Health, appearance jeopardized by bubblers broken for months
CAPE MAY POINT — Concerns over the management of Lake Lily, including broken bubblers and delayed winter treatment for muck reduction, have caused a rift between the borough and Friends of Lake Lily.
The situation came to a head during the Borough Commission meeting March 11.
Tom Reilly, a board member of the friends group, said the borough has limited what it can do at the lake despite the group raising a lot of funds to pay for its care. He provided a brief history of the lake, noting it was privately owned and deeded to the borough after 1940.
“The borough has limited Friends of Lake Lily to plant flowers in the west garden beds,” Reilly said. “Friends of Lake Lily conducts a fundraising campaign each summer and that is when I began to realize that many of the Point’s residents have a misconception that [the group] is responsible for everything that happens in the lake, when really we are powerless.”
He added that the lake has become a lightning rod for criticism, and said he responded to letters received about the declining appearance.
“Over the past five years, Friends of Lake Lily has provided a good portion of the funding to pay for Clean-Flo services,” Reilly said. “$49,000 has been paid to Clean-Flo by the borough over the past five years.”
Cape May Point is contracted with Clean-Flo to care for the freshwater lake. There are six to seven bubblers that are not working, preventing the winter treatment from being dispersed effectively through the lake.
Public Works Supervisor Bill Gibson said he contacted the company for a quote in November 2024 when the bubblers stopped working.
Commissioner Suzanne Yunghans said getting Clean-Flo to honor its contract has been an issue.
“Clean-Flo is under new management and has been asked for a couple months to fix the bubblers,” Yunghans said. “We all agreed we weren’t getting satisfaction with the attention to fix the bubblers, and then we had a hard freeze which prevented them from fixing it.”
Gibson said the quote was approved and the borough asked to be put on Clean-Flo’s calendar for December but the company never came.
He said he contacted Clean-Flo in December, January and again in February, and finally was told the company would attend a meeting in April with everyone involved.
Gibson said was not sure what the meeting has to do with the bubblers not working, noting that the situation has created tension with Friends of Lake Lily.
Reilly said he reached out to Clean-Flo directly to take the company up on its offer by the CEO to come down for a presentation to all groups about recommendations for the future of the lake. Reilly said he reached out to Yunghans to set the meeting up.
“Just 24 hours later, I received the following email from Clean-Flo,” Reilly said. “‘I just received a call from the borough, and we have been explicitly forbidden from meeting or talking with Friends of Lake Lily unless authorized or invited to do so through the borough. This comes with a risk of losing our contract with the borough. I don’t have any option at this point than to decline having the meeting.’”
Reilly asked the commissioners who made the call to Clean-Flo, and what happened in 24 hours to cause the change in situation.
“The lake is borough property, and between me, and Commissioner Yunghans, everything has to be taken care of through the borough,” Gibson said. “It doesn’t mean that everybody can’t be involved and work together, which is ultimately what we want, but there has to be a direct line of communication between the borough and its contractor.”
Mayor Anita VanHeeswyk suggested having representatives from Clean-Flo attend a commission meeting to discuss the care of the lake. Clerk Elaine Wallace stated in an email that Clean-Flo did visit the borough March 12.
Yunghans onfirmed via email that Clean Flo checked all of the bubblers, fixed the broken onesand applied the winter treatment product.
“While here, they talked with Bill Gibson about the repair and functioning of all the equipment. Mr. Gibson asked them to follow up with a report on the health of the lake as well as the impact of the current drought on the lake. We are waiting for that report, which will be duly shared with the community and subsequently decide any next steps needed,” Yunghans said.
Yunghans added it has been challenging to address competing interests about the wildlife, vegetation, trees, the health of the lake, the severe drought, all of which she said has impacted the appearance of the lake.
Deputy Mayor Elise Geiger said the health of the lake is more important than its appearance.
“It would be wonderful if we could open up and work together with other groups, and not be [coming] from different directions,” VanHeeswyk said.
Another point of discussion was reaching out to Stephen Souza, an instructor for the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Office of Continuing Professional Education. Geiger said several borough residents, including Gibson, have taken his courses.
“I spoke with Stephen Souza last week; he’s an excellent resource for water management,” Reilly said. “He did a paper about Lake Lily in 1983 and is extremely familiar with Lake Lily and keeping tabs on it.”
Reilly said he was able to convince Souza to consult for the borough at no charge.
Yunghans said if Souza is available to come to a future meeting, it would be terrific to have more consultants talking about the lake.
Resident Hope Luken asked if there is a physical borough contract with Clean-Flo. Wallace stated in an email to the Star and Wave that the borough hires Clean-Flo on an as-needed basis to perform specific work or to provide products. They are not contracted for a specific period at a specific cost. The amount the borough pays is below the bid threshold, so the work is not required to go out to bid.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
