Courtesy Davies-Davies Realty (2021)
Rockhurst on Lake George separates Sandy Bay (foreground) from Warner Bay. It is 265 feet wide at its widest.
Rockhurst, the narrow spit of land that juts into Lake George just east of Cleverdale, could be getting a municipal sewer system after the state awarded Warren County more than $6 million Tuesday.
The $6,067,076 Water Quality Improvement grant will allow the Town of Queensbury to replace inadequate onsite septic systems on Rockhurst, which is 265 feet wide at its widest point and includes 52 properties and a small marina owned by Boats by George.
Queensbury Town Supervisor John Strough told FoothillsBusinessDaily.com that property owners will vote on whether to accept the sewer district once the financial details are finalized. Each property owner would pay an annual tax to pay for the district, but Strough said that figure will be much lower than it once was predicted because of the state grant.
Attorney Matt Fuller, who was hired by the Lake George Association to facilitate the process with the property owners on Rockhurst, said the majority of the residents he has talked with are in favor of a septic system.
Fuller said the sewer system is “basically a large septic system” where effluent would be pumped off the peninsula to a nearby location, which Strough described as a “field away from the lake.”
Strough said the town is still negotiating with the owners of the land where the leach field could be located. He said soil testing and design work has been done, and alternative sites have been looked at.
He said he expects he will meet with the family that owns the land in the new year.
Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky called the grant announcement “fantastic news” and said the Lake George Association, which he is a part of, has been working on the project for five years.
He noted that the LGA’s Legacy Fund provided $17,000 for the first study of the issue, and another $25,000 to the town for a preliminary engineering feasibility study.
“When you look at where the harmful algal blooms have been in the last two years, they have been right in that area,” Navitsky said. “The one last month was along the Rockhurst shoreline, and last year there was one in Harris Bay."
Rockhurst is the eastern shore of Sandy Bay, just one bay north of Harris Bay.
“Clearly there is some nutrient loading in that area that leads to algal blooms," Navitsky said.
Fuller continued: “Rockhurst is a pretty unique spot on Lake George, with its width and its sandy soil. It’s a big commitment to that area of the lake, especially with the recent algae blooms. It’s good to move the process forward, and we thank Governor [Kathy] Hochul and appreciate the state’s commitment to water quality on Lake George.”
Strough said Rockhurst residents Steve Seaboyer and Tom Sargent first approached him with an idea of a community septic system in 2005.
He said each of the homes on the peninsula have their own septic system. Some residents have upgraded their systems in anticipation of tying into the new community wide system, he said. Upgrading sewer systems is one of the ways local governments have been trying to protect the lake's water quality.
[Read more about lake protection here and here.]
Geologists believe Rockhurst was formed more than 10,000 years ago when glaciers retreated from the area, leaving sediments called a glacial moraine
Rockhurst was once home to the Sheldon House, which later became Willard Rockefeller’s Hotel Willard in the 1890s, Strough said.