Is Yankeetown Pond, cherished by generations, being drained to nothing but mud flats, leading to an irreversible ecological disaster?
It depends on whom you ask.
Neighbors who say they are true owners of the pond certainly say that’s a certainty. They blame Erin Moran, who acquired 28 acres of the pond through a quitclaim deed from Sawyer Savings Bank, and they blame town supervisor Bill McKenna. They have taken to social media in a cry for help.
“McKenna’s and Moran’s co-conspiracy to destroy the pond’s natural beauty can’t be more evident than what we see in the pond today,” wrote neighbor Joe Doan. “The supervisor and the faux owner of the pond should shut up and just disappear from our community after the harm that they have caused.”
These are not the good old days that Tara Ryan, who grew up across the street from the pond, remembers. The water level was much lower in the past, she said, with an island that doesn’t exist any more. The pond was regularly dredged, but over the years silt has now built up, she said.
Ryan remembers a happier time when people would skate on the pond in the winter. One person even drive his Cadillac across the ice.
“I would like to see it cleaned up,” said Ryan. “Yankeetown Pond is how I experienced learning about community.”
Joe Doan and others have not responded to multiple requests for comment, instead restricting their fight to social media, a method of discourse very different from small-town face-to-face conversation. They have urged people to complain to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which issued a permit for a water leveler, often called a beaver deceiver, the device they blame. They also urge people to complain to the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, which owns the remainder of the 100-acre pond and large swaths of land around it in order to to protect the Ashokan Reservoir watershed.
‘It’s a scheme until you get caught ,… Then it’s a scam,” writes neighbor Pat Robinson.
The beaver deceiver
On August 13, the Beaver Institute, hired by Moran, installed the beaver deceiver after years of the pond flooding onto Pond Road. The town had previously attempted to remove part of a beaver dam to let water flow, but the beavers would plug the holes.
The beaver deceiver consists of a pipe directing water from the middle of the pond, up and over the top of the beaver dam. A large cage at the pond end keeps the beavers from trying to plug it. The device is designed to channel a steady amount of water out of the pond to keep it from flooding. The beavers do not hear or feel rushing water, so they don’t attempt to fortify the dam.
The height of the pipe, which determines the flow of water, is set at what is determined to be the desired level. It was supposed to lower the pond by twelve to 15 inches, but neighbors, showing an increasing shoreline in posted photos, say Yankeetown is being drained to mud flats.
Moran and McKenna say the pond will by beautiful again in the spring.
Reached for comment, the DEC said it found no issue with the leveler, for which it issued a permit on April 3. “DEC Region 3 staff performed a compliance check on August 28, 2024, and confirmed that the pond leveling device was installed in a manner consistent with the permit,” a DEC spokesperson said.
The DEP initially referred the matter back to the DEC, but added that they also found no issue. “I wanted to assure you that we continuously monitor water quality at the Ashokan Reservoir all day, every day. In addition, we’ve assessed the City property at Yankeetown Pond and found no issues that could impact the City’s water-supply system,” said Heidi Haynes, deputy director of outreach for the DEP’s Bureau of Water Supply.
DEC made a second compliance check October 8 of the water leveler installed at Yankeetown Pond in Woodstock and confirmed that no unpermitted activities had occurred at the beaver dam to alter the water levels. A spokesperson added that the water level was remaining consistent with the permits it had issued.
Based on the information provided in the permit application and publicly available tax-parcel data, the state regulatory agency said it had issued the permits to the recorded owner of the property where the work was proposed to be conducted.
Lot owners versus Moran
Animosity between Moran and neighbors dates back to 2018 when she acquired the western end of the pond. At that time, she had moved in with her soon-to-be husband, Jason Lesko, who owns a home on Upper Pond Road. Moran said she couldn’t get a straight answer when she began asking who owned that part of the pond. She discovered Sawyer Savings Bank held a deed for it, but wanted to get rid of the liability. This was a remaining piece of real estate left over from a housing subdivision planned in the 1970s but never completed.
Moran paid just over $300 in legal costs for the property. Moran said she had asked four neighbors about taking ownership but found no interest.
Neighbor Robinson claims this never happened.
Moran said she took ownership to make sure the pond was taken care of and that the DEP didn’t take it.
The neighbors along Pond Road and Charlie Spanhake Road claim part ownership of the pond, so the issue of the quitclaim deed did not sit well with them. There have been frequent calls to police for trespassing accusations.
Each deed has a covenant that states, “Each lot owner shall with conveyance to home of one or more lots of land within these subdivisions receive an undivided 1/29 interest in the aforesaid pond and waterfront acreage in common with all present and future lot owners.”
Moran has contended “interest” does not mean “ownership.”
The cops are called
A review of Woodstock police incident reports dating to 2019 reveals a half-dozen or so calls by Moran complaining of “No Trespassing” signs being stolen or of people being on her part of the pond without authorization.
On October 18, 2019, Moran called police after she observed Charlie Spanhake Road resident Stephanie Burke removing part of the beaver dam. A DEC officer joined the investigation. Burke told police she had a permit to maintain the dam.
Moran showed an email from DEC saying that only she has permits to alter the pond. According to that incident report, the DEC said the permitting system was automated and it was likely both had a permit.
Police were called several times this summer, when neighbors gathered at the pond each Saturday evening to assert their ownership. They put up a banner reading “True Owners of Yankeetown Pond.” Neighbors showed police what they believe was proof they owned a share of the pond. Moran showed her paperwork. The police eventually said that the neighbors had a right to assemble until ownership was determined.
On September 14, pond neighbor Joe Doan called the state police, claiming Moran had stolen “For Sale” signs from his property. The state police say they found no merit to Doan’s allegations, and no charges were filed.
But apparently there was an altercation between Moran and Doan. She called Woodstock police and filed charges against Doan. He is due in Woodstock town court October 25 on a charge of harassment.
The neighbors’ allegations
Robinson and others have alleged Mororles LLC, the entity to which Moran transferred the pond title in 2021, is owned and operated by Moran and her husband. However, a check with the New York Secretary of State, where all LLC are filed, shows it is a sole-member LLC and Lesko does not appear in any paperwork.
Another allegation by the neighbors is that Moran had the property classification changed from non-residential to residential for some nefarious purpose. Another was that the classification was changed on a land survey filed with the county.
There is no such classification on the deed. There is a tax form, RP-5217, accompanying the deed transfer.
Question Seven says, “Select the description which most accurately describes the use of the property at the time of sale.”
When the property was transferred from Sawyer to Moran in 2018, the answer to that question was “D. Non-Residential Vacant Land.” When Moran transferred it to her LLC in 2021, the answer was “C. Residential Vacant Land.”
Real-estate attorney Tracy Kellogg said there was no significance to that answer when it came to land use and that the person completing the form could have made the wrong selection.
The land would have to comply with current zoning.
A recent land survey submitted by Moran does not specify the classification of the land. The only time that is delineated on a survey is when the parcel spans over two different zoning districts, Kellogg said.
A second Hudsonia study
Some have cited a yet-to-be released study by the nonprofit Hudsonia Institute, whose mission is to protect the natural heritage of the greater Hudson Valley.
“I suggest that the leveler be adjusted as soon as possible so that the pond water level is no more than six inches below the normal springtime high-water level, and that the water is at least high enough that there is some water covering the currently exposed water-lily beds,” Erik Kiviat of Hudsonia wrote.
This passage is oft-quoted by Sylvia Bullett, someone who would like the beaver deceiver pipes capped.
“These areas should be kept water-covered through the winter and until a season-long, comprehensive survey of the pond/wetland flora, and a springtime breeding bird survey, can be conducted,” Kiviat added.
He said that water quality should also be assessed. “The currently exposed water-lily beds should be monitored for plant establishment in order to determine if undesirable species colonize. Harvesting of vegetation (e.g., water-lilies) should wait at least until the biota is studied,” Kiviat recommended
Kiviat suggested the installation of an ice-proof gauge to track the water level. He said the area should be put in a conservation easement, given “the unusual habitat complex and the potential for rare plants and wildlife.” the entire
In 2019, a Hudsonia study requested by Moran and conducted by Kiviat commented on the potential installation of a water leveler.
“I believe a beaver deceiver can be used to regulate the water level, and harvesting of water-lilies in lanes can alleviate the current challenge to boating and fishing. Because it is hard to predict effects on a complex natural system, any management should be pursued in increments, with adaptation based on observed effects,” Kiviat wrote in 2019.
Memories of water levels
“The water level has always been an issue with locals since dredging stopped,” said Tara Ryan. “When I say locals, I do mean natives. In the Seventies the bank near the dam was about four feet above the water line, even though the water was deep. Take a moment to think about that! The water was ten to 15 feet deep, yet the bank was four feet higher than the water! That’s how much silt has built up over the years in the bottom.”
Ryan says it pains her to see how high the water level has become. “It upsets me to see that the trees have disappeared, because they were not trees that were supposed to grow in water,” she said. “The water line has expanded onto property lines, and does go across the road when it rains. I feel sorry for people who have owned surrounding land for long periods of time, because they’re losing their land to the pond.”
Ryan said she went out to see the pond for herself. Despite the outcry that it was being drained, she said she thought it was only down a foot or so. In fact, she reported seeing someone swimming in it.
Ryan said her father tried unsuccessfully in the 1970s to get people to continue dredging the pond, but newer people moving in didn’t want it changed.
Linda Satchell, who lives at the opposite end of the pond, said the stream that feeds Yankeetown has been running low for two months, and posted photos to prove it.
Satchell, who wrote that she has worked in watershed issues in Vermont, said she wanted to talk to people who would be willing to work with the DEP and DEC to find solutions.
“For those of you who are interested in dialogue rather than righteous indignation and are interested in the pond, feel free to reach out,” she wrote.
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