County Executive PJ Wendel held a public forum at the legislative chambers in the Gerace Office Building on Wednesday, inviting people to share their thoughts about the possibility of a boat fee.

No numbers were discussed during the meeting. Wendel said previously he could see a boat fee of $50 to $100.

To begin the meeting, Wendel discussed the challenges of the weed problem in Chautauqua Lake and the need for sustainable funding.

Twice this year, a sustainable funding source has been rejected.

OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon Wendel is pictured during Wednesday’s public forum. The county executive also talked about the weed problem in the lake.

See LAKE, Page A3

In January, the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency voted that they did not support the idea of a special taxing district and the county Legislature rejected trying to hike the occupancy tax, with the additional money being used to support lakes and waterways.

According to Wendel, the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance has nearly $3 million in requests for lake management from various groups, yet they only have $234,000 from the occupancy tax. Besides supporting tourism, the occupancy tax is also used for Cassadaga, Findley and Bear lakes, and those lakes need those funds as well.

The Alliance does receive some additional money from various foundations, but Wendel said those foundations were never meant to support the lake. “What we want to do is let our foundations get back to their philanthropic ways,” he said.

Wendel noted how he and others met with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and discussed the possibility of dredging some of the bays in Chautauqua Lake. About 10 years ago there was an estimate of $16 million to dredge parts of the lake, something that was very expensive back then and would even be higher today.

He said Schumer, a Democrat and the majority leader of the U.S. Senate, is willing to work with Rep. Nick Langworthy, a Republican who was elected in November, to begin the process to make it happen. “If you can have the most powerful man in the Senate walk across the aisle and work with the newest congressman, if they can make it work, so can we. And shame on us if we can’t,” Wendel said.

Wendel believes dredging is the one piece that they haven’t tried, but need to. “We’ve focused on harvesting, we’ve focused on herbicides, dredging is the one thing that’s escaped us,” he said.

But while they’re waiting on the federal government, Wendel said they want to continue to fund and protect Chautauqua Lake.

Barton & Loguidice was the consultant firm that was initially hired to explore a lake district tax. Wendel said they would put together a study on different boat fee options. Those options could include things like what size boats would and would not have to pay a fee, how to enforce the boat fees, and what does the county have to do in order to get state approval.

The consulting firm would work with various fishing and boating clubs to get their input. Wendel said they’re not looking at smaller vessels like kayaks or canoes.

State Assemblyman Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown, was at the meeting and said boat fees would require the state legislature to give its approval. He was only aware of one lake in the state that charges boat fees and that is Lake George, so there’s no guarantee the state would permit boat fees.

There were around two dozen people in attendance from the general public, along with a number of elected village, town and county officials and employees. After Wendel’s presentation, he invited people to share their thoughts on whether they support or oppose a boat fee.

Some individuals said they back boat fees, comparing it to snowmobile fees, and how that money makes trails possible. Others were opposed, saying boat fees would prevent some local people from putting their boat in the water.

Wendel thanked everyone for their input and invited people to email chqlake@chqgov.com and continue to share their thoughts.

At this point, Wendel said he will work with other county officials and create a stakeholders group to work with Barton & Loguidice in exploring boat fees.

After the meeting, The Post-Journal/OBSERVER asked Goodell how soon any boat fees could be implemented.

Goodell said it’s too late for the 2023 season. “Home rule” requests like boat fees are generally voted in Albany in June and go in effect the following year. In order for the state legislature to vote on boat fees, a request would need to be made in May by the county legislature.

“The likelihood that it could be adopted this year is extraordinarily small,” he said.

Wendel said he was pleased at how the meeting went. “The majority of people want to continue this, so we’re going to go back and talk to Planning and Economic Development and start to implement what we’re going to do with Barton & Loguidice,” he said.