Getting Up To Speed On The Issues

I highly recommend you get on the official Mohegan Lake Improvement District (MLID) listserv.  You can stay up to date on current issues and meeting dates/times.  Get in touch with MLID president Ken Belfer, or send me an email at YorktownCode@gmail.com, if you're interested in joining.

Quick summary of the most pressing issues:

1)  The blue-green algae problem.  We have a plan to apply for a New York State Department of Environmental Protection to apply alum (aluminum sulfate) to the lake.  The idea is that the alum would bind the phosphorous which is what the algae thrives on--or at least that's my layman's understanding of the issue.

2)  The MLID weed harvester (big boat that harvests the invasive weeds that live under water) is on it's last legs.  It will likely not function for another season.  It is a big ticket item; the current weed harvester was purchased in the mid-80's.  It now spends more time on shore, getting repaired, than it does in the lake.

3)  The  budget.  For the first time last year (2012), the town adjusted our budget--without our knowledge--from the normal 5% admin fee the MLID fund pays to the town by $2,000.  That raised our admin fees to 7.4%.  There's a budget hearing tomorrow, 12/5/12.  We are hoping that they cap the admin fee for all districts at 6%.

4)  The budget, part 2: The MLID general fund has been depleted to the point where we may not be able to afford the alum treatment or a new weed harvester. Alum is a short term solution, but if we don't go forward, you can expect that the NYS Department of Health will likely shut down the lake to all swimming in mid-July again because of the blue-green aglae (ours is more green--neon green algae).  About three years ago our fund was over $300,000 because we had budgeted dredging.  Because of previous applications of copper sulfate (copper is heavy metal, in a bad way), the dredged material would have to be treated as hazardous waste and cost prohibitive to dispose of.  Now we may not have the funds to treat the lake to reduce--if not eliminate--the algae blooms.

So, in summary, we need you to get involved.