Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear Islander
I'm sorry but you own post is making my point. All parties were NOT notified. Every Winnipesaukee boater that has been in one of those coves, or might enter one of those coves in the future is an "interested party". This lake is not the property of the residents of the coves and their abutters.
It is nice that you checked to see if all the abutters were notified. However I have a hard time imagining why any resident of a cove would NOT want a NRZ. It is the boaters wishing to access the cove that would have a complaint! And apparently nobody is informing them.
I can not see how taking a minute to notify the lakes boating community would not be part of your process. Posting on the basics on this forum would take you about two minutes. Hardly the "full time job" you claim. And this thread has almost 3,000 views, an easy way to inform the community. If you will send me notices in the future I will be happy to post them on this forum.
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B.I.,
SBONH never claimed to be in charge or notifying the boating public but to provide information to our membership that may affect lakes and waterways around the state. The boating public must take some personal responsibility to check the DOS website. Part of the abutters bill was to make sure that it was published 2 weeks prior to any hearing on their website which they have done. Prior to the new law all there was, was a notification in the Union Leader legal notices. I am sure we all comb through that regularly. :-)
We made sure that in this particular situation that all notifications were sent according to the new law. In the past there were no such notifications and even those directly affected on a certain area of the lake may not have known that waters in their own front yard were being changed.
At SBONH we provide forums to discuss these issues. There was an ongoing discussion about this however since no one seemed to have an issue with the petition and all regulations had been adhered to there was no reason for SBONH to file a position, send a press release or send out an alert to membership for a call to action. Also there are dozens of petitions filed statewide yearly. There is no way to know which ones will be a hot button issue and which ones won't. As always it is easy to cast opinions after the fact then getting involved. That was one reason SBONH was started: To keep its members informed and assist with any issues they may bring to light. This one was not a controversial issue nor did it violate the regulations put in place.
You said you had a hard time imagining why a resident might not want a NRZ in their area. I cannot speak for them. In this situation it seems like you are correct for their was no opposition. However, that same argument was made for the Barber's Pole NWZ petition. There 10 to 1 came out against once the abutters were notified. There is no way to know how abutters will react, however at least now they will know and can have the right to speak on the issue.
The abutters bill will not fix every petition situation from a notification standpoint but it took a very large stride in the right direction. Again this was one of many petitions that have been filed around the state. It is impossible to make every boater aware of these changes nor is it SBONH's responsibility to do so. We do try to post all hot topics on our forum.
I know you are VIP member there so you have access to the important topics as does the general public as well. Please feel free to join into the conversation and point out those issues / hearings you feel are important to bring to light. Also as a member of the boating public and a member on winni.com you can always post issues you feel are important here as well.
However, if you have specific questions or suggestions I would be happy to speak with you. You should still have my phone #. If not let me know and I will PM it.
Thank you everyone for your continued support. Please let us know if there are any other issues that you would like to see us take a look at.
Warm Regards,
Scott V.