Woodridge Lake Settles Sedimentation Account with Town of Goshen
Lack of Town documentation for expenses related to a project on E. Hyerdale Drive was at the heart of extended discussions between the Town and WLPOA /Goshen News Staff photo
A 2010 handshake agreement between then-1st Selectman Bob Valentine and then-Woodridge Lake Property Owners’ Association (WLPOA) President Jim Mersfelder, which subsequently led to misunderstandings of the parties’ respective obligations, has been resolved by WLPOA and the Town. Although current 1st Selectman Todd Carusillo claimed that WLPOA owed the Town as much as $100,000 for work performed since 2012, five months of meetings and document reviews led to a final settlement of $1,748.45.
At issue were Town and WLPOA funds jointly allocated to sedimentation control projects at Woodridge Lake. When stormwater flows rapidly it carries with it fine, silty particles that are high in phosphorus, which contributes to lake weed growth. A series of catch basins were installed, allowing fine particles to settle out before entering the lake.
Projects that aid water quality help keep property values high in lake communities, easing the tax burden on the rest of the town. Woodridge Lake residents pay over 60% of the Town’s total taxes.
The original agreement, according to Mersfelder, was that WLPOA would pay for half of materials and third-party engineering services for the sedimentation control projects, and the Town would pay for the other half and all labor. Projects and their budgets were supposed to have been reviewed and approved by WLPOA in advance, each year, but reviews and approvals stopped happening sometime in the early-to-mid 2010’s.
The lack of a written agreement coupled with changes in Town and WLPOA leadership over time led to misunderstandings that only came to light when a $152,000 project on E. Hyerdale Drive was undertaken in 2022. The project included road stabilization, stormwater management, and sedimentation control, and was awarded as a lump sum contract with no line-item designations for each element. WLPOA balked when it was asked to pay half of the total project cost.
On February 2, 2024, a Special Meeting of the Board of Selectmen was called to review sedimentation project expenditures. Participating were 1st Selectman Carusillo, Selectman Kinsella, Public Works Director Garrett Harlow, WLPOA General Manager Ed Dutka, WLPOA President Michael Edison, and former WLPOA President Jim Mersfelder. The Town presented WLPOA representatives with invoices dating back 12 years and an accounting of expenditures and WLPOA payments to date. Although the Town claimed a balance due of $48,452.28, the accounting had not credited a $10,000 payment already made, and Mersfelder noted that not all invoiced items were related to sedimentation control.
It was decided that Kinsella, Harlow, Dutka, Edison and Mersfelder would meet to review the invoices in greater detail. At a February 23rd meeting at the Woodridge Lake office, it was determined that invoices totaling $13,484.02 should be disqualified as they represented stormwater management, rather than sedimentation control project expenses. Two larger invoices remained unresolved, however, as the Town had presented no documentation to support the claimed amounts. One was for engineering services; the other was for half the E. Hyerdale Drive project. A subsequent review of the engineering reports found them to be related to wetlands mapping, rather than sedimentation controls, disqualifying another $8,847.11.
On March 28th a follow-up meeting including Dutka, Edison, Harlow and Carusillo was held at Town Hall to revisit the remaining balance. An estimated value for the sedimentation control portion of the E. Hyerdale project work was discussed and based on those estimations, WLPOA subsequently offered $18,066.25 toward the project, a sum that was very generous in the Town’s favor, according to Edison. After all WLPOA payments were credited, that resulted in a net balance due to the Town of $1,748.45.
At a May 2nd follow-up meeting the 1st Selectman pressed for a higher payment from the Association. Carusillo’s proposal was subsequently rejected by the WLPOA Board of Directors, however, citing the lack of documentation to support any higher payment.
In late July the Town accepted the proposed sum of $1,748.45, covering all outstanding balances through FYE 2023, which ended on June 30, 2024.
Both parties agreed that any future work would require execution of a written contract.
Disclosure: WLPOA President Michael Edison is a member of The Goshen News Board of Directors.
