From the supervisor: It is summer in Skaneateles
BY Janet Aaron
Skaneateles Town Supervisor
Where did June go?
My dad always said that once July 4 comes it seems like an instant and we are at Labor Day. I hope everyone takes the time to enjoy every day they can of our great summer weather.
With the recent heat wave, the NYSDEC and the Town boat launches and our swim area in Clift Park were overflowing with people.
The town’s parking lot in Mandana now requires non-residents to pay a fee to park there. The use of the parking lot is free for residents and proof of residency can be determined by your Transfer Station permit or a residency sticker that you can obtain at the Town Clerk’s Office.
Overnight parking is prohibited unless by special permit. Recent estimates indicate that approximately 80 percent of the people using the Mandana Parking Lot are non-residents.
The fees that we collect support manning of the recently added boat washing station. When boats are turned away from the boat launches by Skaneateles Lake Association Stewards because they do not comply with the NYSDEC requirements that your boat be cleaned, drained and dry, they are directed to go to Mandana where their boat will be cleaned of all material that could impact our beautiful Skaneateles Lake. Hats off to our Parks Department working seven days a week to keep all these operations running smoothly for the summer.
Summer certainly focuses around our lake and much is being done to make sure that the Lake stays as beautiful and pure as it currently is.
Between the City of Syracuse, the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Agriculture Program, Skaneateles Lake Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, the lake is being monitored, protected, and studied with programs geared towards further protection of our lake.
I am so very proud of what all these agencies are doing and continue to do and for all the volunteers in our community who spend tireless hours working to make sure our lake stays healthy and beautiful.
Everyone lives in some type of watershed and should care about what we do on our properties that could impact the watershed. For the Skaneateles Lake Watershed that means of course, Skaneateles Lake.
The Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District (OCSWCD) is offering free soil testing kits to residents in the watershed. The homeowner should call OCSWCD, 315-425-2155, and one of their staff members will come out and do the sampling with the homeowner and then they we will get the sample to the lab and the results back to them.
In addition, make sure your septic system is in good working order by scheduling with your septic service provider appropriate maintenance and servicing of your septic tank. Contact Skaneateles Lake Association at skaneateleslake.org as they have many areas that your volunteer services are needed such as tributary and stream monitoring.
The Highway Department has been cleaning ditches which are then hydroseeded by OCSWCD. They also will be paving certain streets in the town towards the end of July.
We are hoping that the big brush pile at the Transfer Station will be chipped over three days next week. This will then provide free double-ground mulch for all permit holders.
The Skaneateles United Methodist Church will be holding their 59th Annual Antique Show from 10 am to 5 p.m. on July 13 and 14 and Symphoria will once again be offering a free concert at 7 p.m. on July 26, both at the Austin Park Pavilion. Don’t miss the free concerts by the Skaneateles Community Band every Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Gazebo at Clift Park. And don’t forget, residents can swim free at Clift Park. Pick up your swim tags at the Town Hall or from a lifeguard at Clift Park.
