BERNE — Helderberg Lake Community Association President Tom McQuade still speaks about the group’s failed tax district proposal to the town of Berne with a grumble. But, while things are up in the air in terms of funding necessary repairs to the lake’s dam, he’s optimistic that the situation will get sorted out. 

“We’re having our last meeting in August, but we’ll still, throughout the year, keep going until we can get the dam work finished,” McQuade told The Enterprise this week. 

The dam needs about $500,000 worth of repairs but the town board declined to create a district so lake residents could be taxed to pay for those repairs. The state has labeled it a “high hazard” dam, meaning its failure could result in widespread damage to homes and highways.

On the matter of funding, McQuade said, “We have all of our membership, we looked at bank loans, and we’re looking at other means we might have to offset some of the costs.”

The association already has remediation plans approved by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, the enactment of which will bring the dam into regulatory compliance — costing the association between $450,000 and $550,000. 

The dam fell out of compliance for structural reasons in 2018, when the state changed the way it rates dam conditions. The dam is not considered at a high risk of failing. 

The lake association officially approached the Berne Town Board late last year to request that the town take out a loan on the association’s behalf, which the association would pay back through a self-imposed tax district over a period of around 30 years. 

After a number of packed and sometimes highly contentious meetings, the town board voted unanimously to reject the proposal, citing legal and financial liabilities, impact on the town, and the principle of a government getting involved with a privately-owned structure. 

McQuade said this week that the vote left the Helderberg Lake community, which is made up of fewer than 100 households, to pay out of pocket for the repairs, but he’s hoping that the upcoming New York State Environmental Bond Act, which will be voted on by state residents in November, will allow the association to get some amount of money to make that more feasible. 

The $4.2 billion bond act would allow the state to take on debt for the purpose of funding various environmental projects, including dam repairs. There would be $1.1 billion available for dams and other “restoration and flood risk reduction projects.”

It appears to be the association’s only shot at any kind of assistance at this point. A DEC official told The Enterprise this week that upcoming funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency High Hazard Grant Program will not be available to dams that are privately owned.

As for whether he feels the dam is at risk of removal — something that the DEC has the authority to order — McQuade said, “Oh, no, no, no.”

Removal of the dam would cost nearly as much as repairs. Engineers from Prime AE Group — which had been contracted by the association — told the town board that removal would cost $424,000.

McQuade said this week that the tensions been brought up among the lake residents during the tax-district process — between those who felt the equal-burden nature of district was fair and those who felt it didn’t account for the unequal way the lake is used by residents — have been washed away and that there’s a commitment to getting the repairs finished. 

“I’ve never had a membership where they were [so] focused … so we’re kind of pulling together,” he said.