Chautauqua County is putting its money where its mouth is, by adopting the proposed Memorandum Of Understanding for Chautauqua Lake, which was created by county officials.

The county legislature officially adopted the proposed MOU during its monthly meeting.

There are 16 other participants in the proposed Memorandum Of Understanding – nine municipalities and seven lake groups.

The town of Chautauqua and village of Mayville both declined to adopt the MOU during their May meetings. One of the concerns raised was that participants would not be able to sue one another. Town and village officials called that irresponsible.

County officials countered, saying that the MOU document is non-binding and egregious acts could still be subject to a lawsuit.

Legislator Bill Ward, R-Mayville, whose district includes both municipalities, expressed his support for the legislation during the legislature meeting. “This is a document of hope and understanding. … We are in a situation where it is important to honor each other, even if it is in a non-binding agreement,” he said.

Before the meeting, a letter was submitted by a resident urging the legislature to reject the MOU and instead stay out of lake management.

The Jamestown resident alleged that the lake has not improved during the last 10 years and feels that taxes are too high. He feels that if funds were cut off to lake groups, individual property owners would have more resources to put into the lake and care for it themselves.

The full legislature unanimously adopted the Memorandum Of Understanding.

In other business, the county legislature agreed to designate Oct. 30 as the extended redemption date in the county’s annual tax foreclosure.

The date had been set for June 18, however the state has extended the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, which provides further limitations on foreclosure actions, through Aug. 31.

Stephen Abdella, county attorney, shared that if the state does not extend the eviction act past Aug. 31, the county will send out notices to delinquent property tax owners after that date, in order to get a judgment sometime in November to start new foreclosure proceedings in January 2022.

The new tax foreclosure redemption date resolution was unanimously passed.