Important MLID Meeting Update

Team:

As it were, MLID will not be meeting with Highway Superintendent Dave Paganelli this Thursday March 2nd, 2017 at 6:30 PM.  This is so he can attend the State of the Town of Yorktown speech by supervisor Grace.    The MLID meeting is being rescheduled for a Thursday in the near future that can accommodate the Mr. Paganelli's schedule. Hope to see you there.

As an alternative to the MLID meeting this Thursday, we here at Save Mohegan Lake encourage you to attend--if not tune in on the municipal channel--to hear what supervisor Grace has to say about the state of the Town.  I bet he would love to hear your opinions, especially as they pertain to the northwesterly quadrant of Yorktown. There will be a question and answer period afterwards.

Note from Ken's original email:

The next meeting of the Mohegan Lake Improvement District will be on Thursday March 2nd, 2017 at 6:30 P.M. at the Hart Library community room in Shrub Oak.  Dave Paganelli, the Yorktown Highway Superintendent, will be attending as a special guest.  Among other things, we will be asking him about the impending work on the retaining wall along Mohegan Avenue, about the cleaning of catch basins that empty into the lake, about the completion of the work at "Rock Hill Park" left over from the demolition of the buildings there, and about our old boat house demolition.  Please join us and bring your questions for the highway super.  We will also be discussing our plans for the lake this summer, in a difficult regulatory environment with DEC.  Please join us on March 2nd!

Do You Live In Mohegan Lake?

There are seven beach associations around the lake; we are the people that pay taxes that fund lake improvements.  If you like the lake and want to be involved with the communities that help maintain it, you should attend the Mohegan Lake Improvement District (MLID) meeting this Wednesday, 1/26/16 at 7:30pm.  Here's a message from MLID president Ken Belfer:

Our January Mohegan Lake Improvement District meeting is this Wednesday at 7:30 PM at the Calvary Chapel at 99 Baron De Hirsch Road in Crompond.  We begin work on the 2016 season, which we hope will be even better than 2015.  Hope to see you at the meeting.

Last year we applied copper sulfate every Tuesday during the swimming season and--lo and behold--the lake didn't get closed by the Department of Health for algae blooms. They were still present, but much, much clearer than the last 5 years since Save Mohegan Lake has been around, and beyond.  We hope to improve upon that with an aluminum sulfate permit which should not need to be applied nearly as often; I've heard up to 3 years.

Oh, hey, did you see the skating rink and trails I made at the top of the lake?  Please don't stand on the surfaces when it's above 32 degrees.  It has to reset to be skatable and if one walks on it, it's going to not freeze flat.  Let nature Zamboni our baby--naturally:)

MLID Budget Meeting This Thursday

From Ken:

This is the 2016 budget meeting of the Mohegan Lake Improvement District.  It is important, because this is when we recommend what we want to see happen and how much we are willing to  tax ourselves to accomplish it.  Please try to make sure that every beach is represented by at least one person (more is better).  We will be at Calvary Chapel at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond at 7:30 Thursday September 3rd.  .

Personally, I'm literally doing back-flips (video from last night) I'm so excited about the lake water quality this year.  Hard to put a price on a full season of swimming whereas we have been closed as early as June because of the blue-green algae blooms.  In summary, tax away. 

2 Upcoming Meetings

MLID is meeting at the Mohegan Colony Pavilion/Calvary Church at 99 Baron deHirsch Road this Thursday.  We are finalizing Lake Day plans and will discuss our copper sulfate treatments.

Also, mark your calendars for July 21st.  The Town Board is moving their circus to the Mohegan Colony beach.  At least come out for the courtesy of the floor (read: airing of grievances).  You'll want to keep a tight three minutes on any topic you want to bring up.

The Most Important News For Mohegan Lake In Some Time

We got approval for a copper sulfate treatment to control the flaming algae bloom we get every year.  On to aluminum sulfate, hopefully.  Looking forward to a full season of swimming.  No pool pass for us this year. 

Here's a note from MLID president Ken Belfer:

Thanks to the hard work of Laura Kosbar, who prepared the application and handled the follow up, we have received the permit from NYS DEC to apply copper sulfate this season to Mohegan Lake.  The first application date has not yet been set, but will be in June.  Notices will be posted at all of the beaches, as well as an email notification sent to spread the word.  The application will be done during the week, and there will be no swimming allowed for 24 hours after the application.  Let's hope this will allow us to have a swimmable lake for the entire summer this season.

Yay!  And a big thanks to the dedication of a very few number of people in our community on this matter.  They know who they are.  Are you involved with MLID?  Should you be?

Movie Night at Mohegan Colony!

Hi Team:

I was excited to receive the following email from MLID.  Don't forget about the movie night/floating lantern launch concluding at the Colony on Lake day, 7/12/15. 

Below is a message sent out by the President of the Mohegan Colony about our second free movie night this year:

HI Everyone,
The weather so far looks ideal for our second movie night!
This Saturday at dark, I will show the Oscar winning Film “Interstellar” PG13
The word Epic is often used to describe this movie.

Come on out, bring chairs,, blankets and snacks!
Come a little early to set up your chairs and not disturb the film…..
Keep an eye on this list for email updates regarding the weather.
Over 30% chance of rain and we will reschedule.

I will start at dusk.

Lyle

MLID Meeting Minutes

MLID minutes are a thing now because Shelley, from the Mohegan Highlands Property Owners Association, is the best.  Keep thinking about how you can contribute to, or passively or actively (think canoe races) participate in, Mohegan Lake day on July 12th.  Without further ado, the informal minutes:

"Big Ben" at MHPOA's Turtle Cove

 Hi all—

For those who missed Thursday’s meeting, here’s a quick recap:

Algae: Copper sulfate permit process continues; we’ve got only one bid on application, but we’d like to have the first application in a couple of weeks to get a good start.

Lake maintenance: Wayne, our lake manager, has hired two returning helpers and they’ll be out on the lake more after their boats are back from repairs. The harvester is also in the shop; Wayne is looking into replacing it with a new one next year. We’re also looking into the possibility of offsetting the cost by cooperating with other lakes, for example offering to clear Shrub Oak Park’s lake, which they currently hire out, in return for a cost offset for us.

They are also working towards putting an aeration station near Mohegan Highlands.

Mid-Hudson Lake Meeting: Just what it sounds like. Friday, July 24, at a lovely location in Putnam County.

Boats: Mohegan Colony has ordered stickers to identify/register all of their boats. We talked about all the benefits of doing this lakewide, so Ken is getting pricing info to see if MLID can just order enough stickers for all of the associations. Current plan is to give each association a run of stickers and leave them to establish how they want to use them. We doubt we can make it mandatory, but having a boat registration action on Lake Day would be a good start. Having a registry of boats with ID numbers would be excellent.

Lake Day:  The day looks like this so far:

9-10:30: Fishing Derby - Mohegan Beach Park.

11-1: Turtle Whisperer and Kids’ games - MHPOA. (The feedback I’m getting is that they would like a shorter time slot. Maybe an hour and a half?)

1:30-2:30: Boat races - Section 1.

4:30: storytelling, followed by potluck with live music, movie, and release of lanterns - Mohegan Colony


We are reaching out to paddleboard/kayak people to try to bring them in for demos, and to get someone to offer water taxi services.

The sooner all of this is locked in place, the sooner we can get out posters/flyers and a press release to the local papers, to let people know about all the great activities we have planned. We need lead time in particular for the MLID newsletter, because mailings have an inherent time drag.

The next meeting is June 11.

Have a great day!

Shelley (MHPOA)

MLID Lake Day Planning Meeting

All seven of the beaches around Mohegan Lake are preparing for our annual Lake Day celebration on Sunday July 12th, 2015 (raid date is the 19th).  Detailed schedule of events with maps of beaches.  Expect a regatta, turtles, food, drink, potluck and a movie, floating lanterns launched at sundown, and much, much more!  Meeting will be at the Calvary Church at 99 Baron de Hirsch road at 7pm next Thursday the 28th.  Be there and help us make this the most successful Lake Day to date. 

P.S.  Did anyone see the pink flamingos on the abandoned boat that emerged after the thatw at the top of the lake?  What a joyous sighting. Sadly, they were here for less than 18 hours and whoever took them just dragged the boat closer to shore.  Pretty, pretty lame. 

MLID Meeting This Thursday 2/26/15

From Ken:

And to think the first day of spring is only a month away!  This is quite a winter we are having.  Nevertheless, we have to plan for the summer season, if we want a swimmable lake this year.  The Mohegan Lake Improvement District is meeting this Thursday night at 7:30 P.M. at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond (Calvary Chapel).  We will be meeting in the kitchen.  I hope we can have representation from each beach association around the lake.   Keep warm!   

Important Mohegan Highlands Information

1.  We are going Christmas Caroling this Saturday, December 6.  5-6 is cocktails and recital, caroling from 6-8.  BYOB (or flask) and an appetizer; if you have children, ration appropriately.  Open to all Mohegan Highland Property Owners Association members and their guests, but please do rsvp to YorktownCode@gmail.com
2. Are you a MHPOA home owner (not sure, email me--see above) and Friends with MHPOA on Facebook?  No?  Oh, you should be, it's just getting fired up and you get to see cool pictures of things like our neighborhood fox (see below).  She lives with her cub (?) just below the MHPOA beach.  How cool is that?  Foxes, I've heard, are one of the greatest judges of neighborhoods. 

 [photo: red fox/green algae courtesy of Shelley]
 You see that algae, right? You're attending the MLID meeting this Thursday, right?  Good. 

MLID Meeting This Thursday

From the MLID president:

We will be meeting this Thursday December 4 at 7:30 P.M. at the Calvary Chapel at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond.   We need to make decisions about how we will be chemically treating the lake next summer to keep it swimmable.

And...We're Back

It's been a while Mohegan Lake.  We took an extended vacation this summer, rolling into the fall, but promise to keep bringing you all the Mohegan Lake news you can handle.



To get you up to speed, please be advised of the following:

• Lakeland athletics continues to be a powerhouse.  Both girls and boys soccer had respectable finishes.  You should make sure you cast your vote for our boys in this LoHud poll.  The girls field hockey team remains amazeballs.  Ranked number 2 in the nation.  Playing for their 6th straight state title, having won 50+ games in a row going back many years.  Stay up to date on the athletics schedule here. 
• The Mohegan Highlands Property Owners Association (MHPOA) is having their first annual Christmas Caroling Classic on Saturday, December 6th, 2014.  We'll have pre-Caroling refreshments at 5pm, with walking around the neighborhood and singing starting at 6pm.  If you're on our mailing list, you'll receive an email with details.  If not, email me at YorktownCode@gmail.com, and I'll hook you up.
• Word on the street is Evan's lawsuit against the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) will be successful.  The court has been reviewing it an inordinate amount of time, likely meaning their having a hard time wording it so as not to hurt the ZBA's feelings.  Also, Silverberg Zalantis got run over by an ambulance they went chasing--but that's a long story for another day.
• The Planning Board approved Faith Bible Church's new building.  If Evan's ZBA petition is successful, it will be challenged in court.  So litigious, so exciting.
• The Mohegan Lake Improvement District (MLID) continues to be a force in actively bettering the health of the lake.  Most of the algae is washed away and the lake looks great, as of Tuesday at MHOPA.  This month's last Thursday meeting will likely be postponed to early December.  Stay tuned.

Marinate on those five issues, and we'll talk soon.

MLID Meeting 6/12/2014 @7:30

From Ken:

At the Calvary Chapel of Westchester, 99 Baron de Hirsch Road, Crompond at 7:30 PM on Thurs June 12.  Hope to see you there as we address the challenges that nature brings, the priorities for lake staff (those lake weeds are growing everywhere), planning for lake day, and whether we can do anything this season to impact the algae.    

MLID Meeting Thursday, 5/22/2014

I'm having surgery to strip out a Burmese python-sized varicose vein out of my leg and it's daughter # 2's birthday Thursday, so I won't be in attendance, but please do show up to discuss plan B (we're not getting an alum permit this year) and Lake Day planning.  It's very important.  Don't forget, the Brays own the title of fastest canoe on the lake, per last years regatta results, and we don't plan to relinquish the belt!

The Brays, owning it. 

Ultimately the blue-green algae is only a mild skin irritant, at best. If it's your primary drinking source, your pets or kids drink it--you may have some brain issues with the neuro-toxins the algae produces.  I swim late into the season and I'm normal...nevermind.

Official meeting notice:

The endless winter finally passed, and it's definitely spring.  We're faced with some tough questions this year in the Mohegan Lake Improvement District.  In the last two seasons, the County Health Department has closed beaches due to blue green algae.  So far, our record is 0 and 2 in combating excessive blue green algae growth in the lake.  Can we save the 2014 beach season, or will our losing record increase to 0 and 3?  Please join us this Thursday May 22nd at 7:30 P.M. for our MLID meeting to discuss the summer 2014 season.  The harvester is in the water, our lake manager, Wayne Poland, is hard at work, and our summer kids will be starting over the next two weeks.  We will update everyone on the status of our permit application to NYS DEC to apply alum to the lake, discuss a "plan B" if we don't get the permit, review plans for Lake Day (Sunday July 13th), and share ideas for work this season to improve the lake.  We will be meeting at the Calvary Chapel at Mohegan Colony (former Mohegan Colony schoolhouse), 99 Baron de Hirsch Road, Crompond.  Hope to see you there!    Ken

MLID Meeting Thursday 1/30/13

A Message from Mohegan Lake Improvement District president, hope to see you there:

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you are surviving the cold.  Despite the cold white environs, there is a summer season approaching.  Let's get back to work to make sure we are doing whatever we can as a community to help improve the lake.  We will be meeting this Thursday January 30 at 7:30 P.M. at the Mohegan Colony schoolhouse kitchen at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond.  Among other things, we will be discussing our application to apply Alum to the lake to bind the excessive phosphorous which has been causing our algae blooms, our plan for this season's work, Lake Day 2014, and scheduling a date in February to have the Town Comptroller attend a meeting to answer questions for the Mohegan Lake park districts about Town procurement policies and procedures.  Hope to see you there!    Ken

Tomorrow, 10/24/13 MLID Meeting

A message from the Mohegan Lake Improvement District:

Our monthly meeting for October is this Thursday October 24 at 8:00 P.M. at the Mohegan Colony schoolhouse kitchen at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond.  Hope you can make it.     

We had a great budget meeting last month and have some great works in progress to improve the health of the lake. 

Mohegan Lake Improvement District Meeting 9/26/13 @7:30pm

A message from MLID:

We have an important MLID meeting tomorrow night Thursday 9/26.  This is when we decide our next year's activities to address the problems of the lake, and submit our budget proposal to the Town.  Everyone's input is welcome.  We will be in the Mohegan Colony schoolhouse kitchen at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond at 7:30 P.M.  Hope to see you there!

The Most Important Mohegan Lake Improvement District Meeting, Ever: 8/1/13

From our fearless MLID leader, Ken Belfer:

The Mohegan Lake Improvement District will be meeting this Thursday night August 1st at 7:30 P.M. in the kitchen of the Mohegan Colony Schoolhouse at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond.  We will be discussing the state of the lake, and particularly the County and State Health Department's position on what triggers closing of a beach or the lake as a whole to swimming.  We will also be reviewing the remaining activities for the year to address water quality, and planning for next year's permit application to apply Alum to the lake.  We would like to hear from as many residents and beaches around the lake as possible, to help set our priorities.  Hope to see you there!

MLID Meeting 6/20/13

A message from the MLID president:

The Mohegan Lake Improvement District is meeting this Thursday June 20th at 7:30 P.M. at the Mohegan Colony schoolhouse at 99 Baron de Hirsch Road in Crompond.  We will be meeting in the kitchen.  We will be finalizing the plans and schedule for Lake Day Sunday July 14th, discussing the work our summer staff are doing around the lake, making decisions on use of some lake management consultants, and checking in on the "state of the lake." 

6.6.13:MLID Meeting Notes

I'll aim to bring you full, proper notes of all meetings going forward.  Here are abridged, unofficial notes:

Mohegan Lake day will be on July 14th, 2013.  Save the Date.  Details of all activities to follow shortly.  Remember what a good time we had last year.  This year will be on par.

We love our beavers.  They do pose a problem.  Mohegan Ave is constantly flooded and it's too much maintenance for the town to keep up with.  There's a reason people say "busy as a beaver."  These cute little critters are industrious; they are making an amazing comeback all around the region (we should welcome it since our fore bearers nearly extincted them).

We are opening discussions with the town.  Aiming for a bridge over Mohegan Avenue because that's the real (and natural) solution.  Wetlands are supposed to regulate the level of the lake.  It's supposed to flow back and forth. Mohegan Ave never should have been built as it is because it completely blocks that natural flow of the lake to the wetlands and vice-versa.  The real solution is that the Army Corp of Engineers redesigns it.  In the meantime, we'll do our best with our able bodied Highway Department. 

Lake health is not awesome, but water quality is still fully swimmable--as of today.  Many factors contribute to water quality, but one problem is invasive plant species.  The kind that live under water, like water chestnuts and curly leaf pondweed.

Our weed harvester was bought new in 1984.  I was 6 years old then, now 35 with 4 daughters.  It's a machine and is basically kaput.  We have a decent budget, about $96,000 a year, but a new harvester is about 100K.  We'd have to bond it.  Going to be done as it's a necessity, not happening this year.
Wayne--our lake manager-- and his boys are using the Jon boat and elbow grease to do everything possible to remove as much plant matter as possible.  Remember, those plants just die and add to the nutrients that fuel the algae blooms.

Algae is bad and we'll get it again this year. We are exploring several solutions: barley straw, Phoslock (way too expensive), and Alum (expensive, but we could swing it, but there are DEC permitting issues).

If you have an interest in Mohegan Lake, please stay tuned and get involved.