ABOVE: Garrett Myren of Water’s Edge picks up a bag of Curly Leaf Pondweed (CLP) from a residence in Fairmont Monday morning. He and Cale Steuber, right, have been collecting the weeds from properties for about six weeks.

FAIRMONT– Ever since the city of Fairmont launched a new service to pick up Curly Leaf Pondweed (CLP) last month, the business it contracted with, Water’s Edge, has collected over seven tons of the aquatic invasive species from properties in Fairmont.

Hannah Neusch, Water Resource Coordinator for the city of Fairmont, said, “There’s been a lot of talk about Curly Leaf Pondweed over the last few years and it’s really coming up strong with our warmer winters. It’s a very obvious, visual issue for people who use or visit the lakes and people have wanted to see it addressed.”

She said that that the city was limited with some time constraints because of the permitting process with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). However, it did have some money in its budget thanks to an increase in the restoration charge on the utility bill that will generate more money for the Lake Restoration Fund.

“It made sense to work with a contractor like Water’s Edge who already had the permit in hand from the DNR. He had everything in line. We just had to hire him and create a mechanism where he knew what address to pick up at,” Neusch said.

Around June 14, the city launched a new service where residents can fill out a form with some basic information so that Water’s Edge can then go around and pick up on Mondays beginning June 16.

“We encourage people to pre-register so he can get their address. Sometimes it’s dock and sometimes it’s street,” said Neusch.

Over the six weeks it’s been offered, collection has happened at 57 unique addresses. Neusch said that 59 percent have opted to do curbside pick up while 41 percent have done dock pick up, which is newer.

As of the 14th of July, 14,550 pounds has been removed which equates to a little over seven tons.

Myren was certified through the DNR to remove CLP mechanically in May of last year. Once the city reached out to him to see if his business would partner with it, Myren said he went through and received the proper permitting from the DNR to dispose of it, too.

“It’s kind of like a trash pick up, but people don’t put trash in there. For the most part people have respected it and only put in Curly Leaf Pondweed, which is good,” Myren said.

He said he thinks people have enjoyed the addition of dock pick up, especially when they have steep stairs, but that curbside pick up is the most popular option.

“We had to confirm with the DNR that we were allowed to do it which is why it was rolled out a little later,” Myren said.

The most he collected in a single day so far has been 126 bags on the 23rd of June.

“I think people were trying to get their weeds picked up before the 4th of July,” Myren said.

When asked if he’s been surprised by the amount collected, Myren said yes and no.

“I’m out on the lakes on the weekend and see how bad it is. Without having a harvester we can only do so much to help out but it’s good to see that a lot of people are picking up their properties,” he said.

In addition to CLP being an obnoxious and unsightly weed, Neusch said there is a water quality issue when excess organic material is left in the lakes to decompose.

“Removing a good portion of it, or any portion of it, is good for overall water quality and the ecosystem of the lake,” Neusch said.”Since we’ve been offering it, people have been taking advantage of it. We plan to keep offering it because we want people to have an avenue of disposing it that’s safe and protects our lake’s water quality.”

She stressed that CLP is a prohibited invasive species which means people can’t legally transport it because it could get into another waterbody. There are specific guidelines for disposing of it, too.

“We want to keep this program going and help residents and business owners on the water manage their own shoreline in a way that’s beneficial to water quality,” Neusch said.

More information about the service and the registration form can be found on the city’s website at fairmont.org.