IMPORTANT INFORMATION

AN IMPORTANT NOTICE FROM JOE'S POND ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT JOE HEBERT:

Good Morning:

Thanks to the work of member Dave Kidney,  the JPA petition to limit wake sports on Joe's Pond was recently submitted to the DEC [Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation]. We received an email yesterday indicating when the first hearing will be held which is, as noted below, on December 12th. For those who have an interest in either a written or public comment, please refer to the information listed in the attached email. In addition, there is a link that gives you an opportunity to review the petition. I would add that we met with the Town of Danville Selectboard last week who agreed to be a co-petitioner. Later this month we will be making a presentation to the Town of Cabot for their input.

Joe Hebert

President  JPA  

From: Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation 

 

Subject: Announcing Public Meetings for Wakesports Pre-Rulemaking December 12th

Hello,

I am reaching out on behalf of the Vermont DEC’s Lakes and Ponds Program to inform you of an upcoming public meeting to receive public input on proposed changes to Vermont’s Use of Public Waters Rules. On April 15, 2024, a new rule under Vermont’s Use of Public Waters Rules went into effect regulating wakeboats and wakesports on Vermont’s inland lakes. The newly adopted rule limits wakesports with a wakeboat to wakesports zones only. There are 30 inland lakes eligible for wakesports zones. Eight lake associations, representing nine lakes that are eligible for wakesports, have submitted petitions to the Watershed Management Division under the Use of Public Waters Rules requesting to prohibit wakesports on individual lakes.

More information about the wakesports regulation is available here: https://dec.vermont.gov/watershed/lakes-ponds/vermont-use-public-waters-rules/wakeboats

 

In accordance with the “procedure for evaluating petitions to adopt, amend or repeal surface water and wetland rules,” the Lakes and Ponds program will hold at least one public meeting to foster public participation in the petition process prior to making a determination on whether or not to initiate formal rulemaking. The public meetings will be divided into two meetings to initiate public engagement for multiple petitions. The announcement for these public meetings opens up the public comment period for review of all eight petitions.

 

WHAT: Public Meeting to receive comment on four petitions proposing amendments for lake-specific changes to the Use of Public Waters Rules governing wakesports on Waterbury Reservoir, Lake Fairlee, Caspian Lake, and Joe’s Pond.

WHERE:  National Life Dewey Conference Room, 3 National Life Dr., Montpelier, VT, 05620 (in person)

OR online via Microsoft Teams, using the link at the meeting time: Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 268 492 569 354  Passcode: EExYY3

OR: Dial in by phone

+1 802-828-7667,,607382336#

WHEN:  December 12, 2024 from 4:30pm to 8:00pm

To submit a comment:

Written and verbal comments will be accepted. 

• Please submit written comments to anr.wsmdlakes@vermont.gov . Public comments will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on December 23rd. IMPORTANT: when submitting a public comment, please include the word "wakesports" in the subject line AND the specific petition (lake) for which you are providing a comment. 
• Registration to provide verbal comments at the public meeting will be available here two weeks prior to the meeting

 

Equal weight is given to comments that are made in person, virtually, or in writing.

 

Draft Meeting Agenda

Meeting outline: 10-minute DEC intro followed by a 10-minute petitioner overview of their petition and 30-minutes of public comments. Repeat until all petitions have had public comments.

 

Draft agenda (approximate timing):

• 4:30: DEC intro to the petition process and meeting purpose
• 4:45: Caspian Lake petitioner overview
• 4:55: Caspian Lake petition comments
• 5:30: Lake Fairlee petitioner overview
• 5:40: Lake Fairlee petition comments
• 6:15: Waterbury Reservoir petitioner overview
• 6:25: Waterbury Reservoir petition comments
• 7:00: Joe’s Pond petitioner overview
• 7:15: Joe’s Pond petition comments
• 8:00: wrap-up

 

Copies of the petitions, along with any updates and pertinent information will be available at the following link: https://dec.vermont.gov/watershed/lakes-ponds/lakes-and-ponds-rulemaking

 

Thank you for your input and participation.

If you have specific questions about the meeting, please reach back out at this email address: anr.wsmdLakes@vermont.gov

 

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I'd just like to add that this is an important issue and anyone who lives, vacations, recreates on, or simply loves Joe's Pond or any of the eight lakes involved in this important issue, should share your comments at this meeting. The health and welfare of Joe's Pond is not the sole responsibility of the Joe's Pond Association. Anyone who has ever sailed, paddled, fished on the pond, or watched a sunset from the public beach, needs to voice their opinion. --Jane Brown