From left, Lakewood Village Trustee Ben Troche, and Mayor Randy Holcomb Monday work on village business. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD – There is enough road salt for Lakewood’s streets and roads – the village received a shipment Monday.

Village trustees learned Monday that the village salt supply should last until the weather gets warmer, and salt is no longer needed.

“We hit our 130 percent max,” Department of Public Works Supervisor Thomas Pilling said.

Pilling added that now that the village has reached its quota, it may be difficult to receive any more salt because some municipalities have not gone over their quotas, they would be first in line to receive a salt order.

Chautauqua County just received a shipment of salt as well. Since December, steady cold temperatures have prevented uninterrupted snowmelt, leading to increased demand for road salt and subsequent supply constraints. To extend its usability, the county Department of Public Facilities will begin mixing the salt with sand.

“We should be all right. Hopefully, everything will start breaking, (weatherwise),” Pilling said.

Trustee Ellen Barnes also gave an update on the Chautauqua Lake wetlands discussion.

A year ago, one of the concerns raised about the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act was a decrease in property tax assessments around Chautauqua Lake.

Barnes told trustees that a local real estate agent, Rick McMahon, of Real Estate Advantage, sent her an email, stating that some potential buyers from Ohio were ready to invest $1.5 million in lakefront property but backed out on the deal, not because of price, but cited the wetlands act as a barrier.

“They saw it as a major red flag and refused to invest in Chautauqua Lake,” Barnes noted.

Barnes added that the real estate agent said that it is not an isolated case as other real estate agents are experiencing the same problems. The real estate agent said in the email as more buyers hesitate, the market may stall.

“He said ‘Sellers will push back. Lenders will walk away. They will not want to finance property burdened with uncertainty and restrictions,'” Barnes said.

State Sen. George Borrello, R- Sunset Bay, reintroduced his bill (S.3656) in the Senate, and Assemblyman Andrew Molitar, R-Westfield, reintroduced the legislation in the state Assembly to exempt Chautauqua Lake from the state’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. The bill would exempt inland lakes that are navigable waterways and have an area of 150 acres or more from freshwater wetlands designations. The bill will further exclude the Great Lakes from the definition of “inland lake.”

In 2022, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law revisions to New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act. New York’s original Freshwater Wetlands Act was enacted in 1975 to regulate activities near larger wetlands, greater than 12.4 acres, and smaller wetlands considered to be of unusual local importance. The new wetlands law eliminates the use of the old, inaccurate wetland maps and clarifies that all wetland areas greater than 12.4 acres are subject to Article 24 regulations. Freshwater wetlands are lands and submerged lands – commonly called marshes, swamps, sloughs, bogs, and flats – that support aquatic or semi-aquatic vegetation.

In other business, trustees accepted the resignation of Lakewood-Busti Police Chief Christopher DePonceau due to retirement, effective March 7.

“His dedicated service of over 21 years to the Lakewood Busti Police Department has certainly not gone unnoticed,” Mayor Randy Holcomb said. “As Lakewood mayor, I personally thank Chief DePonceau for his service and fortitude he has shown over two decades. It has been an honor knowing the chief as an officer, chief and friend. The Board of Trustees will now begin the task of filling the office of the Lakewood Busti Police Chief.”

Holcomb added that interested candidates can forward applications and resumes to the Village of Lakewoid at 20 W. Summit Ave., Lakewood NY 14750.