Truesdale Lake Improvement District Working Meeting with TLPOA and TEA
[Editor’s Note – Even though this meeting has already occurred, there is still information about the proposed lake improvement district contained inside and it is worth a read as an introduction.]

When: January 6th (Thursday), 2005
Time: 7:45pm
Place: (Lake resident’s house — If you need information about where the meeting will be held, please click “Contact Us” link on the side of the page or call me at the number at the end of this article.)

Summary: 

Members of the TLPOA and TEA, with support of unaffiliated lakefront property owners (“no-man’s land” on Lake Shore Drive and Vreeland properties off Boway) have been spearheading an effort to create a Tax District or “Lake Improvement District” for the Truesdale Lake Community.

The purpose of the district would be to fund repair of the Dam and remediate and repair watershed drainage points in six areas (the “hot spots”) immediately draining to the lake.

The problems have been documented and published in three studies executed on behalf of TLPOA and TEA:
1.) Lake Engineering Study (LandTech), completed in 2001
2.) Dam Study (LandTech), completed in 2003
3.) Dam Engineering Report (HTE Northeast), completed 2004

Very preliminary cost estimates are in the range of $500,000. This is far beyond the annual operating budget of TEA or TLPOA. Hence the need to float a bond issue and establish a district to back the bond.

The preliminary costs estimated are for dam repair, drainage/”hot spots” repair, legal and professional costs, and ongoing maintenance of the repairs.

A bond issue spreads the cost over a long time period (est. 20 years). Sharing the cost among the approximately 300 households in the proposed district will enable us to pay for this investment. Establishing a lake improvement district would enable the bond to be floated and will lower the borrowing costs due to the secured nature of the financing (tax receipts).

Working meeting purpose:

To gather and discuss how best to present the plan to a larger group of residents within the proposed district. This would happen at a Truesdale Lake Community meeting to be held in February 2005.

Some of the topics will include:
-What exactly is wrong that we need to fix,
-Who is in the proposed district,
-What is the process to form a district,
-How is the Town of Lewisboro involved,
-Do I get a vote and how,
-Are there public hearings,
-What is the timeline,
-Your questions and concerns!

Who should go to the meeting:

If you are interested in being informed about the early discussions and want a chance for Q&A time, this is the place to get it. The plan for the proposed district may move along very quickly but it is still in the very early stages.

If you have a neighbor who is interested and not on the TEA board please let them know about the meeting or have them contact me if they have questions.

Resources:

I have gathered up the studies done in the past 3 years at the
http://truesdalelake.com website. They are accessible in the Downloads section of the site or via the menu on the left-hand side. If you have any questions or have trouble accessing the documents, let me know.

I will be updating the site as we get new materials and information.

Let me know if you have questions or concerns.

Take care,
Rob Cummings
763-0881
—
http://www.truesdalelake.com
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