Hi Everyone,
Yes it finally snowed, but not quite as much as anticipated. Looks like 4 inches of heavy snow on the ground and covering the trees. It makes for a beautiful picture.
What a crazy non winter it has been, but maybe we are in for a turnaround as the weather pattern looks pretty active for the next week. With this crazy weather, ice conditions can be unsafe. The lake has not become the winter playground it usually is. Here is an ice safety brochure. Please be safe as you venture onto the lake.
If you are an Amazon Smile user, you have probably received an email that Amazon is phasing this program out and it will be ending February 20, 2023. Buddy Potts, our WLA secretary had set the WLA up as a charitable account to receive moneys from this program last summer. The WLA has benefited a little from this program, however, we won’t have been involved long enough to see those little amounts really add up. I thank Buddy for getting the WLA set up and all of our members who chose the WLA as the charity they wanted a percentage of their sales to benefit. All of you who signed up should have received an email explaining the discontinuation. I have been contacted by a few wondering if I had heard the news. I too received the email. The Amazon Smile program was an easy way to generate some extra funds. It is disappointing that it is being discontinued.
We have had a few new members join the WLA. Some properties have changed hands and I try to reach out to new owners with a newsletter, membership form and welcome note. It is nice to see that new owners have an interest to join. I welcome you to Webster Lake and all it has to offer. Thank you for joining us. If you know of people around the lake who are not members of the WLA, don’t hesitate to ask them if they are interested in joining. New members can bring new ideas and energy to the association.
As you may remember from an earlier email, the Lagace Beach Boat Launch dredging has been quite a project. There was a timeline sent out to all of you in that earlier email. The permit for the project was submitted to DES in September. It received tentative approval in late November. Because it is a project being done in public waters, the request had to be approved by the Governor and Council. It was on the agenda for their December 21st meeting and was approved. The city received the final approval from DES the beginning of January. I contacted the Mayor, City Manager and Municipal Services Director earlier this week for an update as to what is next. It was my understanding that once approval was received, the project would go out to bid. This was the response I received from the Mayor:
“As was discussed earlier, early spring was when work would likely begin, and the city is not able to do it all by themselves so looking into options there.”
I wish I had more definitive answers for you but will continue to follow up as it continues to be a “process”,
Another “hot topic” in the city is the new Solid Waste Ordinance being considered. The City Council has been working on this new ordinance for a very long time and are still working out details to it before it comes to a vote. There has been lots of public input and another public hearing is scheduled for March. As things stand now, it does not appear that homeowners around the lake will be affected by changes being made. If you currently have curbside pickup it will continue to be that way.
The WLA Board of Directors will be having a Zoom meeting on February 16th. If anyone has an issue you would like the board to discuss, feel free to let me know.
Hope you are all doing well. Take care,
Val