(Note: this article is from the PLPA Spring 2023 Newsletter)
On April 24 the PLPA Board held its second quarterly meeting for 2023.
This was the first meeting since the beginning of the membership drive and the good news is that we are up to 86 members. That’s slightly ahead of where we were at this time last year. While that’s encouraging, we’re still down from the 2023 final total of 158 Owner/Camper members. With the enhanced ability to pay your dues and make donations on the website, we’re planning a second membership drive in the coming weeks. So, if you haven’t joined or renewed your membership yet for 2023, please make time. The PLPA relies totally on donations to fund the many projects and events we sponsor.
As you may have heard, the PLPA recently created an invasive species subcommittee to gather more information on invasive species and the threat they pose to Adirondack Lakes. The Board received an update on the latest efforts of the subcommittee. You can read more about what they have been working on in Donna Coffey’s article elsewhere in this newsletter or on the website.
For those of you who haven’t visited it yet, we hope you’ll visit the new PLPA website (PLPA.org). The website has been overhauled and modernized. During the Board meeting we began discussing ways to make the website a resource for the lake community – so if you have any ideas, we’d love to hear from you.
We also discussed the Lake Events calendar. Beth Flynn, among others, has been busy working on social events at the Lake, including numerous opportunities to get together with boat parties, a bonfire, canoe/kayak races and a summer and winter craft fair. You can see the full calendar of events posted on the website.
The PLPA will also be meeting with the Peck’s later this month to talk about many of the issues and concerns you have brought to our attention, including making it easier to put and take your own boats out of the lake, and making sure that the dock storage doesn’t block access to the lake for those who canoe and kayak in the early spring and late fall. We’ll also be talking to the Pecks about how to improve communication with campers and guests of the cottages on the various lake rules, including wake reduction near the shoreline.
The trail system is a wonderful resource for those of us here at the lake, and it wouldn’t be possible without the joint efforts and cooperation of the Peck Family and the PLPA. The Board discussed whether the trails should be for the exclusive use of PLPA members and the Peck’s and their guests. It was decided that the trails should be open to all lake residents and guests. We will likely be updating the signage at the trail entrances to reflect that.
As someone who walks their dog along the roadways of the North Shore, speeding cars and trucks can be dangerous. Last year the Town of Bleecker imposed a 30mph limit on all public lake roadways in the town – we’ll be working with the Town to hopefully install new speed limit signs. The speed limit on the parts of the lake roadways in Johnstown are already 30mph. Especially during the summer months we have many more guests, deliveries and contractors on the lake roads – and they need to be made aware of driving at a safe speed.
Finally – we discussed the issue of property taxes. Now that the assessment rolls are out, most of the lake properties in the Town of Bleecker appear to have had their assessments increased by 15% or more. We’ll be working on setting up a meeting with the assessor to discuss this. We will also be holding a virtual meeting for PLPA members who would like assistance on how to challenge (or grieve) their property tax assessment. More information will be forthcoming. There will likely be lots of grieving when folks get their property tax bill this year!
That pretty much wraps up the April 2023 Board report. Please check the website from time to time for the latest news and the events schedule, looking forward to seeing you all back at the lake!