Over the years you may have heard such exhortations as “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country,” or “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
It’s time for an update.
Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their neighborhood and the precious lake upon which so many of us depend.
Or, the only thing necessary for the triumph of an unaccountable, unresponsive bureaucracy is that good citizens do nothing.
We refer to the upcoming appearance of officials of the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (Division of Water Resources) at a Duanesburg Town Board meeting this coming Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
While we do not know the precise content of the DEC remarks, we know how this meeting came to be. It’s about our water.
- DEC has “creatively” found ways for eight years to deny Duane Lake’s application to be admitted to the NY State Septic Replacement Program (up to $10,000 in reimbursement for replacing failing septic systems in approved watersheds). All of them reveal an inexplicable and willful denial of law, science, and reality.
- DEC has repeatedly insisted Duane Lake needed a $6 million sewer system (estimate in 2020 dollars; $7.6 million in 2026 dollars, as per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) that would then have been cut in half by a federal grant, leaving more than $4 million to be repaid by Duane Lake residents, about 15 of whom have already put in new septic systems, anyway. And this latest of three engineering proposals grossly exaggerated the number of property owners that would share that cost every year – 86 versus 75 at most and only 64 if only the shoreline properties, and about 14 of those do not even drain into the lake. Town and County officials have already rejected the sewer proposal as economically infeasible and unnecessary, given an at-hand effective alternative at a fraction of the price.
- Legislation proposed by our State Senator Pat Fahy that would direct DEC to admit Duane Lake into the program was approved by the NY State Senate. Similar legislation introduced by Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara to the State Assembly did not pass.
- Following these legislative actions, officials of the DEC Division of Water Resources promised to present to the Duane Lake community and Duanesburg Town Board a proposed management plan by late summer of 2025. It did not happen.
- Instead, those officials met with Town and County officials (the Duane Lake Association was neither informed of or invited to this meeting). We are informed that DEC was “shocked” to learn that Town and County officials in attendance fully supported the Duane Lake Association position and so retreated for about six months to re-think their recommendations.
- Now they’re back.
That’s “where we’re at.”
Where will you be Thursday night?
Can you be there?
Can you be there to show DEC and all the assembled local, county, and state officials that we care about water quality for Duane Lake and 50,000 downstream users of our water? That we care about fairness? About changing the “Gerrymandered” eligibility map that included the entire Normans Kill watershed, but carefully carved Duane Lake out of it?
Or be there to listen and – perhaps? maybe? – be pleasantly surprised?
So, please – even if you’ve never had the slightest interest in civic affairs, now is the time to help make an impact for your neighborhood. Grab your husband, your wife, your partner, your significant other, granny and grandpa and the neighbors, too, and make the short drive to the Town Hall. And please send us an email to let us know you will be there (and how many).
This is what democracy looks like. It only works when people show up.
Thursday, February 26, 7:00 p.m.
