September 12th 2021 - Lake Gerry Association Meeting Summary
Unofficial Meeting Summary
Sunday was the final Lake Gerry Association meeting of the 2021 season.
Lake Steward:
The Lake Preservation projects are in progress. On August 31st, SOLitude Lake Management performed the 2nd muck digester treatment of the year. These treatments are water temperature dependent so this will likely be the least treatment of this season, and will resume next spring. An evaluation of their effectiveness will also be performed. On September 7th, SOLitude Lake Management performed the Lily pad treatment for the year. The treatment was placed around the perimeter of the lake and focused on some higher density areas. It takes about 2 weeks to see the die-back of the lily pads and it will take until next spring until we can fully evaluate the treatment success. Due to the severity of our lily pad overgrowth, it is likely we will need an additional treatment next year and spot-treatments after that. It is important that we have realistic expectations and goals with these treatments.
Many of you have noticed the floating islands of muck and lily pad roots that have appeared this year (and over several years). Seeing these is a good thing and indicates that we are getting decomposition and gas production in the muck layers as the lily pads die off and the muck treatments work. We are formulating a plan to remove these islands of muck and will be consulting with SOLitude Lake Management as to our best course of action. Don't be surprised if we ask for volunteers to help in this project in the near future or next spring.
Our Fish Stocking plans (Bass, Perch and Crappie) have hit an all-too-familiar Covid snag... We are unsure if we will be able to get the Perch and Crappie from the fish hatchery for the fall stocking. We will know more as we get closer to the release date in October as to the availability of those species.
The week after our Lake Days events, a large limb fell on the electrical supply line for the Charles Kelley Road pavilion knocking out the power and requiring it to be disconnected from the pavilion. We are working with NYSEG and CV Electric in formulating a plan involving burying the electric line to the pavilion.
The sand on the beach has eroded this summer due to the never-ending rain we received. We will be looking at re-working and adding sand to the beach - likely in the spring time.
New Business:
Per our Attorneys and Insurance Company - Lake Gerry Association roads and access lanes are not maintained by the Lake Gerry Association and must be maintained by the individuals who reside on them.
By-laws: There needs to be several adjustments and addendums to the current Lake Gerry Association By-Laws to reflect best and most legal practices. The changes will be to point any construction/property improvements to the Local and State codes/laws as they are the authorities on such matters.
Lake Preservation is a major financial undertaking for the Lake Gerry Association. It is therefore absolutely essential that we raise funds to offset these costs. A motion was made by several members to form a Fundraising committee to explore fundraising initiatives. Current LGA Members can see some of the fundraising ideas by signing onto the website and going to the members section, and looking at the Fundraising or Membership Poll pages. There you can vote-on or add your own ideas. It is also highly-suggested that we reach out into the greater community for fundraising efforts. Today the I Gave a Muck - Lake Gerry Association reusable grocery bags were for sale and seem to be a hit. Bags may be purchased for $5/each or 3 for $10.
We began discussions on offering a new form of Guest Passes called a Universal Guest Pass (or something like that), which we will sell for a set fee. That pass will allow your family and friends to enjoy the lake without the hassle of tracking down LGA Board members to get individual passes. Stay Tuned for more information on this.
We continue to hash-out the way we will be handling Short-Term Rental properties on the lake. I am putting together a series of polls for membership to vote on over the next week or two. These will give us the best idea on how to handle these. All current members are STRONGLY encouraged to offer their input on the matter. The voting and discussion will be found when you sign up for your membership on the website and under the Members menu and the Short Term Rental tab.
We are continuing to build and enhance our new LakeGerry.com website. For the whole system to work properly we need as many members as possible to sign-up on the website. This creates an account for you and your family to access the membership information/private portions of the website. Once you are established on the website we will be able to email you information and news around the lake and keep you up-to-date on any important happenings with Lake Gerry. In addition to this information, you will also be granted access to membership voting pages where you will be able to easily vote on any Lake Gerry Association topic regardless of if you can attend a meeting or not. The Online payment portion of the website is nearly complete which will allow you to pay your membership dues, make donations and order guest passes and boat stickers right from the website. I am currently working on an off-line portion of it for those who do not want to use their credit cards online.
We are discussing streamlining the membership, fundraising and passes systems to make them more beneficial to you, easier for our board members and more accurate for our current situation. Easily the majority of money spent by Lake Gerry Association goes toward the Lake Preservation. These payments will continue to be high for the next several years as we get the lake cleaned up and restored to it's former glory. We would like to eliminate the Pavilion fund since it rarely raises enough money to perform a single project required for the pavilion, instead: we would use the general fund to pay for pavilion expenses. We always have the option to reinstate these funds when needed but feel we need to focus on the Lake Preservation for the foreseeable future.
Starting in the 2022 season, all Lake Gerry Association guest passes and boat stickers will be picked up at the Lake Gerry Association Meetings. After you purchase these items online, you will be given a receipt that can be used as proof of purchase during the year and can be used to obtain the needed passes/stickers. This will help us eliminate issues members were having tracking down LGA Board Members to get these items.
Our overall goal is to streamline our financial and management operations for the Lake Gerry Association which will improve compliance and transparency among the Lake Gerry Association Members. These changes will also alleviate much of the strain on our volunteers and hopefully encourage others to help volunteer in the community and on the LGA Board.