The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has deemed our weed control permits complete (per 5/11/05 email from Glenn Sullivan of Allied):
Quote:
> As of yesterday, your permit application was deemed complete by DEC.
> Notice in the Environmental Notice Bulletin is scheduled for 5/18.
> Comments are due by 6/2 according to the DEC website. If approved,
> we may be looking at treatment in mid-June, at best.
Thank you to everyone who wrote to Adam Bradley’s office to voice concern. We have some great writers around the lake!
A number of folks got similar replies like this:
Quote:
Dear Robert,
Thank you for contacting Assemblyman Bradley with your concerns on the Pesticide Permits for Truesdale Lake in South Salem. I recently spoke to Wendy Rosenbach who heads the Public Affairs division at the DEC, and she told me that the original permit sent in on March 14, 2005 was deemed incomplete. They received the resubmission on March 22, 2005 and it is now under review.
Unfortunately, this is the busiest time of year for them and they have brought down more staff from Albany to help them get through this time period. They told the Assemblyman that Lake Truesdale’s permit will probably be complete by the end of the month.
If this office can be of any further assistance in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Emily Trievel
District Director
I replied to this Ms. Trievel’s note with this one below:
Quote:
Emily,
Thanks for your note. I appreciate your efforts to track this down. It helps to shed some light on this process. It is also helpful to know an expected approval date.
Just wanted to point out that this is the busiest time of year for them because they make it that way. By not releasing forms until late February and knowing from past experience the volume of permit applications that will come in, they are in effect creating the backlog.
If they either 1) started earlier in the year, 2) allowed applications in the fall for the next spring, 3) had multi-year permits, or 4) had expedited permits for lakes with management plans already in place (like ours), it would go a long way to reducing the backlog.
Once again thanks for your help and have a great weekend!
-Rob Cummings
I received this response:
Quote:
Robert,
We will definitely look into this problem and plan to meet with a few people in your community about this very problem. I will take your
recommendations into account. Please let us know if we can do anything else.
Sincerely,
Emily Trievel
When I sent this to Glenn at Allied, he responded in part:
Quote:
… the [original] application was deemed incomplete because they decided they wanted another form filled out, and they wanted another 2 copies of everything originally submitted. Had they issued instructions before hand, it would have saved a week.
So if anyone is contacted to meet with Assemblyman Bradley’s office, please let us know at the website. I know a few folks who may want to attend or hear about the results. If we can streamline the permitting process, it would be worth it!
By the way, I was out in the lake this weekend “weeding” my underwater garden. The weeds are there but no where near the intensity of last summer. According to the experts, this is due to the Avast! treatment applied last year. Avast! lasts for two seasons, so even though it is high-cost, it is worth it.