In addition to the general operations of LHA, the following are the past year’s accomplishments of your LHA team of directors, administrator, and committee members. The effort to protect our great resource is sizable, and the challenges are always shifting.
- Developed an administrative list of annual duties and responsibilities.
- Recruited one new qualified director to increase our membership awareness in Georgia.
- Reviewed current Bylaws of LHA and researched current Georgia code to propose amended bylaws to meet current code and bring the document up to date.
- Actively participated in the Lake Hartwell Partners for Clean Water (LHPCW) and provided LHA input and resources as required. Provided financial support to LHPCW “Trash Tank” to assist with shoreline cleanup of large items around Lake Hartwell.
- Provided presentations about LHA, Hartwell Lake, or other water-related topics when requested by LHA members or other civic organizations.
- Increased awareness of LHA through participation in newly formed SC Lake Associations meetings. This initiated dialogue with other SC lake associations will be utilized for education and the sharing of information.
- A boating safety class was taught by LHA President, Ray Fedele, at Western Carolina Sail Club in Anderson, SC.
- Provided information on local and online boating safety courses on the LHA website and publications.
- Encouraged membership and public to haul loose dock floats to Corps ramps by repeatedly promoting a 2022 LHA article, “What to Do with Those Loose Dock Floats Adrift on Lake Hartwell.”
- LHA board members, on behalf of LHA or as individuals, spoke at multiple county forums on lake-related activities or proposals.
- Brought awareness to the Corps about an aquatic growth area at the north end of the lake for ongoing monitoring and possible treatment, based on input from an LHA member
- Review of any concerns about shoreline development, water quality, and run-off issues.
- Monitor for new lake development to ensure consistency with LHA’s position of maintaining the lake’s natural aesthetics with no negative water quality impacts.
- Generated two high-quality 16-page newsletters; introduced two new informative sections for members: “Do Something Good” to promote kind acts happening in the area and “Have Questions” to provide answers to members’ issues and questions.
- Generated two full-color, two-page news highlights to inform membership of the news surrounding Lake Hartwell.
- Contracted redesign initiative for LHA website and digital communications
- Managed information distribution to members; increased use of eNews to improve delivery time and reduce LHA costs.
- 2.3% increase in membership.
- Hosted special Georgia meeting, including the Hart County Property Owners Association, with over 50 people in attendance and 10 new memberships collected.
- Inclusion of the GA site for viewing and participating in our Annual Meeting
- Successfully co-sponsored two large shoreline clean-up events: The Spring and Fall Lake Hartwell Splash the Trash events with LHPCW. Organized and managed the volunteers for both SC and GA which resulted in 250 participants with 10 scuba divers collecting 2,645 pounds of trash removed and a total financial impact of $8,256.
