Lake Armington Association Spring Newsletter—2012

Polly Tafrate, LAA President

April 1, 2012

Dear Members,

A mild winter with little snow was unusual for the Lake Armington area and equally unusual were the number of issues confronting the board. Here’s a not-so-brief synopsis.

1) Status of the Non-Profit 501 (c) 3 Application--fifty-seven ballots were sent out in January to vote on amending the LAA by-laws. Forty-one replied, with a “yes,” which allows LAA to submit an application for non-profit status with the IRS. Any donation made after the approval date (hopefully this summer) will be tax deductible—including your dues. We owe a huge thank you to Brad Caswell, who handled all the paper work, filing the application and lawyer contact. While he kept the board up to date on each step, he and he alone, did all the work.

2) We now have a Post Office Box necessitated by our application for the above. It’s checked regularly by several board

members. In case you need it, the address is Lake Armington Association, P.O. Box 143, Piermont, NH 03779.

3) Update on the Common Reed or Phragmites Weed Infestation Site—on the lakeshore on the Palmucci/Blank property now known as the Palmucci property in the Armington Loop area. In spite of Brad Caswell’s best effort at digging up and removing these invasive weeds last fall, they’ve returned. Now we must address this problem of removing them in a timely manner before they spread further.

The board had an emergency meeting at the lake in March, with Shawn Hennessey and Ann Soloway joining us on a conference call. It was decided that rather than make weed eradication a do-it-your-self project, we will hire a reputable and experienced company, Lycott Environmental, Inc. which is located in Southbridge MA. They will obtain the necessary permits and use US EPA-registered and state-approved systemic glyphosate herbicide to destroy the Phragmites weed and runners. This is a three-year process with Brad Caswell as the project manager. The Association will fund this expense.

Chris Palmucci has been contacted and is willing to have the weeds removed from her property. She is adamant that neither she nor Jerry ignored any part of the NHDES weed clean-up agreement. They wanted everything done exactly as was proposed and agreed upon so there would be no further issues. In light of this recent infestation, Brad has contacted Jeffrey Blecharczyk (of NHDES) questioning their responsibility for signing off before the work was completed. He has agreed to look into this and will respond to Brad, our project manager.

4) Funds—Thanks to contributions from lake residents and the camp we have enough in our treasury to fund the Common Reed removal, (see #3). The total cost will be $3,900.00 over three years, with about a third paid each year.

To date, our treasury has: $2,530.00, from LAA members, $4,013.00 from Camp Walt Whitman parents and alumni, (see #5) and $1,210.00 from annual dues which totals $6543.00. But this doesn’t mean we can become complacent—who knows what our future needs will be and having a necessary rainy-day cushion is vital.

5) As in previous years, Wendy Cahill has agreed to continue as the point person for our Lake Host program. Board member, Ann Soloway, alerted many camp alumni and lovers of the lake explaining our need to have more coverage with paid workers. Their generous donations will help us expand Lake Host coverage along with any Association volunteers and the C.I.T.'s from Camp Walt Whitman.

Dovetailing with this effort will be our volunteer Weed Watchers who patrol the lakeshores from the water looking for any sign of invasive weeds, such as the Common Reed we’re now eradicating. If you’d like to become a Weed Watcher there will be a training at the public boat launch on Saturday, May 19, from 9:00-10:30 run by Amy Smagula of the NH Department of Environmental Services. Please RSVP to Evie Conroy, , if you can attend.

5a) We owe a huge vote of thanks to Evie, our treasurer. I think it safe to say she didn’t realize how complex a job this has developed into when she agreed to serve. Evie also heads our Weed Watcher program. Sincere thanks also go to Wendy Cahill who keeps the Lake Host program running smoothly. Hers may seem like a minimal job, but talk with her and you’ll discover it’s just the opposite. A big thank-you goes to Mike Poole for consistently performing Water Quality testing at the lake for many years.

6) On a lighter note, the ice-out contest was not only fun, but a success. Thanks to Todd Langley’s efforts the day and time the little gizmo he placed near the Manrique’s dock went under on March 22, 2012 at 5:58 p.m. Thanks to Todd and Carlos Manrique who tabulated the votes from Florida. The winners are: first place, Sam Rounds, second to Gino Theberge and third place to Vicki Davis. Prizes of gift certificates to local businesses will be awarded at our meeting/picnic.

7) Camp Walt Whitman has graciously offered to host our Annual Meeting and Picnic this year. Mark your calendars for Sunday, August 12, time to be determined. This will give the camp a well-needed day between closing on the 10th and our event on the 12th.

8) DSL updates—I wrote a strong letter to Mr. Peter Nixon, Executive VP of External Affairs and Operations at Fairpoint, including quotes from area residents and owners of the two camps. Copies were sent to state, local and federal officials. This letter/petition was signed by Jed and Carolyn Dorfman of Camp Walt Whitman, Rob and Alice Wipfler of Camp Kingswood, Joyce Tompkins, President of The Lake Tarleton Association, Sam and Steve Rounds, Representatives of Cape Moonshine Road, Bill Cahill, Representative of Armington Loop and myself. Responses from the officials were sympathetic but not what we want to hear--Fairpoint has no plans to expand coverage to our area in 2012. Carol Miller, Director of Broadband Technology, suggests that everyone log their location as unserved on their broadband mapping and planning program website:

I’d like to end this letter with a plea for funds to help maintain the quality of the lake water, not only this year but in the future. (Checks made out to the Lake Armington Association now go to PO Box 143 Piermont, NH 03779). Perhaps you’ve read about Eurasian Milfoil growing in neighboring lakes. We are fortunate that we don’t have that weed growing in our lake, but as of last September, Lake Morey is again infested. In 2007 it was treated with chemicals and suction harvesting of a few patches. The new outcrop of weeds will be treated with chemicals this summer in the hopes that this will give them a few years respite. "At best, this is a control mechanism and can't be eradicated totally," says Lake Morey Commission Chair, Don Weaver, in the Journal Opinion (9.28.12).

What some don’t realize is that any invasive weed can enter a lake, not just on the bottom of boats or trailers—but on ski ropes, fishing tackle and creels, the bottom of boots and even dogs. We can’t be too vigilant which is another reason we need more volunteer lake hosts and weed watchers. Call Wendy and Evie respectively, or see the website for volunteering details

As always, please feel free to contact any of the Association Board members with any feedback or questions you may have. And if anyone is willing to serve on the board or as an officer please let one of us know.

Hope your spring is an enjoyable one, wherever you may be and that you, too, are looking forward to summer.

~Polly~