Chautauqua Lake Living
Welcome to our Chautauqua Lake blog. We want to provide you with informed information on Chautauqua Lake and Chautauqua Institution living and real estate. We will regularly post up to date comments and information on the activities and real estate market on and around Lake Chautauqua and Chautauqua County NY. Please feel free to post your comments and questions.
Saturday, August 09, 2025
Sunday, August 03, 2025
Saturday, August 02, 2025
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
An "Absolute Nightmare"
Jim Wehrfritz, President (832.319.8112)
Jeff Moore, Vice President
Dan Smith, Secretary/Treasurer
Kathy O’Brien and Tammy Schack, Directors
Chautauqua Lake Area Elected Representatives
New York State
Governor
Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
📅 Next Election: November 2026
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
State Senator – District 57
George Borrello
📧 borrello@nysenate.gov
📅 Next Election: November 2026
State Assemblyman – District 150
Andrew Molitor
📧 friendsofandrewmolitor@gmail.com
📅 Next Election: November 2026
Chautauqua County
County Executive
P. J. Wendel
📧 wendelp@chqgov.com
📅 Next Election: November 2025
County Legislature Chairman
Pierre Chagnon
📧 ChagnonP@chqgov.com
📅 Next Election: November 2025
District #18 Legislator
Marty Proctor
📧 Marty.Proctor@chqgov.com
Mayville West / Chautauqua (Light Purple on Map)
📅 Next Election: November 2025
District #15 Legislator
Lisa Vanstrom
📧 Lisa.Vanstrom@chqgov.com
Celoron / Ellicott (Light Blue on Map)
📅 Next Election: November 2025
District #8 Legislator
Pierre Chagnon
📧 ChagnonP@chqgov.com
North Harmony / Ellery (Green on Map)
📅 Next Election: November 2025
District #7 Legislator
John Penhollow
📧 John.Penhollow@chqgov.com
Mayville East (Pink on Map)
📅 Next Election: November 2025
District #10 Legislator
Jamie Gustafson
📧 jamie.gustafson@chqgov.com
Busti / Lakewood (Light Green / Yellow on Map)
📅 Next Election: November 2025
Lakeside Towns
Town of Busti
Supervisor: Jesse Robbins
📧 jrobbins@townofbusti.com
📅 Next Election: November 2027
Town of Chautauqua
Supervisor: Don Emhardt
📧 supervisor@townofchautauqua.com
📅 Next Election: November 2027
Town of Ellery
Supervisor: Larry Anderson
📧 ellerysupervisor@gmail.com
📅 Next Election: November 2025
Town of North Harmony
Supervisor: Rob Yates
📧 townsupervisor@townofnorthharmony.com
📅 Next Election: November 2027
Town of Ellicott
Supervisor: Janet Bowman
📧 supervisor@townofellicott.com
📅 Next Election: November 2027
Lakeside Villages
Village of Celoron
Mayor: Scott Schrecengost
📧 celoron@netsync
📅 Next Election: November 2025
Village of Lakewood
Mayor: Randy Holcombe
📧 holcomb14750@gmail.com
📅 Next Election: November 2027
Village of Bemus Point
Mayor: Jeff Molnar
📧 mayor@bemuspointny.org
📅 Next Election: November 2025
Village of Mayville
Mayor: Ric Syper
📧 mayvillemayor@netsync.net
📅 Next Election: November 2026
For More Information On Chautauqua Lake & County Real Estate and Living Visit: chautauqualakehomes.com
Saturday, July 12, 2025




For More Information On Chautauqua Lake & County Real Estate and Living Visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com
Saturday, April 19, 2025
WHAT DOES THE REVISED FRESHWATER WETLANDS ACT MEAN FOR CHAUTAUQUA LAKE?
Monday, March 03, 2025
Thursday, February 20, 2025
As of January 1, 2025 New York State requires all motorized boaters
Make Sure You Inform Your Guests As of January 1, 2025 New York State requires all motorized boaters to carry a Safe Boating Certificate from their home state or New York State while operating a boat. For those who do not already have a Safe Boating Certificate, boaters can earn their certificate by taking a classroom course with certified New York State instructors or through several approved online course options including through their home state. Additionally, certificates issued by the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, America's Boating Club, US Powerboating and other NASBLA certified courses are recognized. Persons may rent and operate a boat without obtaining a boating safety certificate. Boat rental livery staff must provide basic instruction and safety information prior to the renters leaving the dock. Visitors and NYS residents who possess a valid state driver's license may rent motorized boats, as well as certain non-motorized boats, at half-day, full-day, or multi-day rates. We urge area businesses to let their customers know about these requirements. The safe boating course certificate requirement has been phased-in over the past few years so many boaters in (and visiting) New York are already familiar with the requirement. However, now that all boat operators (excluding renters) must possess a safe boating course certificate while operating a boat, it will be important for us all to make sure that folks are aware of this in advance of their time on New York waters. A list of online and classroom courses is available through the NYS Parks Boating Education page, which is one of the links available on CCVB’s Tourchautauqua page on Boating (link below). There is also information on boat launches and boat rental liveries. Please consider providing a link to this information to your guests and customers (where applicable). |
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Wednesday, February 05, 2025
Borrello, Molitor Reintroduce Lake Bill to exempt inland lakes from the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act
Legislation to exempt inland lakes from the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act has been reintroduced in the state Senate.
“I have re-introduced legislation in the Assembly that will exempt all navigable lakes from the wetland regulatory scheme; I am committed to striking the necessary balance so that wetland regulations do not adversely affect businesses and residents around our inland lakes,” Molitor said.
The bill would exempt inland lakes that are navigable waterways and have an area of 150 acres or more from freshwater wetlands designations. The bill will further exclude the Great Lakes from the definition of “inland lake.”
“This piece of legislation is necessary to balance environmental protection with economic and recreational interest. This approach allows for targeted conservation efforts by focusing on areas where wetland protections are most needed while also accommodating responsible land and water use,” Borrello and Molitor wrote in their legislative justification.
In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law revisions to New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. New York’s original Freshwater Wetlands Act was enacted in 1975 to regulate activities near larger wetlands, greater than 12.4 acres, and smaller wetlands considered to be of unusual local importance. The new wetlands law eliminates the use of the old, inaccurate wetland maps and clarifies that all wetland areas greater than 12.4 acres are subject to Article 24 regulations. Freshwater wetlands are lands and submerged lands – commonly called marshes, swamps, sloughs, bogs, and flats – that support aquatic or semi-aquatic vegetation.
“In Chautauqua Lake, much of the south basin and other bays and shoals with more than 12.4 contiguous acres of submergent vegetation have been functioning as wetland for many decades,” Mahar wrote in his response to Goodell and Borrello.
Borrello and Goodell called on the proposed regulations to include a sentence saying, “Navigable waters in an inland lake shall not be considered wetlands.” That language was proposed by Molitor in his comments to the DEC. “Navigable lakes, however, would never be commonly called ‘marshes, swamps, sloughs, bogs and flats’ and waters ‘substantially enclosed’ by aquatic plants would not be navigable,” Goodell and Borrello wrote in 2024.