WHO WE ARE
Summit Lake Conservation Group, LLC
The mission of the Summit Lake Conservation Group is to work with our community to advocate and hold our village government accountable for the protection of Summit Lake as a priceless public natural resource.
Our vision is to work with existing community efforts to revitalize and conserve Summit Lake (including its environs and watershed) as a protected public recreation amenity, diverse ecological habitat, and tributary of the Hudson River, such that no future development will be possible on the entire hillside along its southern shore.
The Petitioners
Eileen Ordu
Karen Schoemer
Carolyn Stern
Kate Martino
John Gourlay
Mark Fielding
Peter Feniello
Esther Lucia Arias
Julia Sedlock
Sally Baker
Joseph R. Miranda
George R. Brehm, JR (deceased)
Our Origin Story
The Summit Lake Conservation Group, LLC (SLCG) is a group of Philmont residents and neighbors who came together in October 2021 in response to “The Woods” 22-acre housing development proposal by Clover Reach LLC. Some of us live on the lake waterfront and see the proposed Woods development parcel of land from our homes, while some of us live in other parts of town, and enjoy the lake as part of our daily lives where we go for walks, engage in community conversations, watch birds or go boating, fishing or ice skating. All of us who spend regular time on the lake love and appreciate the uniquely accessible natural resource that the lake offers as a diverse ecological habitat and recreational amenity, not just for ourselves but for all of the members of our community who benefit from its location only blocks away from Main Street and downtown Philmont. Along Lakeshore Drive we have a public boat launch, a village operated community center with a playground and gazebo, all of which are popular gathering spots for village residents and visitors from the surrounding areas.
When the core members of SLCG learned about “The Woods” 16-house site-plan proposal we were concerned about the impact the development would have on this public natural resource. The 22 acres of undeveloped land on which the “The Woods” is proposed is a steeply sloped wooded hillside that is a land section of the backdrop of the lake when viewed from Lakeshore Drive. Many of us were worried about the beloved wildlife who make their home on and in the lake and on this hillside above the lake; many were concerned about the years of work the Village and community residents have done to revitalize and protect the lake through a long term State-funded planning project resulting in the 2018 Summit Lake and Its Watercourse BOA plan for economic development of this village natural asset; many of us were hoping to see some effort by the Village to include affordable homes by restoring existing vacant buildings in the immediate area of the lake as it is a goal of of the BOA plan; many of us were concerned about losing access to the well-loved Essig Trail that connects the village to the south shore of the lake.
From the beginning of the “The Woods” subdivision review process, members of our group attended every Planning Board and Village Board meeting to vocalize our concerns on the record, and request that the Village do everything in their power to review this project with the utmost care and scrutiny in order to determine the potential impact The Woods housing development could have on the public resource of Summit Lake. We collected 100 signatures on a petition to support this request. We asked that the Village Board consider a moratorium on the development in order to take time for a hard look at the project’s implications for our long term village planning process. At every step along the way, we felt that our concerns were minimized by the Village Board and the Planning Board and that the developer’s interests were prioritized and advanced at every step of the way.
This current Article 78 lawsuit is the end result of a year-long process from October 2021 of continually turning up to every meeting held by the Village to try, and ultimately failing, to convince our village government to pay attention and enforce some accountability in the site plan review process. While it felt like a dramatic move to make, to launch a law suite, we knew there was no other way to slow down the review process and stop the excavators from breaking ground as soon as approval was granted by the Planning Board in August. We felt there was no other way to get our elected representatives to listen to us, and to hold Clover Reach accountable to conduct a fair environmental assessment of The Woods impact, which they had failed to provide.
Our challenge to the Planning Board approval of this project in court is only one more step in a much longer process of fixing the problems of a local village government that doesn’t conduct business with adequate transparency and accountability in order to protect its public resources. With that lack of foresight in mind, this lawsuit is also a first step towards realizing a longer term vision of putting this 22-acre parcel placed in conservation, so nobody will ever be able to threaten development on this hillside above Summit Lake in the future.
In Memory of George Brehm Jr.
For decades, George Brehm Jr. has spread his love and appreciation for Summit Lake and its environs throughout the village of Philmont and beyond. A friend, naturalist, conservationist, kayaker, hiker, community builder and mentor, George was always there to help any of us who needed help, in real and practical ways--rebuilding chimneys and shoring up houses, fixing electrical and plumbing problems, making birdhouses for children's events at the library, planting gardens at the community center and at the pocket park, roto-tilling, weeding, shoveling, cooking, you name it…George was available and ready to give his time and expertise. He loved to help others—it was his calling.
He was a life-long first-responder, on Ski-Patrol at Catamount for over 30 years, and the first on the scene at every event where he could be of help. He was a dear friend to many and a good neighbor in the truest sense of the word. He provided kayaks for anyone in the village to use on the lake. He lent out his rowboat and fishing equipment and shared his knowledge of fishing and wildlife with neighborhood boys in the summers to encourage them to do something healthy—and they took him up on it, some fishing out there for hours every weekend while he kept watch.
Living on the lake, George became its unofficial overseer and guide; he cleaned, weeded and planted sunflowers and pumpkins at the shore in front of his house. He kept an eye on the eagles and osprey, protected the home of the muskrats, watched the geese landing and taking off, knew where the wood ducks nested. He watched the sky, the moon, the sunsets, the golden-hour glow of the trees across the lake; he knew the names of trees, birds, fish and flowers.
Wildlife and forestry were his passion. But people were his passion, too. He greeted everyone who strolled by. He gave treats to dogs who walked past his house—and the dogs and dog owners knew to stop and say hello to George. He got so much joy from each interaction. He made everyone's day. He would point out whatever was of interest on the lake that day with enthusiasm.
George died December 19, 2022. We mourn his loss and continue the work of protecting Summit Lake in his memory.
A Long History of Defending the Lake
The history of our community’s effort to protect Summit Lake began well before the Summit Lake Conservation Group was formed. Multiple previous attempts to develop this 22 acre parcel have been successfully challenged by forceful community pushback in the early 2000’s. In addition to community mobilization to protect the Summit Lake viewshed from unwanted development on its southern hillside, the community also came together for a special Community Day event in 2007 organized by Philmont Beautification, Inc., to draw attention to the invasive aquatic plants that had been introduced as a result of mismanagement by the Village government during a routine dam repair. The event was described by SLCG member Eileen Ordu as part of the Philmont Memory Project organized by the Philmont Public Library:
“On the day of [the event], there were kids involved everywhere, attaching the orange flags to long poles, making “Save the Lake” T-shirts and large banner-style paintings on canvas, which were laid out on the grass….There were educational pamphlets, too, and a fish tank full of live lake creatures. Claudia and Conrad Vispo from the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program were there explaining each of these creatures to wide-eyed attendees. In all, about 100 people, young and old, gathered at the Community Center for the event, mostly neighbors.”
–Eileen Ordu, SLCG member and resident of Philmont
This event was a catalyst for an ongoing community effort to revitalize Summit Lake and protect it from the continued proliferation of invasive aquatic plants, as well as the increased sediment and nutrient loads coming from roadways and farmland in the Agawamuck Creek Watershed feeding into the lake.
In 2010 Philmont Beautification Inc. initiated a partnership with the Village to pursue and win a State-funded Brownfield Opportunity Area grant to develop a long term economic development plan for the revitalization of Summit Lake and downtown Philmont. In 2018 the Village adopted the resulting plan titled “Summit Lake and its Watercourse BOA”, which was the basis of Philmont’s 2019 designation as a Brownfield Opportunity Area by the NY Secretary of State, making the BOA plan a state priority for funding revitalization projects identified and recommended in the plan.
Fundraising Team
Sophie Wedd (Brand Strategy, Identity, Messaging & Website)
Sally Baker
Julia Sedlock
Karen Schoemer
Eileen Ordu
Carolyn Stern
George R. Brehm, JR (deceased)
Joseph R. Miranda
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Make a Donation.
Our fundraising campaign, The Lake Needs a Lawyer, seeks to raise the $30,000 needed to fund the continuing legal costs of defending Summit Lake and its natural habitats and throughout the next Planning Board review process. We are fighting for the heart of Philmont: a lake that has been the centerpiece of Philmont’s town fabric for decades.
*PLEASE NOTE: If you prefer to make your donation by check, you may send it to:
Summit Lake Conservation Group, LLC
PO Box 436,
Philmont NY 12565