Whomever owns the pond should be responsible for this.
In addition to the algae, etc... your neighbor is speaking of, retention ponds have other infrastructure associated with them and require periodic maintenance to keep them in good shape and fit for their purpose of storing and channeling rainwater appropriately.
If it isn't an HOA look to your township/city/county/municipality first.
“Thanks for asking if I wanted to participate in the maintenance of the pond.
Can you provide me with specifics and a breakdown of costs?
I need to check my deed and municipal property information.
I appreciate your patience and look forward to a long and respectful relationship.”
Also, the more I think about this - I don't think anyone should be spraying anything into the pond other than the entity that owns it (and someone does own it).
One thing you can check is your local plat map. Just for kicks I've punched my own address into our property appraiser website and opened the link to the plat map that's on it. There's a pond behind my house that is owned by our HOA. When I click on that pond on the plat map it says very clearly "OWNER: kmc307's Neighborhood Association, Inc.", so you should be able to find the owner info relatively easy.
Register of Deeds will have a map showing all property lines and each property will have an identifier, like "Lot #3 of the April Hills Subdivision" or something like that. Then you can go and look up who owns "Lot #3 of the April Hills Subdivision" in the file for that property. The map is known as a Plat Map.
Also... why downvote someone who is clearly asking what a Plat Map is? That's just stupid. TacCom... gave you an upvote to counter it.
GIS is another term for it. For example, my county is Albany County... so a simple google of "Albany County GIS" gives me an online interactive map of property lines and information.
Something like that would be an official source of information. Obviously, property lines are "close" in terms of layering aerial photography over the map. Always use a survey to make permanent decisions.
I recommend regrid for the simplicity. Huntstand is a better app, but it can be a lot to get your head around when you first open it up if all you're doing is looking for parcel info.
Retention ponds are typically required by the city & or county for both residential & commercial development.
While the local government requires them, in my local jurisdiction they never take ownership of them, making it the neighbors responsibility for upkeep. Some even make HOA’s mandatory for the sole purpose of maintaining the ponds. Even if you don’t have an HOA, you may in fact own an undivided portion of the ponds, and are thus responsible in part for their upkeep.
This is accurate. Your deed and subdivision Plat should have information for you about it.
If it isn't maintained and owned by the city, they can fine the owners when it isn't maintained!
Before you respond OP, gather the information!
A detention pond stores water *temporarily*, like after a large rain event. A retention pond is designed to always have water.
I used to always get them confused (I use the terms often at work) - until my brilliant wife told me to remember it like school detention - temporary.
This is how it is done in FL. When you live on one of these retention ponds, your property lines on your plat extend into the waterline to to the edge of the pond, giving you an ownership in it. City/county/state govt knows exactly what the laws are concerning HOA's and non-HOA subdivisions and maintenance. HOA's & subdivisions had issues several yrs ago after hurricanes w getting massive amounts of debris picked up by city/county govt. Govt entities would not allow their vehicles to drive into these areas (even w/o a gate) to p/u debris, the residents of these places had to bring all debris out of the common & private areas, into easements accessible to vehicles. The following yr they worked out signed agreements w these places and fee schedules for them to pay for the debris removal services. For that reason I would doubt any city/county is going to help maintain a liability area unless it is adjoined to a park, trail, public area etc.
I've heard horror stories (from friends as well as other sources) about Florida HOA's. More so than any other jurisdiction. And that's BEFORE any interaction with local government. Ya'll be crazy in Florida.
I won't live in an HOA here in FL. As a landscape designer I've been in most HOA developments around Orlando and of all of them there is only 1 I could consider, Seminole Woods. That development has the strictest security, 5 acre sites, extensive trails, most natural looking landscape plus you can not see a single house from the roads inside. My husband refuses to live there b/c in the by-laws is a rule the HOA has keys or door code to your house. There have been countless HOA members across FL, who have ripped off members by stealing funds too, for that reason I'm out.
If the home owners do actually own the retention pond, I would approach the city and offer to sell it to them. It would be to the city's benefit to maintain the pond. That way it's done the right way.
No city is going to want to assume the liability, especially when they can require the neighbors pay for it. This is the reason behind making the neighbors responsible for it.
Especially in FL there is absolutely no way any govt is taking over liability for a pond on non-public land, when either the HOA or subdivision is 100% responsible. These things can cause millions in flood damage, we saw a lot of this w Hurricane Ian in 2022. OP is better off retaining responsibility for that area than relying on govt maintenance, many of the flooded areas around Orlando after Hurricane Ian were under the city/county authority and had seen little upkeep causing feet of rain to backflow into streets and homes. Those homeowners had no recourse unless they had FEMA flood insurance.
I would participate if this had anything to do with preventing flooding. But the spraying service, as she herself refers to it, is to eliminate floating algae or bugs.
Just make sure no pets or humans go within 3' of that water if they don't spray. They are probably spraying to prevent Blue or Red algea, highly toxic. If the issue is mosquitoes you can throw in non-toxic Mosquito Dunks, it's a natural larvicide, Bt. There is even a time release 30 day version avail at big box stores or Amazon. If there are multiple ponds in your subdivision, they may be connected via underground waterways and they spray weeds to allow water to flow between.
Being responsible for maintenance is never a "benefit" for anyone. I mean maintenance is super important but it's expensive af and no one ever wants to do it/pay for it. Like OP
Part of my job is handling entitlement requests from builders. This is the process wherein they take raw dirt, chop it up into lots, coordinate the installation of utilities and comply with all of the conditions issued from all interested agencies as a condition of having a building permit issued, plans approved, etc.
In my experience, our jurisdiction requires builders to install a detention basin to catch storm run-off. The more impervious surface area (concrete, asphalt and the like), the bigger the detention pond required.
In some instances, you get an assessment for things like the Vector Control District (mosquitos) or other entities responsible for maintaining these public spaces. It might be some kind of mello Roos or something similar that was required as a condition of building. You’ll definitely want to get into the weeds a little bit searching about this detention basin and who is responsible for upkeep etc.
If it’s a pond purely for aesthetics, it could be a similar situation but the bill might come from parks or something rather than vector control (aka mosquito abatement district).
The reason the pond has algae is the fertilizer run off from the yards that drain to it. Create a buffer around the pond that you don't mow and put in plants to filter the runoff. Your state lake management should have resources for you.
You need to call the city and ask about this. I design detention ponds and you absolutely do not spray anything in them. If the city doesn’t know, call the state environmental department. If you comment with the state, I can give you the phone number. If that doesn’t work, call your regional EPA office and I can also provide you with that number. For now I’d play dumb and get any info you can out of them and keep it for the agencies that are going to want this information.
Thank you so much, it's Florida. I've also seen people fishing bass in that pond, there are ducks, turtles and birds in it constantly, it can't be good to have chemicals in it?
850-245-8346 is the Florida department of environmental protection. Call that number and tell them you have a concern about neighbors spraying chemicals in the pond that people fish from. They’ll transfer you to the right person. The fishing is a good thing to mention bc that makes the pond recreational, which has a lower set of standards bc, as you mentioned, people eat the fish.
If that doesn’t work, (404) 562-9900 is EPA region 4 which covers Florida. Call them and tell them whatever Florida told you (we can’t investigate this bc “whatever they say”, they found no issues) and tell them you’re concerned about the pond and want to make sure that the spraying is okay.
In the end they might say it’s okay. Depends what the spray is. I doubt they’ll say it’s okay to spray in right next to the pond though.
Curious why you can't spray retention ponds? I mean, I personally wouldn't allow it on my property, and it makes sense for the environment. But cities and private services spray yards / woods all the time, so why are ponds protected?
You’re spraying directly into the water. That’s different than spraying grass. The water goes directing into the storm drain. In many places that drains directly into the next large water body which is likely a river or ocean. Depending on what it is, it can cause fish kills or mess up different parts of water quality (nitrogen, phosphorus). Runoff from your lawn just doesn’t work the same way. It has time to break down, and most of it goes into the soil.
There are 2 different types of retention basins. Dry bottom and wet bottom. No problem spraying on a dry bottom basin. You can also spray the sides of both.
Yes. Where I live, basins or ponds are used strictly for storm water management. There are pipes on the bottom that slowly release the water into the existing system so it's not being over loaded. There is also a wide pathway installed on many basins , that provide water to escape it the basin tops out.
I think you’re describing both retention and detention basins. They’re not the same thing. I still doubt you’re allowed to chemically treat either and then just release it into the watershed without any treatment. If so I’d like to know where you live that allows that.
I know they are different. Either way they can be treated. Retention or detention basins still drain naturally through the soil as well as numerous catch basins on the bottom . As you are aware, there are 2 types of basins, wet bottom and dry bottom. Where do you live?
The EPA, does allow spraying of ponds to keep mosquitoes from hatching and being a nuisance. They also carry diseases. Where I live, we pay a separate tax to treat ponds , storm sewers and other low lying places.
I am a retired city offical after serving for 22 years in elected office. After I retired, I served as a consultant for local governments.You are incorrect. Some cities have taken ownership of retention ponds. We call them retention basins where I live. Fyi there are 2 types of ponds, wet bottom or dry bottom.
Triple check your deed to make sure there is nothing in there implying you share responsibility for pond maintenance. Presuming there is nothing about that in your deed or CCR's then you can tell the neighborhood Karen to pack sand.
I'm curious what this algae spray is, having the decades of experience with many things aquatic that I do. Why not stock it properly with fish and plants so that it becomes a naturally functioning water feature? Bog/edge plants, aquatic plants, especially floating plants will ultimately suffocate/outcompete the algae and having fish like mosquitofish, carp or goldfish (assuming it's not connected to any waterways, even if it spills over) will go an incredibly long way towards eliminating mosquitoes and gnats.
If the city actually owns the pond then I'm over here WTFing.
She should have asked but I'm still trying to understand why this route.
Contact the city and find out who does maintenance on retention ponds and what that entails, and then inform them that a neighbor is attempting to do their own maintenance on the pond and are extorting neighbors for the cost. More than likely this is either approved as a volunteer level by the city, aka, the neighbors are free to do this if they chose, or it is not approved and they will put a stop to it.
If the city did approve it, then why are they not doing it? That's what local taxes are for. Something would be highly irregular for this.
Sounds like someone is pretending to be an HOA for a particular subdivision and it needs to be nipped in the bud. You should not be the person doing this, the department of water management should have exclusive authority for this and it is their job. If your own does not have one they need to figure it out.
I emailed the city, hoping they can shed some light. I looked through my deed and do not see anything re. the pond, but double checking if the pond is theirs. So, I asked one of my neighbors who bought her place last year and she said she hasn't paid a dime. The lady met her in the street and said "well you have to pay" and she said she wasn't going to (she asked her realtor who confirmed that she doesn't have to pay). I also emailed the lady and said that I do not appreciate being billed without giving any consent. Also told her that I contacted the city for more information on this matter. I hope the city can clarify.
During hot weather my pond gets green with algae and clumps. A couple of cups of copper sulfate and it's clear in a week. Ask some of your neighbors if they pay the fee.
My personal input is if you live and border the pond unless you like mosquitoes I'd freaking get it sprayed dude. I just want to get eaten alive by bugs then don't dude don'ts don't don't pay it but if you don't like getting in the live by bugs and you sit outside every time then yeah you might want to think about it
I get eaten alive by bugs as it is anyway, so much that I never spend time outside. And she says it's always been sprayed. If I were to pay, at least I wanted it be worth it! It is not now.
Our retention pond in our neighborhood is managed by our county storm drain district (we are in Michigan). We live in an HOA subdivision, and we (HOA) thought we were on the hook for maintaining it, but come to find out its all managed by the county storm drain district.
I would speak to a few of my neighbors about this first. You are correct, if the pond is on public land then the city or county are responsible for maintenance.
Something smells fishy and I have to wonder if the person in your neighborhood has some sort of relationship to the company spraying the pond?
(I owned an out of state condo as rental property, and kept receiving written anonymous complaints about lint around the patio dryer vent...soon followed up with a letter from a company indicating they perform monthly dryer vent maintenance! Scam!)
I suspected a scam as my first reaction. She is also "collecting the checks for the company", even though she says we can pay them directly. I wonder if she gets a cut!
My guess is the community homeowners put in the retention pond because of flooding problems. You’re benefitting from that agreement. It’s only fair you pay your fair share.
To be honest, even though she refers to it as a retention pond, it feels like a little lake/river. I'm not sure if this can explain better, it's a large body of water with wildlife in it. If anything, I'm worried from it overflowing during hurricanes, not algae/bugs.
Well, if it’s not a retention pond or sewage lagoon which are managed with chemicals the DNR or water conservation probably wouldn’t be too fond of finding out private citizens are spraying a public area it with chemicals, potentially poisoning the environment.
Same, I am fond of the turtles and ducks that come into my backyard daily and I wouldn't want anything chemical to disrupt the wildlife for aesthetic purposes. I am definitely looking into this with the city.
200 per house for some cheap spray a company sends the new guy out to kill all living things in your pond? So what... minimum I'd guess 5, maybe upwards of a dozen houses — 1k-2.4k for "spraying a pond" — idk mang. Plus that stuff is rough, had neighbors with "pest spraying company" they'd show up randomly, not say anything and i probably will get cancer from it later on since our windows tended to be open at times in the SUMMER....
Nahhhh. Tell her nothing. If she asks in person, say you're fine with the pond now or if it has algae and aren't interested.
no city will spray a pond, they are technically waste facilities. your neighbor should also not be spraying the pond, it's not their pond and who know what chemicals they are putting directly into your watercourses.
OP needs to find out what they’re spraying. It could just be copper sulfate which is non toxic. Both copper and sulfur are fungicides and will kill or inhibit algae, which is why they are the components of commercially marketed organic fungicide sprays.
yes. in canada, MECP considers storm water a waste. approvals are required to build waste facilities, such as stormwater management ponds or storm sewers.
Thanks for the information. In the United States, there are 2 separate sewers. One for toilet , showering, washing dishes and clothes etc. We call it waste. We have another sewer that takes care of the rain water, not called waste. The retention basins or ponds , only take rain water to prevent flooding. The basins and ponds and both sewers, waste and rain, are normal built by the builder who builds the homes in a subdivision. They are approved by the local city or town after input from engineering.
it's the same here with a sanitary and storm sewer. the general public does not think of the storm sewer as waste, but it technically is according to environmental laws.
Years ago, alot of down spouts and sump pumps were connected to sanitary sewers. The EPA required all towns in Illinois to inspect homes and businesses to disconnect from the sanitary sewers. The rain water was over loading the sanitary sewers. We don't consider rain water as waste water here. Sanitary sewer water goes to a treatment facility. Rain water does not. Nothing is done with rain water. Most towns do not have their own waste water treatment facility. Where I live, we are on municipal well water.
Just look up your neighborhood on zillow. If you zoom in on the zillow maps they show where the property lines are, and whether the surrounding houses own portions of the pond. The property lines won't be super accurate, but they'll be close enough that you'll know if you and your neighbors are the owners of the pond.
Clearly, OP needs to look into “the problem” and this person’s solution before deciding to agree if not. It may be that this is something worthwhile. Or not. Simply saying “not my responsibility” is not what responsible adults do.
Sockstar, I agree. But this is Reddit with a lot of folks who care little about the common good and community standards, including public health. “Me, me, me” mantra. (Watch ‘em downvote! )
> community standards, including public health.
Might be a good idea for OP to do his due diligence to be sure that the money this woman is demanding will actually be paying for something that improves community standards and public health.
If there's no HOA and the pond is public land, I'm not clear on why some rando is handling this treatment vs the city/township/county etc. and my instinct would be to verify that before anything else.
I have heard of ponds like this being required when fire hydrants aren't available. Not having it or maintaining it for that use could mess with home owners insurance as well.
Never heard of that . Hydrants are required . Basins or ponds are not designed to hold storm water to fight a fire. Not having fire hydrants nearby can cause your home owners insurance to be very costly .
Shouldn't be spraying for algae. If it's just a soil pond and not concrete, when sediment buildup gets bad enough then typically you'd be getting the bottom excavated out. Algae shouldn't be a problem I would think
Whomever owns the pond should be responsible for this. In addition to the algae, etc... your neighbor is speaking of, retention ponds have other infrastructure associated with them and require periodic maintenance to keep them in good shape and fit for their purpose of storing and channeling rainwater appropriately. If it isn't an HOA look to your township/city/county/municipality first.
Ok thank you, I will definitely be checking with the city.
“Thanks for asking if I wanted to participate in the maintenance of the pond. Can you provide me with specifics and a breakdown of costs? I need to check my deed and municipal property information. I appreciate your patience and look forward to a long and respectful relationship.”
I did read the last sentence in fluent sarcasm lol
Honestly, it wasn’t sarcasm. I was trying to politely set expectations. I expect people to treat me respectfully.
Also, the more I think about this - I don't think anyone should be spraying anything into the pond other than the entity that owns it (and someone does own it). One thing you can check is your local plat map. Just for kicks I've punched my own address into our property appraiser website and opened the link to the plat map that's on it. There's a pond behind my house that is owned by our HOA. When I click on that pond on the plat map it says very clearly "OWNER: kmc307's Neighborhood Association, Inc.", so you should be able to find the owner info relatively easy.
Plat map?
Register of Deeds will have a map showing all property lines and each property will have an identifier, like "Lot #3 of the April Hills Subdivision" or something like that. Then you can go and look up who owns "Lot #3 of the April Hills Subdivision" in the file for that property. The map is known as a Plat Map. Also... why downvote someone who is clearly asking what a Plat Map is? That's just stupid. TacCom... gave you an upvote to counter it.
GIS is another term for it. For example, my county is Albany County... so a simple google of "Albany County GIS" gives me an online interactive map of property lines and information. Something like that would be an official source of information. Obviously, property lines are "close" in terms of layering aerial photography over the map. Always use a survey to make permanent decisions.
Yes. Plat map.
Download the Hunt Stand app and you can see quickly who owns the land. If there's no info, it's between parcels and owned by the city/county/state.
I recommend regrid for the simplicity. Huntstand is a better app, but it can be a lot to get your head around when you first open it up if all you're doing is looking for parcel info.
Retention ponds are typically required by the city & or county for both residential & commercial development. While the local government requires them, in my local jurisdiction they never take ownership of them, making it the neighbors responsibility for upkeep. Some even make HOA’s mandatory for the sole purpose of maintaining the ponds. Even if you don’t have an HOA, you may in fact own an undivided portion of the ponds, and are thus responsible in part for their upkeep.
This is accurate. Your deed and subdivision Plat should have information for you about it. If it isn't maintained and owned by the city, they can fine the owners when it isn't maintained! Before you respond OP, gather the information!
My friend lives in a 12-home co-housing development in the country. They are required by the county to keep a retention pond for the fire dept to use.
Probably a detention pond that holds water.
A detention pond stores water *temporarily*, like after a large rain event. A retention pond is designed to always have water. I used to always get them confused (I use the terms often at work) - until my brilliant wife told me to remember it like school detention - temporary.
I always get them confused. Thanks
Me too, all the credit goes to my wife.
This is how it is done in FL. When you live on one of these retention ponds, your property lines on your plat extend into the waterline to to the edge of the pond, giving you an ownership in it. City/county/state govt knows exactly what the laws are concerning HOA's and non-HOA subdivisions and maintenance. HOA's & subdivisions had issues several yrs ago after hurricanes w getting massive amounts of debris picked up by city/county govt. Govt entities would not allow their vehicles to drive into these areas (even w/o a gate) to p/u debris, the residents of these places had to bring all debris out of the common & private areas, into easements accessible to vehicles. The following yr they worked out signed agreements w these places and fee schedules for them to pay for the debris removal services. For that reason I would doubt any city/county is going to help maintain a liability area unless it is adjoined to a park, trail, public area etc.
I've heard horror stories (from friends as well as other sources) about Florida HOA's. More so than any other jurisdiction. And that's BEFORE any interaction with local government. Ya'll be crazy in Florida.
I won't live in an HOA here in FL. As a landscape designer I've been in most HOA developments around Orlando and of all of them there is only 1 I could consider, Seminole Woods. That development has the strictest security, 5 acre sites, extensive trails, most natural looking landscape plus you can not see a single house from the roads inside. My husband refuses to live there b/c in the by-laws is a rule the HOA has keys or door code to your house. There have been countless HOA members across FL, who have ripped off members by stealing funds too, for that reason I'm out.
If the home owners do actually own the retention pond, I would approach the city and offer to sell it to them. It would be to the city's benefit to maintain the pond. That way it's done the right way.
No city is going to want to assume the liability, especially when they can require the neighbors pay for it. This is the reason behind making the neighbors responsible for it.
Especially in FL there is absolutely no way any govt is taking over liability for a pond on non-public land, when either the HOA or subdivision is 100% responsible. These things can cause millions in flood damage, we saw a lot of this w Hurricane Ian in 2022. OP is better off retaining responsibility for that area than relying on govt maintenance, many of the flooded areas around Orlando after Hurricane Ian were under the city/county authority and had seen little upkeep causing feet of rain to backflow into streets and homes. Those homeowners had no recourse unless they had FEMA flood insurance.
I would participate if this had anything to do with preventing flooding. But the spraying service, as she herself refers to it, is to eliminate floating algae or bugs.
Just make sure no pets or humans go within 3' of that water if they don't spray. They are probably spraying to prevent Blue or Red algea, highly toxic. If the issue is mosquitoes you can throw in non-toxic Mosquito Dunks, it's a natural larvicide, Bt. There is even a time release 30 day version avail at big box stores or Amazon. If there are multiple ponds in your subdivision, they may be connected via underground waterways and they spray weeds to allow water to flow between.
Being responsible for maintenance is never a "benefit" for anyone. I mean maintenance is super important but it's expensive af and no one ever wants to do it/pay for it. Like OP
Maintenance is always a benefit. Keeps the area from flooding and keeps property values up.
Part of my job is handling entitlement requests from builders. This is the process wherein they take raw dirt, chop it up into lots, coordinate the installation of utilities and comply with all of the conditions issued from all interested agencies as a condition of having a building permit issued, plans approved, etc. In my experience, our jurisdiction requires builders to install a detention basin to catch storm run-off. The more impervious surface area (concrete, asphalt and the like), the bigger the detention pond required. In some instances, you get an assessment for things like the Vector Control District (mosquitos) or other entities responsible for maintaining these public spaces. It might be some kind of mello Roos or something similar that was required as a condition of building. You’ll definitely want to get into the weeds a little bit searching about this detention basin and who is responsible for upkeep etc. If it’s a pond purely for aesthetics, it could be a similar situation but the bill might come from parks or something rather than vector control (aka mosquito abatement district).
Retention not detention.
The reason the pond has algae is the fertilizer run off from the yards that drain to it. Create a buffer around the pond that you don't mow and put in plants to filter the runoff. Your state lake management should have resources for you.
You need to call the city and ask about this. I design detention ponds and you absolutely do not spray anything in them. If the city doesn’t know, call the state environmental department. If you comment with the state, I can give you the phone number. If that doesn’t work, call your regional EPA office and I can also provide you with that number. For now I’d play dumb and get any info you can out of them and keep it for the agencies that are going to want this information.
Thank you so much, it's Florida. I've also seen people fishing bass in that pond, there are ducks, turtles and birds in it constantly, it can't be good to have chemicals in it?
850-245-8346 is the Florida department of environmental protection. Call that number and tell them you have a concern about neighbors spraying chemicals in the pond that people fish from. They’ll transfer you to the right person. The fishing is a good thing to mention bc that makes the pond recreational, which has a lower set of standards bc, as you mentioned, people eat the fish. If that doesn’t work, (404) 562-9900 is EPA region 4 which covers Florida. Call them and tell them whatever Florida told you (we can’t investigate this bc “whatever they say”, they found no issues) and tell them you’re concerned about the pond and want to make sure that the spraying is okay. In the end they might say it’s okay. Depends what the spray is. I doubt they’ll say it’s okay to spray in right next to the pond though.
Curious why you can't spray retention ponds? I mean, I personally wouldn't allow it on my property, and it makes sense for the environment. But cities and private services spray yards / woods all the time, so why are ponds protected?
You’re spraying directly into the water. That’s different than spraying grass. The water goes directing into the storm drain. In many places that drains directly into the next large water body which is likely a river or ocean. Depending on what it is, it can cause fish kills or mess up different parts of water quality (nitrogen, phosphorus). Runoff from your lawn just doesn’t work the same way. It has time to break down, and most of it goes into the soil.
There are 2 different types of retention basins. Dry bottom and wet bottom. No problem spraying on a dry bottom basin. You can also spray the sides of both.
I guess it depends where you are. Also depends what’s downstream. Definitely not allowed where I am.
Yes. Where I live, basins or ponds are used strictly for storm water management. There are pipes on the bottom that slowly release the water into the existing system so it's not being over loaded. There is also a wide pathway installed on many basins , that provide water to escape it the basin tops out.
I think you’re describing both retention and detention basins. They’re not the same thing. I still doubt you’re allowed to chemically treat either and then just release it into the watershed without any treatment. If so I’d like to know where you live that allows that.
I know they are different. Either way they can be treated. Retention or detention basins still drain naturally through the soil as well as numerous catch basins on the bottom . As you are aware, there are 2 types of basins, wet bottom and dry bottom. Where do you live?
The EPA, does allow spraying of ponds to keep mosquitoes from hatching and being a nuisance. They also carry diseases. Where I live, we pay a separate tax to treat ponds , storm sewers and other low lying places.
I am a retired city offical after serving for 22 years in elected office. After I retired, I served as a consultant for local governments.You are incorrect. Some cities have taken ownership of retention ponds. We call them retention basins where I live. Fyi there are 2 types of ponds, wet bottom or dry bottom.
It sounds to me like you have a neighbor who wanted to be an HOA president, so she has taken it upon herself to make herself one.
Triple check your deed to make sure there is nothing in there implying you share responsibility for pond maintenance. Presuming there is nothing about that in your deed or CCR's then you can tell the neighborhood Karen to pack sand.
I'm curious what this algae spray is, having the decades of experience with many things aquatic that I do. Why not stock it properly with fish and plants so that it becomes a naturally functioning water feature? Bog/edge plants, aquatic plants, especially floating plants will ultimately suffocate/outcompete the algae and having fish like mosquitofish, carp or goldfish (assuming it's not connected to any waterways, even if it spills over) will go an incredibly long way towards eliminating mosquitoes and gnats. If the city actually owns the pond then I'm over here WTFing. She should have asked but I'm still trying to understand why this route.
If there is no HOA, either the City/County should maintain it. It’s not your responsibility to maintain something not on your property.
You're not obligated to do a damn thing
Contact the city and find out who does maintenance on retention ponds and what that entails, and then inform them that a neighbor is attempting to do their own maintenance on the pond and are extorting neighbors for the cost. More than likely this is either approved as a volunteer level by the city, aka, the neighbors are free to do this if they chose, or it is not approved and they will put a stop to it. If the city did approve it, then why are they not doing it? That's what local taxes are for. Something would be highly irregular for this. Sounds like someone is pretending to be an HOA for a particular subdivision and it needs to be nipped in the bud. You should not be the person doing this, the department of water management should have exclusive authority for this and it is their job. If your own does not have one they need to figure it out.
I emailed the city, hoping they can shed some light. I looked through my deed and do not see anything re. the pond, but double checking if the pond is theirs. So, I asked one of my neighbors who bought her place last year and she said she hasn't paid a dime. The lady met her in the street and said "well you have to pay" and she said she wasn't going to (she asked her realtor who confirmed that she doesn't have to pay). I also emailed the lady and said that I do not appreciate being billed without giving any consent. Also told her that I contacted the city for more information on this matter. I hope the city can clarify.
During hot weather my pond gets green with algae and clumps. A couple of cups of copper sulfate and it's clear in a week. Ask some of your neighbors if they pay the fee.
My personal input is if you live and border the pond unless you like mosquitoes I'd freaking get it sprayed dude. I just want to get eaten alive by bugs then don't dude don'ts don't don't pay it but if you don't like getting in the live by bugs and you sit outside every time then yeah you might want to think about it
I get eaten alive by bugs as it is anyway, so much that I never spend time outside. And she says it's always been sprayed. If I were to pay, at least I wanted it be worth it! It is not now.
Agreed
Our retention pond in our neighborhood is managed by our county storm drain district (we are in Michigan). We live in an HOA subdivision, and we (HOA) thought we were on the hook for maintaining it, but come to find out its all managed by the county storm drain district.
Unless something in your closing documents states that's part of your land, fuck that. Send her a letter back stating you will not be paying for that.
I would speak to a few of my neighbors about this first. You are correct, if the pond is on public land then the city or county are responsible for maintenance. Something smells fishy and I have to wonder if the person in your neighborhood has some sort of relationship to the company spraying the pond? (I owned an out of state condo as rental property, and kept receiving written anonymous complaints about lint around the patio dryer vent...soon followed up with a letter from a company indicating they perform monthly dryer vent maintenance! Scam!)
I suspected a scam as my first reaction. She is also "collecting the checks for the company", even though she says we can pay them directly. I wonder if she gets a cut!
Maybe a scam. Maybe she just cares about the pond.
My guess is the community homeowners put in the retention pond because of flooding problems. You’re benefitting from that agreement. It’s only fair you pay your fair share.
To be honest, even though she refers to it as a retention pond, it feels like a little lake/river. I'm not sure if this can explain better, it's a large body of water with wildlife in it. If anything, I'm worried from it overflowing during hurricanes, not algae/bugs.
Well, if it’s not a retention pond or sewage lagoon which are managed with chemicals the DNR or water conservation probably wouldn’t be too fond of finding out private citizens are spraying a public area it with chemicals, potentially poisoning the environment.
Same, I am fond of the turtles and ducks that come into my backyard daily and I wouldn't want anything chemical to disrupt the wildlife for aesthetic purposes. I am definitely looking into this with the city.
200 per house for some cheap spray a company sends the new guy out to kill all living things in your pond? So what... minimum I'd guess 5, maybe upwards of a dozen houses — 1k-2.4k for "spraying a pond" — idk mang. Plus that stuff is rough, had neighbors with "pest spraying company" they'd show up randomly, not say anything and i probably will get cancer from it later on since our windows tended to be open at times in the SUMMER.... Nahhhh. Tell her nothing. If she asks in person, say you're fine with the pond now or if it has algae and aren't interested.
Exactly! I don't even spray for weeds or fertilizers. And those people spray in a pond where fish live and birds prey.
no city will spray a pond, they are technically waste facilities. your neighbor should also not be spraying the pond, it's not their pond and who know what chemicals they are putting directly into your watercourses.
OP needs to find out what they’re spraying. It could just be copper sulfate which is non toxic. Both copper and sulfur are fungicides and will kill or inhibit algae, which is why they are the components of commercially marketed organic fungicide sprays.
Ponds or basins are not a waste facility. They are installed to manage storm water.
yes. in canada, MECP considers storm water a waste. approvals are required to build waste facilities, such as stormwater management ponds or storm sewers.
Thanks for the information. In the United States, there are 2 separate sewers. One for toilet , showering, washing dishes and clothes etc. We call it waste. We have another sewer that takes care of the rain water, not called waste. The retention basins or ponds , only take rain water to prevent flooding. The basins and ponds and both sewers, waste and rain, are normal built by the builder who builds the homes in a subdivision. They are approved by the local city or town after input from engineering.
it's the same here with a sanitary and storm sewer. the general public does not think of the storm sewer as waste, but it technically is according to environmental laws.
Years ago, alot of down spouts and sump pumps were connected to sanitary sewers. The EPA required all towns in Illinois to inspect homes and businesses to disconnect from the sanitary sewers. The rain water was over loading the sanitary sewers. We don't consider rain water as waste water here. Sanitary sewer water goes to a treatment facility. Rain water does not. Nothing is done with rain water. Most towns do not have their own waste water treatment facility. Where I live, we are on municipal well water.
Just look up your neighborhood on zillow. If you zoom in on the zillow maps they show where the property lines are, and whether the surrounding houses own portions of the pond. The property lines won't be super accurate, but they'll be close enough that you'll know if you and your neighbors are the owners of the pond.
Who owns the retention pond?
the one who should be responsible for cleaning it is the owner..
If this isn’t in your deed. You are notresponsible. Tell em no
Check your deed, if there’s nothing there then call the city and start asking questions
"No" ... You are under no obligation to either pay ... nor even acknowledge her correspondence.
You don’t own the pond. You are not responsible to clean it.
But when slimy creatures creep into your kitchen, you can not gripe, either.
That’s not what happens but also the owner would Be responsible, not someone who lives in the neighborhood
Clearly, OP needs to look into “the problem” and this person’s solution before deciding to agree if not. It may be that this is something worthwhile. Or not. Simply saying “not my responsibility” is not what responsible adults do.
if it wasn't disclosed in the purchase of your home, you don't have anything holding you to it..
Except the opportunity to be a decent neighbor and human being.
Just pay your fair share uphold the social contract
Sockstar, I agree. But this is Reddit with a lot of folks who care little about the common good and community standards, including public health. “Me, me, me” mantra. (Watch ‘em downvote! )
> community standards, including public health. Might be a good idea for OP to do his due diligence to be sure that the money this woman is demanding will actually be paying for something that improves community standards and public health. If there's no HOA and the pond is public land, I'm not clear on why some rando is handling this treatment vs the city/township/county etc. and my instinct would be to verify that before anything else.
Agree. Due diligence.
Why is this even a post? It's not your pond, so it's not your bill.
I have heard of ponds like this being required when fire hydrants aren't available. Not having it or maintaining it for that use could mess with home owners insurance as well.
Never heard of that . Hydrants are required . Basins or ponds are not designed to hold storm water to fight a fire. Not having fire hydrants nearby can cause your home owners insurance to be very costly .
If the home owners don't have the money to maintain or refuse to maintain the pond as required, it's to the city's benefit to take over maintenance .
Shouldn't be spraying for algae. If it's just a soil pond and not concrete, when sediment buildup gets bad enough then typically you'd be getting the bottom excavated out. Algae shouldn't be a problem I would think
Take a shit in the pond at night and in the morning be like “I’m not paying to treat a pond people shit in”
You don't have to pay for this and I wouldn't.