BLIND SODUS BAY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION

                                                                                PO BOX 100

                                                                FAIRHAVEN, NEW YORK 13064

                                                                       http://www.bsbia.org/

May 17, 2009

Dear Fellow Blind Sodus Bay Improvement Association Members and Constituents,

The purpose of this newsletter as a member or prospective member of our Association, is to keep you informed of activities related to Blind Sodus Bay. In order to receive these on a go forward basis, you will need to become a member of the Blind Sodus Bay Improvement Association. We are sure that you will see the value that the Association offers and want to stay in the loop for future meetings and notification of newsworthy updates.

Blind Sodus Bay Improvement Association is a Not For Profit Organization whose membership is made up from the Home and Cottage Owners, Seasonal renters and Seasonal Campground Residents who rent boat slips on the beautiful shores of Blind Sodus Bay in the Northeastern most corner in Wayne County and Northwestern Cayuga County. Our annual dues are $75 per year for residents and boat slip renters. Through the monies in dues that are collected and the fundraisers that we host throughout the season, we use the proceeds to dredge our channel to Lake Ontario and provide ingress and egress between the Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. An open channel provides for our Bay to remain at the same level as the Lake and caution is always recommended when using the channel as it is known to fill in with stones between our scheduled dredging. Our primary objective of the BSBIA is to keep a clear and open channel to Lake Ontario for safe ingress and egress. At our last meeting it was decided to open the channel this year during the week of June 7^th, using Dates Construction. This was decided to avoid the late May winds and storms that close it in, or partially close it back up a majority of the time. This ends up costing us to reopen the channel later in the summer again for a second and usually third dig. A planned second dig will occur if and when needed, later in the season. This action was voted on and approved at our last meeting. At the current time, our bank account is at ~$10,000, enough to cover the cost of the first significant dig this year. We will also have some one time costs this year, such as reinstating the 501c3 status, filing Not For Profit tax returns and NYS Charities Bureau paperwork – this has not been done in years and I did not have a chance to do it last year and a new cost of hosting a website: www.bsbia.org.  Our spring meeting this year will be on June 6^th, at 10 am Holiday Harbor. We have not secured a location or leader yet for this year’s Monte Carlo Night but we are aiming for July 18^th. This is our major fundraiser and your support is always appreciated.

In addition to the regular meeting topics at the spring meeting, we will be inviting a few people to speak at the meeting and update us on the status of activities related to the Bay. Those topics of interest to all will be in the beginning of the meeting. Those of interest to the bay residents and tax payers will be later on in the agenda. We want to briefly address some of those topics now, to get your thoughts together before the meeting. If you are not able to come to the June 6^th meeting, but as a paid member, you would like to formally register your opinion on a specific topic, please feel free to write to the Board and your letter will be read and opinion noted and registered at the meeting.

Meeting Agenda and Information to be reviewed

1.  There has been much news on the Lake Ontario water levels with the release of the new IJC Plan 2007 that will determine the artificial manipulation of the Lake Water to afford better boating and lower levels during the spring and fall to allow for less flooding and erosion of the shorelines. Public meetings/hearings had been schedules and we will update you on the latest news.

2.  We hope to have an update on the status of the Army Corps fund set up for dredging the South shore of Lake Ontario bay channels and whether we will get any of that funding to help offset our costs of keeping the channel open through the ARMY Corp of Engineers.

3. One of our members with a civil engineering background has finalized the design for a permanent channel for the DEC and Army Corp to review and approve. To date the DEC has been reluctant installing a permanent opening because of the effects on the ecosystem but they seem to have changed their minds and are now supporting an open channel to the Lake. There may be funding available to prevent the erosion of properties through a permanent channel and there may be grant money available to pay for a channel to encourage tourism in our area through the Obama stimulus money. You will need to write to our Wolcott Town Supervisor, Kim Park, for support, as the Feds have requested that input come directly into Wayne County Planning and the County is prioritizing how they will allocate these funds.

4. The Wayne County four Bay weed harvesting program will beginning again in June. There has been much discussion and activity on this topic throughout the off season. The WC Soil & Water Conservation District notified the four Bay Associations that they will retain the weed harvesting program indefinitely, scrap the plans to shift the program to a Not For Profit organization and will continue to manage the program with funding coming from the Fed, State and town govt funds.

5. There has recently been a study completed that has evaluated the implementation of sewers and water for the four bays in Wayne County. We will try to arrange to have the Wayne County Water and Sewer representative there again at the meeting to give us a high level view of the feasibility, economics and timing. Depending on the availability of grants and long term loans, we can probably replicate the costs and timing of the Fairhaven system at a target of $1200 to $1500 per year beginning in 2010 - 2012, again depending on the level of offsetting government funding available. Again, there may be some monies from the Federal stimulus package to help offset this expense

As you can see from the agenda, while in the past we have focused our efforts on an open channel, it has become clear to us that there should be additional areas that as an official Association, we can discuss and agree on a direction to take with our government officials. Water quality, water levels from Lake Ontario, weed harvesting and access through dredging or a permanent bay channel and tourism in general can all be focus areas, with a common voice to our elected officials. With this kind of focus, we can expand the mission statement of BSBIA and our activities through potential public grants and fund monies available for these expanded "water initiatives". A focus on a seasonal open channel, without regard to weeds, water quality, water levels and source contaminates, is short sighted.

We wish you an enjoyable spring and summer on the Bay and the Lake and look forward to seeing or hearing from you at the June 6^th meeting. Please forward your $75 dues today to support our organization. If you wish to have this newsletter emailed to you in the future, please include your email address on your check. Our activities will have a direct impact on your taxes and fees, enhanced services that you receive from our Federal, State, County and Town government and ultimately the value of your property and enjoyment of the open clean waters.

Regards,

Tom Agnello

BSBIA President

13895 Ingersoll Lane

Sterling, NY 13156

315 947 6370