Congratulations to Rick Otty from Hudson who, on Monday January 28th, managed to catch the state record Black Crappie in Kinderhook Lake. The fish measured 18.5″ long, 16.5″ girth and weighed 3 lbs-13 oz. This broke the previous state record black crappie of 17.75″ and 3 lb-12 oz caught in Duck Lake, Cayuga Co., from way back in 1998.
The January 2013 KLC Newsletter is now available online HERE and on the NEWSLETTERS page.
The January newsletters will continue to be mailed to all past members along with a membership renewal application. Remaining newsletters will be available online only. If we have your email address on file, you will be notified when each newsletter is available online.
You can now easily pay for your KLC membership, donations, business sponsorship and gate key online from the link on the KLC MEMBERSHIP page. Please email us at klcweb@archman8.com if you have any problems using the new system.
Authors for Newsletter Articles
The KLC Board of Directors is seeking authored articles and/or suggestions for articles from members, lake residents and the community, for publication in future newsletters, and possibly on the website. Articles and suggestions should be related to the lake and surrounding community, and might include interesting stories about life on and around the lake, lake history, recreation (fishing, boating, skiing, boarding, swimming, diving, etc), activities, water quality, weeds, safety, guidelines, wildlife, shoreline issues, local construction, etc. Please forward your interest in authoring articles and/or suggestions to klcnews@archman8.com, with “Newsletter Articles” in the subject line. Someone will contact you. The KLC Board reserves the right to review, edit and/or determine adequacy for publication of all articles.
Volunteers
The KLC Board of Directors recognizes that in the past they have not done a good job of utilizing those members who have volunteered to help with tasks around the lake. However, at a recent meeting, the Board has made a renewed commitment to call upon volunteers who have expressed interest and, therefore, requests that members continue to check off preferred volunteer activities on the 2013 membership applications or forward an email to klcweb@archman8.com, with “Wish to Volunteer” in the subject line. Someone will contact you. Thank you for your support.
Certified Boating Instructor
The KLC Board of Directors is looking for a Certified NYS Boating Instructor who is willing to volunteer their time to teach a NYS Boater Safety Course for KLC members over the summer. If you or someone you know would be interested in helping, please forward contact information to klcweb@archman8.com, with “Boating Instructor” in the subject line.
This is a summary of issues discussed at the October 2012 KLC Board Meeting:
- Financial and membership reports
- Review of the KLC’s bylaws and governance procedures
- Lack of action by DEC related to the KLC’s permit application to inspect and repair the dam sluice gate and outlet pipe
- How to increase attendance at future membership meetings
- Renewed commitment to make better use of volunteers to assist the Board in accomplishing its goals
- Responsibilities for monitoring and managing the sluice gate to control lake levels
- Responsibilities for publication of future newsletters and distribution of 2013 membership packages
- Report by Lake Guidelines and Launch Sites Committee
- Election of Officers
Every year on October 15th, the sluice gate in the dam is fully opened 500+ turns to allow water to drain down the Valatie Kill and Kinderhook Creek until our lake is about 33-inches below the main spillway, about 4.5-feet below average summer levels. This lower depth is permitted by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to protect shorelines and docks from erosion and damage due to winter ice and potential spring flooding from rapid snow-melt and rain. The added benefits of the drawdown are to (1) expose shorelines to freezing temperatures, which kills some of the lake weeds (milfoil and curlyleaf pondweed), and (2) permit residents to cleanup and repair shorelines and docks.
Please remember that burning leaves in the lake bed is not permitted, as doing so adds nutrients for future weed growth. Also, lake residents are urged to clean shorelines in front of and adjacent to their properties and make any necessary repairs to shorelines and docks this fall, as snow-melt and rain can often raise water levels, making access to the lake bed difficult in the spring.
If you haven’t pulled your boats from the lake yet, it’s time to hustle.
Every few years, the KLC is required to update the Kinderhook Lake Management Plan to satisfy a 1997 request by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. The purpose of the Plan is to provide an overview of past and present conditions of Kinderhook Lake and a plan for the future. In addition, the KLC provides an updated Aquatic Plant Management Plan to identify past and present weed growth and objectives to manage control of weed growth. Both updated Plans can be accessed from the LINKS page. Thanks to Joe Collins for continuing to update these important Plans.
The lake is covered with blue-green algae this morning, worse than has been seen in a very long time. Dry, hot weather this summer prevented salts, like sodium chloride and sodium phosphate, from washing into the lake and the Valatie Kill flowing into the lake – they collected in surface soil and in soil around septic systems. Heavy continuous rain, like we have had for the past two weeks, dissolves those salts and washes them into the watershed to feed blue-green algae growth. Since the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation does not permit the use of aquatic herbicides, like copper sulfate, after September 1, we are unable to keep blue-green algae levels low beyond that date and must endure the kind of water we find on the lake this morning. Residents should be aware that the algae is toxic to dogs and some dogs have died after consuming water containing blue-green algae.
The September 2012 KLC Newsletter is now available online.
You’ll find articles about how the past weed coverage has been reduced over the years, the need for future dam repairs, the coming of online membership payments, and more.
You may have already seen the news in the Register Star:
“The Columbia County Board of Supervisors has made available the CodeRED Emergency Notification System; a high-speed telephone communication service for emergency notifications. While the primary purpose of this system is to warn residents of immediate dangers and threats to life and property, it will also be used to broadcast other informational bulletins such as boil water advisories, missing children, large scale traffic-flow problems, severe weather warnings and more. …… The new system is in response to the fire at the TCI of New York recycling facility in Ghent earlier this month.”
The CodeRED system will automatically call all land line phones. If you would like the notification to come to your cell phone, you will need to sign up at CodeRED.
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