Anchored to water pipes that run into nearby houses, the jugs are a warning to passing boaters. Many residents use lake water for everything from washing clothes to making ice cubes to drinking. That might change with plans to provide lakeside residents with waterlines that would carry Hemlock Lake water from the city of Rochester's water treatment plant. Town residents will probably have a chance to vote on the proposal later this year. If approved, construction of the waterlines would start in a year or so, Jackson said, perhaps simultaneously with the installation of natural gas lines.
Natural gas is available at the lake's northern end.
National Fuel is considering running lines the length of East Lake Road and along West Lake Road to the Canadice town line. Those amenities could have a measurable effect on the rural area even if they attract only a few additional newcomers. And the Honeoye Lake area doesn't have some of the tools other communities have for handling growth. All three are working to update those codes. A grisly legend Human habitation on the lake began 3,000 years ago, when Point Peninsula aborigines settled small villages on the lake's west side.