Spending Now Pays Dividends Later

8/20/2006 - The $567,000 that the newly constituted Chautauqua Lake Management Commission recommends spending will seem pretty cheap later if we do not appropriate it now to begin improving the quality of the lake.

Many lakeside property owners have already reacted with dismay to the news that the commission’s recommended plan for next year includes mostly detailed studies and stepping up weed harvesting. There likely will be no other efforts — no use of chemicals — to control weed growth next summer.

Their disappointment is understandable since Chautauqua Lake has produced such a prodigious crop of weeds this year. We would guess it is because Mother Nature dealt us days upon days of abundant sunshine early in the spring and continuing pretty much all summer, and because zebra mussels and the sewer districts have increased clarity of the water. The weeds thrived in this environment and have rendered parts of the lake unusable.

There is no question, though, that Chautauqua Lake Management Commission must, as indeed it hopes to, thoroughly analyze things such as herbicide and water dispersion, the fishery, plant diversity, water quality and nutrients and sediments. Without this detailed information, it would be impossible to formulate a comprehensive and informed plan that includes dealing with the choking level of weed growth. Whatever the final plan may be, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, if approached for permits, will require this degree of thoroughness, and so should we.

While we know the commission members want to move as quickly as possible we applaud their determination to do things right and to take the long view in resolving issues involving the lake itself as well as the all-important watershed that surrounds it. Frankly, a management plan for Chautauqua Lake is a pocketbook issue that affects every property owner in the county, from Lakeshore Drive in Dunkirk to Riverside Road in Busti and from Pekin Hill Road in French Creek to Waterboro Hill Road in Ellington. Those of us who own property away from the lake should champion the commission’s cause and support its need for $567,000 next year for the simple reason that as long as property values around the lake continue to climb, those who own it will continue to pay a larger and larger share of school and county taxes.

If we have too many summers in a row when the weeds are as bad as they are this year, lakeside property values inevitably will fall and the tax burden will shift onto the rest of us.

As you know, tourism is the only industry in the county that has tax-driven revenue to spend — money allocated from the bed tax. Since Chautauqua Lake is a huge tourist draw, it is appropriate that bed tax money be used to pay for the extra studies and work that must be done up front to establish a solid lake management plan.

Yes, the commission’s need for $567,360 to complete this work is a huge sum to add to the county budget — but it is a piddling amount when compared with the taxes the county collects from lakeside property owners year after year after year.Let’s resolve the continuing issue of lake management once and for all and, in so doing, secure the future of what is for everyone an extremely valuable swath of real estate.

For more information on Cahutauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com