On Sunday, Sept. 8, Brightwaters residents got their hands dirty by participating in Lakes Cleanup Day, organized by the recently assembled lakes committee.

The iconic lakes of Brightwaters have lower water levels, stagnant water flow, and high levels of nitrogen, all creating the perfect medium for the growth of excess lily pads, algae, phragmites and other invasive species. In order to address this growing issue and the lake system’s structural issues, a lakes committee has been formed with three resident chairmen at the helm: Peter Judge, Tom Soumakis and Ed Carroll.

The lakes committee was formed to find solutions to reduce runoff, reduce erosion, and restore and repair the lakes. 

Volunteers spent Lakes Cleanup Day at Lagoon Lake, wading into the water to pull out phragmites, garbage, and underwater algae as a temporary fix to the lake’s health and appearance, while about 30 other volunteers removed garbage from the lake banks. Three six-yard dump trucks full of muck were removed.

“The main point of doing that was kind of twofold,” explained trustee Fawcett during a board of trustees meeting the following day. “One was to get people involved in the lakes. The lakes are something that’s going to need maintenance for the rest of our lives and the next generation of residents. But the other part is we want to get into Lagoon [Lake] and create water flow.”

Fawcett explained that because all of the algae and weeds in the lakes has stopped the lake system’s water flow, nitrogen is basically sitting in a dammed lake, which is a perfect environment for advanced phragmites to grow, especially with the warmer temperatures.

As a means to mitigate the lily pads and algae accumulating in all the lakes, the board of trustees voted to purchase a WeeDoo during the Sept. 9 meeting. This boat essentially “mows” the lakes by removing the top layer of aquatic vegetation from the lakes. While mayor Valdini, trustee Zepf, trustee Fawcett, and trustee Pitta voted in favor of the purchase, trustee Del Vecchio voted in opposition.

The specific WeeDoo boat purchased is a 2024 TC-3012 Weedoo Boat from Weedoo Greenboat Inc., which costs $104,135.08 including accessories. With a 4.35 percent four-year loan, the village will pay roughly $30,000 a year over four years.

The purchase has long been in the works. In 2023, the board paid a company $40,000 for two weeks of operating the WeeDoo boat on the lakes. While the lakes looked beautifully serene for a few months before the vegetation grew back, the high cost prompted the board to consider purchasing their own boat in the 2024-2025 budget for $120,000. In a vote of two to two, the board opted not to purchase the boat in favor of not breaking the tax cap and spending $200,000 in roadwork to pave service roads instead.

Mayor Valdini was optimistic about the purchase during the Sept. 9 meeting, explaining that in a few years, the village could potentially lease the boat to others and get their money back.

“My thought is the beginning of May, when we don’t even see the lily pads yet, boats in the water, and we’re getting ahead of the game. And the entire summer we’ll just see a minimal amount of lily pads,” said Valdini. “It is expensive. We are a nice village. It costs money to do business.”

The WeeDoo boat treatment is a temporary solution, as the lily pads and algae slowly return after about three months, a fact reiterated by Fawcett.

“If people are okay with spending $50,000 so that they look nice, but not really resolving the problem, I’m okay with that,” said Fawcett. “But people have to understand that this is not going to resolve the problem with lily pads”

When a resident asked why the village does not opt to use chemicals to fix the issues of the lake system, chairman of the lakes committee Peter Judge clarified, “The reason that winds up not being efficacious is it breaks down the vegetative matter, but that winds up being the fertilizer for next year’s lily pads. So some sort of mechanical remediation, whether it’s the boat or it’s us there with rakes, is the only way to get the stuff out of the lakes so it doesn’t continue to grow.”

For anyone wanting to get involved with the lakes committee, email trustee Patrick Fawcett at Lakes.VOB@gmail.com, a lakes-specific email chain to get people involved, educated, and moving forward.