City Discusses Lake Algae, Makes Appointments

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With summer comes more activity at Frazier Park Lake in Ulysses. But a recent public health warning issued by Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, due to blue-green algae has put somewhat of a damper on any activity. Frazier Park Lake is one of two lakes in Kansas – the other being Lake Shawnee – that are under a public health warning.

Keric Sullivan addressed the city council during the public comment portion of the June 25 council meeting and asked what the city’s plan is regarding the algae.

“I would like for city council to address some of the measures being taken at Frazier concerning the blue green algae and the safety of it being open to fishing,” said Keric Sullivan, who addressed the issue in a June 19, letter to the editor in The Ulysses News. “The blue green algae seems to be a recurring, yearly event, and it’s my opinion - I think it’s going to be foolish to allocate a whole bunch of money or time on more water projects down there until we get the blue green algae under control.”

Sullivan was concerned about the safety of the water from the lake being sprayed onto the golf course and the cemetery.

“It obviously isn’t a good thing,” he said. “I’d like to know are we doing anything? Is there any treatment after it leaves the lake and is used as irrigation water?

City Engineer Peter Earles – who was at the meeting to discuss Frazier Park’s preliminary plans, anyway – addressed the issue. He said the lake water is not used to irrigate the golf course. The water originally came from the city lagoons, but now comes from a city well, and is pumped through a chlorination system before it’s used on the golf course.

“The excess water that’s not used on the golf course does flow back into the lake,” Earles said. “But it’s all chlorinated, and so the golf course system is totally separate.”

The subject of the algae was the topic of a meeting with city staff prior to the council meeting; what can be done and what are the different options to get rid of the algae.

“Blue green algae comes into play in a lot of lakes across Kansas,” Earles said. “The biggest detriment is nitrates, chemicals that flow into the lake, which obviously comes from the golf course.

“You want green grass, you put nitrogen on it, and unfortunately when you water it, water runs off and it all goes into the lake.”

The city is looking into how to solve the problem without spending a lot of money. Aerators help because algae likes stagnant water and aerators move the water. The algae can be killed with chemicals, but Earles said it is a never-ending process.

“There’s ultrasound they’ve come out with as an option, so we’re going to look into that as a possibility,” Earles said. “The other thing is to put it through some type of UV system, maybe inside the aerator have a UV system so when it pumps water up through it, it also goes through a UV to kill everything.”

Leilani Sullivan asked if there had previously been a reverse osmosis system installed when the lake and first nine holes were put in. Earles said there was never a reverse osmosis system installed.

“What they put in was simply a filter system to try to pull out the algae,” Earles said. “It didn’t work. Algae is difficult to take out with a filter because it’s more slime than it is an animal or a product, so that type of filter gets plugged up real easy.”

Earles said Reverse Osmosis and Dissolved Air Flotation systems are expensive.

“We’ll come back as an option, but it’s a very expensive option,” Earles added.

In other business:

•The council appointed city accounts payable clerk Kristy Gregory to the Economic Development Board as recommended by City Administrator Luke Grimes.

“I think she will be a great asset, being a city employee and also being able to know what’s going on in the public and being able to report to you (Grimes),” said councilman Mark Diaz. “I think there’s been some concerns there that we’re not getting all the answers, or all the questions answered, and I think Kristy will do a great job at it.”

Councilman Caleb Woods asked what the council’s expectations are of Gregory.

“Because I think that’s where we’ve not done a good job in years past when we’ve appointed people,” Woods said. “We don’t ever talk to them, we don’t have them come in and then we have where we feel like we don’t get questions answered when they probably could have been, so our concerns could have been softened if we would have communicated with our appointees, and I think that’s our fault.”

Councilman Terry Mass wants Gregory to be the liaison between the council and the business owners, and the council decided to have her come to the council and give a quarterly report.

•The council appointed Nancy Borthwick and Carlos Gutierrez to the Planning Commission Board.

Borthwick is a Ulysses native who returned to town a decade ago after a short absence.

“I’ve tried to do as much as I possibly can and not say no to a lot of people,” said Borthwick, who has been the Grant County Senior Center Director for six months. “My goal as a community member of Grant County is to make it better. My idea is to make it a place where when you leave here as a high school graduate not to say, ‘I’m never coming back to this place.’

“So, in my opinion, I would do – and will do – anything I can do to make this community better, and if that’s part of the planning committee, then that’s part of the planning committee. If that is fighting for the Farmer’s Market, then I’ll fight for the Farmer’s Market.” I’m here to be a servant of this community, and I take that very seriously.”

Gutierrez was born in Johnson, but has lived in Ulysses his entire life minus time in college.

“I really want to be a part of the planning committee due to my experience,” Gutierrez said. “I was a case manager for almost 10 years for Compass Behavioral Health and during my time there I became a community events liaison, and from that I actually got a job through KanCare to be a community relations consultant here in Southwest Kansas.

“I love Ulysses, and I just want to see it grow and prosper.”

The council appointed both by separate unanimous votes.

•The council took no action on a request by Kingpins bowling alley to extend their Cereal Malt Beverage license to a portion of the parking lot until they get more information from owner Bene Garcia, who was not in attendance at the meeting. The council will take the matter up again at its next meeting, July 9.