Weeds weighing on minds of property owners - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Weeds weighing on minds of property owners

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August 13, 2004

Worth County- For Shirley McDaniel and some of her neighbors, living on lake front property was their dream.

But the dream's not a clear as it once was.

"Which you can see, it's nothing but a swamp now," she said.

The water on this part of the lake is taken over by weeds.

"We can't fish, we can't do family things like we used to and it's just disgusting."

The problem with the weeds is that it keeps people from being able to get out and enjoy the lake. Not only will it get caught in your boat prop, but nobody really wants to swim in it either.

The mess is made up of three different kinds of weeds. One called Lemon Bacopa blooms a purple flower and it's the one that's giving the organizations responsible for caring for the lake the most trouble.

"They're having a hard time finding a chemical that works very well at all against it," said Marcus Waters, resource manager for the Crisp County Power Commission.

They're continuing to try different kinds of chemicals to see what works best. They're also scheduled to drain that part of the lake this winter and hope a hard freeze will help kill most of the weeds.

But the other problem is finding the money to keep the work up. So Shirley is making pleas to elected officials.

"The Congressman was able to get some funding to help with a problem similar to this at Lake Seminole and it's possible that we'll be able to get some resources here to help with this problem as well," said Kenneth Cutts, a field representative with Congressman Sanford Bishop's office.

The weeds are also hurting the area's property value. Betty and Bob Futch have been trying to sell their home for more than a year. They feel like the weeds aren't helping. After all, lakefront property in this area of Lake Blackshear is just not what it once was.

"It was the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life, so quiet, so peaceful, fish off the dock," Shirley said.

So she and her neighbors hope with some financial help, the beauty will return and their dreams will continue.

posted at 11:07 p.m. by brannon.stewart@walb.com