ELLERY — The town of Ellery wants a potential taxing district for Chautauqua Lake to be approved by the public.

Arden Johnson, Ellery town supervisor, sent a letter to Pierre Chagnon, R-Bemus Point and chairman of the Chautauqua County Legislature and other members of the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Remediation Agency asking for several changes to be considered before a taxing district for Chautauqua Lake is finalized.

“Require a referendum to be held, including all those who will be taxed,” Johnson wrote. “Enact CLPRA district taxation only if a majority of those to be taxed vote and a majority of those voting support the formation of the taxing district.”

Johnson points to County Law Section 256, which governs the establishment of a county district, which says a resolution establishing a district is subject to a permissive referendum once several steps are taken.

Johnson additionally asks that any surveys, presentations, public mailings and notifications, legislature resolutions, hearings and votes be held between Memorial Day and Labor Day when the most potential CLPRA district taxpayers are in Chautauqua County. Johnson was critical of a survey released earlier this week that showed 62% of respondents favored a taxing district to benefit Chautauqua Lake.

The survey received 1,562 responses, 75% of whom said they own property with access to Chautauqua Lake. Of those who responded, 62% said they support the formation of a lake district, 33% said they are “very likely” to support the proposal, 29% said they are “likely,” 7% are “unlikely” and 16% are “very unlikely.” Prior to distributing the survey, property owners in the area were contacted with postcards and emails to notify them of the project. Those selected live within the proposed district, which includes Tier I properties on the entire lakefront and Tier II properties lying inside the lakeside beltway of Route 340 and Route 430.

“The CLPRA issued a survey to property owners in the two tiers in February 2021 to be completed by March 15, 2021, with results to be evaluated by the CLPRA and utilized in further planning,” Johnson wrote.

“This survey was issued and had to be responded to in the off-season when most are not focused on (frozen) lake issues and seasonal owners are not in the area.”

Among the changes is changing the agency’s membership to reflect individual, commercial and other property owners by including an individual from each lakeside town and village appointed by their respective town or village board, along with two lakeside county legislators appointed by the legislature chairman. Johnson is asking that the legislature chairman be prohibited from being appointed to the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Remediation Agency and that the Chautauqua Institution not be given a seat on the agency board either.

Johnson also asks that lakeside town supervisors and village mayors be shown tentative taxation, governance and spending plans for the CLPRA as soon as they are drafted; that the CLPRA be sure that all property and property owners that benefit are included within the limits of the proposed district; and that internal lake phosphorus loading and decomposition of lake bottom vegetation be identified as the primary source of algal blooms and excessive weed growth that need to be substantially reduced in accordance with the 2012 TMDL for Chautauqua Lake.