Community Forum RE: Sylvia Lake 911

UPDATE: 11/23/04- Indian Head Trail North is resolved. As an outcome of the Nov. 18 meeting and because of good collaboration by everyone involved, the inconsistency involving the spur of East Shore Road that everyone knows as Indian Head Road North is finally resolved. The name of this spur is consistent with 911, the Tax Office, and updated maps.

Thanks to great cooperation from St. Lawrence County and legwork done by Bill deLorraine, Gary Scott, Lea Dickson, Dave Lockwood, and me. This had been a loose end that is finally tied up.

MEETING HELD : November 18, 2004

Attending: Gary Scott, Lea Dickson, Jon Jackson, Mary Smith, Jodi Hatch, Joan Jackson, Betsy Kalina (Recorder), Joanna deLorraine, Kelley Lacks, Faye Lockwood, David Lockwood, Bill deLorraine, Gale Ferguson, Mike Hatch, Shari Barnhart (Facilitator)

Announcement: Sylvia Lake Online Calendar, available on the website for $17.00. $2.00 of every sale will be donated to the Sylvia Lake 911 initiative.

Thank you to those who attended and those who sent messages of support.

This account of the meeting was written by the Facilitator-Shari
...using the excellent notes taken by the Recorder-Betsy

After welcoming the group to the meeting/birthday party, I showed them a new toy- a palmOne handheld and GPS Navigator. I'm happy to report that most Sylvia Lake roads are included in the maps. West Shore Road, North Shore Road, and East Shore Roads, Mansion Grounds, Pumphouse, Hotel Road, Old Beach and Wintergreen Bay are included in the device's information. Indian Head Trail, South Shore and Langevin Lane do not appear in the GPS maps and data. We've learned that even the tax office in Canton does not have accurate road information for Sylvia Lake. And they provide this information to the 911 System.

The meeting was organized around the June 2004 Report from the 911 Committee- click here to read it.

GOAL: Encourage Sylvia Lakers to verify their addresses with the E-911 system and label their property. Everyone agreed that we can't do anything to force people to comply with labeling their property. Some properties still have the old four-digit numbers, some are not labeled at all, or labeled incorrectly. We discussed incentives like making house numbers and driveway markers available...maybe for a fund raiser? We agreed; a community group can put up road signs, but individual property owners are responsible for their own safety.

The group acknowledged the work of Gale Ferguson and Don Grout on the 911 system in 1993. Since then, maps have changed, properties divided, and houses built. This is why we are meeting, to make the 911 system that is already in place, work better.

GOAL: Label the roads with accurate signage, in keeping with the character and style of Sylvia Lake. Kelley Lacks, on behalf of the Sylvia Lake 911 Committee, reported on the progress on new signs. New signs were erected late in the Summer at all main road entry points where they were needed. An 'N' for North, was put on the Indian Head Trail North junction. A new, snappy paint job was done to the Sylvia Lake Beach sign. more info about sinage on this website...

Now that the signs are up, the assembled group identified three signage tweaks that need done:

1. Replace the stolen Old Beach Road sign - cement it in.
2. Correct the West Shore Hills Road sign at Sylvia Lake Road... with West Shore Road sign.
3. Place Dead-End signs on signs where roads don't connect...actually, every road at Sylvia Lake is a dead-end, but everyone agreed that Indian Head Trail and Indian Head Trail North might be confusing, and emergency responders should have a dead end sign.

GOAL: Update Sylvia Lake map. Bill deLorraine is updating the Sylvia Lake map so it will have several purposes and audiences, in addition to 911. Bill verified his information with the St .Lawrence County Tax Office to coordinate with information provided to the 911 system. Some inconsistencies were found and they are being addressed and corrected with the help of Jim Race, Sr. Tax Map Technician/G.I.S. Coordinator, St. Lawrence County Real Property Tax Service Agency.

GOAL: Coordinate county 911 information with current Sylvia Lake road information. Lea Dickson presented a 911 Update to the Fowler Town Board on Nov. 9, 2004. Lea is the Sylvia Lake Association President-Elect and the liaison from the Association's Directors to the 911 Committee. The Town of Fowler Board was very supportive of efforts to decrease 911 response time for emergencies at Sylvia Lake. They suggested Lea visit with the St. Lawrence County County Emergency Services, and Planning. She is to tell them that she has the support of the Fowler Board. They may provide avenues for funding and signage. Kelley Lacks said she would be willing to go to this meeting if it held when she is available. Watch the website for the report on this meeting...

Ferg explained a supplemental system that he and and John Pistolesi developed. It divides the lake into sections, called Emergency Response Zones. They walked the lake roads last spring and identified the zones. The Zone idea was presented at the Sylvia Lake Association meeting in August. This system would not replace the current E-911 system. Ferg said a map of the zones could be given to the local fire department. He approximated a $1000.00 for signage costs.

Members of the group questioned whether another identification system would help decrease response time when there is already a recognized address system in place. Wouldn't an additional identification system, even if it were simpler, be redundant or confusing? The zone system described by Ferg was not part of the Sylvia Lake 911 Committee Report at the Association's Spring meeting. Signs installed by the 911 committee did not address this system.

The next steps...

1. Meet with St. Lawrence County County Emergency Services and Planning officials to get resources for signage funding and logistical help to coordinate the updated map with emergency services. (Lea, Kelley and anyone else who wants to come...Contact Lea for date.)
2. Make changes to current signs. (Kelley, Joe, Roy)
3. Complete the map update and coordinate it with the data at the Tax Office. (Bill and Shari)

SYLVIA LAKE ONLINE - COMMUNITY APPRECIATION AWARDS (Sylvia Lake Mug)

SYLVIA LAKE BIRTHDAY RAFFLE WINNERS

To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of Sylvia Lake Online, a raffle was held for Sylvia Lake Merchandise.

• Jodi Hatch- Sylvia Lake 2005 Calendar
• Joan Jackson- Sylvia Lake Pink Peony note cards
• Gale Ferguson- Signs of Sylvia color print
• Gary Jones- Sylvia Lake mug
• Mike Hatch- Sylvia Lake postcards

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