TLA Board Meeting
April 24
7-8:30 pm.
Attendees: Grant Bogle, Bill Barton, Jean Bell, Jackie Blombach, Russ Conklin, Jeff Cox, Carey Fiertz, Dan Kadlec, Rich Haupt, and Eric Stoer.
The meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm.
Lake Management: Bill Barton gave an update on a call organized by Jeff Bravin of ASD through the school’s government relations firm in Hartford with six senior staff members of the DEEP. The meeting was an organized with the goal of better understanding any concerns that the DEEP may have with the lake management plans of Twin Lakes and how to improve the communications and coordination with the state. An outgrowth of the meeting is that the TLA has been asked to develop a comprehensive lake management plan to be written by a qualified botanist that is recognized as an expert by the state. This plan would be submitted to the state, along with an application for our next three-year permit cycle by February, 2023. Bill, Russ and others on the lake management committee will generate a list of qualified botanists and reach out to several to discuss an engagement with the TLA. Twin Lakes’ portion of the Town budget devoted to us is equal to last year’s amount, as per Joe Cleaveland.
2022 Herbicide Permit: The required paperwork for approval of the herbicide permit has been submitted and we are awaiting approval by the state. We are not aware of any outstanding issues to be addressed for the 2022 season.
Lake Water Levels: Water levels have been very high throughout the winter months and a discussion ensued regarding how best to support ensuring the water levels are monitored and adjusted frequently, consistent with agreed upon water level requirements. More work needs to be done to come up with a plan to provide coverage when the people involved are out of town for an extended period of time.
Membership Meeting Dates: We agreed to hold the first TLA membership meeting on Saturday, June 18 and the Annual Meeting on Saturday, August 6. The location for both meetings will be at Isola Bella. Jackie Blombach reported that she has invited Tim Abbott, the well-known and highly regarded conservation leader who works for the Housatonic Valley Association, to the June 18 TLA meeting to address the membership on ways to maintain and/or improve our lake ecosystem. More details to follow.
Twin Lakes Day: the 121st Twin Lakes Day will be held on Saturday, August 6 after the TLA annual meeting. However, we need a new volunteer to lead the organizing and running of the event. We will also reach out to the Beach Club to see if and how we might partner to attract more young families to the event.
Zebra Mussels: Russ Conklin is putting in 6 cement blocks on East Twin and 6 on West Twin to allow us to monitor the level of zebra mussel infestation over the course of the summer. As we have previously reported, there is very little that can be done to address zebra mussels once they are introduced to a lake system.
Spending Authorizations:
- The TLA board voted unanimously to allow Grant and Bill to purchase “thank you” gift cards up to $250 each for those who support the TLA for doing things like water sample testing, monitoring the lake levels, etc. Recipients of the gift cards will be announced at the June TLA meeting.
- The Board also approved an expenditure of up to $2000 to repair and/or replace lake water monitoring equipment that was damaged recently by accident. Russ is handling the process of getting the equipment repaired by a reputable party and they have loaned the TLA equipment to use on a temporary basis so the water quality testing can continue uninterrupted.
Lake Patrols: We continue to engage with the town to ensure that there will be patrols of East Twin over the summer to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all boaters. Curtis Rand and the resident trooper are looking at various alternatives to provide lake patrols. We will report out on the status of patrols in a future newsletter and discuss at the June 18 membership meeting.
West Twin Skimmer: Russ reported that a total of $62,500 has been raised towards the purchase of a new skimmer for the town. A total of $50,000 more is needed to purchase the skimmer and it is hoped these funds can be raised shortly. Once the funds are in hand, the TLA will make the purchase of the skimmer using the donated funds and then, in turn, donate the skimmer to the town who will both maintain and operate the equipment. The skimmer will be used by the town for West Twin as well as other bodies of water in the community.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 pm.