Chautauqua Lake real estate by Rick & Julia McMahon of Real Estate Advantage. Lakefront, vacation and second homes, local market updates and community news. Serving buyers and sellers since 1992.
Submitted Photo
Construction has begun on the centerpiece ice castle for the 33rd annual
Presidents’ Day Weekend Winter Festival, which will take place this
weekend
MAYVILLE — The Mayville-Chautauqua Community Chamber of
Commerce has announced that construction has begun on the centerpiece
ice castle for the 33rd annual Presidents’ Day Weekend Winter Festival,
which will take place this weekend at Lakeside Park in Mayville, along
the shores of scenic Chautauqua Lake. This annual winter event, a highly
anticipated Chautauqua County tradition since 1987, will feature winter
events, activities, crafts and food for the entire family, contests for
children and adults. The ice castle is constructed of blocks from
Chautauqua Lake’s frozen surface — the all-volunteer construction crew
will be on site at Lakeside Park, weather-permitting, during daylight
hours throughout this week to ensure its successful completion.
CHAUTAUQUA — As it enters its 14th year, the Turner Winter
Series has the welfare of Chautauqua Lake as the theme for its 2019
lectures. To kick things off, host Greg Peterson asked Executive
Director Erin Brickley and Chairman Pierre Chagnon about the role and
effectiveness of the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance
in regard to bringing together lake stakeholders and helping add value
to what they can accomplish. “This is an exciting time for Chautauqua Lake,” Chagnon said.
Despite recent controversies such as the Chautauqua Institution
lawsuit against the town of Ellery and New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation and poor lake conditions recently capped by
the Burtis Bay fish kill in November, Chagnon and Brickley expressed an
air of optimism in regard to lake health and collaboration among the
lake groups in 2019 and beyond. “I couldn’t be happier to be in the middle of the storm right now,” Chagnon said.
The chairman and county legislator joked about the lake being his
nursemaid while he was growing up and said that he has a personal drive
to give back to the community as much as possible, explaining his
various volunteer endeavors.
As he represents District 8 including the town of Ellery, he noticed
early on in his legislative career that the lake would need to be one of
his top priorities.
Chagnon explained how he along with other alliance founders had low
expectations for the organization. He wasn’t sure how many member
organizations would initially join or how much money the lone staff
member, Brickley, could raise. Six grants were applied for in 2015, and
all six were awarded. “I would have had more optimistic expectations and planned better for success,” said Chagnon, who explained how the original biggest challenge was being able to accommodate for their own successes.
Brickley noted that their biggest present challenge is how to
consider the perspectives of all the member organizations within the
alliance: lakefront municipalities, county government, Chautauqua
Watershed Conservancy, Chautauqua Lake Association, Chautauqua Lake
Partnership, Chautauqua Institution and multiple foundations and other
boards. Every future speaker for the 2019 series comes from one of these
member organizations. “The challenge is that balance,” Brickley said.
She’s aware of the influence the alliance has to allocate and award
grant funding based on project submissions from the members. The
alliance received 12 submissions last year, and both Chagnon and
Brickley said they want to improve the application process this year.
Chagnon explained how the alliance assists with the allocation of
county funds. He said it was frustrating for many legislators who
weren’t aware of the needs of the lake and its stakeholders to vote on
funding for those organizations when some legislators didn’t have a
jurisdiction in the county that connected to the lake. With donations to
the alliance, funding can be spread to member organizations from there.
That doesn’t stop members from pursuing their own methods and sources
for funding. The nonprofit status and collaborative role of the
alliance merely helps with the funding process, but doesn’t overtake it
for its members.
Chagnon addressed the makeup of the alliance’s board of voting
members as well. With so many member organizations, only a few can be
represented on the board of eight members. Half of the slots are taken
by County Executive George Borrello, Chagnon as a representative from
the Chautauqua County Legislature and two representatives from local
municipalities. The CLP has been especially outspoken about how it views
the board as not being representative enough of the entire alliance. “That has been a point of some contention,”
Chagnon said, and he added that there is gradual turnover of members
and that there shouldn’t be a board of too many individuals. At-large
board members are elected within the alliance.
Some member organizations have also suggested a call to the state
government for it to take care of Chautauqua Lake since it is
state-owned property. Chagnon said he understands that position but also
noted that it would be hard for the DEC to further maintain the lake on
top of its regulatory actions concerning bodies of water and more in
the environment. Chagnon said he isn’t concerned with the argument to
get the state to be much more active because he doesn’t think it’s a
goal that can be accomplished in his lifetime.
The alliance duo concluded by expressing how the “myth”
that the alliance members don’t work together is not reality. Brickley
said she’s inspired to see so much concern and discussion regarding
Chautauqua Lake because it tells her that many county residents are
passionate about its biggest natural resource. “Most of these projects are being done in collaboration and coordination with each other,” Brickley said.
Chagnon highlighted various developments that are set to continue
throughout the year, including meetings with an agency to discuss the
possibility of a taxing district to support the lake, the county
becoming a member of a Clean Lakes Collaboration to voice concerns for
state lakes, recently expanded sewer districts and more active lake
organizations.
New NYS law requires smoke detector upgrades by April 1: Homeowners and landlords will soon need to swap out their smoke detectors for upgraded 10-year sealed models, thanks to a new New York State law going into effect this year.
A
once-popular ski resort in the area is making a comeback, just in time
for the winter season. It comes after a devastating fire in 2011 burned
the place to the ground. The Cockaigne Ski Resort in Chautauqua County
has been rebuilding for the past few ye
Wednesday, September 19th 2018, 7:41 am EDT
Updated:
Wednesday, September 19th 2018, 11:38 am EDT
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A once-popular
ski resort in the area is making a comeback, just in time for the
winter season. It comes after a devastating fire in 2011 burned the
place to the ground.
The
Cockaigne Ski Resort in Chautauqua County has been rebuilding for the
past few years, and is expected to open again in just a few months.
"We're
really excited about getting the area opened again because there was a
lot of jobs and a lot of people called it home," Owner Isaac Gratto
said. "When the lodge burned and when the place closed they lost their
skiing home."
Skiers
and Snowboarders can hit the 15 different slopes the resort offers
once the place opens. Construction crews are fixing up the place that
has been shut down since that 2011 fire.
Gratto said the resort is rebuilding with a broader mission, and that's to be more than just a winter destination.
Construction
crews are currently installing ski lifts, building a new lodge, as well
as an outdoor stage built for all kinds of musical acts.
Gratto said the stage allows the resort to be a year round destination.
Cockaign
Ski Resort will also provide around 50 full-time jobs, which Gratto
said will help boost the Cherry Creek community where the resort is
located.
"Really
what makes a business work, is the ability to be open all year round,
and generate revenue all year round and to employ people for all four
seasons," Gratto said.
The resort is set to open on December 1st of this year.
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Charts include a summary of all CLP project status with focus on:
Completion of the 6 month/$250,000 Town of Ellery (Lead Agency) Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
Submission
of 2018 herbicide treatment permit applications by the Towns of Ellery,
North Harmony, Busti and Ellicott and the Village of Celoron
Herbicide treatment offshore five Chautauqua Lake communities which were permitted and for which local funding was obtained
Included
on the posters was a photo of Bemus Bay with the suggestion, “While at
the Boat Show, take a ride through weed-free Bemus Bay”.
Yes,
the treated portions of Bemus Bay are free of the invasive weeds which
dominated the aquatic environment as recently as early summer 2017. This
summer, County residents and visitors are enjoying weed- and odor-free
swimming, skiing, boating, fishing and general enjoyment of the lake in
the five areas treated as shown on the maps in the poster chart set
(attached).
The
Chautauqua Lake Association (CLA), suspended Bemus Bay weed cutting and
near shore and shoreline cleanup in mid-June, 2017, prior to the 2017
herbicide treatment, over 13 months ago. As a result of this suspension
and removal of the invasive weeds near the surface which are subject to
propeller chop, there have been almost no weed fragments floating near
shore or deposited on the shoreline in Bemus Bay. The minimal amounts of
near shore and shoreline fragments are now coming from other parts of
the lake.
We’ve
heard the same positive story from members of other communities which
received treatment this year: Sunset Bay, Bly Bay, Sunrise Cove/Ashville
Bay,
offshore the Town of Busti, locations highlighted with light blue crosshatch on the poster maps.
Comments from those stopping by the CLP tent and sending emails to the CLP website have been of two types:
From those who received 2018 herbicide treatments,
we’ve received only thanks for including their community’s offshore in
the SEIS and permitapplications and for making the lake so that they
can, for the first time in recent memory or ever:
Swim without getting tangled in the weeds
Fish without losing hooks, worms and lures
Boat without getting stuck
Enjoy the near shore and lake shore and lake without the foul odor and obstruction of masses of decaying weeds
From those who did not receive 2018 herbicide treatments we’ve been asked:
Why their communities didn’t receive the treatments?
What they must do to get herbicide treatments in 2019?
The
answer to the first question is that areas proposed for treatment were
not treated because of (1) failure to receive DEC permits, (2) DEC
permit conditions which rendered the treatment ineffective, (3) lack of
government funding and (4) insufficient community/municipality support
to propose treatment.
It
follows, therefore, that the key to continuing a Chautauqua Lake
herbicide treatment program into 2019, and, hopefully, developing and
implementing an optimal weed management program with targeted herbicide
treatments and impact-mitigated harvesting, is grassroots community
action by year-round and summer residents and visitors. This action
includes garnering support among residents and lobbying representatives
to support herbicide treatment.
The
CLP will be providing specific suggestions on how to implement that
community action within the next few days. The actions recommended must
begin immediately,
before
the summer is over and many leave for the season. A portion of the
CLP’sLabor Day Rally (see below) will be dedicated to reporting out on
these activities. We suggest getting members of your community to attend
the Rally as a group.
Please
attend the County’s Chautauqua Lake Rally on August 18, 2018, 9:00 am
–noon, and, especially, the CLP’s Labor Day Rally on Saturday, September
1, 9:00- 11:00 am, both at The Village Casino in Bemus Point. You’ll
learn about what theCLP and other lake organizations have been doing on
behalf of the lake and have an opportunity to comment on what’s been
done and what you’d like to see in the future. You have a voice!
