North Harmony increases starry stonewort contract
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STOW – North Harmony Town Board members are increasing the town’s contribution to a starry stonewort control project in Ashville Bay.
In addition to increasing funding to $21,200, permitting assistance and project coordination have been added to the agreement between the town and Everwild Land Trust as eligible activities in the contract. The original contract approved in 2024 was for $14,309. Under the terms of a 2023 state DEC Invasive Species Grant to help deal with outbreaks of starry stonewort on Chautauqua Lake in Ashville Bay and Prendergast Point, all eligible project costs up to $125,000 are reimbursed, with no out-of-pocket costs to the town.
North Harmony chose to contract with the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, which has since changed its name to the Everwild Land Trust, because the agency had been working on starry stonewort projects prior to the grant being received and because its bid was lower than one submitted by another lake agency from outside the area.
The Everwild Land Trust has taken the lead on an experimental pilot removal effort in Ashville Bay using Mobitracs and skimmers to remove volumes of starry stonewort from the lake with support from the state DEC and in collaboration with the Chautauqua Lake Association, Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance and towns of North Harmony and Chautauqua. Everwild Land Trust staff is also restoring native underwater plant communities in areas where they have been compromised. In 2025, nearly 2,000 native eelgrass plants were installed in cleared areas where starry stonewort was removed to help stabilize lake bottom sediment, improve habitat quality, and make it harder for invasives to return.
A.J. Reyes of GEI Consultants, the lead Chautauqua Lake consultant contracted by the Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance, made starry stonewort a priority for 2026, with plans to create a technical advisory group and a management plan that includes goals, thresholds and milestones to measure the plan’s effectiveness.
In other business, North Harmony Town Board members unanimously approved a local law authorizing the town to retain experts, at the applicant’s expense, to assist the board when it reviews development projects. The local law wouldn’t affect building or altering a single or two-family residential home, but would apply to any property located within areas defined in town zoning laws as waterfront areas.
Board members also approved a speed reduction study on Open Meadows Road between Panama-Stedman Road and Stow Road, in the vicinity of entrance and exit ramps to Interstate 86, after Robert Young brought a petition signed by eight residents of Open Meadows Road asking for consideration of a lower speed limit on the road. Young told board members that cars drive too fast around a sharp curve in the road, with some cars going off the road in the area. Board members are asking for a study that would include existing traffic conditions, traffic volumes, prevailing vehicle speeds, road characteristics, accident and safety history, pedestrian and residential considerations and proximity to the I-86 interchange.
“The Town Board requests that the appropriate county and state authorities determine, based upon the findings of the study and applicable laws, regulations and standards, whether a reduction in the posted speed limit on Open Meadows Road is warranted,” the resolution states.