This came this morning - another viewpoint on erosion of waterfronts and water safety issues:

As a lifetime Joes Ponder, it concerns me when people write in making remarks about Boaters and Jet Skiers as if they are an irresponsible bunch that are detrimental to the existence of wildlife, and the Joes Pond environment. I took offense to Steve Allens comment "The worst erosion is not from winter ice but from thoughtless - or to give them the benefit of the doubt, uninformed - boaters speeding way too close to shore".

I find it interesting that people are so upset by boat waves and the damage that they cause, while never noticing the effects of a 25MPH wind that blows white caps up against the shore all day. I also can attest to the damage caused by ICE at my Moms place on channel drive, which I have seen over the years.

The slalom course actually does not see much use. For those of us that do use it, I think we need to be mindful of Bob Kimballs' concerns and put plenty of distance between us and his dock when lining up.

Part of what makes Joes Pond such an attractive place is the fact that you can go boating, skiing, tubing, jetskiing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming or whatever. The last thing we need is more rules restricting what we can do on the Lake. I hope that people will be mindful of the 200ft rule, so as to keep a happy relationship between boaters and lakefront owners.

It's unfortunate that some people ignore some of the boating regulations, but lets be careful not to blame boaters for all of Joes Ponds' problems.

Bill Hamilton.

PS. I remember seeing that Algae as a kid (late 70's - early 80's) when the water gets warm. It is nothing new.