Who We Are and What We Do

What is the Thomas Island Association

We are your neighbors and friends.  There are over seventy resident/owners among us.

Like you, we are residents and property owners in a neighborhood whose lifestyle and quality of life is enriched by the lake we border and the Berkshire Hills that surround us.

Thomas Island, Lake Onota and the Berkshires are the gateway to an unexcelled year-round life experience.

The Thomas Island Association has a long history, steeped in the tradition of neighbor-helping-neighbor, and caring for this amazing plot of land known as Thomas Island.  We work together to set the tone for the type of neighborhood we all want to live in.

What the Thomas Island Association offers

• A neighborhood of owners and residents for whom life on Onota Lake is an integral part of their life and livelihood.

• A common platform that links us to each other at key times (bear sightings, suspicious activity, power failures, hydrant flushing, etc.).

• Neighborhood watchfulness as well as an informal network of neighborhood security cameras and neighborhood watchfulness to facilitate the safety and security of our residents and property owners and their property.

• An avenue for promoting the welfare of Lake Onota through membership and representation in Lake Onota Preservation Association (LOPA). 

• An opportunity for members to work together for the Thomas Island community on a variety of projects.

While the history of Thomas Island and its neighbors is replete with larger-than-life examples of neighborhood, lifestyle and community, the association you support is visible daily in many ways:

• Welcoming new neighbors to the neighborhood!

• Beautify the island with flowers at the mailboxes

• Keep the road painting updated

• Maintain a list of neighbor recommended service providers

• Oversee the annual island party task force

• Hold annual meetings

• Manage all dues collection, banking and other association related business

• Help keep the neighborhood informed of news relevant to Onota Lake.

• Serving as a hub for neighborhood wide safety/security issues, an established neighborhood watch and access to neighborhood security devices in case of emergency.

Healthy Communities value people not property. - Deborah Goonan

Unlike other Home Owners Associations we do not govern what you can and can’t do with your property, instead,  we focus on strengthening our community connection and use that collective strength toward the greater good of the neighborhood.  In the history of our association we’ve worked together maintain a high quality of living on Thomas Island.  

Some of the ways we do that is by:

• engaging with city officials on everything from caring for our roads to kicking out known drug dealers from renting in our area.

• putting up flowers at various places throughout the island and having a group of association members help maintain them

• putting safety measures in place like mirrors around blind corners and street painting to help remind fast drivers to slow down

• throwing a party where all Thomas Island residents are invited., giving us a chance to get to know each other more and enhance that connection

• holding an annual meeting/year where we vote on new initiatives and update each other on old business

We hope you’ll join us and become part of the community that helps make Thomas Island living even more amazing than it already is!