Reminders

Trash Cans

The Association has been receiving complaints about garbage cans being left out by the road or in front of a  home. Our bylaws and deed restrictions require garbage cans to be stored in such a manner as to not be seen. If you are doing so, we ask you to take your neighbors into consideration and store your garbage cans in such a way that they are not an eye sore.

Thank you for your consideration. 

Bruce Larson, 

LVIA, Architecture & Ordinance

Poison Ivy

I have received concerns about poison ivy near the Brendel Lake launch area. In response to this I contacted our local expert consultant, Janet Macunovich. She has reviewed the boat launch area and Brendel beach park and will be making recommendations for how to best address the problem areas. The action required will generally be to contact an outside contractor to spray or remove the plants.

If you know of other areas in Lakewood Village including outlots or parks that should be included in our examination, please let me know and I will ask Janet to check them out.

Janet has also offered to review questionable areas on your private lots within the subdivision at no cost. She can confirm if the plants are indeed poison ivy and recommend how to remove them. Please contact her directly. Her contact information is:   248-681-7850,  JanetandSteve@GardenAtoZ.org   

Thanks,

Terry Crossett, 

LVIA Parks & Rec

248-894-6568

Please do not feed the waterfowl

Dear LVIA Members, 

Recently, a Lakewood Village resident asked about the risks of feeding waterfowl. The information below is from an official New York state bulletin posted on the internet, with an additional link below. It is well written and factual, not opinion. 

The Lakewood Village Board does not support feeding of waterfowl. 

We take this position because migratory birds are wild and need to preserve their instincts to survive. The Board asks you to get involved and ask your neighbors to support our position. Here are our reasons for asking Lakewood Village residents to not feed waterfowl: 

1) Feeding them creates unnatural ways for them to get food, and the food given to them is far less nutritious than their natural mixed diet of aquatic plants, natural grains, and invertebrates. 

2) Feeding them creates a single location for food. This increases competition for food, depresses their natural instincts to look for food, and can lead to the spread of disease at the area of feeding. 

3) Excess nutrients in ponds caused by unnatural numbers of waterfowl droppings can result in water quality problems such as summer algal blooms. Note: Lakewood Village has been fighting algae blooms for the last few summers at an added cost to our water Resources budget. Where waterfowl congregate to feed, E-coli counts can swell to levels that make the water unsuitable for swimming. 

4) Waterfowl can rapidly become conditioned to, and dependent on, handouts.  Fed ducks and geese behave differently.  They become more aggressive and eventually lose their wariness of humans.  Some will even attack children attempting to pet them or feed them. 

5) Feeding attracts birds in unnatural numbers, beyond natural food and water supplies, and frequently in numbers beyond what people will tolerate.  Grassy areas such as ball fields and beaches can become unsanitary and unusable. 

6) Feeding alters normal migration patterns of waterfowl by shortening or even eliminating them. Ducks, reluctant to leave in the winter, may not survive sudden cold. 

Please support us in our efforts to make Lakewood Village a beautiful place for humans and wildlife. Please do not feed the swans, geese, or ducks. Their lives and the beauty of Lakewood Village depend on it. 

Thank you, 

The LVIA Board 

The complete article from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation follows. Read on to explore this issue and decide for yourself whether you want to continue feeding waterfowl.  Here is the link.