COLONY MEETING
The next Medford Lakes Colony meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, May 21, 2012 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Vaughan Hall. The plans for architectural plans for updates to Vaughan Hall will be shared.
President’s Message
There is a Facebook page dedicated to “Growing Up in Medford Lakes”. Often, I read messages that span generations of people who have once lived in this community and have moved to far off places. The nostalgia for having lived the good life here is overwhelming. The postings and pictures form a scattered history of the past 40 or 50 years of happenings on our trails, in our lakes, in our schools, on our athletic fields, and in family homes. People don’t seem to ever really leave Medford Lakes.
In the real world, the state of our Colony is robust as we enter the summer season of 2012. Currently, over 93% of the families in our small community maintain their Colony membership, a number that has been steady over many years, and through the recent, deep recession. In your interest, the Colony continues to maintain a strong stance on free-riders and non-member use of your facilities. The many people that volunteer their time and efforts to make all of the Colony’s activities run smoothly and seamlessly do so in service to their fellow members and to our children so that the memories continue to build.
The floods and destruction of 2004 were a wake-up call to all of us. Over these past eight years, the Colony Directors have made a very serious attempt to formulate a conservative plan and budget to address the deferred maintenance and future needs of the Colony. We own and manage 21 lakes, several buildings, 3 athletic fields, and a few small parcels of land around the Borough. Despite the fact that there is no direct fiscal connection between the Medford Lakes Colony and the Borough, we have managed to get by with dues and fees that are a fraction of neighboring program costs. Our most recent dues increase request was accompanied by an appeal from the membership to create some better form of cost allocation that would link revenues and expenditures to users in a more equitable way. As a result, we have increased camp fees somewhat, and endeavored to collect more user fees in the form of guest tags, beach event fees, and registration fees for athletics and special events. The various auxiliaries of the Colony have significantly stepped up their efforts to contribute as well.
The Colony has developed a strategy to manage the water quality in our lakes to the very best of our ability. Much work is being done year-round to control four major sources of water quality degradation: unfiltered storm water runoff, pet waste, lawn fertilizers, and non-migratory duck & goose populations. Each of these efforts is having results. We have established an informal Borough Relations liaison to coordinate our efforts with that of the Borough, where possible. From the Colony management perspective, there is no item of greater importance to the social, recreational and real estate value of our community than maintaining the quality of water in our lake systems.
There is a large backlog of deferred maintenance that we have been dealing with. Over the past few years, we have reconstructed waterfront amenities at both Beach No. 1 and Beach No. 3. Volunteers constructed new beach pavilions, and we engaged specialty contractors to replace docks and bulkheads. A Board sub-group has developed a plan for the improvement and beatification of Jackson Park, and has made application for a grant to help fund this potential project.
Over the past 4 years, we have addressed the long-overdue repair of one of our most used facilities, Vaughan Community Hall. Vaughan Hall is approximately 75 years old, and has never had a major repair or restoration. We began this process with a cursory report by several Directors, followed by a thorough building inspection by a licensed architect and engineer. The findings confirmed what is evident to most of us who use Vaughan – the building shell is in an extremely poor condition and is in need of extensive restoration. The Colony Board of Directors has made a priority of addressing this work before the problems cause irreversible damage to the interior and structure.
TheVaughan restoration project is significant and comprehensive in addressing the problems of our Community Hall. Over the next weeks and months, the Colony will be making presentations to the membership and auxiliary groups to communicate the scope and cost of the renewal project. Required Borough Historical Commission, as well as planning & zoning approvals, are moving ahead smoothly. Once a construction cost is definitively known in a few months, the membership will be presented with funding options for saving this important Medford Lakes Colony asset from further decay.
In the meantime, I would like to thank all of the people who volunteer to further the social and recreational mission of the Colony.
‘Wishing you a safe and memorable summer in Medford Lakes,
Paul A. King
Medford Lakes Colony President
