To The Reader’s Forum:

The recent decision to disband the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency has stimulated renewed discussion in the community about how to proceed regarding lake management direction and funding. One suggestion has already been offered to the legislature. We have consulted with other state and local organizations and elected officials. We would like to add our voice to the public discourse on this critical subject.

We believe that any future program will be most successful if it features collaborative consensus-building with no single dominant entity. We believe successful lake agencies should be comprised of representatives from political jurisdictions; the scientific community; lake stakeholder organizations and the general public, with none constituting a majority of the board’s membership.

With regard to funding in-lake maintenance, operations and research, we have previously recommended that principal sources should include lake-specific user fees and/or taxation, supplemented by revenue from the County General Fund and Occupancy Tax; lakeside towns and villages; New York State, and charitable private donations.

We look forward to working with the county and all others as we move forward.

CLA Board President