Newsletter – April 2025

QUARTERLY MEMBERS MEETING

Please join us April 12th at 10:30 for our next General Membership Meeting. The location will be the Altavista Train Station. Our guest speaker will be John Broughton speaking on Dock Electrical Safety. A light breakfast will be provided. 

From the President – 

Welcome to spring everyone. After the winter we’ve had, it is most welcome!

The snow, ice, winds are hopefully behind us and warmer temperatures

ahead. Of course, with those warmer temperatures the lake comes to life with

wildlife, boaters and people beginning to spend time enjoying our lake.

As you get out on the lake, I encourage you to be good stewards of what we

have. This place of beauty and enjoyment has come a long way as a result of

our combined efforts to keep it clean. Your Leesville Lake Association

Volunteer Board continues to work for you, ensuring our lake is safe to fish,

swim and operate our boats on. But YOUR efforts and contributions to keep

Leesville Lake clean are absolutely critical. Working together we can maintain

the aesthetic value and keep our lake safe to recreate on.

As mentioned before, we have had some turnover with our board membership

and I am happy to announce the recent addition of Tom Galvanek to the

Leesville Lake Association Board. We’ve also noted much of our

neighborhoods have had turnover as well, with many new neighbors joining

us. As a result we will be sending invitations, and ask that you encourage

them to join our Association.

Please take advantage of our next general meeting on April 12th at 10:30 and

invite your neighbors to join us at the Altavista Train Station.

Roy Kelley, President

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE



The current membership of the Leesville Lake Association is 200.

At our next general membership meeting on April 12, we have LVL koozies as added giveaways. Plus, we are selling LVL caps for $15. They’re very nice and good quality and at the last board meeting, just about everyone bought one. 

Cynthia Coleman, Chair

TREASURER’S REPORT 



As we close out winter and welcome spring, our finances remain strong. It seems like the ice and snow just thawed out a few weeks ago, and we already have vegetables sprouting in the garden. Before long, we will be out cleaning up the lake. Last year, I found two more sponsors for Beautification Day and I’m looking to sign up another this year. If you find a business who would be willing to sponsor, send them to here. Have fun out there, and remember to be safe. If you have questions or need information from the treasurer about your donations, please drop me a note at treasurer@leesvillelake.org.

Edwin Hanson, Treasurer

NAVIGATION COMMITTEE

This spring, the Navigation committee will be doing spring chores such as

checking hazard buoys and mile markers in the coming weeks. The pontoon boat is

in good condition and ready to go back into the water soon since it had undergone

renovations and mechanical repairs last year.

The Navigation committee also has been working with the Tri County Lakes

Administrative Commission to produce a towed-watersports map for Leesville

Lake. The map will be posted to the TLAC website to aid those considering towed

watersports on Leesville Lake. Unlike Smith Mountain Lake, Leesville Lake’s

narrow width, the rapid rise and fall of lake level, as well as other issues, present

unique challenges for towed watersports.

Glenn Coleman, Chair

DEBRIS COMMITTEE



Lake recreation is already in full swing, and our Committee needs your help!

First, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Lyle and April Firnhaber for their invaluable help over the past few years. As they relocate to Maryland, we wish them all the best and will certainly miss their participation. We’re also pleased to welcome Tom Galvanek to our team and appreciate his willingness to pitch in, though his availability may be limited.

Our debris monitoring efforts continue once each month, as well as after occasional high-flow events. AEP conducts surveys, and we participate on the same morning using our own boats or LLA’s work boat moored at the Leesville Lake Marina. Typically, committee members divide the lake into sections, recording areas with concentrated debris. AEP does the same, and within a few days, we receive their report for comparison and coordination on cleanup priorities. It’s actually a pleasant and purposeful task—cruising up and down the lake, inspecting coves—but we need more volunteers. Not everyone is available, especially on weekdays, so if you’re interested in helping, please reach out to me or any board member for more details.

As we move into the active debris collection season (April–October), AEP will initially focus on the lower miles of the lake to protect the Leesville Dam intake. However, if you spot logs floating or resting on the shoreline that could pose a threat to property, AEP typically

investigates and addresses those hazards. Please report these as soon as possible.

In late March, Appalachian submitted its 2024 Debris Management Annual Report to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), along with our comments. If you haven’t seen it yet, it should be available on our website. Our comments are included under Appendix C as part of the consultation attachment.

Looking ahead, the annual Technical Review Committee, led by AEP, will meet at the end of this month. This meeting provides a general review of debris removal practices and plans for the 2025 season. We also hope to receive updates on two long-awaited projects:

1. The debris diversion/collection device at the Pigg River confluence

2. The storage property on Bibi Road for debris offloaded from the Myers Creek site

Both projects remain in the application process, but we will keep you posted on any

developments.

Finally, please stay vigilant on the water. Logs, branches, and especially partially submerged debris can pose significant hazards. Your awareness helps keep our lake safe for everyone.

Enjoy the lake and thank you for your support!

Pam McMillan-Chair 

pamaloomc@gmail.com 

debris@leesvillelake.org

(434)770-1819

Committee Members

Lyle and April Firnhaber 

Dave Rives

Rob Johnson 

Roy Kelley

Gary McMillan 

WATER QUALITY REPORT



Happy Spring 2025 and the start of Lake Season! Current Leesville Lake water quality

is good.

The Leesville Lake Association and University of Lynchburg, in partnership with

American Electric Power Company monitored the water quality of Leesville Lake

between April and October of 2024. Results of that monitoring have been recorded in

the Leesville Lake Association 2024 Water Quality Monitoring Report, which has been

posted to the LLA Website. 2025 monitoring will start in mid April 2025.

Leesville Lake continues to meet prescribed water quality parameters measured

in the main stem of the reservoir. The reservoir is quite stable in water quality. Indicators

in 2024 worsened slightly but these changes are within the variability observed year to

year and do not suggest any negative trend.

The upper portion of the reservoir continues to be plagued by low oxygen during

late summer and early fall. This is attributable to low oxygen that develops in the

deepest layers of SML (hypolimnion), and pumped through the SML Powerhouse into

the upper regions of Leesville Lake. These findings suggest upper regions of the

reservoir are isolated from the lower with water constantly pumped back and forth. A

significant water movement event is required to break up the pattern.

Middle portions of the reservoir are characterized as riverine showing some

characteristics of a lake while still influenced by river inputs.

Lower portions of the reservoir near the dam show similar characteristics with

water movement throughout a strong influence on water quality.

Our focus on Dissolved Oxygen will continue in the APCo led Water Quality

Technical Review Committee meeting (April/May 2025) and in the April 2025 review of

the APCo draft Permit (24-1547) for the Smith Mountain Project.

Special thanks to our Water Quality Committee members: Kathleen Giangi,

Debbie Oliver, Leanne Hanson, Dave Waterman, Tony Capuco, and our University of

Lynchburg teammate Dr. Tom Shahady for their efforts in keeping Leesville Lake water

quality high.

Enjoy your Spring on the water!

Charlie Hamilton, Chair

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: IN RESPONSE TO THE MEMBER SURVEY, THE NEWSLETTER RECRUITED JOHN KESE TO WRITE FISHING REPORTS, WHICH HE GRACIOUSLY DID FOR 2+ YEARS. NOW JOHN HAS RETIRED FROM FISHING AND WE ARE SCOUTING FOR A NEW FISHING COLUMN CONTRIBUTOR. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN FILLING THIS REQUESTED NEED, PLEASE EMAIL EDITOR@LEESVILLELAKE.ORG

Beautification Day

Prep your boats, front loaders, chainsaws, ropes and crews for our 2025

Leesville Lake Beautification Day. This year’s lake cleanup day will be

Saturday, June 14th from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. So mark your calendars and get

your crew of volunteers ready and sign up at our website.

For those that have participated in previous years’ Beautification Days, we

thank you for your past support and ask for your continued support (both

physically and financially) for our June 14th , 2025 event.



Each year we have successfully increased the total tonnage of debris

removed when compared to the year before. For 2022 we pulled a total of

46.92 tons and in 2023 we increased that number to 52.87 tons and in 2024

we increased that to over 55 tons.

Please prepare your equipment / crew and get signed up early so we can get

your volunteer T-shirt size. Let’s all do our part in helping to keep Leesville

Lake a safe and beautiful place for outdoor recreation. We look forward to

seeing you on June 14th .

Roy Kelley, Chair

Nominating Committee/Calendar Subcommittee

Happy Spring to all our LLA members! The Nominating Committee is in search of members who may be interested in volunteering on our board. We have open director positions and a need for those who would be interested in serving on a committee.

Board members meet monthly in Altavista, where we discuss our beautiful lake and what can be done to make it even better. If interested or for more information, please contact Teri Thomas at 703-895-0256.

Calendar Subcommittee

SALE!! The board will have 2025 calendars available for sale for $5.00 at the April 12th General Meeting. Pick one up and enjoy all the wonderful pictures submitted by our membership from all around our lake.

Remember you can upload photos throughout the year so don’t miss sending in those beautiful winter and spring pics for the 2026 calendar! Photo size should be at least 1Mb. Upload here.

Teri Thomas, Chair