News from the Skaneateles Lake Association
Letter to the Press-Observer
From the natural springs that feed into it, to the unfiltered water that pumps out – Skaneateles Lake truly is the beating heart of our community and our region. It’s our lifeblood. It’s our economic engine. It’s a shared love that unites us all. Now it’s time we step up to maintain the legacy of collective care, appreciation, and preservation of our most precious resource.
On behalf of the Skaneateles Lake Association (SLA) Board of Directors, we want to thank the hundreds of people who attended the “Party on the Point” on Sunday, May 24th. In addition to expanding the organization’s membership base, the event provided the SLA an opportunity to launch the Legacy Fund, a capital campaign designed to fund research and remediation efforts to address the scourge of Harmful Algal Blooms. Action must be taken now to better understand the causes of the bloom and to test preventative measures.
Investing in our lake now will eliminate the costs of doing nothing:
- Treating tainted drinking water at a cost of over $150 million if the filtration avoidance waiver is lost.
- Losing a $2 billion tax base as lakefront property values plummet.
- Compromising the ecosystem of one of the cleanest lakes in
the United States. - Reducing the appeal of living and recreating in Skaneateles to prospective employees of the various local businesses.
One of the most exciting announcements at the event came from County Executive, Ryan McMahon, who will provide the Town of Skaneateles with a loan of $106,000 to expedite the monitoring and analysis required as we develop our comprehensive watershed plan (also known as the 9 Element Plan). This investment will pay dividends in the future and frees up the SLA to invest more money into remediation projects.
By all measures, the event was an enormous success and due to the efforts of many, many people, including:
Entertainment: The Dean’s List and Passengers, The Band.
Hosts: The Skaneateles Country Club (also working with the SLA to remediate Dowling Creek).
Government Leadership: Bob Antonacci, Ryan McMahon, Julie Abbott-Kenan, Mike Plochocki, and Janet Aaron
Promoter: Chase Design.
Raffle donors: Debbie Bobbett, the Chamber of Commerce, Mid-Lakes Navigation, Skaneateles Country Club, Betsey and Bob Madden, Lakeview Auto/Bob DeWitt, and the Skaneateles Marina.
Volunteers: Bill Dean, Fran Fish, Paul Torrisi, Kelli Ide, and the many other SLA volunteers.
SLA staff: Frank Moses, Incoming Executive Director, and interns Mia Grasso and Mitch Madden.
If you have not made an investment in the Legacy Fund, please consider doing so now. For information on how to make a donation, visit Skaneateleslake.org. We thank you and look forward to seeing you at future SLA events, including the Annual Meeting from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm on June 29th at Lourdes Camp.
Jessica Millman, Co-Chair
Legacy Fund Campaign
And
Rachael DeWitt, Executive Director
Skaneateles Lake Association
Source: Skaneateles Press Observer