APA grants approval for invasive weed plan, Corinth subdivision
By Gwendolyn Craig
The Adirondack Park Agency approved its fifth application to use the herbicide Procellacor EC to treat invasive Eurasian watermilfoil during its Thursday monthly meeting in Ray Brook.
Brant Lake in Warren County will be the third weed-plagued Adirondack lake to receive the treatment, joining Lake Luzerne and Minerva Lake. The Lake George Park Commission had received a permit to use the herbicide from the APA, but litigation halted it. The Paradox Lake Association also received a permit, with plans to apply this year or next.
More applications across the 6-million-acre park are pending or upcoming with the agency, in charge of public and private development.
The APA received 104 comment letters, 93 of which were in support of the Brant Lake project, said Aaron Ziemann, of the APA.
The Brant Lake Association, which is the permit applicant, said Eurasian watermilfoil was first discovered in the lake in 1985. Since 1995, the association has tried benthic mats, hand harvesting and diver-assisted suction harvesting to control the aquatic weed. It has spent upwards of $1 million in that time.
Now, it is hoping to treat five locations and a total of 164 acres with the herbicide.
Concerns remain, including the possible impacts to native species. Ziemann said some of the white and yellow water lilies, pickerelweed and watershield had died on Lake Luzerne following herbicide treatments. The town of Lake Luzerne informed the APA that those populations had rebounded in following surveys. Invasive Eurasian watermilfoil was not found.
The APA required the Brant Lake Association to conduct and submit a post-treatment survey.
Corinth subdivision
The agency also approved plans for a four-lot subdivision in the town of Corinth in Saratoga County. Art Lussi was the only APA board member against the plans — expressing concern about ambiguity over the size of public water lines intended to serve three proposed single or multi-family houses.
Developer Schuyler LLC, of Saratoga Springs, plans to build three, six-bedroom homes near Sturdevant Creek off Dayton Drive. One lot of more than 20 acres will remain open space.
Three people wrote six letters to the APA against the project, said Bart Haralson, of the APA. A petition against the project was also submitted with 45 signatures.
Some residents criticized the lack of water pressure to the area on Dayton Drive, and worried about additional housing making it worse. Lussi did not think a letter from the town saying it “believed” the water line to be eight inches was adequate. He felt the developer should have the exact number and that the local fire department should have been consulted.
Other opponents brought up concerns about increased traffic, wildlife and wetlands. Some felt multi-family housing was out of character for the area. Haralson said the development is around 220- to 250-feet away from the on-site wetlands at its closest point, more protective than the 100-foot minimum vegetative buffer.
Top photo: A view of Brant Lake on May 16, 2020. Photo by Gwendolyn Craig
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