Asking SLI Budget to Pick Up$250/yr. for SLI HD Lake Cams,is Less Expensive than Alternatives

2:50 pm Tuesday

The SLI lake cameras (cams) were originally donated by a few very generous but not wealthy people. The red, long sleeve t-shirts became one of the sources of income to support its monthly fees and maintenance costs. Finally the Trustees recognized the value of the cams and picked up half of the monthly fees at a cost of $250 per year. As the equipment ages and its maintenance costs increase, the generous people have continued to provide funds. 

The question coming before the Trustees this month is whether or not this is the time for the Institute budget to pick up the balance of the monthly fees ($250 per year) for a grand total of $500 per year. The amount will still make it necessary for fund raising and continued generous donations to keep the increasing maintenance costs and potential replacement parts covered. The annual cost of the monthly fees ($500) is still a bargain when compared to other utilities including the office phone and internet. 

A new problem has developed. The cams no longer see as much of the lake as they used to see. The growth of tree limbs and branches are slowly obscuring more and more of the view of the lake. There is talk of relocating the cams but that involves finding another host cottage which has a computer able to be left on 24 hours a day, and a reliable internet connection. The computer, of course, has to be in a relatively temperature-controlled atmosphere which is why Hoag Hall was ruled out early on since it had none of these provisions.

There are opinions that say that one of the boat houses would provide an excellent streaming view of the lake, but this involves running electrical lines, cable internet lines, getting an ample-capacity computer and keeping it in a relatively temperate climate. This would involve big bucks and create the question of whether this would provide enough deterrent from potential vandalism. Another slim possibility is running a cable from wherever the cams would be located back to the office with a bumper or two in between to bump up the signal and keep it strong. The option of running a cable through the air creates new problems.

It seems like the most logical choice is to trim the trees back to where they were when the cams were first installed. Since our two HD cams have the capability of streaming live action both on the water and on the shoreline, it is unfortunate that our internet connection is still limited by the Frontier DSL connection. This is like putting the valuable cams into the top of a funnel and expecting the output to move just as fast going out as it was going in. We have yet to see the full capability of our HD cams because of our slow Frontier internet connection which is also true of the office connection.