Lake Eckles residents want to form a nonprofit group to do what it says government is neglecting.
By AMBER MOBLEY
Published November 11, 2005
FOREST HILLS - Lake Eckles is turning into a charity case.
Residents say the lily pads covering parts of the lake, foreign vegetation on its banks and debris clogging its inlets are the result of years of governmental neglect.
So, in the coming week a group of about 30 Lake Eckles residents plan to petition their neighbors to become a nonprofit organization devoted to the lake's maintenance.
The fledgling group unanimously approved the effort at its second monthly meeting Monday night, but it needs the signatures and support of half of the 71 households on Lake Eckles to move ahead with attaining nonprofit status.
"That's usually what nonprofits are for; doing good things where the government has failed," said Marianne Cufone, an environmental lawyer the group is considering hiring.
Spraying to kill lily pads and cutting down foreign brush is what residents want to do.
But they can't do that without permits from the city and the county because the oddly shaped Lake Eckles lies in both entities' jurisdictions - a situation that complicates matters because each government is technically responsible only for its own part of the lake.
"There are legalities concerned," said Chris Hill, a group board member.
Becoming a nonprofit organization might be a way around the complications. As a nonprofit, the group could qualify for grant money that could help pay for lake maintenance.
Hill is already taking price quotes from aquatic companies to spray for lily pads and other unwanted vegetation on and around the lake.
Resident concerns about the lake - vegetation, water flow, water levels and water quality - are not new, said David Glicksberg, environmental manager for the stormwater section of county public works.
Lake Eckles is one of 10 Forest Hills area lakes being looked at in the Florida Lakewatch study, a University of Florida program that monitors 600 lakes across the state.
The county plans to analyze research results from the study and a compilation of resident concerns and complaints regarding the lakes " to develop specific actions for each lake, including Lake Eckles," Glicksberg said.
But final findings from Lakewatch aren't expected for at least six more months.
Lake Eckles residents are getting impatient and think forming a nonprofit group might be the best short- and long-term answer.
Stephen Walters, another board member of the group, is hopeful that neighbors will approve the effort, literally keeping his fingers crossed at the end of Monday night's meeting.
"Everybody here really needs to spread the word," Walters told the group. "If you see your neighbor later and they weren't here, ask them why and tell them to come out."
The Lake Eckles association's next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Forest Hills Recreation Center, 724 W 109th Ave., Tampa.
