June 4, 2021
Good evening Soo Lake Membership,
As with many projects, overseen by multiple organizations, we ran into some complicated issues. Attached is the latest information about the upcoming drawdown. The plan to draw down the 6” a day, has been postponed starting the Saturday of Father’s Day weekend. Adam (our dam’s keeper) told me that the plan is to have the water back to our normal pool level by July 1st. This is the Thursday before the 4th of July weekend. If there are any issues with the inspection, which is unlikely, Adam told me that July 2ndwould be the latest date that our lake level would be back to normal.
With this information, I am thinking about our Boat Parade and fireworks display which are scheduled for Friday, July 2nd. We will discuss whether we should change the date to July 3rd. We want to be sure that we can all get our boats in the water for the boat parade and to view of the fireworks from our boats on the lake. Our next meeting will be at the Wild Turkey on the Soo (formerly Soo Lake Resort) on Saturday June 19th at 10:00. Please keep in mind that this is the first day of the scheduled drawdown as well. It may be best to come by land instead of by sea.
I will keep you informed as this project continues.
Tom Frane, President
Soo Lake United Association
Hunterman@pctcnet.net
715-571-1058
To: All Affected Users From: Adam Nelson, Dams Superintendent
Date: June 3, 2021 Re: POSTPONED -
Soo Lake Draw Down - Weimers Dam Rehabilitation Due to unforeseen circumstances the Soo Lake draw down scheduled to begin Monday, June 7, 2021 has been rescheduled `to begin Saturday Morning, June 19, 2021. Water level of Soo Lake will need to be drawn down by up to 3 feet in preparation of upcoming rehabilitation of Weimers Dam. The initial drawdown will begin on June 19, 2021, and needed water level is anticipated to be reached by June 25, 2021 and last for approximately 2 days. This will be for assessment, measurements, and planning for the major construction. The lake level is anticipated to return to normal summer pool by Thursday, July 1, 2021. Major construction is anticipated to begin late July/early August. Upcoming construction schedule is not known at this time. The Department of Natural Resources would like to remind any residents planning to perform shoreline repairs during the drawdown to be sure to acquire proper permitting prior to beginning any repairs. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 715-492-4459 or contact the Highway Department’s main office at 715-339-3081
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May 28,2021
Hello Soo Lake membership:
I was called yesterday afternoon to a meeting with the people who are coordinating the repairs and the dam this year. There are BIG CHANGES on the schedule.
First is the required inspection of the dam for the repairs. I was guaranteed that our water levels would be as close to pool level as possible the few days before the 4th of July and the following week after. THIS IS STILL ACCURATE. The inspection is scheduled for June 15th and if needed the 16th. What this means is, due to DNR regulations, the water can only be lowered a maximum of 6” a day. The lake will need to be lowered about 3 feet for this inspection. Our water levels will start to be lowered 6 inches a day, starting on June 7th, to be at the required inspection level by June 15th. Most of us know that when the lake goes down just 6”, most of us will not be able to get our boats in the lake. When the lake is down about 3 feet, access to the lake will be mostly impossible for nearly everyone on the lake. The weekend of June 12th and 13th will be the weekend where most of our shoreline will be exposed. Please plan of leaving enough rope tied to your boats and pontoons to allow them to rest of the bottom of the lake. Be sure to trim up your motors to be sure they will not be in the lake bottom. The people with boat and pontoon lifts should be ok during this time. The lake levels will start to rise as soon as the inspection is over. I am hoping that the following weekend (Father’s Day weekend), the levels will be close to normal. I will send out email updates during this process to keep you informed. There will be a public announced sent out by Price County next week, but I wanted to let you know as soon as possible, so we can plan accordingly. Some of you may want to consider taking your boats out to fish elsewhere for a couple of weeks. This may be an opportunity to cut some of the weeds that may be in front of your property or to work on your docks.
The second part of this project is the timing of the repair itself. At this time, the project will only require about a 3-foot drawdown to replace the gates. The cement repairs on the structure can be done on the back side of the dam with the water level at normal water level in the lake. The schedule of this repair is not known yet, but could be as early as late summer, early, or late fall. This will be controlled mainly by the contractor and the engineering group that oversee the project. I will be in contact with everyone involved on the project as regularly as I can and will be sending out information emails to keep you informed. The constant inspections and the occasional repairs on the dam are a very important part of making sure that the integrity of the dam stays safe and operational to allow all of us the opportunity to enjoy our recreational activities the Soo Lake provides for us.
I realize that there are a lot of unknowns yet on the repair project on the dam, but I will be following this closely in order to keep everyone informed.
Our next meeting will be at the Wild Turkey on the Soo (formerly Soo Lake Resort) on June 19th at 10: A.M. They are not currently open but will be in the next week or so. I hope to see you there and welcome the new owners Blaze & Emma to our Soo Lake United Association. I will send out another email before this meeting to keep you updated on the drawdown inspection status.
I hope everyone enjoys this Holiday weekend. Sounds like it might be kind of cool, but at least mostly dry. (Cool weather means less bugs).
Tom Frane, President
Soo Lake United Association
Hunterman@pctcnet.net
715-571-1058
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Good evening membership. As we are all trying to get back to a normal summer, I thought I would let you know that we are planning our 1st Lake Association meeting of the year on May 15th. This will be held at Corner Connection at 10:00 A.M. We are going to set up our tents outside for the safety of our members. Please bring your own chairs. At the meeting we will take a vote as to whether we should continue the tent meetings or go back to inside our local establishments. Listed below are some of the topics that we plan on discussing:
- Treasures Report
- Lake drawdown for weed control.
- Fireworks display (THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT)
- Boat parade contest and prizes, before the fireworks.
- Great prizes for our 10 “Big Winner Raffle”
- Clean Boat / Clean Water program
FIBER OPTICS ARE COMING TO SOO LAKE NOW!!! Most of us have received a notice card from Norvado about the fiber optics. They already have started to bore under driveways and some roads and are laying cable. Please go online to register your cabins and houses for this. They are going all around the lake, hoping to place fiber optics to every house. This is free at this time. I personally had some trouble getting signed on, as I could not find the “Site Survey” they were referring to. Following is a direct link to get started: Norvado Customer Site Survey (arcgis.com) There is a chat service that is helpful, if you need assistance. This should be completed sooner than later, as they have started from the corner of Hwy. W & Hwy. S. They are going on the island tomorrow. Don’t miss this free opportunity.
“Pontoon Found” floating down toward the dam. This is just the framework, without a deck. I have enclosed a picture. Please let me know if it is yours or if you know where it belongs. We have a board member that has offered to pull it back to the owner’s place.
I am looking forward to seeing you again at our first meeting after the long-awaited sign of getting back to normal.
Tom Frane, President
Soo Lake United Association
Hunterman@pctcnet.net
715-571-1058
