Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear Islander
"DOS held a public hearing in September, at which eight residents spoke in favor and none against forbidding rafting in the three coves. Moreover, another 13 residents submitted letters supporting the petition."
13 letters supporting the NRZ and not even one against. Plus nobody showed up to speak against the NRZ. If this hearing was important enough to post on the SBONH webpage why was it not important enough to write even on letter to the DOS in opposition? Why was it not important enough to take one minute to post about it here?
Part of being a watchdog organization is spreading the word.
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Hi B.I.,
Glad to see you still visit from time to time. To help clarify some confustion here: SBONH was made aware of the petition. Our goal is not dictate where NWZ or NRZ's should occur. That is for those directly affected to do. We did actively look at the petition and more importantly engaged in conversations with the attorney for the DOS hearings and DOS director to ensure that all parties were notified and the petition was granted only after certified mail notices had been sent to all abutters. These steps were taken and fulfilled by the petitioners which allowed the DOS to grant a hearing. The hearing was also posted on the DOS website as required.
There are a number of these petitions that have been submitted this year. Some did not have the proper notifications, some did have the requirements and were granted their hearings.
SBONH has been in constant contact with the DOS and kept an eye on any of those that did not seem to meet the required criteria that was passed in last years: Abutters Bill that was put forth and ushered through the legislature by SBONH.
As long as the requirements are adhered to so that all abutters are notified and the state lists the hearing on their website SBONH is satisfied with the situation. We are not responsible for notifying the general public for that would be a full time job considering the number of these that are filed per year. Hopefully the new procedures in place help to notify all those directly affected. The only reason this one became a sticky wicket is that it is affecting Lake Winni which gains much more attention then other smaller bodies of water.