CAZENOVIA — On Aug. 14, the Cazenovia Town Board considered a couple of potential options to help prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species and other pollutants into Cazenovia Lake from other bodies of water.
The discussion focused specifically on what the town could do legally to prevent waterfront owners from launching uninspected boats into the lake from their private land.
During his report, Town Attorney John Langey informed the board that one option would be to adopt a law requiring any boat launched from a private landowner’s property to be inspected before it enters the water.
“Up in the Adirondacks, they have these places on a separate piece of land where you stop in and they inspect [your boat], and you go somewhere else to launch it,” he said. “I’m sure there is a stickering process.”
The challenge, according to Langey, would be enforcing such a law, even with a sticker system in place to indicate whether a boat has been inspected.
Langey also reported that he investigated whether there are towns with laws requiring all boats to be launched at a public inspection site.
“We couldn’t find a specific example of a town that passed a law that says, ‘Even if you are a waterfront owner, you must go to this location and [put] your boat in and take your boat out from that particular site,’” he said. “We didn’t see that.”
He added that even though he didn’t identify another municipality with such a law, the Town of Cazenovia would have the authority to adopt one under its police powers.
The Lakeside Park Boat Launch, which is run by the Village of Cazenovia, is currently the only inspection site on the lake.
Langey suggested that the town have a conversation with the village regarding potential collaboration and the best path forward.
Following the attorney’s report, Councilor Jimmy Golub reported on a Cazenovia Lake Association community outreach event that he recently held at his home.
One of the big discussions of the evening, according to Golub, was focused on invasive weeds.
“Just speaking for myself, I think we should try to do something to try to safeguard the lake,” he said. “. . . We’ve got to do all we can.”
Earlier in the meeting, the board authorized the appointment of two temporary laborers to continue to address the presence of the invasive species European Frog-bit in the lake and surrounding areas.
According to the adopted resolution, the town has determined that the eradication of the species can be accomplished through a combination of specially trained temporary workers and volunteers who hand-pull the plants from the lake.
The two laborers will be paid $14.29 per hour for a maximum of 70 hours each.
In other news
During the public comment period, Rebecca Garden, a member of the Anti-Racism Coalition of Cazenovia (ARC-C), announced plans for the first annual “Abolition Day” in commemoration of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law Convention.
Garden informed the board that the remembrance would be held at “The 1850” property on Sullivan Street on Sunday, Aug. 20.
The convention, which was held in Cazenovia on Aug. 21–22, started out in a church at the site of the Catherine Cummings Theatre on Lincklaen St. To accommodate the crowds, the gathering was moved the second day to Grace Wilson’s apple orchard, which is now the site of “The 1850” property on Sullivan Street.
Participants included notable abolitionists Frederick Douglass, Jermain Wesley Loguen, Mary and Emily Edmonson, Angelina Grimké, and Gerrit Smith.
“I think it’s going to be a really modest gathering,” Garden said of the first Abolition Day. “. . . It’s almost symbolic more than anything else this year, but we hope that over time it does build. You are all invited; we would love to have you.”
For more information on ARC-C, visit arc-c.org.
The Cazenovia Town Board typically meets on the second Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit towncazenovia.digitaltowpath.org or call the town office at 315-655-9213.
