Photo: Pon & Lake Connection fanboat surveying and treating today.
Pond & Lake Connection was out on the lake this morning treating phragmites which are an invasive species of reed that grows along the shoreline. The herbicide used was Clearcast. There are no water usage restrictions.
Phragmites proliferate quickly and grow into the lakebed causing marshy outgrowth and reducing shoreline access. They are particularly bad in the south end of the lake around the TEA beach area where Pond & Lake is concentrating their efforts. Phragmites treatment was also made in selected other spots around the lake. In addition, spot treatments of cutrine for algae control were also made.
As a part of our continuing lake management plan, we will be drawing down the lake level again this fall to help control weed growth in the spring.
Photo: 2019-2020 siphon installation at the Indian Lane Dam on Truesdale Lake
Pond & Lake Connection will begin installing the siphons at the dam on Thursday, Sept 17 in preparation for lowering the water level in mid to late October to allow time to enjoy the lake for a few more weeks.
The weir boards at the spillway will not be removed as they are used to support the siphon pipes so the water level will not be affected until the draw down begins.
A notice will be sent to the lake community before the draw down begins to alert riparian homeowners to secure or remove floating docks and boats.
-TLPOA Lake Management – John Gusmano, Ray Morse and Lara Gorton
Photo: October 2019 drawdown shorelineOctober 2019 Truesdale Lake drawdown – south end flyover
Just one day prior to this race, Skip completed the Sunfish Fleet #27 summer series with not only the series championship but also perfect attendance at all 20 summer series races.
Coming in a strong second was Jonathan Rodgers who tipped his cap to Skip. “He had the start figured out most weeks and just wouldn’t give up his lead once he got it.”
Third overall was Fleet Commodore Ira Sanchick who had a slow season start but finished strong. Ira overtook Rob Cummings in the last week to secure the bronze. Rob’s was convinced there were turtles under his boat slowing him down just enough for Ira to get by. Next year Rob plans to befriend the reptiles of the lake and convince them to take his side. Rob shared the perfect attendance award with Skip for 2020.
Veteran Truesdale sailor Paul Dennis was fifth overall in the Sunrise sail. Rookie sailor Eric Novak came up sixth in the season, earning the “most improved” award which comes with a painting of him sail on the lake. With his new boat and “Mojito” sail he will be ready to get even better next year.
Kevin Hobson represented Ohio State in the red and white sail. New sailors Elizabeth and Paul Amerling had a good introduction to sailing on the lake, with Elizabeth taking second overall in her third race ever. Veteran sailor Bob Branizza recovered from injury to join the fleet late in the season and had some good showings.
The fleet will continue to sail on Sundays in the Fall as long as the weather is good and there is interest. These races are standalone events for fun and good competition. All are invited.
If you have never sailed and/or raced, this is a great time to come out in a non-competitive format to learn some tips and techniques. Email lake@truesdalelake.com to get in touch.
See you on the lake!
Sail selection from 2020 summer season
Presidents Cup 2020 Race Results (Labor Day Monday)
Skip
Jonathan
Kevin
Rob
Ira
Paul D
Eric
Bob
Paul A
September 3, 2020
by rob Comments Off on Labor Day Weekend 2020 – Boating Events
Plan to be underway by 7:15 (prep your boats during daylight hours) and arrive mid-lake by 8pm. All ages welcome!
Due to a slight celestial miscalculation when picking the date, the moon will not rise until 9:15 on 9/5 — but the twilight and lights from watercraft should provide plenty of light to navigate by! And the moon will be rising as boaters are heading back to shore.
Light up your boats creatively — but not too brightly. Glow sticks, LEDs, lanterns with dimming control, etc. Hang out as long as you’d like and have a socially distant event. Meet new neighbors and reacquaint with old ones.
Save the higher powered lights to help you get back to your launch area afterwards. Please refrain from shining bright lights while gathered.
Sunday 9/6 1:30 pm – Final Sunfish Fleet #27 Races of the Summer Series
We have had good weather and good to great wind all summer long. The fleet has not missed a sailing Sunday all summer! This coming Sunday is the final week of the 2020 Summer Series. Meet at 1:30pm off of the dock of 43 Truesdale Lake Drive (Fleet Commodore Ira’s dock) where the starting/finishing line is.
Come out even if you have not raced at all this summer – the more the merrier! We also love getting cheered on from the docks and beach – but sometimes we can’t wave back if the wind is strong and we need both hands to guide the sailboats.
Monday 9/7 1:30 pm – “The President’s Cup Race” annual event held on Labor Day Monday
Labor Day Monday is the traditional Truesdale Lake President’s Cup race. The president’s cup trophy is given to the winner with name engraved. The first engraving on the cup dates back to 1960 so this is a long tradition. Winner gets to keep the cup for a year.
This is a standalone race 2 times around all five Truesdale buoys. Clockwise or counterclockwise is determined by prevailing wind direction that day.
The wind forecast is looking good for both Sunday and Monday with Monday looking like a slightly windier day.
Skip is keeping ahold of the overall lead for total points and has taken over the per race average lead. Jonathan is #2 overall in race average and is in the hunt for first overall. Rob, Kevin, Ira, Paul, Eric, and new racer Elizabeth round out the 8 active sailors so far in 2020.
Only the best 10 races count towards season scoring. Once we start dropping races next week things will get more interesting. This is especially true if the later races have more sailors which makes the races have point potential and higher stakes.
All sailors are welcome! Beginners get a 2 minute head start. Course direction and length is determined on Sunday by wind conditions and prevailing direction. 90% of the time the wind is out of the North but that can vary even during the races.
They will not apply any herbicide so there are no water usage or irrigation restrictions.
Treatment will be focusing on the coves and shallower areas but they expect to treat broadly where needed.
It may take a few days to see the effects of the treatment and treated algae may collect in the coves depending on wind and currents.
As the weather and the lake temperature gets warmer, the conditions are ideal for algae growth.
Algae clumps on the surface of the lake are actually beneficial to the health of the ecosystem. They absorb phosphorus and oxygenate the water. While the floating algae is a nuisance, it helps to prevent a more serious (blue green) algae accumulation in the water column depleting oxygen in the water which can cause harm to the fish and wildlife.
As with weeds, we want to manage the growth of beneficial algae to avoid a more significant problem and maintain a healthy environment for all of us to enjoy our lake.
Lara Gorton, Lake Management Chair
August 3, 2020
by rob Comments Off on Local Artist Spotlight: Reflecting on Reflections Virtual Show
Image: Click image for link to Lewisboro Library instagram page
On Tuesday August 4th at 7 p.m., join long-time Lake Truesdale resident, professional artist, and photographer Jeff Vreeland as he presents “Reflecting on Reflections… a diverse collection of photographs using solely the power of clear refracted surfaces to represent the increasing complexity of our emerging contemporary culture.”
July 23, 2020
by rob Comments Off on TEA Current Officers and Board Members 2019-2020; Call for New Board Members and Officer Nominations for 2021-2022 term
The Truesdale Estates Association is comprised of members and officers from the TEA deeded lake rights area. (See map at link or in full post for details.)
Board members serve two year terms and have no term limits.
Officers have two year terms and cannot serve back-to-back terms in the same office. Officers can serve as officers in a different role than the one previously held. (i.e. no one can be President, Treasurer, VP, etc. for more than 2 years at a time).
These proposals are of interest to many in the neighborhood around Lake Truesdale.
Homeland Towers, the cell tower construction and leasing company, has proposed two locations for a future cell tower in the South Salem hamlet near Truesdale Lake.
The first proposed location is at the Recycling Center behind the Town House and adjacent to the Highway Garage just off of Lake Shore Drive
The second proposed location is at the Salt Dome site just off of Spring Street and close to Route 35.
All documents shown below were part of the agenda packets for the 6/22/2020 Town Board meeting and can be found here:
Image: Location and sight lines for proposed Salt Dome location of Cell Tower monopoleImage: Location and sight lines for proposed Recycling Center location of Cell Tower monopole
The maps also show (in blue) where the proposed towers could be seen from.
The Recycling Center location clearly has much more visual impact throughout the lake neighborhood than the Salt Dome location.
Homeland Towers contracted with Saratoga Associates to perform a Visual Resource Assessment of the two locations including photos and mockups of what the towers would look like from various spots in the neighborhood.
Click the link above or below to download the original full visual assessment document. I have excerpted selected pages above and below in this post that best show the lake neighborhood views and impact.
Image: Existing view from TEA beach on Truesdale Lake Drive (no tower)Image: view with overlay of monopole tower at Salt Dome property from TEA beach on Truesdale Lake Drive (monopole just visible to the left of the pine tree on right side)Image: view with overlay of monopine tower at Salt Dome property from TEA beach on Truesdale Lake Drive (monopine just visible to the left of the pine tree on right side)Image: view with overlay of monopole tower at Recycling Center property from TEA beach on Truesdale Lake DriveImage: view with overlay of monopine tower at Recycling Center property from TEA beach on Truesdale Lake DriveAnimated GIF showing the two proposed locations simulated view from the TEA Beach on Truesdale Lake Drive
Proposed location schematics and property maps are in two separate documents linked below as downloads.
Download the complete documents here or see selected images below the download links.
Image: Salt Dome property with tower location shown.Image: Recycling Center property with tower location shown.Image: monopole tower diagram showing antenna arrays.
For context here is a map showing the locations of the two closest cell towers currently installed and the two proposed tower locations near Truesdale Lake neighborhood.
Topographic map showing existing cell tower locations and the locations of the two proposed cell towers.
The conclusion at the end of the Saratoga Associates visual study letter reads as follows:
Conclusion – In our professional opinion, locating the tower at the DPW [recycling center] site will result in a greater visual impact on local residences; particularly within the hamlet of South Salem hamlet. Whereas construction of the tower at the Salt Dome Site would have little to no visual impact on residences and recreational use of Truesdale Lake, a tower sited at the DPW Site would be directly visible from a large portion of the lake. Based on viewshed analysis and photo simulation the tower would be less visible in its currently proposed Salt Dome Site than the alternative DPW Site.
