LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. – Local leaders believe all signs point toward a busy holiday week in Lake George.
“The weather has been unbelievable,” Town Supervisor Dennis Dickinson said Tuesday afternoon. “The hot weather brings them right out and the place is packed.”
“We’re pretty upbeat about this week, we have already seen a tremendous increase in occupancy," Lake George Village Mayor Robert Blais said.
The big crowds offer plenty to smile about, but there are lingering concerns about the water quality at the popular Million Dollar Beach.
"It is a problem and it is ongoing,” Dickinson said.
Not quite a month ago, officials say the water there tested at double the state's allowable limit for E.coli, forcing the beach to be closed for 24 hours until it once again showed up clean.
“It could be [caused by] anything from a boat discharging, it could be an animal, it could be a human, it is hard to tell," Blais said.
"It's a bit of a conundrum,” said Dickinson. “We have done everything you can imagine, we have checked everything."
Officials say all of the tests since have come back negative but the lone bad result is concerning because the same issue forced the beach to be closed for several weeks last summer.
“It goes cross country in a nanosecond and it is really bad publicity,” Dickinson said.
Since last year, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of sewer upgrades have been made in the area, as crews continue to search for leaks.
“We have slipped lined thousands, literally, thousands of feet of sewer line and we have more to do this summer soon," Dickinson said.
With thousands visiting the lake this weekend, officials do not believe anyone should be concerned about the water quality.
“I think it is an anomaly," Dickinson said of June’s bad test.
“We are all drinking the water right out of the lake so certainly to use it to recreate in, to swim in, to enjoy it, there is no danger whatsoever,” Blais said.
Even so, leaders acknowledge it's important they pinpoint the bad test's source so they can know for certain.
"It’s got to be coming from someplace,” Dickinson said. “So, I don’t know, we will keep looking."