News

LAKE GEORGE — The Board of Directors of the Lake George Association (LGA) has elected John E. Kelly III, Ph.D., retired IBM executive vice president and a co-founder of The Jefferson Project on Lake George, as Chair. Dr. Kelly succeeds Peter Menzies, who completed his most recent two-year term as Chair. Mr. Menzies, who has been a member and leader of the LGA for more than 30 years, continues as a member of the LGA Board of Directors. He also recently served as the LGA’s acting executive director. 

HAGUE, NY — Al Rider never intended to become a chair maker. The engineer-turned-woodworker with a lifelong love of Lake George moved to Hague full time in 2011, where he crafted his second career handmaking tables, cabinets, desks, and about 400 tons of cutting boards with Lake inlays — but no chairs. “They’re a pain,” Al says.  That changed two years ago, when he tried to help one of his customers, a famous Lake George native name Rachael Ray, find a chair-maker.

LAKE GEORGE — The Lake George Association (LGA) received a $5,000 grant from the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund for operational costs of the LGA’s Floating Classroom. This is the first grant awarded to the LGA from the Outdoor Fund, which aims to connect new audiences to the outdoors. American children spend three times as many hours in front of screens as they do outdoors, says the 501(c)(3) charity, which seeks to introduce a new generation to the wonders of the natural world.

LAKE GEORGE — Nitrate levels dropped dramatically last year in Lake George groundwater and select streams in the West Brook watershed, thanks to the new technology at the Village of Lake George Wastewater Treatment Plant that went online in February 2022. “It’s one of the best success stories since I’ve been here,” said Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky.  

LAKE GEORGE — This month starts year two of mandatory septic system inspections by the Lake George Park Commission (LGPC), which expressed optimism at its March 26 monthly meeting that property owners will continue to cooperate with the state agency.

Letters from the LGPC went out in early March to notify approximately 500 property owners that 2024 is their year for inspection. (Find your inspection year on the LGPC’s Public Map.) About a dozen recipients are on the schedule so far. 

LAKE GEORGE — Road salt practices by NY State Department of Transportation (DOT) are “observably better” along a 17-mile stretch of Route 9N north of Lake George Village that has been part of a pilot program for reduced salt use since 2018, says Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky. “So far this winter I’ve noticed improved practices, such as increased brining and effective spot placement of salt on cold sections instead of widespread distribution.”

LAKE GEORGE — From January 2024 through March 2024, the LGA is part of Target Circle, the retailer’s free loyalty program that lets you direct where Target gives to nonprofits in our community. As a Target Circle member, every eligible purchase in store or online earns you a vote. The more votes you cast for us, the more money Target will donate to the LGA.

LAKE GEORGE — By following Sustainable Winter Management (SWiM®) standards, which optimize the use of road salt, two municipalities saved a combined $400,000 last winter. Just as important, they decreased the amount of road salt used by 25% to 40%. 

LAKE GEORGE — It was the inaugural run on November 3, 2023, of the $37,000 stormwater vacuum donated to Lake George Village by the LGA. The device, used in conjunction with the Village's Vactor 2100, sucked up debris from the porous sidewalk pavement on a section of Schuyler Street. With the debris removed,  precipitation can continue to filter through the pavement and into the ground rather than run downward to the Lake. The Lake George Mirror offers more details on this important step forward in Lake protection.

LAKE GEORGE — Protecting Lake George and other freshwater bodies held centerstage at the Warren County Economic Development Corp’s (EDC’s) annual lunch on October 24 at The Carriage House. The vision: To build on The Jefferson Project at Lake George to establish Lake George as the preeminent center of freshwater protection in the United States.

LAKE GEORGE — This year’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Monitoring Weekend, August 18–20, marked a resounding success: No new invasive species were found. Now in its second year, AIS Monitoring is a Lake-wide early detection program for invasive species, intended to build on the successful Lake George Boat Inspections run by the Lake George Park Commission. The goal is two-fold: Identify any new invasives in Lake George and capture new locations of known invasives in the Lake.

LAKE GEORGE — As part of its Lake George Road Salt Reduction Initiative, the Lake George Association and Lake George Waterkeeper awarded a $40,000 grant to the Town of Lake George. The aim of the grant is to improve the efficiency and capacity of brine-making for the Town and to expand anti-icing practices that reduce road salt use on winter roads. In 2016, the Town became the first municipality in the Lake George basin to pretreat roads with brine prior to storms.

LAKE GEORGE — As part of its ongoing mission to partner with residents and businesses in the Lake George watershed, the Lake George Association (LGA) has launched two new services, effective immediately. The two pilot programs — Property Visits and Engineering Service Grants — are the newest additions to the LGA’s free Lake Protector Profile app. Every property owner in the Lake George watershed who registers for the app is eligible.

LAKE GEORGE — Three confirmed harmful algal blooms (HABs) were spotted in three different bays on Lake George on September 12: Basin Bay, Huddle Bay, and Oneida Bay. This is the first sighting of a HAB in the northern basin of the Lake.

LAKE GEORGE — It was the best kind of crowd scene on the Village Pier in Shepard Park on Sunday morning, September 16, with more than 100 people showing up to Clean Up Lake George.

LAKE GEORGE — This summer’s Bay by Bay program brought together more than 1,000 lakeside residents at nine different events up and down Lake George, aimed at fostering a culture of commitment to Lake protection by those whose actions will make a lasting difference.

LAKE GEORGE — We can’t stop gazing at the furniture masterpiece made and gifted to us by master craftsman Al Rider. This American black walnut table, with inlays of curly maple, now stands front and center in the LGA office at 2392 State Hwy 9N. We are honored.

LAKE GEORGE — Eric J. Siy, president of the Lake George Association (LGA), has announced that he will be leaving his post at the end of the year. Siy successfully led the LGA through its merger with The FUND for Lake George in July 2021. Prior to his current position Siy served as executive director of The FUND since 2012.

LAKE GEORGE — The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) recently awarded a grant of nearly $30,000 toward operation of the LGA’s Floating Classroom in 2024. The grant — the tenth for the Floating Classroom in the past 12 years — offsets half of the program’s costs. This enables the LGA to host students, residents, and area visitors at no- or low-cost on its Lake Protection cruises on Lake George.

Lake George Mirror editor Tony Hall didn't pull any punches in his June 30, 2023 cover story. "The problem is us," he wrote. "Stormwater runoff is something that can be abated immediately, by the residents and business owners of the Lake George watershed."