FOCL Update 02/05/07

To our members of Friends of Crystal Lake,

Mary and I hope all is well with everyone now that we’re already into the second month of what seems like just a blink ago was New Year’s Day. Here are a few items of current interest regarding our beautiful lake.

1. Lake conditions
a. believe it not, Crystal Lake is finally frozen over, although not thick enough yet for ice fishing (darn!).
b. the level is still quite high, but water is flowing out as fast as the drain pipe can handle it. So likewise our cranberry bog is frozen over, and this ice may be thick enough for skating (please check with us before trying, as we have fragile new vines in there).
c. water quality and our Crystal Lake watershed are getting new attention. A brand new environmental report was just released late last month by a consulting company that has been hired by the Town’s Wastewater Management Steering Committee (WMSC) to assess the needs of protecting all of Orleans fresh water bodies. This new study is a sub-set of the larger report being prepared on all of Orleans needs in protecting all our fresh- and salt-water bodies (please see item below about an upcoming meeting on Feb. 26th). I will try to have professional interpretations of this new report soon, which seems to indicate that our water quality is better than some lakes, but that the watershed in which we’re located needs help to protect the onward flow to Pleasant Bay, and that the Crystal Lake area should be high on the wastewater management priority list for the future.
d. we are still waiting for the separate report on Crystal Lake from the Cape Cod Commission and Ed Eichner (remember Ed, the CCC top water scientist who talked with us at our Annual meeting last year?). This will be the detailed status of Crystal Lake’s water quality, with recommendations for corrective actions in the future. It is hoped this report will be released in the next couple of months.

2. Communication from Orleans Pond Coalition – you should’ve received a week or so ago the January 20th letter from the OPC membership chair (yours truly). This letter went out to over 900 people on the OPC mailing list, including all of us in FOCL because we are all members of OPC through the $5 dues that FOCL passes along to OPC. I hope you’re not confused by seeing yet another dues appeal over my signature, as your $10 dues should still come to FOCL. At the same time, if you want to make an extra contribution to OPC, be my guest. And if you didn’t get the OPC letter, please let me know.

3. Storm water runoff – although Massachusetts has apparently approved funds to fix not only the traffic intersection of Route 28/Pond Road/Finlay Road but also the storm drains there, and although there was some talk of the work starting in late 2006, there is no visible action yet. It’s hoped the work will start in the spring, in time to improve the control of storm water runoff into Crystal Lake.

4. Important meeting – on Monday, February 26th there will be a meeting of great importance to all of us, on “Why Does Orleans Need to Manage its Wastewater.” This will be a presentation by the WMSC’s consulting engineering firm on the needs that our Town has for planning wastewater systems to protect our priceless water resources, including Crystal Lake. It will set the stage for further meetings to explain what options the Town might use as it develops a so-called Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP) for approval at the May 2008 Town Meeting. I already hinted earlier that there’s an early and very preliminary suggestion that Crystal Lake should be on the high priority list in the CWMP. OK, too many acronyms maybe, but eventually we around Crystal Lake will learn the two gut issues at stake in this huge and complex challenge – how will it affect me? and how much will it cost me? So attendance by all of us at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 26th, at the Snow Library is encouraged.

5. Possible Fund Raiser – one of our members, John Stark at 110 Monument Road, has floated an idea about possibly having a July tag sale by our members, with proceeds going to the FOCL treasury. Your Board of Directors thinks this could be an interesting and fun opportunity, which would need one or more of us to take leadership and pull it off successfully. Please respond to Kent Arnold (karnold2@twcny.rr.com) or John Stark (attaboyluther@roadrunner.com) or me if you’re interested in helping on this creative idea.

Jim Bast