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Carman Bay Lake Improvement District <br />Post Office Box 124 <br />Crystal Bay, Minnesota 55323 <br /> <br />April 16, 2025 <br /> <br />City of Orono <br />2750 Kelley Parkway <br />Orono, Minnesota 55356 <br /> <br />Dear Mayor Tunheim & Council Members Alisa Benson, Claire Berrett, Steve Persian and Jacqueline <br />Ricks, <br /> <br /> Carman Bay Lake Improvement District supports the petition to establish Stubbs Bay Lake <br />Improvement District. A Lake Improvement District, as governed by statute sections 103B.501 – <br />103B.581, is proven to transform citizen interest into a sustainable environmental stewardship and an <br />evidence-based best practices method for managing aquatic invasive plant species for the benefit of the <br />public, City of Orono and Stubbs Bay. <br /> <br /> A Lake Improvement District offers a comprehensive plan of action where no other exists. The <br />Minnehaha Creek Watershed District successfully manages large scale improvements such as the Six <br />Mile Creek-Halsted Bay project but is not tasked with the control of aquatic invasive species. The Lake <br />Minnetonka Conservation District manages Lake Minnetonka. However, the LMCD’s Comprehensive <br />EWM and CLP Management Plan only provides guidance for AIS management with a focus on education <br />and prevention. The LMCD does not actively survey, treat or provide lake wide funding to control aquatic <br />invasive species. The 2024 LMCD AIS Kick Start grant program was funded at fifty thousand dollars but <br />currently has zero dollars in the 2025 budget. <br /> <br /> Carman Bay Lake Improvement District was formed July 24, 2017. The attached Carman Bay AIS <br />Report discusses the superior results of the bay wide management of native and invasive plant <br />community. As noted in the report, the objective of the DNR Lake Management Vegetation Plan for <br />CBLID is the control Curlyleaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil to a littoral frequency of 20% or less <br />occurrence and maintain a healthy native community as measured by an annual point-intercept survey. <br /> <br /> Naturally, the civic engagement of Stubbs Bay Lake Improvement District will complement Orono’s <br />practice of fostering collaborative public management. A Lake Improvement District is in harmony with <br />Orono’s Lakeshore City principles to “protect and preserve Lake Minnetonka, and its water quality, and <br />recreational assets that include 9 square miles of lakes with 38% of its housing on nearly 40 miles of <br />Lake Minnetonka shoreline”. <br /> <br />Sincerely, <br /> <br />Mark D. Kieper <br /> <br />Mark D. Kieper <br />Chairman <br />Carman Bay Lake Improvement District <br /> <br />66