2024 Updates on Roaring Brook Lake

Hello neighbors! We wish you a meaningful and special Memorial Day. We hope you spent this weekend enjoying the weather, the great lake temperature, and plenty of time with your neighbors. We also hope you are reflecting on the important holiday today and the many people who have served our country with honor, as well as the responsibility we all bear to build a strong, connected, inclusive community here at Roaring Brook Lake.

This post is jam-packed with great information about our community, so buckle up! And please don’t forget to pay your POA dues here. It helps keep this kind of communication coming your way; it pays for our annual regatta; and it allows the POA to continue to safeguard the health of our environment, the lake’s watershed, and the local environment.

Photo by: Alex Harris

Now onto the headlines!

• Lake conditions couldn't look better! Thanks to a record rainfall this spring, the lake is clear and full. We've seen a number of carp who survived last summer's storm. And we’re hopeful that will help keep the weeds to a minimum. But you can learn about the weeds and much more at the... 

• Very important State of the Lake & Update on the Dam Rehabilitation Project presentation on June 1st at 10am at Putnam Valley Town Hall. AJ Reyes, our lake manager, will give us a broad overview of our lake, as well as actions our community can take to keep our lake healthy and vibrant. You can read AJ Reyes’ full 2024 report here.

• Learn even more about our lake, and others in our region, at the Lower Hudson Regional Lake Meeting on June 14, from 9 to 12:30 at the Sedgewood Club. For more info and to register, click here.

• Save the dates for our community meetings! They’ll occur on Saturdays @ 9:30am at Children’s Beach on: June 8 (with special guest County Executive Kevin Byrne), July 13, August 17, and September 21 (with special guest AJ Reyes).

• We’ve heard from many of you that you’d like us to find a way to have a zoom option for our POA meetings. We don’t have great AV options at the moment – but if anyone on the lake would like to help, please contact us at admin@rblpoa.com.

• Save the Date for our Annual Regatta: July 20th. This couldn’t be a better community day and we encourage you all to come out and enjoy!

• We have a new Lake Superintendent, Brian Mansfield. He’ll be helping to keep our beaches and boat landings in order. He coordinated getting all the ropes and floating docks out at our beaches this month (thank you, Brian!). If you need to reach him, please feel free to contact him at roaringbrooklakesuper@gmail.com.

• Our former lake superintendent Abby O’Brien has accepted a vacant position on the RBL Preservation Committee. Congratulations, Abby!

Ferber’s Landing

RBL land updates:

• Ferber’s Landing has been restored from the damage which occurred due to the July 2023 storm. Click here to see more photos of the improvements.

• The Highway Department has come around filling potholes and has put further mitigation work for Ferber’s Landing on their schedule.

• The POA continues to lobby to have the posted speed limit in RBL reduced from 30 mph to 20 mph.

• The NYS Parks Manager at Fahnestock Park plans to clean up the Baxter Cemetery after the POA advocated for improvements. It has been 100 years since the last interment at this cemetery, and we want the space to continue to be treated respectfully.

• We prioritized the very needed dam renovation project the past two years over the Taconic State Parkway noise, but we’ll be taking a more serious look at this issue in the years to come. While it’s partially a quality of life issue, the larger concern is the polluted runoff from the Taconic entering our lake at the southernmost coves. If anyone would like to help with this project, contact us at admin@rblpoa.com.

• The health of the trees planted across from the stores on Pudding Street as part of the overpass project is concerning. The trees away from the stores (closer to the highway) are doing quite well, but a group of about 6-8 trees directly across from the stores are not doing well. They are alive but they have dead branches and are struggling. An RBL neighbor, who is a landscape designer by profession, came to assess the trees and recommended some potential solutions. This has been brought to the attention of the town and the state, and the Department of Transportation plans to send an arborist to further investigate, with the likelihood of them removing dead plantings and replacing the ailing trees. This work should be completed in 2025. The POA will continue to lobby to preserve the wetland area.

Beach updates:

• Brian Mansfield, our new lake supervisor, led a small coalition of residents to assist in the deployment of the beach ropes and floating docks. Very early on we encountered a bunch of issues with the existing ropes and floats. The ropes had long outlived their operational lives and were in desperate need of complete replacement. We were fortunate enough to have had a brand new 500' reel of rope in the shed at children's beach. We removed every rope float from the old rope and installed it on the new rope. This was quite a task, but flowed really well due a properly coordinated effort and the hard work of the nearly dozen participants.

• Brian brought a bunch of tools and material with him on his utility cart and volunteered his mini electric pontoon boat to assist in the placing of the floating docks. We discovered some operational issues on some of the plastic docks with regard to safely and effectively securing them to the anchoring devices (the concrete blocks). It appears as though the original hardware that was used was not stainless steel and had not weathered as well as the plastic. We have sought out new hardware and will be installing new heavy duty SS pad eye hooks on the underside of the floating docks prior to the start of the season. This will allow the anchor ropes to be located optimally for safety and proper ladder access.

• We identified a bunch of larger refuse items (old chairs, tables, kids toys, etc) that we intend to sort out in the coming weeks. There are a few other minor issues regarding signage, small repairs to dock boards and other smaller items that we also intend on addressing.

• Lasty, after many hours of hard work, Brian brought everyone back to his house and served a 6' Italian wedge and refreshments. Big thanks to Brian for his A+ effort and devotion to his community!

• We’re investigating the possibility of a boat rack at Park Beach. If any would-be Eagle Scout out there needs a community project, or if anyone else wants a construction project… let us know! The District will pay for supplies.

• A shed will be installed on Spur Beach to replace the job box currently there.  It will provide a better storage location for the lifeguard supplies and a place to store the rescue boards over the winter to extend their service life.  It will be in the same location as the job box and will not interfere with or take up parking space.

A whole lotta carp.

Lake update:

• Goose egg addling went well again this year -- 40 eggs addled in 7 nests. Did we miss any? We'll know for sure by June 1st. Keep your eyes peeled for goslings.

• Meanwhile, be a friend to the lake: Don't dump leaves, grass clippings or any yard waste into the lake or into the wetlands that surround and protect it.

• Plant a native plant in your yard. Native plants support the insects that are essential to a healthy lake ecosystem.

• Learn how to plant an attractive, effective rain garden and install rain barrels that will help protect our lake and enhance the beauty of your property. Hosted by the Lake Oscawana Management Advisory Committee, the event is open to all Putnam County residents and will take place Tuesday, June 18, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM by Zoom video conference. More information here.

RBLPOA survey results:

• Thanks to everyone for filling out our survey on our RBLPOA communications. Your top suggestions were to send more frequent communications out and to have a list of local businesses available to residents. We also heard that you’d be interested in more community clubs, an off-leash dog play area, and weed control in the lake. The POA will be reviewing these suggestions – and if anyone wants to help with more frequent communications, please get in touch!

• There was most interest in a paddle-boarding / kayaking club and some interest in a yoga, book, or board game club. Community events inclusive of kids are popular.

• More broadly, some suggestions from the community included: Adding zoom option to lake association meetings & more year-round resident wide meetings; a 5-year beach maintenance program; establishing an off-leash dog play area; improving street signs around the lake; enforcing no dumping of vehicles / boats; and working with the town to ensure bins are closed properly.

Improvised Soundscapes – Rescheduled to August 3rd

Two of our resident musicians Bob Frye and Alex Harris (also known as our famed POA newsletter photographer) will be performing at Tompkins Corners Cultural Center in Putnam Valley, NY on August 3rd. Join the instrumental duo taking cues from jazz, funk, fusion, and electronic music. They craft their music spontaneously on stage, making every performance unique. Book your tickets here.