On Friday, February 17th at 12:26 pm I received an email from the staff at the Lake George Park Commission containing the public notice of a meeting of the Lake George Park Commission at 1:30 pm.
That’s right: one hour and six minutes of lead time to the actual meeting!
Here is the exact email, which I received at 12:26 pm:
The Lake George Park Commission Committee on Invasive Species Spread Prevention will be holding a meeting this afternoon at the Bolton Town Hall at 1:30 p.m.
I am sorry for the delay in getting this notice out in time.
Whenever you see something like this, you pretty much know that that something big (and usually not good) is about to happen.
What happened at that meeting; which the public was notified of one hour and six minutes before it took place?
You can read about it here in the Post Star.
Everyone is against the spread of invasive species. However, legitimate issues are being raised and need a full hearing.
Read the Adirondack Journal piece here.
Last year, I asked the Lake George Association if they would provide a “Lake Steward” inspector for Huletts Landing and they told me they didn’t have the funding.
Here is my proposal: A lake steward should be offered to inspect boats for invasive species at every launching facility. That steward would be paid by the Lake George Park Commission or the cost of providing that steward could be deducted from that marina’s dock fees paid to the Park Commission. Fisherman coming off-hours or off-season would not be discriminated against.
That’s a solution that could be implemented fairly quickly and that could be a win/win for everyone.
Here are some of my questions:
Where will the water that is used to wash off these unclean boats with possible invasive species drain to?
Are canoes, kayaks and car top boats included? If not, why not?
Why is this washing facility being put at Norowal Marina and not at the public state launch?
Is this the first step in banning all boats on the lake?
Are the commissioners making this decision serving on expired terms?
Whatever you think, we should all take notice, when we’re given one hour and six minutes to respond.