CHAUTAUQUA — The Chautauqua Institution is pushing back against the town of Ellery’s assertion that it shouldn’t be part of the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency board.

In a letter sent to county officials on Monday, Michael Hill, institution president, addressed some of the comments submitted and read aloud during a recent CLPRA meeting. One of the letters read during the meeting came from Arden Johnson, Ellery town supervisor, with a request that Chautauqua Institution no longer have a seat on the CLPRA because it is duplicative and because the institution is outspoken against the use of herbicides on Chautauqua Lake.

“Chautauqua Institution and our residents pay some of the highest property taxes in Chautauqua County,” Hill wrote. “This tax base represents a major percentage of the total revenues available to the County for lake conservation. This fact, combined with Chautauqua Institution’s status as a significant riparian owner and our history of collaboration with Chautauqua County officials and lake conservation agencies as well as most of our surrounding municipalities, fully justifies our contribution to the recommendations for this agency. Secondly, our repeated and well-informed public statements, which are documented in print and video media, state that Chautauqua Institution is not against the use of herbicides. We support their limited, targeted, and safely applied use as part of a comprehensive science-based strategy for and approach to lake conservation.”

Johnson had argued that the CLPRA only has nine members: two appointed by the Chautauqua County Legislature chairman; three elected town officials appointed by the Chautauqua County Executive; two village officials appointed by the county executive; a property owner appointed by the county executive and a Chautauqua Institution representative appointed by the county executive. In Johnson’s view, non-Chautauqua Institution property owners will be liable for the majority of the planned taxation and should be represented by more members of the CLPRA. In 2018, Chautauqua Institution officials filed a lawsuit against Ellery and the state DEC trying to overturn the DEC’s approval of Ellery’s permits to apply herbicide.

The institution alleged the town didn’t adequately consider comments it received during the SEIS process and acted an “arbitrary and capricious manner” by adopting an SEIS that institution officials allege wasn’t supported by evidence within the public record. The institution’s attorneys allege the town of Ellery should have prepared a full environmental impact statement rather than filing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to a previous Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement document finalized in 1990.

“The Chautauqua Institution, with a member on the CLPRA, has demonstrated an aversion to the use of science-based methodologies to address the problems of Chautauqua Lake, most specifically, the use of EPA and NYSDEC-approved and permitted herbicides. As such it cannot be an honest broker on behalf of the lake,” Johnson’s letter states.

CLPRA members haven’t yet made a decision whether or not to recommend a taxing district for Chautauqua Lake to the Chautauqua County Legislature and recently finished a public survey to get public opinion on a taxing district. Of those responding, 75% indicated they own property with access to Chautauqua Lake, with 62% saying they support the formation of a lake district. That includes 33% who responded as ‘very likely’ to support the proposal, 29% who were ‘likely,’ 7% who were “unlikely” and 16% who were “very unlikely.”

Taxes could be levied based on a property’s location within one of two zones. Tier I properties include the entire lakefront and Tier II properties would be inside the lakeside beltway of Route 340 and Route 430. Pat McLaughlin, Ellicott town supervisor, said there are questions about only drawing district fees from those property owners, many of whom already pay high property taxes. Hill wrote that Chautauqua Institution officials agree with many of the concerns raised about how many people would ultimately pay a taxing district fee, if one is instituted.

“Some respondents also expressed support for employing all means available to address the lake problems led by a single, non-political authority that can take quick, decisive actions to address lake issues using other areas across the U.S. and Canada as examples,” Hill wrote. “Of course, others do not believe that an additional entity should be created and that we should continue to allow the current organizations working on the lake to continue their great work without increasing revenue sources. As indicated during many of our previous meetings, Chautauqua Institution agrees with many of these viewpoints to some extent, including the reality that wider areas beyond lakefront properties receive direct and indirect benefits from the lake and revenues for lake water quality maintenance and improvements should include at least the entire watershed. We also believe that a single entity composed of stakeholders should lead the recommendation process for lake efforts, though final decisions should be made by the full representative legislative body to ensure equitable representation.”