From left, Lakewood Village Trustee Ben Troche, and Mayor Randy Holcomb look over documents Monday at a village board meeting. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD – Trustee Ben Troche needs more time to review documentation before he can cast his vote on a proposed Chautauqua Lake Management plan.

Trustees Monday tabled a resolution concerning the five-year Chautauqua Lake Management plan that was proposed and developed by Dr. Robert Richardson of North Carolina State University. In January trustees voted 3-2 to not support or adopt a long-term plan for the submersed aquatic vegetation in Chautauqua Lake.

“I know we reviewed this in the past, and you’re asking us to reconsider, and I just haven’t had time to sit down,” Troche said. “I want to reread the plan and do some research. So I can’t vote for this yet, because I don’t know yet. I would like to postpone until the next meeting, personally, because I can’t vote for it as of now.”

Trustees are scheduled to meet Dec. 8.Trustee Ellen Barnes said the plan is an adaptable plan.

“Doctor Rob Richardson is world renowned for his work with lakes. We’re actually, I think, very fortunate to have him. And if you’ve ever heard him speak, or if you get a chance, it’s well worth listening to him,” Barnes said.

Barnes added that after what she called “horrendous conditions” of the lake, some officials have started rethinking and have decided to take the five-year plan of the shelf.

In a letter to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Region Nine Director Julie Barrett O’Neill, and Pierre Chagnon, president of the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance, Mayor Randy Holcomb on behalf of the trustees and village residents is in support of the plan.

During the meeting Barnes read the letter aloud.

“Despite our collective efforts, we have had continuous problems with attempting to control the weeds and harmful algal blooms in our lake, which have made our lake less usable. The plan provides a path that will help control these issues in the future; a qualified Lake manager is an essential part of the plan. We need to address the weed and HAB problems to ensure the safety of everyone who uses the lake and for the economic security of our towns, villages and county.”

Barnes noted that a copy of the letter also will be sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul, and to the head of the DEC in Albany.

NC State’s Aquatic Plant Management Program has completed full lake surveys of Chautauqua Lake each year since 2020 that include collecting and analyzing hydroacoustic and point intercept data annually at up to 1,000 sites throughout the lake and documenting the presence and extent of aquatic plant species during the fall and spring seasons.

NC State’s Aquatic Plant Management Program officials propose a staged plan that deals with the entire lake rather than the 2017 Chautauqua Lake Macrophyte Management Strategy’s approach that divides the lake into subsections based off of shoreline use and the need to balance human interaction with environmental considerations.

University officials said the approach is good for small areas but shifts lake management strategies away from a focus on plant ecology to meet the county’s goals in managing vegetation in the lake.

At a January Mayville Village Board meeting, Mayor Rick Syper told a representative with the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association that the village would not be supporting the Long Term Management Plan for Submersed Aquatic Vegetation at Chautauqua Lake developed by the aquatic ecosystem team at NC State University. Only the town of Ellery has expressed support for the plan.