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Lakewood Village Residents Back Herbicide Use

From left, Lakewood village trustees Ellen Barnes, Ted McCague, Doug Schutte and Randy Holcomb oversee a discussion in which residents were permitted to share their thoughts on concerns regarding Chautauqua Lake and the potential of herbicide treatments in as many as 222 acres off the village's shores. P-J photo by Eric Zavinski

LAKEWOOD — At a widely attended village discussion, Lakewood residents expressed overwhelming support for herbicide treatments for local Chautauqua Lake waters.

Of the 14 individuals who spoke at the public hearing and shared opinions, 13 Lakewood residents said they wanted herbicides to be applied off-shore this year, and one member of the crowd voiced her disapproval of using chemicals to treat the lake.

In order to find out what residents wanted the board members to vote for next month when herbicide permits will likely be finalized, the four trustees had decided to set up the discussion at the Lakewood American Legion.

Dozens of residents showed up to voice their specific concerns and share their experiences, similar to the format of a public hearing hosted for Ellicott residents in September 2018.

“We needed the residents to come in and tell us what they want,” Trustee Ellen Barnes said.

One resident talked about how weed issues over the years eventually encouraged him to move from the area. Multiple homeowners suggested their shorelines had become embarrassing eyesores, like “split pea soup basically” according to one resident, that they no longer felt comfortable sharing with friends and family members.

While waterskiing, two individuals reportedly became entangled in weed masses last summer during separate incidents. A supervisor of the activity said that if the skiers hadn’t had adult supervision and personal flotation devices equipped, serious accidents could have occurred.

“I don’t even like having my dog in the water at this point,” one resident said.

A total of 222 acres of Lakewood waters have been proposed to be treated, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is currently finishing the permit process that will outline how many of those 222 acres will be allowed to be treated by Aquathol K and Navigate to combat curly-leaf pondweed and Eurasian water milfoil respectively.

Deputy Mayor Ted McCague said $132,000 would be needed to fund treatment of the total acreage. Chautauqua Lake Partnership President Jim Cirbus said it’s unlikely the actual treatment area would be anywhere near that size, and he noted that the DEC allowed for approximately 20 percent of what the organization asked to treat last year.

McCague also asked audience members if they would feel comfortable having their property taxes raised in order to pay for herbicide treatments. The majority of attendees suggested there must be other ways to pay for treatments without raising taxes.

More than one resident also spoke of property values and how they could continue to decline in part due to nuisance invasive weed species littering shorelines. McCague revealed at Monday’s village board meeting that the municipal assessment had risen from $241,295,551 to $244,440,541, mainly due to new construction according to Trustee Randy Holcomb.

Going forward, both Barnes and Holcomb said they would vote in favor of herbicide treatments later this spring. Only one remaining trustee, either McCague or Doug Schutte, would be required to be in favor of herbicide treatments if they were to go through. Both men said they wanted to see the details of final proposed applications before making a guaranteed commitment. The Lakewood board did not allow for the use of herbicides in village waters last year.

“Last year, I could fish all the way until September,” said one resident who had moved away from the Lakewood area. “We got (treated).”

Busti Town Supervisor Jesse Robbins and town board member Rudy Mueller also showed their support for herbicide treatments, with Robbins noting that the lake is the “center of the whole county, and the whole county needs it.”

Follow Eric Zavinski at twitter.com/EZavinski

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