Town will decide by June 20 on Round Lake island house proposal

Monroe residents say proposal would harm a recreational resource, By Claudia Wysocki MONROE - Residents told the Monroe Town Board Monday night that Round Lake is a beautiful recreational resource for the people of Monroe and they don’t want it destroyed. Round Lake, residents said over and over again, is part of the Monroe’s landscape, and its waters are used for boating and fishing. That would be interrupted if not destroyed, residents added, by one man’s desire to build a house on the lake’s island, connecting it to the mainland with a short causeway. The town board held the second and last of public hearings Monday night on the proposal by John Sorrentino to build a home on the 6.6 acre island. It brought out old-timers as well as newcomers to Monroe who voiced their objections to the Open Development Area proposal. The decision to allow the proposal is in the hands of the five members of the Monroe Town Board. It fell to them after the town Planning Board turned the proposal down. Sorrentino has to go through the legal process to determine whether his proposal should be allowed. The process, which includes state environmental procedures, involves the hiring of experts to evaluate topics which include topography, visual, community, emergency access, traffic and more. Sorrentino picks up the tab for the process. The town board will render its decision whether to allow the Open Development Area concept at the June 20 board meeting. Among the issues raised by the public were: The economic impact due to a loss of property value. The question of who will pay for the cleanup from the housing construction materials that could spill into the lake as well as downstream. What will be the impact on the environment, including wildlife and the lake’s aquifer. The residents asked the board to take into consideration all of the consequences. Supervisor Sandy Leonard assured the audience that she and the four town board members would. For many years, the homes surrounding Round Lake were primarily used by summer residents. As the houses were converted to year-round use, individual septic tanks were eventually replaced by sewers. The biggest problem now is the weed and algae growth, which the town has been addressing through a systematic eradication program.