The Cazenovia Village Board officially approved its contract with L.L. Bean to establish the outdoor apparel company’s use of Cazenovia Lake and Lakeland Park for its newest Outdoor Discovery School. The approval came two days after the green L.L. Bean trailer full of kayaks was parked near the north wall by the public swimming area in Lakeland Park, and five days before the new school begins kayaking excursions on the lake.
“This is what happens when a community has vision,” said Trustee Jim Joseph, who played an integral part in the negotiations with L.L. Bean.
The village’s contract with L.L. Bean contained no items or agreements not previously made public: the company agreed not to sell any kayaks or other equipment — or have any money change hands at all — inside Lakeland Park (which is an action currently prohibited by the village code), all parking for the schools will be outside of the park and on village streets, the company was charged the usual $75 park use fee for the program and the company will provide the necessary program insurance and indemnity to the village.
Joseph gave attendees of the board’s June 3 regular monthly meeting a brief overview and update of the village’s partnership with L.L. Bean, which came to fruition in less than two weeks. He said that while the Outdoor Discovery School program will begin solely with kayaking classes and tours, that will expand to offer paddle boarding in later summer, hiking in fall and snowshoeing in winter.
These latter two activities tie directly into the 2013 signature project for the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association, which is to create visibility and encourage use of the vast trail network and recreational amenities in Cazenovia. “You can easily envision L.L. Bean using those trails for hiking and snowshoeing,” Joseph said.
Lauren Lines, CACDA’s executive director, said the L.L. Bean agreement “dovetails very nicely” with the work that CACDA is doing on its signature project. “We have been working to comprehensively map all of our outdoor recreation resources and therefore encourage recreational tourism. The L.L. Bean opportunity aligns very nicely with this and helps us toward this goal.”
Bob Greiner, president of the Cazenovia Lake Association, said he “couldn’t be happier this is happening” for Cazenovia, but said that the CLA is concerned about boater safety on the lake considering the influx of kayaks about to enter the waterways. He asked the board if it had thought about how best to ensure safety on the lake. “Better safe than sorry, is the reason I bring this up,” Greiner said.
The trustees replied that safety is always a concern, and L.L. Bean has long experience at offering these classes, is very safety conscious and knows what they are doing. Trustee Dave Porter, who is on the village safety committee, said he will make sure that safety is a key part of each kayaking class.
Greg Schwarz, the Fayetteville L.L. Bean ODS program manager, previously said that every two-hour class begins with about 30 minutes of safety and training instruction before going out on the water. The L.L. Bean website also states this policy.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Continued a previous public hearing on a proposed law to amend the village code to add to the current list of signs allowed in the village without a permit. The issue specifically concerned the addition of sponsor and booster signs to athletic fields owned by schools, post-secondary educational institutions and/or non-profit organizations, based on a request to signs to the youth baseball fences at Vets Field.
The board agreed it was best not to change the current village code on such signs, but instead to allow temporary signs on field fences: signs put up before and taken down immediately following an event would not need a permit, while signs put up for the duration of an athletic season would be required to undergo the regular Village Planning Board review process. The language and details of this temporary sign policy will be drafted into a resolution by Village Attorney Jim Stokes, which the board will discuss again at its regular July meeting.
—Approved a request from the Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce to hold a Chalk Walk event on village streets from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 29.
—Approved a request from Allure Fitness and Dance studio to hold a Zumbathon fundraiser at the gazebo in Lakeland Park from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, to benefit Christine Lafave, who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The event would request donations and sell raffle tickets to raise funds, 100 percent of which will be given to the Lafave family.
—Received from Stokes the draft resolution for the board concerning Empire Brewing Company’s application for a zone change on its Route 13 land where it plans to build a farmstead brewery. The board plans to vote on this resolution at a special public hearing on Tuesday, June 11.
—Asked Lauren Lines of CACDA to proceed with a grant application to New York state for funding to be used to extend the Fenner Street sidewalks from where they currently end down to the entrance to Fenner Fields.
—Discussed how and when to begin the boat patrols on the lake. The Cazenovia Lake Association is providing the boat to be used and much of the funding, but the village is currently investigating issues of jurisdiction on the lake and coordinating with the various agencies involved in the program (the village, the town, the yacht club, the police department and the CLA) to make sure the program is accomplished effectively and efficiently.
—Discussed plans to repair and rebuild parts of the Lakeland Park dividing wall next to Route 13, starting at Carpenter’s Barn and moving north toward the main entrance. Plans include creating a new gate by the barn that would be big enough to allow construction-size vehicles to pass through. Mayor Kurt Wheeler said the village has been holding off on these repairs while they have (unsuccessfully) applied for grants to help defray the cost, but the wall is now becoming so unstable that it would be unsafe to wait any longer.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].