Bantam Lake boat launch dispute

• MORRIS -- A dispute over weeds is tangling talks between state and town officials negotiating the future of the town's public boat launch on Bantam Lake. Boaters from around the region use the launch, which for years was leased from the town by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP's 25-year lease on the launch on East Shore Road expired June 30.
• Talks toward a new lease have stalled, however, because DEP is reluctant to commit long-term funding toward the management of invasive weeds in the lake. The agency has rejected a 25-year lease proposed by the Bantam Lake Committee, which was appointed by the Board of Selectmen last year to negotiate a new lease. Under the proposed lease, the DEP would contribute $25,000 per year to match annual payments by Morris and Litchfield. The funding would pay for a management program designed to address a proliferation of non-native species of invasive weeds.
• The DEP's rejection of the proposal has sparked a local petition drive that asks DEP to accept the lease and fund improvements to the boat launch. The petition also asks that Morris and Litchfield each commit $25,000 per year to the weed management program and for the state legislature to approve a Heritage Lake designation, which would make it easier to secure government funding for the weed program and other issues related to the health of the lake.
• "The goal of the petition is to provide information to the public about what is going on with the boat launch and the effort to raise money for the weed program," Michael Keilty of Morris, chairman of the Bantam Lake Committee, said Saturday. "It is also a show of support for our legislators, Craig Miner and Andrew Roraback. They are solidly behind us."
• Rep. Miner, R-Litchfield, and Sen. Roraback, R-Goshen, last winter brought a bill to the legislature seeking Heritage Lake Designation for the lake. The proposed bill made it through the legislature's oversight committee but never reached the full legislature. If awarded, the designation would give local officials greater access to resources that would enhance and preserve the character of the lake, and would require the DEP to commit more of its resources to the lake.
• "It is certainly a significant body of water that needs some help, and I know folks living around the lake are concerned and want the DEP to be more involved," Miner said Saturday. "There are a lot of people who are part of this and they aren't going to let the issue sit. I'll certainly continue to work hard for them."
• Lake Waramaug is the only lake in the area with the designation, which was awarded after an aggressive campaign by Roraback's predecessor, the late M. Adela Eads of Kent. The DEP responded to the proposed lease of the lake committee with a proposed lease of its own, one in which it would fund improvements to the boat launch and make a one-time payment of $50,000 for weed management. Officials involved in the weed management program estimate it will cost $50,000 to $100,000 a year to stem the weeds.
• Under the terms of its proposal, the DEP would fund several improvements to the boat launch including repaving the access road, a new fence, new launch ramp, landscaping, a courtesy dock, new guard rails on East Shore Road and a new sign at the entrance. Along with improvements to the launch and funding for the weed program, the lake committee and town officials are seeking assurance from the DEP that the launch would be monitored to prevent problems that have been common, such as littering and illegal parking on East Shore Road. "It's no secret the state hasn't been the best tenant in terms of supervision and maintenance," Miner said.
• Since the 25-year lease expired, the town has been leasing the boat launch to the state on a temporary basis. The town received no annual income from the 25-year lease and is getting nothing from the temporary agreement, which expires Dec. 31. [John McKenna]