While controversy continues as to whether the city should have treated Fountain Lake this summer to reduce its green hue, Albert Lea city staff and council members on Tuesday slated $8,000 to treat Fountain Lake during 2009.

The discussion came during a preliminary budget workshop at City Hall, when council members got their first glance at some of the tough budget decisions they will have to make for the following year. The money for lake treatment could get scratched later in the budgeting process.

This action was similar to previous years when money for the treatment of the lake was talked about early on in the budget process. But in many years — especially when there’s a budget crunch — the money gets cut to make way for other projects.

Regardless of the possible outcome of this budget cycle, the council decided to budget for the treatment — at least for now.

In recent weeks, the council and city staff have faced criticism for not taking any action to reduce some of the lake’s green color that often accompanies the summer heat.

The council discussed the issue during last Thursday’s preagenda meeting, and they anticipated someone from the public to come forward during the Monday council meeting to make a request regarding the lakes, said City Manager Victoria Simonsen. No one did, however, and council members did not bring it up on their own.

“The council’s overall feeling is we are not going to do it this year,” said Albert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen. “They decided it wasn’t worth two weeks of clear for that cost.”

Interested in finding out more about a study that talked about the side effects of 58 years copper sulfate treatments on Fairmont’s lakes?

The study will be presented at the Shell Rock River Watershed District Advisory Committee meeting at 7 a.m. Friday in the Albert Lea Room of the Freeborn County Government Center.

The cost of the copper sulfate treatment would be about $12,000, a cost which is more than double of last year’s price because of the increase in the price of copper, she said.

And it ends up being just a short-term fix for a couple weeks, she said.

Albert Lea Mayor Randy Erdman said while there’s always controversy on whether to treat the lake, he thinks the city’s long-term focus should be about becoming more lakeshore friendly. That way, the entire problem could be addressed, instead of only making a temporary, cosmetic fix, he said.

Erdman said no one had made a promise to bring up the issue at Monday’s council meeting but that if it had been brought up the group would have talked about it.

“We did it last year, and really it didn’t have a great, huge impact,” he said.

The treatment is tough on the aquatic life, and every year there’s question as to whether it will kill the fish.

“It’s an ongoing problem, and it’s going to take some time to solve,” Erdman said.

Though no discussion or formal action regarding the lakes was made during the Monday council meeting, Albert Lean Larry Anderson, who is running for the 5th Ward seat, did present the council with a study he found regarding the effects of 58 years of copper sulfate treatment on Fairmont’s lakes.

The study was not explained in detail during the meeting, but in discussions with Anderson Wednesday, he stated that it identified short-term and long-term effects of the chemical on the lakes and its aquatic life.

The study’s abstract stated that short-term effects of copper sulfate on Fairmont’s lakes included the intended temporary killing of algae, dissolved oxygen depletion by decomposition of dead algae, accelerated phosphorous recycling and occasional fish kills due to oxygen depletion or copper toxicity.

The long-term effects included copper accumulation in the sediments, tolerance adjustments of certain species of algae to higher copper sulfate dosages, shift of species from green to blue-green algae and from game fish to rough fish, disappearance of aquatic plants and reductions in macroinvertebrates on the bottom of the lakes.

It stated, “While copper sulfate treatments enjoy great popularity because they kill and remove algae almost instantaneously, other immediate or cumulative side effects can be harmful to many other aquatic organisms.”

Anderson said he is taking this study back to his Shell Rock River Watershed District’s advisory committee Friday to explain it more in-depth and gather other opinions.

“In my opinion, I don’t think we should be doing it — treating it that way with copper sulfate,” he said.

He talked of how putting in certain types of vegetation — such as reeds, cattails and tallgrasses along the shore, creating filter strips absorbing runoff fertilizers and other chemicals — can help the problem more naturally.

“I wanted to prove to them that it’s not a good solution,” Anderson said. “It’s a quick, feel-good solution that doesn’t last.”

In the meantime, it looks as if Fountain Lake will stay the same during the last few weeks of summer.