a common sense situation that will eventually run itself. At the end, you'll have a healthier place, more native areas, and the golf course will end up being a safe haven for animals, insects, and butterflies. Aimee Buccallato asked if there was intent to certify the golf course all along, and Mr. Brazo stated that that there was intent from the start date to certify the course, but they did not do much construction other 61