State awards $200,000 to purchase new weed harvester for Rudd Pond

NORTH EAST — After years of despairing about the weed infestation at Rudd Pond, the North East Town Board happily announced at its meeting on Thursday, July 12, that $200,000 has come through from the state to purchase a new weed harvester.

The money was obtained through the joint efforts of New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett (D-106) and New York State Senator Sue Serino (R-41).

According to North East town Supervisor George Kaye, the town and village had been “having issues,” ever since the former weed harvester broke down last year.

“It was in a bad state,” Kaye said. “We had hoped to do some renovations and put it back into service, but it was beyond repair.”

At a public hearing in September, 2017, the two state lawmakers urged officials from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) to help the town and village deal with the weed problem at Rudd Pond. According to Barrett’s office, “the ecological health of Rudd Pond … is a central issue for the redevelopment of Taconic State Park.”

The public hearing was about the Master Plan for the state park. Rudd Pond, the Dutchess County portion of the park, usually sees swimmers and boaters, as well as campers. The weed infestation has made all of those activities difficult.

In 2016, the pond was stocked with 600 grass carp alone, and the weed harvester at that time made fishing possible. As a bonus, the carp were helpful in controlling the aquatic weed problem.

Kaye worried that the pond would revert to its natural state if a solution to the weed infestation wasn’t figured out quickly. 

“We’ll see it turn into a swamp,” he said last year, concerned the state had written North East and Millerton off and would not invest any money in the park.

The weed harvester, which cut down overgrown and unsightly weeds, was key to keeping the water clean and clear. The 19-year-old harvester had been on loan from New York state. In April, 2017, Kaye declared it defunct.

It reached “the end of its lifespan,” he said then, and added it had to be surplussed.

At the time, the town researched the cost for a new weed harvester. A smaller machine, with a trailer and conveyor, was estimated to cost $130,000 — out of the town’s reach. 

Back then, Taconic State Park Manager Christopher Rickard stated that the town had another option: for Taconic Park to contract harvesting both at Rudd Pond and Canopus Lake in Putnam County, at the cost of $10,000 a week at each location.

“Canopus has  been contracted out the last three years for one week a year with marginal results,” stated Rickard. “I am concerned we will not achieve the same results as we did with our old harvester if we just invest $10,000 for one week of cutting.”

The recently announced $200,000 from Barrett and Serino — $125,000 from the state assemblymember and $75,000 from the state senator — will now go toward a new weed harvester, a new trailer for transporting it and a new ramp. Kaye said he expects to see the funding in about six months.

“This still has to go out to bid,” he said. “There are certain specs the state set. There are certain things we had requested, whether they might be added to the weed harvester as it currently stands we don’t know. The $200,000 won’t cover a weed rake, but it may be possible at a later date if there are other sources of funding to retroactively put on the weed harvester.”

The weed rake would further help clean up efforts at the pond.

The town plans to store the weed harvester at its yet-to-be-built storage building at its new highway garage, which is still being planned. 

The weed harvester will not be shared with any other ponds in the Taconic region, added Kaye. 

“It will remain right here,” he said. “It is ours.”