Officials from the Stone Lake Improvement Board, Village of Cassopolis and Progressive AE took a tour of Stone Lake to evaluate the first treatment Monday.

All agreed that the initial treatment, which was done May 25, was a success.

Cassopolis Village Manager Emilie Sarratore, Stone Lake Improvement Board Chair Ted Gogol and Progressive’s Paul Hausler, along with an intern, toured Stone Lake to see how effective the treatment for the invasive species Eurasian Watermilfoil was.

“Paul was very pleased,” Sarratore said. “We did not see any Eurasian Watermilfoil. We saw remnants of some dying. He was 10 out of 10 pleased with the treatment for the Watermilfoil. There are still over the course of the next couple of years we need to continue to do to get the lake into the shape we are really hoping it can be, but this was a great start.”

Gogol agreed with the assessment.

“The weed control program in this first year of treatment has been an outstanding success, with a tremendous reduction in the amount of the invasive weed Eurasian Milfoil,” he said. “The SLIB is very pleased with the outcome of this first year of weed control treatment and looks forward to further reductions of invasive weeds in Stone Lake, so that it returns to being a healthy, vibrant lake enjoyed by the community and visitors alike.”

The treatment of Stone Lake has been a long process that has taken several years to come to fruition.

The Cassopolis Village Council searched for different ways to address the long-time weed problem and settled on aquatic herbicide treatments and hired Progressive AE to manage the treatment.

The Stone Lake Improvement Board was created and the group held five meetings and a pair of public meetings before the treatment began.

The board created a special assessment tax district comprised of Stone Lake lakefront owners and adjacent property owners to generate revenue to cover the cost of the program.

PLM Lake & Land Management Corp. did the initial treatment May 25.

Gogol, Sarratore and Hausler did an initial evaluation May 8 before treatment and again on Monday.

Sarratore said another “quick” check will be done in July and then another evaluation is set for the fall.

“That evaluation will go to the Lake Board so they can decide how they will be treating in the spring.”

The Stone Lake Improvement Board consists of Gogol and Bob Fiala, who represent the Village of Cassopolis; Curtis Hollinger, a Stone Lake property owner; Mike Grice, representing the Cass County Board of Commissioners and Bruce Campbell, Cass County Drain Commissioner.