Cazenovia Republican digital edition - Dec. 6, 2023

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Cazenovia celebrates the season

Kate Hill

On Friday, Dec. 1, the Cazenovia community gathered for the 46th Annual Cazenovia Christmas Walk and Village Tree Lighting. Organized by the Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce, the evening featured notfor-profits set up along Albany Street, shopping in the downtown stores, caroling, dance performances, the arrival of Santa and more.

Cazenovia Lake Watershed Council presents annual summit By kate Hill Staff Writer

On Saturday, Dec. 2, the Cazenovia Lake Watershed Council (CLWC) sponsored its annual Lake Summit at the Cazenovia Public Library. The CLWC is a cooperative organization made up of two members of the Cazenovia Town Board, two Village of Cazenovia Trustees, and one representative of the Cazenovia Lake Association (CLA), which is a group of residents, homeowners, business owners, and elected officials that works to protect the environmental and recreational sustainability of the lake. This year’s summit focused on the key challenges facing Cazenovia Lake and ongoing and upcoming initiatives.

Town update

Cazenovia Town Councilor Jimmy Golub, who serves as the liaison to the CLA, informed the summit attendees that the town’s lake-related responsibilities include operating the weed harvester, serving as the lead agency when acquiring the permits required to treat the lake for Eurasian watermilfoil, and partnering with the village to spearhead certain initiatives related to preventing the introduction of

invasive species into the lake. The town is currently exploring options for helping to prevent the introduction of the invasive aquatic species hydrilla, which is more virulent and difficult to control than milfoil. “We have spent literally millions of dollars trying to keep milfoil in control,” Golub said. “Milfoil is manageable, but Hydrilla may not be. We don’t have really good answers for this, and we don’t have unlimited resources either. . . . We need to be proactive.” According to Golub, the town is looking into purchasing a waterless boat cleaning station for the Lakeland Park boat launch. The approximately $40,000 system would be paid for with grants and by the town. The town also aims to work with the village to improve boat inspections and to encourage boaters coming from other bodies of water to use the Lakeside Park launch.

Eurasian Watermilfoil management

CLA Vice President Sam Woods discussed Cazenovia’s ongoing Eurasian watermilfoil management efforts and the results of an August 2023 rake toss study. The lake has been chemically treated six times with the herbicide Renovate, which was typically applied every other year. In 2021, with financial assistance from the

CLA, regions of the lake were treated with the newly approved herbicide ProcellaCOR EC. Each year, a rake toss study is conducted to monitor the impact of the chemical treatment on species richness and the amount of milfoil in the plant community. “The rake toss study that we do every year [looks] at over 300 sites on the lake,” said Woods. “It really is just what it sounds like. They take a rake, they toss it out, they bring it back up onto the boat, and each weed is actually counted, and the type of weeds [are recorded].” According to Woods, the rake toss studies conducted from 2009 to 2023 have shown that Renovate and ProcellaCOR have not harmed the native plant species within the lake. The late summer surveys have also shown that ProcellaCOR is more effective at reducing the amount of milfoil than Renovate. In 2021, following the ProcellaCOR treatment, only 25 out of the 302 sampling points showed evidence of milfoil. The rake toss study performed shortly after the most effective Renovate treatment showed evidence of milfoil at 86 of the 302 sites. In 2022, the year after the ProcellaCOR treatment, there were 114 occurrences of milfoil. “That was actually about equivalent to what

Kate Hill

Cazenovia Lake Association President Dave Miller discussed the threat posed by the invasive aquatic plant hydrilla. we got on treatment years with Renovate,” said Woods. “. . . [ProcellaCOR is] very, very effective. Of course, this summer, it [was] bouncing back like crazy.” The 2023 rake toss showed evidence of the plant at 229 sites. “You’re never going to eradicate that plant; you’re going to knock it down,” said Woods. According to CLA President Dave Miller, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation permits 190 acres of the lake to be treated at once, and the southwest end of the lake is not chemically treated. The next ProcellaCOR treatment is scheduled for 2024 and will cost around $200,000. Summit l Page 2

Village board discusses upcoming Lakeland Park project By kate Hill Staff Writer

During the Dec. 4 Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees meeting, Cazenovia Area Community Development Association Executive Director Lauren Lines provided an update on a future project at Lakeland Park. According to Lines, the village has a $500,000 grant to redo the pier and enhance the beach and the parking area at the park. The grant requires a dollar-to-dollar

match. “We have a master plan for the park that has very conceptual drawings, but we need more detailed plans,” said Lines. “So, I was suggesting we get a landscape architect — it’s covered under the grant — to do a detailed design, so then we can take those designs and graphics and visuals and go out to other funders, [such as] the Community Foundation, maybe local stakeholders like the lake association, and kind of sell the project and make up the match.” Lines added that she thinks the first

step is to get an estimate for the structural work on the pier’s stone wall and then figure out how much money would be left for the beach. Mayor Kurt Wheeler said he agreed that having visuals would be helpful. “This is going to be very highly visible,” he said. “[The pier], in some ways, is maybe the most iconic thing in Cazenovia. Coincidentally, Caz Life has chosen that as their logo — the pier and the lights. So, I think there will be a lot of interest and a lot of support. Certainly, most of us who are parents

have spent many hours down there with our kids at the beach. Making that a more attractive and safer and better environment for families and kids and residents and visitors I think will have a lot of appeal.” According to Lines, the village was given five years to complete the project. The village completed another project this year at the park that involved the reconstruction of the historic stone lake wall and canal wall. “Some aspects of the canal wall and Village l Page 3

Volume 214, Number 49 The Cazenovia Republican is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 35 Albany St., Second Floor, Cazenovia, NY 13035. Periodical Postage Paid at Cazenovia, NY 13035, USPS 095-260. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Cazenovia Republican, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.

schools: Mark Tugaw named Cazenovia’s Teacher of the Year.

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sports: Caz hockey starts 2-1, wins weekend tournament.

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calendar �������������15-16 Editorial ��������������������� 6 history ������������������������ 6 letters ������������������������ 6

Obituaries ������������������ 4 PennySaver ���������������� 8 Sports ������������������ 14-15


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