The Lussi family together on Friday, Dec. 6. Sitting from left are Caroline, Bear and Serge. Standing from left are Katrina, Cristina and Art. Provided photo

LAKE PLACID — The Mirror Lake Watershed Association presented its Mirror Lake Watershed Award to the Lussi family at the association’s monthly meeting on Monday.

The annual award recognizes groups or individuals who have made significant contributions to protecting Mirror Lake’s ecological health and natural beauty. The Lussi family was recognized for various projects they have undertaken to protect Mirror Lake, and their longstanding support of the MLWA.

The most significant of which was the family’s decision to expand the Hampton Inn’s hotel site plan to include accepting stormwater runoff from Mirror Lake Drive during the construction process. The building was completed in 2013.

The water from Mirror Lake Drive around the hotel drains into a nearby golf course pond that the family owns. It would have otherwise run directly into Mirror Lake, according to Bill Billerman, the MLWA’s Vice Chair.

“In effect (this saved) the lake from the impact of that stormwater entering the lake with its possible contaminants,” he wrote.

Cristina Lussi accepts the Mirror Lake Watershed Award on behalf of her family at the Mirror Lake Watershed Association’s monthly meeting on Monday, Dec. 2. From left: MLWA Vice Chair Bill Billerman, MLWA Chair Marcy Fagan, Cristina Lussi, MLWA board members Buzz McGraw, Sandy Edgerton Bissell, Trish Friedlander, Noel Gaige, Denise Bujold and Georgia Jones. Photo by Chris Gaige

Billerman added the Lussi family was not required to take in the Mirror Lake Drive stormwater as part of their hotel site plan. Doing so increased the plan’s scope and cost, which the family footed.

In addition, the Lussi family has provided “major” financial support to the MLWA over the years, according to Billerman. He noted that they allowed the MLWA to plant vegetative barriers along the lake’s eastern shore and let the association use the Crowne Plaza hotel as a meeting space.

The Lussi’s — mother and father Caroline and Serge and children Art, Cristina and Katrina (Lussi) Kroes own and operate the Crowne Plaza and Hampton Inn hotels in Lake Placid, as well as several golf courses, condominiums and a marina on Lake Placid.

Art Lussi noted that the stormwater drainage plan received community support.

“It was a good community project,” he said. “We dug the ditch and then the village supplied the storm pipe. It was a very big community effort.”

That storm pipe runs from the Boat House on Mirror Lake Drive to Morningside Drive. Art noted that because it was so deep – 26 feet, one of the deepest lines dug in Lake Placid, he said, it allowed that storm line along Mirror Lake Drive to gravity feed toward the golf course.

Art Lussi credited Ivan Zdrahal, Brad Hathaway, and Norm Harlow for the engineering and construction of the project, which he said was progressive from an environmental-engineering standpoint.

“It’s a phenomenal thing,” he said. “If you look at Mirror Lake during heavy storm events, you’ll see that along that section of Mirror Lake Drive – from the Boat House to the Hampton Inn – you’ll rarely see open water because of that fact.”

He also noted the drainage serves a dual purpose. When the Mirror Lake water level rises, the pipe can divert water from the lake to the golf course ponds, helping to mitigate flood concerns.

MLWA Chair Marcy Fagan presented the award to Cristina Lussi, who accepted it at the MLWA’s meeting on behalf of her family.

“On behalf of the Mirror Lake Watershed Association, I want to thank you for all of the work that your family has done for the good of Mirror Lake,” she said. “We really appreciate the support and dedication to preserving the health of Mirror Lake that your family has shown,” Fagan said as she gave the award — a wood plaque with a carved relief map of Mirror Lake.

Cristina credited her mother, Caroline, with instilling a sense of environmental conscientiousness in the family. She said Caroline picked up those ideas from her involvement with the Garden Club of America

“My mom certainly was the catalyst to learn to pay attention to the environment, and the elements around the area that are so important to us,” she said. Cristina said the family views Mirror Lake as a crown jewel.

“If it gets polluted, or sees invasive species introduced or has harmful algal blooms then it’s not good for living and it’s not good for tourism. … The health of the lake is an indication of the health of our society.”

She said the family felt it was important to not take a healthy Mirror Lake for granted, and they feel an obligation to contribute toward protecting it on behalf of future generations.

“If we don’t take care of our lakes and environment now, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren will not be able to enjoy the natural beauty that we do today.”

Cristina thanked the MLWA for dedicating many hours — on an all-volunteer basis — to advocate for Mirror Lake’s health to the public, business community and local governments.

“The board members are super passionate about the water quality,” she said. “I obviously thank them for receiving the award, but also thank them for all of the work they do. I know they’re doing an awful lot of work … to get grants and make sure the lake stewards are doing the right thing and it’s all done as a labor of love.”

The MLWA meetings are held at 5 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at the Beach House, located at 49 Parkside Drive. The meetings are open to the public. For more information, visit mirrorlake.net