Resident urges funding for Lake George park courts, raises E. coli and lifeguard concerns

Kathy LeBombard, introduced to the board by Supervisor Paul, used her allotted public-comment time to ask for assistance and to volunteer help pursuing grants to repair tennis and pickleball courts at Hewlett’s Landing/Washington County Beach. "I would like to help procure some kind of funding to repair the tennis courts, also pickleball courts," LeBombard said, noting she has grant-writing experience from a decades-long teaching career.

LeBombard asked for updates on septic-system inspection authority for the park commission and recommended periodic sampling and analysis of streams that flow into Lake George because she has observed elevated E. coli and coliform counts over the years. She also said lifeguards were absent during a recent holiday and described a risk from unsupervised boat launches and untagged boats that could introduce invasive species.

Her remarks came in the public-comment portion after a supervisor asked that she be allowed to speak for five minutes; the board did not adopt a specific funding motion at the meeting, but LeBombard named potential funding sources—state parks and recreation grants, the EPA, the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board and the American Tennis Association—that she thinks the county or partners might pursue.

LeBombard offered to serve on a committee to pursue funding and to help write grants; the board acknowledged her request and did not take a formal vote on park funding during the session.