Prudential Update
Dear Fellow Hoosac Lake District Members,
Even though the holidays are fast upon us, there is still time to experience the Cheshire Festival Of Trees at the Community House.
The huge assortment of decorated trees will be on display Monday through Thursday from 10 to 4, Friday and Saturday from 10 to 8, and Sunday from 10 to 5 until Dec. 31. The building will be closed Dec. 24 and 25. See if you don’t agree the HLD tree is the best! Thank you to Liseann Karandisecky for the time and effort to create a wonderful holiday display on behalf of the District.
The recent rain and wind have thinned out the ice that formed a bit early this year. Please be extremely careful if you venture out on to the ice.
Lake level is a special concern when the ice begins to form. In coordination with State authorities, one dam gate was opened just before Thanksgiving when rain began to raise the water level. We will continue to monitor weather and other events that impact lake level.
We were notified by the State that our dredging project is once again fully funded. FY26 funds had been clawed back by the federal government and had been in limbo before the announcement. Sediment sampling will take place in the 3rd week of January. If you have an auger and are willing to help with the sampling work, please reply to this email.
The Prudential Committee held a meeting on December 19th. The Committee wants to spend most of its time discussing weed control plans for next summer, but other items were reviewed as well.
The Town of Cheshire is switching to a quarterly tax bill calendar starting next summer. The Committee is thinking to keep the current HLD tax calendar in place to control tax collection costs.
The 5 acre Komeen/Diquat test for the control of tapegrass was judged to be moderately effective. Weeds were controlled around Blueberry Island, but the effect did not last for the entire season. The weeds so treated did descend to the bottom instead of forming floating mats. We will expand the treatment area next summer as our budget allows but do a side-by-side comparison with an additional herbicide to see which is more effective for our specific tapegrass situation.
The Advisory Committee will not be reformed, but a new group will be christened in its place to further the health and restoration efforts on the lake. Details of the new group are still being worked out.
There was a problem getting previous minutes posted to the Town website. We are working with them to get the issue corrected, and everything posted.
We hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.
[Distributed via email 12/22/2025]