Jackie Demore of the Chautauqua Lake Partnership is pictured at the county Legislature meeting, calling on the county to support a resolution asking the state to delay wetlands regulation. Pajama photo by Gregory Bacon

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County officially wants Gov. Kathy Hochul to delay implementation of the Department of Environment’s proposed new wetlands regulations, although lawmakers’ vote was far from unanimous.

During the legislative meeting, county lawmakers voted 13-6 in the resolution, which calls for a delay “until all issues can be fully understood and resolved.”

At the start of the meeting, eight people, speaking alone or on behalf of an organization, called on Parliament to adopt the resolution.

Jackie Demore of the Chautauqua Lake Partnership argued that wetlands regulations were never intended to apply to a lake.

“Wetland regulations are designed to protect land upstream of the receiving water body and don’t even make sense when applied to the water body itself,” she said .

She argued that the Chautauqua facility, which regularly receives weed crops, would be considered regulated.

Jim Wehrfritz of the Chautauqua Lake Property Owners Association agrees, saying the entire lake could be regulated, not just the south basin, which typically gets the most attention.

He also questioned the DEC’s ability to do its job.

“DEC staff is insufficient to implement the new regulations on January 1 effectively and efficiently,” he said.

Tammy Scheck of Dewittville called on all lawmakers to vote in favor of the resolution.

“Please understand that sending a unanimous vote tonight sends a clear message to the governor that Chautauqua County is unified,” she said.

But the vote was not unanimous.

Legislator Tom Nelson, D-Jamestown, argued that the resolution is actually a “motion” in disguise. The motions have no legal authority and are designed to share the opinion of the county legislature.

Legislative Speaker Pierre Chagnon, R-Ellery, responded to Nelson’s comment, something he rarely does as speaker.

“This resolution has been carefully drafted in that it does not express any opinions. This requires action from the governor of New York State,” he said.

Legislator Lisa Vanstrom, R-West Ellicott, expressed overall opposition to the new wetlands regulations.

“I think it’s aggressive and overwhelming to landowners’ rights,” she said.

Legislator Marty Proctor, R-Mina, said he supports the resolution as written.

“We are simply asking the governor to delay the implementation of these regulations until everything can be fully understood and resolved. There are a lot of unanswered questions,” he said.

Legislator Fred Larson, D-Jamestown, responded that the state owns Chautauqua Lake.

“It’s a little strange to tell the owner of this lake that he doesn’t have the right to regulate what happens in and around the lake,” he said.

When it came time to vote, Democratic lawmakers Nelson, Larson, Susan Parker of Fredonia, Marcus Buchanan of Dunkirk and Bob Bankoski of Dunkirk voted in opposition, along with Republican lawmaker Dan Pavlock of Ellington.

Besides Chautauqua County, elected officials in a number of other villages and towns in the county have publicly opposed the new DEC regulations or requested a delay in their implementation.