The venue is the same as last year: Van Patten Mill Park, about a quarter mile down Depot Road from Stewarts.
We gather at about noon and enjoy hot dogs, hamburgers (and veggie-burgers, surprisingly good) and lots of family favorites shared by your neighbors.
We're likely to be ready for the annual meeting part of the day at about 1:30.
Be watching your email in-box for more details as the date approaches.
DLA's annual Earth Day litter patrol set for Saturday, April 22
C'mon out and lend a hand!
Join your Duane Lake neighbors as they meet at the Duane Lake sign on the short road that connects to Schoharie Turnpike. We'll be gathering at 9:30 a.m., be handed some trash bags and a sector to patrol, and off you go. We're typically done by 11:00 a.m.
(April 18, 2023)
The spring 2023 issue is now available. (You can read it here.)
Inside you'll find stories on
* Get your shoreline shrubs from the County Soil & Water Conservation District
* Our neighbors, our Duane Lake eagles
* Schenectady County approves new-tech septic systems for Duane Lake
* Annual Earth Day litter cleanup set for Saturday, April 22
* Annual meeting and picnic scheduled for Saturday, June 20
* Status of the Duane Lake petition (and why)
* The DLA applies for a federal grant to support homeowners who replace septic systems
* What our ongoing analyses of lake water samples tell us
(June 11, 2022)--Sixty-two members and guests attended today's DLA annual meeting. Due to Covid precautions, it was the first face-to-face meeting of the association in three years. It may well have been a record attendance.
As a prudent step to guard against still-lingering Covid, the meeting was held outdoors at the Town-owned park on Depot Road. The picnic pavilion served well for its intended purpose, with a large supply of homemade casseroles and desserts supplementing the association-provided hot dogs and hamburgers.
A huge thank-you to DLA board member Kim Roberts for organizing the event and serving as "grill-meister."
Highlights of the meeting included comments by SUNY Oneonta lake management student Jessica Casey on her work at Duane Lake and words of thanks to members of the Board of Directors, Lake Management Committee, and Financial Review Committee. Dave Vincent was singled out for thanks for his initiative decades ago in resurrecting what had become a dormant association.
Copies of the Annual Lake Management Plan and report of the Financial Review Committee were circulated and a review of expiring Board seats was discussed. Secretary Maria Flores Seibert and Director Michaelynn McClenahan have decided not to seek re-election. Vice President Pat Huff has agreed to serve another term. By resolution, The Board proposed the following slate of candidates: Pat Huff for re-election as Vice President, Kathy Hotaling as Secretary, and Kyle McCraith as Director.
Association President Alan Knight summarized the work of the association over the past few years, highlighting its incorporation, taking title to the lake bottom (in effect, the lake itself), the advent of a Lake Management Committee and its Annual Lake Management Plan, annual financial review, and hiring of an engineering firm to evaluate the dam. He also announced that the next 12 months would be his last as association president. "After eight years as president and fourteen as newsletter editor, it's time to go," he said.
In post-meeting voting offered to all paid members via internet, the Annual Lake Management Plan was approved unanimously, as was the recommended slate of candidates.
WINTER IS A GREAT TIME TO ORDER SHRUBS TO STRENGTHEN SHORELINES
(Dec. 28, 2021)--Both the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Schenectady County Soil and Water Conservation District offer low-cost shrub seedlings ideal for shoring up your shoreline.
It's the recommended way to minimize soil erosion along your shoreline . . . erosion that not only eats away your yard, but also adds muck to the lake bottom and undesirable nutrients that fuel blooms of blue-green algae.
Click on this link to learn more about the DEC shrub sales program.
The Schenectady County SWCD brochure will be posted here as soon as the 2022 list is available.
FIRST-EVER DUANE LAKE WINTER SOLSTICE SOUP STROLL BEATS THE CHILL
Since we couldn't safely bring everyone indoors for a Roving Feast, as had been done every winter for the past many years, this outdoor event seemed like a good alternative, and perhaps as many as thirty people turned out, eager to once again meet and greet their neighbors and enjoy hot dogs over an open fire, soups, s'mores, and cozy-warm brandy.
Thanks to hosts Ann and Dave Vincent, Jerry Evans, Chris and Art Miller, and Mary and Kim Roberts, with an extra special thanks to Kim Roberts for organizing and promoting the event.
DREDGING PERMIT FOR OUTLET CANAL GETS 2-YEAR EXTENSION
Scraping two inches off the bottom of the canal was seen as necessary to help protect the dam and shoreline from high-ice damage. The stretch of canal bottom shown above sits about 14 inches higher than the spillway constructed in the 1950s by NY State to govern the level of lake water.
The application to extend the permit period was approved today.
Work is now expected to be done in late summer of 2022.