Minutes: 1/21/16 Work Session
Board Members in attendance: Mike Ercole, Hank Earle, Laura Russo, Pat Ploeger, Marguerite Shortt, Rich Filipelli, Lucinda Johnson
Salute to the flag
Lake Management: DEC is revamping the application process for Cultrine + and Pat will follow up in 1 month to get a status
Goose egg oiling: Hank will coordinate the volunteers for mid to late April.
Carp Gate: Rich Williams will contact the DASNY about the grant for the carp gate. Ron Gainor has revised the plans for the opening in the fencing to be one inch. We have everything in and ready that has been asked for up to date. Marguerite will look for prices for the carp, and once approved the lake will be lowered in the fall 2016. The carp would be put in the following spring 2017.
Parklands: Hank will talk to Peggy Z and Patty L about Brewster HS volunteers to help with tree removal. Post flyers to recruit volunteers. LADA has been approved for the walking path.
Doggie stations: Five new stations have been delivered and are in the boat house. Hank, Lucinda and Marguerite will install the stations as soon as weather permits.
Trash cans:  Domed lids are in the process of being ordered. We are looking for the best match for the cans we have already. We will test out one lid. Then we can make a decision. We are looking to order six more barrels of a similar design that come with domed lids.
Security: We are looking to get an estimate for security at the boat house
Beaches: Sand needed in May.
Mowing:  The Town will include the mowing of the beaches separate from the ballfield when they send out the RFP’s. 
Bracelets and stickers: The PLPD needs to find vendors that will accept a PO in lieu of credit card or pre-payment.  
Ballfield: Hank got an estimate for the backstop and the fence down the right field.  Mike will get prices for nets for soccer and lacrosse, etc... Kevin Burns suggested going to local sports store for donations.
Basketball Court:  Hank got an estimate for paving the court and fencing for the grant process.
Peckham Grant:  Pat, Marguerite and Lucinda worked on the grant application which is due February 15th.  We are hoping to review it and complete it for next Town Board Meeting.
Softball: Rich Filipelli will get the 2016 softball budget from Joe Delia by the February 4th meeting.
Little League: Mike is contacting the new Little League president regarding their plans to play on Memorial Field  this spring. Pat and Marguerite are trying to meet with Matt from the Town Rec Center to get some ideas on helping us set up youth sports leagues on our field. We want to get kids to use the field for any type of sport.
Website: The dates for all meetings and the list of board members have been updated. Calendar of events has been put on the website.
Newsletter: Any articles we would like to post please send to Pat/Lucinda/Marguerite for a newsletter to be mailed to PLPD residents in March.
Events: We need to start recruiting for volunteers to organize events:  Sacred Heart Church will not allow a flyer in the bulletin but will make an announcement at the start of Mass.
Lifeguards:  Worker’s compensation forms need to be posted in the boat house and the 2 sheds.  Allison Lawlor will be invited to the February work session to talk about lifeguard management.
Parklands: A community service volunteer cleaned trash up along the entire beach, stacked debris at the roadside.   He was an excellent worker. We might consider him for other projects.
Handyman: – We need to write a job description,  post an advertisement in the paper and get resumes. Then we can interview them.
PLPD Board:  Rich Williams is looking at the issues we discussed regarding the waiver of liability.  We have the Board Terms for each of the PLPD board members

​Work Session:
Allied Biological will notify us when the permit is sent to the town
Permit is renewed for goose egg oiling 2nd week April. We need a boat and three volunteers. Hank will organize it.
Walking path: we need a crew to start clearing trees. Hank will design a flyer to get volunteers.  Brewster Schools’ Peach Jar may be another avenue. We should explore advertising in Sacred Heart church’s bulletin as well as on Comcast’s Channel  8.
Pat will measure the trash cans to see what domed lids will fit and place an order.  Hank asked Pat to look into setting up an account with Uline, so we can order trash bags and other items.
Pat will order the 2016 wristbands and boat stickers in royal blue.
Hank is getting a price on black, heavy gauge wire fencing for the ballfield.  He is also obtaining an estimate for the basketball court construction which can be used in the Peckham grant application.  

​Minutes: 1/7/16 Public Session
Board Members in attendance: Mike Ercole, Hank Earle, Laura Russo, Pat Ploeger, Marguerite Shortt, Lucinda Johnson
Pledge of Allegiance
Lake Management:  We completed two Cutrine Plus treatments that were successful in keeping the algae at bay throughout the swimming season.  For the third year we participated in the Citizens’ Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP) submitting water samples to the NYS DEC on a bi-weekly basis from May to September.
And for the sixth year, in an effort to keep the goose population down and thereby reduce/eliminate goose waste in the water and on the beaches, we participated in goose egg oiling with great success.  We have also put up goose fencing at all of the beaches.
One of the more ambitious projects we are undertaking is introducing triploid (sterile) carp into the lake to eliminate many of the nuisance weeds .  Our applications have been submitted to the DEC and have been provisionally approved pending a small design change to the gate.  Once we have final approval and the DEC has determined the optimum amount of carp, the lowering of the lake and construction of the gate should take place this fall.  The carp can then be introduced in the spring of 2017.
Walking path through the parklands. We had a landscape architect survey the land and in Oct 2015 volunteers put in 90 hours clearing brush and saplings. We are looking for more volunteers to remove the deadfall and take down dead or dangerous trees.   We can save a lot of money with volunteers. Then we can start the actual path. A suggestion was made for high school students to help and get community service for the work.  We will see if we can get donations of water/food for a volunteer tailgate lunch.  Once the trees are removed the trail can be marked and cut.
Dog waste stations: Five stations were put up around the lake.  They are working well, so more have been ordered. Trash cans  will be put around the lake to eliminate trash/litter.
Beaches: This past year, we contracted out the beach sand spreading.   We tried to eliminate the weeds at the beaches but the treatment did not work as well as we had hoped.   Hank actually pulled the weeds with some help from volunteers.  The Board of Health is very specific about weed-clear swimming areas, so this work has to be done by the first inspection in mid-May.  We need volunteers to help with this project as well.
Rafts and walkouts:  We are looking to replace the floats and walkouts at Warren Beach, and have applied for a DASNY grant to help pay for them.  It is possible, if the grant comes through, that the new floats can be in place this summer.
Mowing:  We have yet to determine if we will outsource the mowing of the beaches as we do with the ballfield. 
Ballfield:  Drainage was addressed this year by putting in a curtain drain and removing the willow trees. The money invested will allow the ballfield to be used by more groups than just the softball team.
The area in the outfield was cleared and graded in preparation for the basketball court. We are waiting for some estimates on blacktop, etc.  Peckham Industries is looking to help us with a grant which needs to be submitted by 2/15/16.  Whether or not we receive the grant, we will proceed with the construction of the court this spring.
Recreation:  The softball league will continue this year and we are hoping to bring in the Little League. We are looking to replace the backstop and clean up the broken fence in the left field.
We are also looking into forming a youth league for various sports.  We will put up some soccer nets and hope the kids use it.  We also need some volunteers to help organize any type of youth sports. Flag football? Soccer?  
Neighborhood Watch:  Signs are being put up. We are still accepting donations for signs or stickers. We had a meeting to organize and set up public meetings and plan events. We will have consistent meetings and have set the dates for the entire year. Our plan is to start each PLPD meeting with a neighborhood watch update.   Then we will have quarterly large events. Now that we have the dates, we can invite reporters to come.
Communication:  We have been using the website, emails, the case at the market, the annual newsletter, as well as the VFW and the firehouse signs to get the word out to the community, but need to add to that to maximize communication.   The Town of Patterson is pricing out electronic signboards which will be installed at the VFW and the Putnam Lake firehouse as well as other locations in town.  The sign at the firehouse will be dedicated to advertising PLPD and Putnam Lake FD events.  The sign at the VFW will advertise town-wide events. 
Going forward, the PLPD is committed to keeping expenses down while providing the services the community deserves.  We hope that increased communication will increase volunteer participation.