DAILY GAZETTE
Schenectady, NY
June 25, 2004
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Cruise boats could ruin Sacandaga
Property owners on Great Sacandaga Lake will rue the day when sailboaters persuaded the state Department of Transportation to replace the Batchellerville Bridge with a high, arched span.
The old bridge, which is flat and low, has done more than just keep sailboats from passing underneath. Located at the lake's midpoint, it has also blocked big cruise boats, making them uneconomical to operate on Great Sacandaga.
However, the new bridge will have a maximum vertical clearance underneath of 42 feet when the lake is full. This will open all of the 29-mile-long lake for cruise boats. Some could be well over 100 feet long and potentially as tall as a four-story building.
As property owners on Lake George can confirm, cruise boats are trailed by large wakes that can erode shorelines and disrupt docks. Sacandaga campers can expect increased noise pollution (both motor and human), and more litter tossed overboard by passengers. Some Lake George cruise boats entertain their passengers with music, which you can hear for miles on a quiet evening. And some anchor in bays for several days at a time. I hope Sacandaga campers enjoy their new waterborne neighbors.
Another environmental challenge will be posed by the cleanout facilities needed to transfer sewage from the cruise boats to tanks on the shore. There will always be the possibility of a spill into the waters of our wonderful lake.
It's ironic that sailboaters, who love to brag that their boats are propelled by the wind, not smelly gas engines, will be responsible for this dramatic change for the worse in the lake's environment.
RONALD M. PRUSKO
Day
LEADER-HERALD
Gloversville, NY
July 2, 2004
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Lake property owners could face another fee
Last fall, Congressman James Tedisco and Sen. Hugh Farley rallied to the aid of property owners around Great Sacandaga Lake after the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District proposed hiking annual access permit fees by up to 1,000 percent. That outrageous proposal was shot down.
Today, we need the Tedisco/Farley team's support once again. The lake's 4,650 access permit holders now face the possibility that the district, which continues to flounder in red ink, will impose a second annual fee on us - based on the absurd allegation that we are "beneficiaries" of the reservoir.
This would lump us together with downstream hydroelectric plants and cities that benefit from flood control and river regulation and that traditionally have been charged an annual assessment to pay for operation and maintenance of the reservoir. In our case, we allegedly benefit because existence of the lake adds value to our private property.
This screwball line of reasoning is illogical and unjust. It ignores the fact that lake-area property owners paid inflated values for their property in the first place and are subject to skyrocketing property taxes. It would be equivalent to charging the citizens of Saratoga Springs an assessment because the presence of the NYRA, another public authority, adds value to their private property.
Unlike Niagara Mohawk and Reliant Resources, the multibillion-dollar energy firms that operate downstream hydro plants and that are suing the district for huge refunds on their annual assessments, we cannot fund a battalion of attorneys to protect our interests. That's why we are again looking to Congressman Tedisco and Sen. Farley for relief. This time, we urge them to co-sponsor legislation that would shield us now and forever from any attempt by the district to classify us as "beneficiaries" of Great Sacandaga Lake.
Add your voice to ours by writing Congressman Tedisco at 12 Jay St., Schenectady, NY 12305 and Sen. Farley at 412 Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12247.
PETER VANAVERY
Edinburg
LEADER-HERALD
Gloversville, NY
June 22, 2004
SURVEY WILL ASK RESIDENTS ABOUT PROPERTY DAMAGE
by Omar Aquije, The Leader-Herald
EDINBURG -- A volunteer group of private property owners is asking residents around the Great Sacandaga Lake to complete a survey pinpointing any property damage resulting from abnormal water levels during the previous winter.
The Batchellerville Bridge Action Committee has been collecting data from permit holders that will include an estimate of any damaged docks, wood steps, boats or other property. Once the process is complete later this summer, the results will be sent to Gov. George E. Pataki and other local elected officials. The governor appoints the board members on the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District, the public benefit corporation that operates the lake.
By going straight to the governor, committee members hope the results of the survey would be enough to force the regulating district to amend their operating license, which dictates how the water levels are managed. Since the license was created nearly two years ago, the lake has experienced high levels on several instances, drawing complaints from area residents and leading to two separate investigations from the federal agency that issues the district's operating license. On both investigations, the district was ruled to be operating in compliance of the license.
Pete VanAvery, a co-founder of the committee, said he expects the total of the survey to be high enough to raise some eyebrows.
"Some people had docks totally destroyed, others disappeared," VanAvery said.
Although VanAvery is still collecting data, for some seasonal residents may just be returning to the area. He said he expects the total to surpass $100,000 in estimated damage.
Surveys have been printed in The Sacandaga Times and The Sacandaga Monthly, which will provide mailed copies to 10,000 households. The 4,650 permit holders are asked to send the survey directly to VanAvery.
Robert Treat, whose family has owned a home on the lake since 1958, received an unpleasant surprise after discovering that his dock disappeared during the winter. On two previous occasions, Treat had to repair his dock last fall and spring, but now faces the trouble of having to buy a new one. Treat said he does not know how much it will cost.
"I've been impacted pretty severely by the lake-level management practices," Treat said. "The current management practices are completely unfriendly to all permit holders on the lake."
For months, the committee has asked the district to modify certain wording in the license amendment, allowing for a greater release of water when the lake reaches high levels for a lengthy period of time. The lake is considered full at 768 feet, which was exceeded for more than 50 days on more than one occasion. But district officials have blamed an unusual rainfall season as the cause of high levels, and said the lake should continue to operate under the recently developed license before any investigation should take place. The license is good for 40 years, and took nearly a decade to complete.
If the district does not address the issue, Treat fears that property damage may become an annual thing. Many residents have said that the lake had never reached such levels since it was first built as a reservoir in 1930.
Another Edinburg resident, Jacky Severinghaus, said her 30-foot dock was damaged. She said she will be unable to repair it. She would need to spend $1,300 to repair the dock, or $2,800 if choosing to replace it.
Although the survey will not restore her dock to operating standards, Severinghaus said she favors the survey.
"I think the survey is needed. Action is needed," Severinghaus said.
Permit holders who are unable to obtain a survey can find one on the committee's Web site at www.nybbac.org.
LEADER-HERALD
Gloversville, NY
June 28, 2004
AUDIT OF DISTRICT DELAYED
By OMAR AQUIJE, The Leader-Herald
MAYFIELD - The Hudson River-Black River Regulating District may have to wait a little longer than expected before an independent audit of the Great Sacandaga Lake's permit system can begin.
After advertising to find a bidder for the project, the district was contacted by six companies. None, however, decided to place a bid.
Executive Director Richard Lefebvre said the timing and requirements of the project may have been responsible for the lack of bids. Due to the extent of the project, the district was told that some of the agencies were too busy.
"Perhaps we had been a little too stringent," Lefebvre said.
The audit includes a thorough review of the permit system, including who operates it and how it is conducted. District employees and residents would also be interviewed.
The district agreed in January to conduct an audit of the permit system. Each year, the district issues nearly 5,000 permits, granting residents access to the lake.
The permit system became a subject of controversy in 2003, after the district proposed a fee schedule with increases of up to a 1,000 percent. After relentless public outcry, the district withdrew the proposal and decided to freeze any permit increase for the following year.
That proposal - although considered erroneous on behalf of the district - placed the district under the watchful eye of the public. At the request of the public, the district soon decided to go forth with an audit.
Now with no bids on hand, the district will advertise again, hoping the results will be different. Lefebvre said the district will not modify the details of the audit to lessen the workload.
"Our hope was to get it done as soon as possible," Lefebvre said.
Lefebvre said this time, he hopes the timing of the audit works better with any interested bidders.
He said it is important that an agency understands what needs to be done in an audit.
Even though the audit came as requested by the public, there are some who feel the project is not enough.
Peter VanAvery, a member of the Batchellerville Action Committee, said the district should wait until after a governance plan, as conducted by the state comptroller's office, is received before an audit takes place.
"They should wait until that comes in and see if there are any major problems," VanAvery said.
Earlier this year, a team from the state comptroller's office completed an examination of the district.
This was an examination done to public agencies across the state.
The results are expected in a few weeks.
TIMES UNION
Albany, NY
June 13, 2004
Water Rights Cause Clash at Lake
By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer
First published: Sunday, June 13, 2004
DAY -- Brooklyn wasn't a healthy place for young Dolly Weiss, so in the early 1920s, her mother took the sickly toddler north for some good, clean mountain air.
"She got on the train with me and my two older sisters, with no idea where she was going and stayed on until she liked the looks of the countryside," said Weiss, now 82.
The land her mother, Grace Strongin, liked was the Sacandaga River valley. The family spent the next six summers boarding with a family in Day. They returned to the city in the fall, where Weiss' father worked in real estate.
Harry Strongin heard about a reservoir in the works, one that would flood the Sacandaga valley. A plan that had been under development for a decade before Dolly's first train ride would alleviate the devastating springtime floods in Albany and Troy. Strongin bought land on Cathan Road, Day, in 1929, knowing the house he built there would soon look out on a sparkling lake.
Today, the lake faces development pressures and the unique situation of being state-owned land surrounded by private property. The Hudson River-Black River Regulating District, the state agency formed by legislative action to run the reservoir, strains under 80-year-old rules and criticism by lakeside residents who say their needs are overlooked in favor of hydropower interests that benefit from the stored water.
Bob Monacchio, a one-time summer resident who now lives in Edinburg full time, describes lakeside residents as "the most controlled people in the United States." The reservoir sits almost entirely within the Adirondack Park, so the Adirondack Park Agency has a say in some of the development along its shores. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, the Army Corps of Engineers and individual town zoning laws also regulate construction.
Yet as Lake George and other popular lakes become more crowded by people and pleasure boats, recreation-seekers are finding their way through the red tape at the Great Sacandaga Lake.
Local residents say traffic increased everywhere after 9/11, when people started vacationing closer to home. Carol Hart, town supervisor of Mayfield in Fulton County, said property assessments are jumping and the Mayfield Town Board is writing its first zoning laws.
Giving a tour of the reservoir from the water, surveyor and Sacandaga valley historian John Ferguson can name the long-submerged streets and old town centers as he passes over them.
These days, Ferguson said, year-round homes are replacing the humble summer camps that once filled the shoreline. New owners buy adjoining lots, then knock down a couple of old camps to make way for a new house. He pointed out an acre and a quarter of vacant land in Mayfield that sold recently for $165,000.
Mick Mullins of Sacandaga Lake Realty, based in Clifton Park, said sales have increased since late 2002. At that time, he would not have expected to see average prices of $300,000, but that is now the "standard threshold" for year-round homes.
In Sacandaga Park, "The fact is, it's rapidly becoming a desirable vacation destination and a desirable year-round place to live," Mullins said.
Fourth-generation Day resident Sam Johnson warns newcomers: "Buyer beware."
"People buy houses in June, they think everything will stay the same in September. When the water drops, they want to know what happened," Johnson said.
The name "Great Sacandaga Lake" disguises the lake's job as a working reservoir, Johnson said.
Although the Conklingville Dam was not built until the late 1920s, the concept of a reservoir was developed by the state water supply commission before the turn of the century. Again and again, the Hudson River flooded Albany and Troy, turning streets into canals and causing millions of dollars in damage.
The drainage area at the site of the Conklingville Dam is 1,664 square miles. If that water could somehow be controlled, not only would the springtime floods cease downriver, but the state could increase river flow during the droughts of summer months that had brought work to a standstill at mills along the Hudson. Finally, power companies would have a reliable source of hydropower. Ultimately, the reservoir would impound 40 percent to 45 percent of the watershed.
The $12 million construction cost of the reservoir was financed by the beneficiaries, including the cities of Albany, Rensselaer, Troy, Watervliet and Green Island. Corporations and hydropower interests also paid for the reservoir and continue to support the regulating district's budget. The hydroelectric beneficiaries pay 95 percent of the district's costs.
Erie Boulevard Hydropower and Niagara Mohawk have filed lawsuits in recent years to try to reduce the amount of money they pay. Both suits remain unresolved.
The state Legislature in the 1920s also saw fit to reimburse Sacandaga valley towns that lost taxable property under the water. Almost half of the Hudson River regulating district's $5.5 million portion of the budget is spent in school and town taxes. The state pays on every square foot of land under the water.
The land, up to 778 feet above sea level, is owned by the state. Residents must apply for annual access permits to put out docks, moor boats and otherwise use the state land. Access is generally directly in front of private property, but people who live within a mile of the water are eligible for 10-foot access permits. Permits range to 2,400 feet of lakefront but most are within 100 feet and cost $43 to $72. About 4,600 permits were issued this year.
For now, the relationship between permit holders and the regulating district is peaceful, unlike last fall when hundreds of people filled district meetings to complain about a proposed increase in permit prices of up to 1,000 percent. The district said the fee structure had remained largely unchanged since the late 1960s.
The board backed down from the proposal and is auditing the permit system and plans some increase for 2005. The panel also replaced its executive director with Richard Lefebvre, 65, former chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency.
After heavy rainfall in late May, the water level in the reservoir was higher than normal to help keep flooding to a minimum downriver on the Hudson. Once river levels declined, the district reported, it released the maximum allowable amount of water for several days until lake levels returned to normal.
Permit holders are unhappy about damage to docks and beachfronts caused by water levels.
Some residents say the licensing agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil and electricity, contributes to high water levels.
The Batchellerville Bridge Action Committee, a group watching the district's every move, is tallying the amount permit holders spent for repairs in the aftermath of high water. They hope to persuade Gov. George Pataki to direct the regulating district to amend the FERC agreement.
Although some say commercial ventures will never get the lake access they need from the regulating district, the Northampton Planning Board recently approved two projects.
A 14-unit condominium development received the go-ahead in May for the hamlet of Sacandaga Park, southeast of Northville, Fulton County. Residents of the about 60 nearby century-old cottages opposed it because the proposed buildings will stand between them and the lake.
Yet developer Luigi Lanzi said the project will bring new tax revenue and the influx of people will boost the local economy. His family owns Lanzi's on the Lake in Mayfield and Sport Island Pub in Northampton, both with waterfront access.
Tax revenue is also the rationale for Adirondack Escape, a six-unit motel on 18 acres in Fish House, part of Northampton. The $240,000 project was approved by the Planning Board on June 2 and awaits a public hearing and Town Board consideration.
Opponent Lewis Giles, who bought a 1790s house in Fish House five years ago, said Adirondack Escape won't fit with the hamlet's historic nature. The landowners only hold a 27-foot access permit, according to regulating district engineer Robert Foltan, which is not enough to qualify for a commercial-use permit.
"It is destined to fail," Giles said. "Why would someone pay money to stay there if they have no lake access?"
In Day, Jean and Bill Dixon worry their "piece of heaven" will be disrupted. Visitors to the lake for 30 years, the couple bought a house off County Route 4 (North Shore Road) in 1990. They applied to the regulating district to build a network of ramps to allow Bill Dixon, who uses a wheelchair after a 1981 car crash, access to the water. In recent years, he stays on shore and feeds the chipmunks more often than he boards his paddle boat.
Dolly Weiss and her husband raised their family on Long Island. After retirement, they built a house on the remaining parcel of the 45 acres her father bought in 1929. The couple moved there full time in 1985. Once, a single house stood between the Weiss property on Cathan Road and the dam. Now the number is closer to 55, she said.
The Dixons have seen plenty of home construction in the last 14 years. The boat traffic increased dramatically, they said, and boating regulations are not as strict on the Great Sacandaga Lake as they are on Lake George. Oftentimes, the Dixons said, the serenity of the lake is broken by high-powered "cigarette boats" -- speedsters making waves in heaven.