At the present time the Muckraker volunteers work on Tuesday and Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. From March to October they work on the lakes; weather permitting. The rest of the year they perform routine maintenance and improvements to the equipment at the Village Public Works facility. With more volunteers the machine could be working five days a week, speeding up the removal process. No experience is necessary, the machine is easy to operate. If you can spare a few hours a week your help would be greatly appreciated. For more information contact Jack Armstrong at 910-949-3790 or Mickey Terzigni at 910-949-3535.
Most lakes have sediment and debris problems caused by natural materials such as pine cones, pine straw, leaves, branches and soil washing into the lakes. The layers of debris varies from 3 inches to 2 feet deep. This causes areas of the lakes to become too shallow for boats and form seed beds for aquatic weeds. These layers, as they decay, deplete oxygen from the water making conditions non conducive for good fish habitat and decreases the water volume.
In 2000 two studies were made to investigate the possibility of commercial dredging/harvesting and it was found the cost would be too high. The Lake Committee was formed to find a way to deal with the sediment problem.
In 2007 a group of volunteers built a mini-dredge. The dredge was supposed to pump water and sand from the lake bed. The water would wash back into the lake, and the sand remain on the shore. The machine did not work as anticipated; the layer of debris on top of the sand kept blocking the pump/lines. The debris had to be physically raked up so the sand could be pumped out.
