Chautauqua County Legislature voting session (April 26, 2023)

Despite calls to table the measure for more discussion, the Chautauqua County Legislature approved using $1 million in American Rescue Plan funding for the Jefferson Project.

One of a handful of public comments opposing the funding included Chautauqua-Conewango Watershed Consortium representative Jane Conroe, who stated the Legislature should be leading with science, “Why would we pay for understanding algae mechanisms that we already have information for? The very comprehensive ‘Harmful Agal Blooms Action Plan for Chautauqua Lake’ that we already have has much of this information. California, the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project has done extensive research along with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The need for a complete agal DNA reference library has been taken up by this organization.”

Former County Executive Vince Horrigan submittted a letter in support of funding the Jefferson Project saying the project “brings a professional outside and an objective approach” to identifying issues in Chautauqua Lake.

The Jefferson Project is a collaboration of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, IBM Research, and the Lake George Association that is conducting water quality and Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) research. It was introduced to Chautauqua Lake in 2020 in partnership with the Chautauqua County Government, Chautauqua Institution, and the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance.

Legislator Tom Nelson made a motion to table the resolution, saying more discussion was needed. The motion failed 5 to 14.

Legislator John Hemmer echoed the need for more discussion, saying there was not enough information for how the $1 million would be spent and what would be done, “I listened to the presentation that was given and it was a lot of talk about testing and research. And nowhere in the presentation did they say anything about the solution to the problem being presented at the end of the research.”

Legislator Bob Bankoski said it was advantageous for the Legislature to move forward with the project, “I do agree with some of the people that made comments today. I think some of this stuff is very vague and I really, really hope that we have some locked down answers. When they’re done with this project I want an action plan from them that tells us exactly what to do.”

An amendment by Legislator Tom Harmon to add language to the resolution saying that “this funding would be used for research and ongoing work in 2023” did pass.

The final vote was 17 to 2 with Legislators John Hemmer and Susan Parker being the only no votes.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel at Boat User Fee meeting (April 12, 2023)

Chautauqua County will move forward with studying a potential boat fee for users of Chautauqua Lake.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel hosted a public forum that was attended by about two dozen people Wednesday to see if there was a willingness to look at implementing the fee, “We saw a show of hands. The majority of people want to continue. So, we’ll go back. We’ll talk to Planning and Economic Development and start to implement what we’re going to do. Barton & LoGuidice were here. They’ll review what we do going forward and what the scope of work will be.”

Wendel said he expects some pushback but is optimistic about the process.

He said a boat fee would be used to help fund lake maintenance efforts that are currently being done as well to help fund the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance, who uses a metric system to distribute funds for lake efforts. Wendel said this would help reduce the amount local foundations have to support lake efforts.

For 2023, total funding requests for lakes and waterways is $2,953,296 with only $234,000 available funding from the 2% occupancy tax that goes toward protection of lakes and streams. The other 3% of the occupancy tax is designated toward promotion of tourism.

Wendel said a committee to study the boat fee could include members from fishing associations, boat clubs, elected officials, and travel and tourism, “What we’d be looking at is an annual fee. What that fee is is yet to be determined. But you purchase a sticker. The hopes are.. could we work with marinas could we work with other agencies that put the boats in and out, or working with local establishments. Again, we have a couple places that sell fish licenses every weekend. So, working with our businesses around Chautauqua Lake to provide those stickers for people, if they’re coming in for a day, for a week, and understand what that fee would be.”

Wendel said the county still needs to determine how the committee is implemented in terms of whether it needs legislative approval to appoint members or not.

Should a recommendation to create a boat user fee be approved by the Chautauqua County Legislature, it would still require Home Rule approval from New York State in order to be implemented.

State Assemblyman Andy Goodell, who was present at the meeting, said given the legislative calendar, if this moves forward this is something that likely wouldn’t be acted on by the state until 2024 for implementation in 2025.

View slideshow from the Boat User Fee Meeting.

Tune to Community Matters tonight at 5:00 p.m. to hear the Boat User Fee Informational Meeting.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance (The Alliance) Executive Director Randall Perry about the organization’s 2022 coordinated work plan for Chautauqua Lake and its watershed.

Randall Perry

Alliance Executive Director Randall Perry said the Alliance received $695,000 in grants from the Lenna Foundation, the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation, and the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation toward their fourth annual Consolidated Local Funding Program.

Perry said those funds will be allocated to projects by Alliance members that were reviewed by the Alliance Board of Directors, “There’s macrophyte which are aquatic plants in the lake. There’s management of those plants. There’s shoreline and near shore debris clean up on the lake. There are watershed programs in that coordinated work plan that help to work some of the longer term issues up in the watershed that contribute to lake impairments. There’s invasive species programs.”

The Alliance Members anticipated to lead projects in 2022 are the Chautauqua Lake Association, Chautauqua Lake Partnership, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, Towns of Busti, Chautauqua, Ellery, and Ellicott, and Villages of Bemus Point, Celoron, and Lakewood.

Hear more about the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance and its work plan at 5pm, March 31 on WRFA’s Community Matters.

The project, which is near completion, started in April of this year and features green infrastructure. Key features of construction include permeable interlocking concrete pavers at three intersections and in curb areas, continuous tree trenches, porous flexible pavement tree surrounds, 11 storm water street trees planted in structural soil, new storm water drainage features and curbs, native plantings, and interpretive signs detailing the project and its benefits.

The project was made possible through a grant from the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation‘s Green Innovation Grant Program and Clean Water State Revolving Funds awarded to the Village in 2018. Local matching funds from the Village, Chautauqua County, and the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance via its Alliance-Foundation match fund were used to secure the grant.

Tomorrow’s celebration event takes place 11:30 to 3pm and will feature live music and a food truck.

CLA Executive Director Douglas Conroe said the skimmers will increase the ability to safely collect the HAB scums as well as being utilized to collect floating plant masses that can be found out in open water.

The Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance helped the CLA in filing the grant application with New York State while Chautauqua County serves as the official owner of the equipment. Under a long-term renewable lease agreement the CLA will be responsible for all operating costs including staffing, fueling and yearly maintenance of the new skimmers.

LAKEWOOD – Area of Chautauqua Lake scheduled to be treated with herbicide on Wednesday, June 24 will now have to wait until Monday at the earliest for the treatment.

The Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance announced Wednesday morning that due to weather conditions, the herbicide treatment of  ProcellaCOR EC has been rescheduled with a new anticipated treatment date of Monday June 29, 2020.

Last week it was announced that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had issued permits for the treatment of up to approximately 86.4 acres of Chautauqua Lake in the Town of Busti (including the Village of Lakewood) and the Town of Ellery – including the Village of Bemus Point.

Some temporary restrictions are in place for the treatment areas, including no swimming, domestic water use, fishing, irrigation, and livestock watering.

Safety guidelines for residents in the area, along with the general public, are available at the town of Ellery Website.

Town of Chautauqua Mobitrac assists the Town of Ellery with the Shore Acres Canal Clean-up Project (Source: Alliance).

MAYVILLE – (MEDIA RELEASE) – At the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance’s May Annual Meeting, Interim Executive Director Vince Horrigan indicated that more can be accomplished regarding near-shore and shoreline clean-up if organizations work together and unify efforts. Over the past month, municipalities and lake organizations have been collaborating with each other to get an early start on near-shore and shoreline clean-up through the coordinated removal of decaying macrophytes and debris.

Over the past month, two projects have taken place in two different municipalities that involved the removal of debris jams, which were causing impairments to navigation, water movement, aesthetics, and fish passage.

The Vukote Canal Clean-up Project was executed on May 13 and involved collaboration among the Alliance, Town of Busti, and Town of Chautauqua. The Town of Chautauqua provided a Mobitrac, which is an amphibious tracked machine with an 8-foot-wide rake that is capable of navigating in tight spaces such as canals. This machine removed a debris blockage from the canal and offloaded the material onto dump trucks owned by the Town of Busti for disposal. In total, work by the Town of Busti Highway Department and Town of Chautauqua Mobitrac removed 14 truckloads of debris from the canal, which provided improved aesthetics, water flow, navigation, and fish passage.

The Shore Acres Canal Clean-up Project was completed on May 28 and involved collaboration among the Alliance, Town of Ellery, and Town of Chautauqua. The Town of Chautauqua provided a Mobitrac to gather and remove the debris from the canal, which was trucked away by the Town of Ellery. This project resulted in the removal of 3 truckloads of debris from the canal, which restored navigation, water flow, aesthetics, and fish passage.

“These two projects are great examples of how unity of effort can produce responsive and effective results,” the Alliance stated.

Over the past week, the Chautauqua Lake Association (CLA) has been out on the lake performing pre-season shoreline clean-up. These efforts have been targeted at removing nuisance accumulations of decaying debris, which if left unchecked would have contributed excess nutrients into Chautauqua Lake, along with large debris that can pose risks to navigation and safety. Over the past week, the CLA has removed 8 truckloads of shoreline debris.

Starting in July, the CLA and the Town of Chautauqua will begin their inaugural joint near-shore and shoreline clean-up operations program, which aims to increase efficiency and responsiveness to near-shore and shoreline conditions.

The Alliance applauds the collaborative efforts of these member organizations whose work has led to the removal of 25 truckloads of shoreline debris from Chautauqua Lake thus far through a combined approach of near-shore and shoreline maintenance operations. These services provided by the CLA, Town of Chautauqua, Town of Busti, and Town of Ellery not only reduce in-lake nutrient loading by removing macrophytes prior to their decomposition but also promote water movement, improved recreation, and a more aesthetically appealing shoreline environment. Funding for these projects was provided in-part through grants from the Alliance in partnership with the Chautauqua Region Community, Ralph C. Sheldon, and Lenna Foundations.

The Alliance has partnered with several local foundations and county government to offer local funding assistance opportunities to its members via a new local grant application process to identify, prioritize, and fund projects and programs aimed at protecting and improving water quality on Chautauqua Lake and in its watershed.

The alliance received a total of $600,000 from the Lenna Foundation, Sheldon Foundation, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, and the Gebbie Foundation to fund 15 member-led projects in the Lake and Watershed.

The funding opportunity was announced last July and application were due by mid September. The final projects have now been reviewed and are awaiting final approval from the alliance board.

The number of projects funded this year increased from 8 in 2019 to 15, and the total amount of funding awarded increased from $300,000 in 2019 to $600,000 in 2020.

A complete list of projects and funding allocations will be posted at ChautauquaAlliance.org pending final approval.

Staff from the Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance meet with Jamestown’s Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission on June 19, 2019.

JAMESTOWN – The city of Jamestown isn’t in the Chautauqua Lake watershed, but that isn’t stopping a group of city officials and representatives from learning about an organization dedicated to helping to locate and secure funding sources to help address the needs and challenges of the lake.

On Wednesday morning members of the Jamestown Strategic Planning and Partnership Commission (SPPC) held its monthly meeting and heard from representatives of the Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance, who presented details on what the alliance does and how it could possibly work with the city to help it in its development efforts related to the Riverwalk and other projects associated with the lake Outlet and Chadakoin River – up to the Warner Dam.

• READ PRESENTATION TO SPPC

Alliance Executive Director Erin Brickley said the alliance could help the city by securing partial funding for a city storm water study, developing Green Infrastructure Projects that would reduce runoff into the outlet and river, and also conservation of the extensive wetland areas located on the west city of the city and surrounding the outlet.

COMMISSION BRIEFLY DISCUSSES RECYCLING CONCERNS

In addition to meeting with the Alliance, SPPC members also noted that there had been some concerns in recent weeks about the Board of Public Utilities ramping up enforcement of its recycling rules. As a result, they felt a thorough review of those rules and subsequent discussion should take place. The SPPC will not meet in July, so the earliest that conversation could occur is during its August meeting.

The SPPC is an advisory agency comprised of city officials – including the chair of the city planning commission and president of the city council, along with with representatives of the private sector, who review and discuss various issues affecting the city and also make recommendation to the city government to help implement new policy and legislation. It currently meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 8:30 a.m. in the mayor’s conference room. All meetings are open to the public.