From the Duane Lake Association Board of Directors
Pat Huff Carolyn MacDonald Norm Stewart Alan Knight
Chris Miller Kim Roberts Ian Colgan Kathy Hotaling Ken Runion
This weeks email newsletter...
Some items of interest to Duane Lake residents:
Thank you to Sonya and Tom for filling-in for Ken with collecting water samples for the annual CSLAP lake report a couple of weeks ago. And thanks to Kim for assisting Alan in collecting a new batch of water samples that are now being tested for caffeine. Caffeine is professionally accepted and is frequently referred to as an indicator of human contamination in water bodies. Neighborhood participation and assistance with stewardship of our lake and the surrounding environment is always valued and appreciated!
Keeping nutrients -- new phosphorus and nitrogen -- out of the lake is the number one goal of the DLA Lake Management Plan. Disturbed dirt, such as created by the Town's newly-dug culvert ditches followed by an inch and a half of rain, came with the risk of Duane Lake getting a dose of silt and phosphorus and thus a possibility of algae bloom. We have seen this happen before.
Homeowner projects that expose bare dirt also pose the same risk. Remember: water wants to go downhill and takes soil nutrients with it.
A fairly good example of this was provided by the Schenectady County Highway Department in its summertime upgrading of Schoharie Turnpike. Along with the repaving of the road, the roadside ditches that flow into Duane Lake were re-excavated. Luckily, there was little or no rain to wash silt into Duane Lake and by mid September the crew had applied the spray-on green goo known as Hydro-Seeding. It germinated fairly well just in time for the recent rains. Sooner might have been better, but at least it got done and, judging by the downstream water clarity, it seems to have already had the desired effect.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches before hydro-seeding.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches after hydro-seeding. The grass will filter out much of the silt before the water reaches Duane Lake.
Please install silt barriers before-hand and a good amount of mulch as soon as possible after your homeowner projects to hold the soil in place.
Completion of the replacement culvert work on Duane Lake Rd has been delayed. Keith Hudson, the Town's highway superintendent explained that the delay is due to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation inspecting the work and giving approval to complete the job. The Town's Facebook notice follows:
FYI - The Town is expected to do some heavily accumulated weed removal at the outlet culvert and canal when the road culvert work is completed.
Thank you to Sonya and Tom for filling-in for Ken with collecting water samples for the annual CSLAP lake report a couple of weeks ago. And thanks to Kim for assisting Alan in collecting a new batch of water samples that are now being tested for caffeine. Caffeine is professionally accepted and is frequently referred to as an indicator of human contamination in water bodies. Neighborhood participation and assistance with stewardship of our lake and the surrounding environment is always valued and appreciated!
Keeping nutrients -- new phosphorus and nitrogen -- out of the lake is the number one goal of the DLA Lake Management Plan. Disturbed dirt, such as created by the Town's newly-dug culvert ditches followed by an inch and a half of rain, came with the risk of Duane Lake getting a dose of silt and phosphorus and thus a possibility of algae bloom. We have seen this happen before.
Homeowner projects that expose bare dirt also pose the same risk. Remember: water wants to go downhill and takes soil nutrients with it.
A fairly good example of this was provided by the Schenectady County Highway Department in its summertime upgrading of Schoharie Turnpike. Along with the repaving of the road, the roadside ditches that flow into Duane Lake were re-excavated. Luckily, there was little or no rain to wash silt into Duane Lake and by mid September the crew had applied the spray-on green goo known as Hydro-Seeding. It germinated fairly well just in time for the recent rains. Sooner might have been better, but at least it got done and, judging by the downstream water clarity, it seems to have already had the desired effect.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches before hydro-seeding.
New Schoharie Turnpike ditches after hydro-seeding. The grass will filter out much of the silt before the water reaches Duane Lake.
Please install silt barriers before-hand and a good amount of mulch as soon as possible after your homeowner projects to hold the soil in place.
Completion of the replacement culvert work on Duane Lake Rd has been delayed. Keith Hudson, the Town's highway superintendent explained that the delay is due to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation inspecting the work and giving approval to complete the job. The Town's Facebook notice follows:
FYI - The Town is expected to do some heavily accumulated weed removal at the outlet culvert and canal when the road culvert work is completed.
W Duane Lake Rd culvert repair begins
Lake community, please be advised, the culvert and road repair is underway this morning by Kim and Mary Roberts at 1417. The road is closed for through traffic while the work is being completed.
UPDATE: Work has finished for the day and the road is reopened.
Photos by Kim Roberts, 9/29/2025
Duane Lake Garage Sale and Pop Up Art Gallery
Duane Lake Neighborhood Garage Sale
The Duane Lake Neighborhood Garage Sale is set for this coming Friday and Saturday, August 22nd & 23rd. The lake wide garage sale will be advertised in the Times Union, the Schenectady Gazette, the Altamont Enterprise and on several digital sites. The advertised hours will be from 9 - 4. There will be corner signs placed in strategic locations as well. If you have any specific items for sale that you think will draw people in for the garage sale, please reach out to Pat Huff by August 15 at (deleted). So don't forget to set aside your items to sell.
Pop-Up Art Gallery!
Duane Lake's got talent! A surprisingly lot of it. Two art teachers, a very fine nature photographer, and two painters who have exhibited elsewhere will offer their works, as will three other excellent Duanesburg artists.
And - just to take advantage of the effort going into this - the gallery will open one day before the Duane Lake Garage Sale and close one day after (4 days - from Thursday, the 21st through Sunday, the 24th). A good deal of the works offered will be Duane Lake landscapes and Duane Lake wildlife. All artists have agreed to grant the DLA a 25% commission in support of the Duane Lake Association's lake stewardship work. The Pop-Up Gallery will be at (deleted). It will open each day at 9:30 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m.
Pop-Up Art Gallery!
Duane Lake's got talent! A surprisingly lot of it. Two art teachers, a very fine nature photographer, and two painters who have exhibited elsewhere will offer their works, as will three other excellent Duanesburg artists.
And - just to take advantage of the effort going into this - the gallery will open one day before the Duane Lake Garage Sale and close one day after (4 days - from Thursday, the 21st through Sunday, the 24th). A good deal of the works offered will be Duane Lake landscapes and Duane Lake wildlife. All artists have agreed to grant the DLA a 25% commission in support of the Duane Lake Association's lake stewardship work. The Pop-Up Gallery will be at (deleted). It will open each day at 9:30 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m.
Bobcat sightings
There have been a couple bobcat sightings that were caught on doorbell and security cameras in the past few weeks. This video was shared by a resident located in the east/southeast side of the lake.
Nature at its finest!
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