Waterways Master Plan Update
The last Alachua Master Waterways Quadrant Meeting was held in Melrose at the Episcopal Church on SR 26, on October 30, 2007, at 6:30PM.
The county's primary goal of the Waterways study is to "insure the county's natural water resources continue to provide enjoyable and productive experiences to residents for recreational and commercial users, and for safe and sustainable use present and future".
Over the past year numerous meetings were held with the various stakeholder groups who use/live/work on the county's waterways, which produced a list of possible recommendations that will be presented to the Alachua County Commission. While total agreement among all user groups was not reached, the list includes a wide range of topics. At the October 30th meeting, this complete list was available, along with results of the following: a random county-wide phone survey, the Waterways web site survey, boat ramp survey and input from any of the four previous Quadrant meetings held.
All Santa Fe Lake residents are strongly encouraged to make their personal experiences, concerns, ideas and recommendations known. The previous Quadrant meetings have involved significant influence and input from distant county groups that come to use our highly desirable waterways, who obviously lack the viewpoint that someone living on Santa Fe would have. Lake Dweller members are encouraged to inform their non-member neighbors to attend, as these are public meetings open to all citizens, whether living in Alachua County or not, and will likely have far reaching affects on residents of the Santa Fe lakes. |
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The Annual Santa Fe Lake Clean Up and Festival
Since the year 2000, annual lake-wide cleanups have been held each spring on Lake Santa Fe. On the last Saturday in March, local civic organizations, interested citizens, and volunteers living on the lake go out and collect trash (and sometimes water hyacinths or other invasives) along the shore.
In the afternoon, volunteers and visitors gather in Melrose for a festival of music, food, and boat demonstrations. Living plant and wildlife exhibits from our lake habitat provide hands-on educational opportunities. The festival is a great opportunity to meet more of your neighbors, learn more about lake stewardship, and get updated on current lake issues.
Since its inception, the cleanup has hauled in more than 10,000 pounds of trash. The 2003 cleanup alone produced 4838 pounds, which included 70 tires! Current Problems/Adopt-A-River, the Santa Fe Lake Dwellers Association, Keep Alachua County Beautiful, and Melrose Business and Community Association have been regular contributors to the increasingly popular annual clean up. The 2008 Cleanup and LakeFest was held on Saturday, March 29th! For information on future cleanups contact Fritzi Olson, at 352-264-6827 or aar@currentproblems.org, or Jill McGuire at 352-475-1567. Additional volunteers are most welcome and always needed.
Boat Parade
A long-standing tradition on Lake Santa Fe is the annual 4th of July boat parade. Typically the circumnavigation begins in Melrose Bay at 11 am. Or when the brightly decorated boats motor by your place, feel free to jump in your own vessel and come along!
SFLDA Annual Meetings
Each summer the Santa Fe Lake Dwellers Association has its annual business meeting in Melrose. The 2008 Annual Meeting is being planned - please stay tuned for a date and time, coming soon!
Every winter we have a Social with less business and more time for interaction among members. Back by popular demand, our 2008 Winter Social, (our Third Annual Chili Cook-Off), was held on Friday, February 8th at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Melrose from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. |
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