Jim Wehfritz, president of the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association Jim Wehrfritz, present at the meeting and gave a detailed breakdown of the increase in support the organization has seen, something Wehfritz attributed to a perceived increased need for action as lake conditions worsened as the summer went on. According to Wehrfritz the most recent public wetland meeting the CLPOA held on Sept. 2 had 170 people in attendance with another 20 virtually present, around twice the size of the largest attendance seen at past meetings. Wehrfritz also mentioned that the CLPOA received about 65 new email addresses to add to the organization’s mailing list, bringing the total to over 460, showing a clear rise in support as concerns from residents continue to grow.

Wehrfritz noted the lack of management and organization as being a large reason behind the long-term deterioration of the lake.

“The problem on this lake is organization and plan, and we haven’t had an effective organization, and we have never had a plan. We’ve had strategies, we’ve had studies, we’ve got all that stuff but we haven’t had a plan and we haven’t had an organization like they have in Canandaigua Lake that would make sure it got implemented,” Wehrfritz said.

A difficulty the CLPOA has continuously faced, which Wehrfritz noted, is the lack of support or action against the wetlands regulations from many local municipalities. According to Wehrfritz, aside from Ellery, only one other municipality out of the remaining eight have submitted an affidavit in support of the organization’s wetlands lawsuit. Due to this the CLPOA is urging lake residents to reach out to local governments of their respective municipalities and urge those individuals to support the creation of a centralized lake authority or district, an organization which will be able to more effectively manage the lake.

From left are Ellery Town Supervisor Larry Anderson, Councilman Mark Schlemmer and Councilman John Cresanti. P-J photo by Owen Reed

Efforts to improve lake conditions are far from new. Wehrfritz noted at the meeting that Dale Robbins, former Busti supervisor, led an effort in 2004 to create a district to manage the lake. This district would have been made up of areas surrounding the lake in multiple municipalities. While this plan was never implemented, it shows how long the need for this organization has been present.

“It would take some leadership from the county and from the municipalities, but without it we’re just going to keep spinning our wheels,” Wehrfritz had to say on the need for local governments to support the organization’s creation.

For more information contact about the CLPOA at chqlpoa@gmail.com or visit chqlpoa.org.