Celebrating America's 250th Anniversary

Thank you Dave Vincent!  If you do not have a subscription to The Daily Gazette and would like to read about James Duane, click here...

James Duane and His Offspring

 

Neighborhood alert: Bear sighting

An adolescent bear has been spotted in the vicinity of North Mansion Road and West Duane Lake intersection this evening at approximately 8:30pm.  Please be vigilant!

Duane Lake Annual Picnic and Membership 2026

The ANNUAL DUANE LAKE PICNIC AND ASSOCIATION MEETING is this weekend!

The Annual Duane Lake Association Picnic and Meeting at Van Patten Mill Park is this Saturday, the 13th starting at noon. The meeting will begin with a neighborhood picnic at the park pavilion. Hamburgers, hotdogs, all the 'fixins and beverages will be provided. Everyone is invited to bring a dish and if you have any questions including "What should I bring?", please reach-out by text message or call our bar-be-que master chef and party coordinator, Kim Roberts, at 518-522-6811.

Van Patten Mill Park is located on Depot Road, just a two-minute drive from Stewart's in the hamlet of Duanesburg. It's a fun gathering with bar-be-que favorites and lots of really tasty dishes to share along with our neighborhood camaraderie and celebration of all things summer! Please plan to join us!

At this meeting, the agenda will include a vote on the 2026 LAKE MANAGEMENT PLAN. Click this link to go to the Plan. Please take a few minutes to review the Plan and come prepared to ask any questions at the meeting.

Since the SURVEY results reflected an almost even split on if the DLA should take possession [of the dam] immediately or wait, there will also be an opportunity to ask more questions and make any other additional comments at the Annual Meeting. The vote on the dam ownership question will be taken by an electronic poll similar to the Survey. Per the DLA By-Laws, only DLA members in good standing (current 2026 members) will be allowed to vote and only one vote per owner of each taxable property parcel. The vote will be sent out by e-mail by Monday, June 22nd and the final result will be published by Wednesday, July 1st.

2026 DUANE LAKE ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP

If you have already sent in your 2026 membership dues - THANK YOU! If you have yet to pay your dues for this year, please take a minute to send your dues. Your support makes all the difference in how well we all can participate in the stewardship of our community. You can click on the link below to the DLA website membership page and make your dues payment by check, cash or by PayPal.

Should the Duane Lake Association Accept Ownership of the Dam?...and email survey!

It’s a classic case of “dammed if we do, and damned if we don’t.” There are pluses and minuses no matter what is decided.

Here is the situation: 

    The owner of the dam that holds back the waters of Duane Lake has offered to give it to the Duane Lake Association, Inc. 

    The board of the directors of the DLA did not go looking for this. The offer and its dilemma simply arrived by email more than a year ago.  Since then, the DLA Board has been pursuing answers to every relevant question it can think of. New findings, new information, and new possibilities have been discussed at Board meetings probably every month since then.

    Wednesday evening, May 6, at a meeting attended by more than 40 Duane Lake neighbors, the Board sought perspectives from our Duane Lake neighbors. A “backgrounder paper” that outlined the issues, as best we could see them, was distributed to every Duane Lake property owner about a week in advance. 

    No announcement has been made of an already-made decision or favored course of action – because there isn’t one. Opinions of board members are as varied as those of the larger community. Moreover, DLA bylaws state “The Association shall not have the authority to initiate (either themselves or through contract) any chemical application or lake management action without first obtaining at least two-thirds approval of the membership present at a duly called and held annual, regular, or special meeting at which a quorum is present.”

    In other words, acquisition of title to the dam is up to the members, not the Board of Directors. 

   The May 6 meeting was intended to be a sharing of the situation and the facts as best we know them, and answering questions as best we could.

    An online survey will be distributed shortly to more accurately gauge any consensus and tap into thoughts of those who did not attend. It will be an “initial survey,” not a final vote.

The matter comes down to these questions: 

• What are the risks, costs, and possible scenarios if we say Yes?  
• If we say Yes, are there legal devices to reduce legal liability in the unlikely event of a dam failure?
• What are the risks, costs, and possible scenarios if we say No?

Questions arising if we say Yes

LIABILITY 

1. What is the likelihood of dam failure and resulting huge legal liability claims?

Answer: Low probability, but never impossible. The dam has been inspected by a highly reputable dam safety engineer who found the dam in need of some 

repairs and maintenance, but quite solid. The dam is classified by NY State as class A, meaning low hazard for downstream damage. As per NYS regulations, Class A dams do not require dam owners to create emergency notification and evacuation plans, although doing so could be seen as responsible citizenship and ownership.

2. What advantages would accrue to the Duane Lake Association and to any individual property owners?
3. What strategy would be available to the DLA to reduce legal liability for damages from dam failure?

• Step 1: create a new non-profit corporation recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit to replace or serve concurrently with the current 501(c)(4). Designation as a 501(c)(3) also should significantly increase chances of obtaining a government grant for one-time repairs of the dam.
• Step 2: This new organization would be eligible to form a subsidiary Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) that would take ownership of the dam, perhaps the lake itself, and any other properties it might acquire in the future. We are advised that step 1 is a legal prerequisite to step 2.

COST OF OWNERSHIP

1. Insurance costs?  The difficulty in answering this question is reflected in these facts:
1. We have received some price estimates in the range of $10,000 per year, about twice our normal annual income. 
2. The Mariaville Civic Association informs us that they carry no insurance whatsoever on their Mariaville Lake dam, due to the price of insurance.
3. Even with a good deal of searching and many inquiries we have been unable to find a single lake association that has “dam insurance.”
4. Those that do have insurance for a dam rely on an ordinary property owners’ insurance policy, as does the current owner of the Duane Lake dam. 
5. The insurance agency that now provides basic insurance for the DLA declined to quote a price for property liability insurance that includes the dam unless a professionally prepared estimate of downstream damage was done first.

      2.  Property Taxes?

The DLA acquired title to the lake, itself, largely to give us legal standing to enforce trespass rules and be recognized as authorized to perform lake management tasks. The Town Assessor then granted the DLA an exemption from property taxes. It is likely the same would happen if the DLA took title to the dam. 

    3.  What repairs and maintenance have been prescribed for the dam and what is the projected cost for doing the work?

1. Answer: This question raises serious differences of professional opinion. 
2. Over the past several decades the Dam Safety Division of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a series of inspection reports that prescribe removal of all trees and their root balls from the dam. Three separate engineering companies have visited the dam and echoed that prescription
3. However, both an experienced professional forester (retired from a career at DEC) and a certified professional arborist tell us that although the trees perhaps should not have been allowed to grow, removing trees is a bad idea, mainly because the root systems hold the soil in place and the leaf canopy breaks the rainfall and thus mitigates erosion. Moreover, they say, the dominant species of trees on the dam are shallow rooted. 
4. Given their familiarity with trees and, contrary to the engineers’ statements, these “experts” say these trees do not have deep root balls. If uprooted by wind, the trees would leave only shallow scars in the soil, posing minimal risk of serious damage and relatively easy-to-repair.
5. Concerns about removing only some trees, thus leaving the remaining trees at higher risk of being blown over, are valid and rooted in real-world experience.
6. The most serious repair tasks require the addition of large “rip-rap” stones and use of earth-moving equipment to undo erosion caused by several storms sending water over the top of the dam. The price-quote for a driveway to the dam for this work (two years ago) was $20,000. The cost of repair work would be on top of that.
7. The DLA has had exploratory discussions with an engineering firm about their taking-on this dam-upgrade project, including generating applications for grants. Initial discussions seem promising.

    

NOTE: Replacing the town-owned under-the-road culvert through which Duane Lake drains is essential for proper protection of the dam. The culvert has raised the water level to a height that leaves little capacity for storm water retention and has caused some erosion of the top of the dam.

After years of urging (nagging?) by the DLA, the Duanesburg Town Board hired the Bowman engineering company, Troy, NY, to investigate several issues involving the culvert, canal, and spillway. Bowman issued a written report that recommends replacement of the culvert with a bridge. This would be a crucial step in restoring stormwater-holding capacity to Duane Lake and thus protecting the dam.

Undertaking the work depends on the 2026 NYS Budget. The Bridge NY Program, created by the state legislature in 2016, offers 100% reimbursement to towns for replacement of bridges and culverts. Funding for 2026 is in the Governor’s proposed budget, not yet approved by the NYS Legislature.

Questions arising if we say NO

1. Are there risks if we say No? What scenarios might play out and what might they mean to everyone or specific individuals around the lake?

2. What if the current owner were to sell the lot and dam to another private party? Could this adversely affect the interests of all the other holders of lake access rights? (Due to associated liability questions and a legal inability to build on the dam lot—being a “wetland,” the probability of anyone buying it is very small.)

3. What then? The owner says he would quit paying taxes on it. As per legal advice, after about five years, ownership would revert to Schenectady County.

4. What then? Schenectady County would, by law, put the lot and dam up for public auction. When it did so for the lake bottom about 15 years ago, no one bid on it. Would we expect any different outcome or behavior on anyone’s part if this process were to be followed for the dam? Answer: Probably not.

5. If the County were to “get stuck” with ownership, it would own the liability and obligations for complying with DEC requirements for maintenance and repairs.

6. If “stuck” with ownership of the dam, might Schenectady County attempt to open Duane Lake for public recreation? Answer: unknown. Such access would have to be through the dam lot, itself. 

7. If “stuck” with ownership of the dam, might Schenectady County decide to remove the dam, thereby reducing Duane Lake to dry land and depriving at least half the homes of their domestic water supply. Answer: very unlikely.

8. What is the downside risk of following this Schenectady County ownership strategy? What are the odds that the DLA would be deprived of a chance to act as necessary—if necessary—five years or ten years from now? Answer: very low odds

THE MORAL QUESTION

    Is it morally right for Duane Lake property owners to enjoy the benefits of lake living while continuing to transfer the liability risks to someone else? 

HOW DOES THIS GET DECIDED?

    As per the DLA bylaws, a vote of DLA members is required. 

    Our bylaws state, “At all annual and special meetings of the members there shall be present at least fifteen percent (15%) of the members of the Association entitled to vote at such meeting, either in person or by proxy (written or electronic), in order to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.”

    Also, “Member households shall have one vote per taxable land parcel . . .”

SURVEY
    We need your input! The Duane Lake Association has been offered a gift of the dam. Only the membership as a whole can make a decision of this magnitude. The board has collected data on the options, costs, and implications, but does not make the decision. The board held a community meeting and now asks for more input. This is not an official vote, just a survey. A formal vote to occur later will be restricted to paid members of the lake association.

    You should have received an email earlier today from the DLA with a ONE TIME link to fill out a short survey. This email invite is strictly a survey and is intended to help prioritize next steps the board should take, if any, on behalf of the Duane Lake dam offer.

THANK YOU
     Please remember to submit your email survey.

     If you have questions or need assistance, please email the DLA at: duanelakeassoc@gmail.com

Upcoming Community Meeting - Should Duane Lake Take Ownership of the Dam?

You are cordially invited to a Community Meeting at the Duanesburg Fire House on Wednesday, May 6th at 6:30 pm. The firehouse is located at 7073 Duanesburg Rd.

The main purpose of this meeting is to open a discussion on whether or not the Duane Lake Association, on behalf of the Duane Lake community, should take ownership of the dam. The current owner is offering the dam to the DLA at no cost. But - there are a few aspects to consider before that transaction might occur and a community discussion is warranted and encouraged.

Please find a brief draft of a pros and cons write-up that discusses many of the possible considerations. Please take a few minutes to read this write-up and plan to attend the meeting bringing your thoughts and questions along for discussion. Link:

DL Dam Pros and Cons.pdf 

And just to make this meeting a bit of fun, please plan to bring a small plate of dessert that we all can share. Beverages will be provided.

Please plan to attend this community meeting as it affects everyone of us who shares in the beauty of Duane Lake.

For those who cannot attend in-person, the meeting will be live streamed via Zoom, link here:  

Duane Lake T-Shirt sale

"Duane Lake...every day a watershed event."

In preparation for the May 6th community meeting, Kim Roberts is taking tee shirt orders with the screen design in the image below.  The design includes lake art by one of our talented lake community artists and will be offered at just $5 dollars!  

To have these ready for the community meeting next Wednesday, Kim needs your order no later than this Sunday, May 3rd.  

You can email him at hobiekim@aol.com with your size(s) and quantity(s) needed.

Delivery and payment will occur at the community meeting.  

Please note: the tee shirt and screen color will only be available as you see in the image below, blue on white.  

Email Kim with any questions or alternative local pickup options if you will not be attending the meeting.

Click image for full detail

Attention all amateur photographers! 📸

An annual lake management plan for 2026-2027 is nearly ready for review by the DLA board of directors.  After review and possible revision by The Board, it will be made available to all members in advance of the June annual meeting. 

But there is something still missing: your photos of all that is beautiful and "classic Duane Lake."  We know you have them.  We have seen some!

So, if you would like to share your photos with your Duane Lake neighbors, please email your fab-5 to ak55000@gmail.com by 6:00 p.m., April 30.  Shots could be of sunsets and sunrises, spectacular clouds over the lake, rainbows, fall foliage, fish and fishing, sailing, ospreys, eagles, humans, and other assorted life forms. 

Show us what ya got!