Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post - New PROPOSED Waterfront Property Milfoil "FEE"

tummyman · 11-20-2010, 08:54 AM

In today's (11/20/10) Laconia Daily Sun, Rep. Richard Drisko (R-Hollis) is proposing a new fee that could be imposed by municipalities on waterfront property owners and would be dedicated to fighting milfoil on public water bodies. Drisko argues that waterfront property owners benefit from the control of milfoil since its removal benefits their property values. The "fee" would be set by individual communities, that could opt in or out of the fee process. However, all funds collected must be dedicated to milfoil removal. Once again, here we go hitting waterfront property owners. Let's review some other facts. Milfoil wasn't something that waterfront property owners necessarily brought into the lakes in NH. Boaters are the prime responsible parties, who, if they trailered their boats after being in an infested lake/pond, could easily transplant the weed into a lake. If any fee is needed, it should be assessed on boaters at a higher rate than it is today(a portion of each registration today goes to a fund to fight milfoil). What about people who use public beaches for swimming...they benefit from lack of milfoil. Will we charge them a fee to swim? How about those fishermen who come into the lake for a weekend tournament and who I believe do not have to have a NH boat registration....will we charge them a fee to just launch their boat to help pay for the milfoil? How about those seaplane operators that land on water....will we assess a fee on them for each time they touch water...and they could be contributing to the spread milfoil or other aquatic weeds all the time but are they going to pay for the clean-up? How about all those people who "pee" in the lake...will they have to pay a fee for increasing uric acid levels? The bottom line is that many people benefit from the use of public waters and many have contributed to the spread of milfoil. Time once again to contact your representatives and express concern for more unfair fee burdens on lakefront property owners. If Mr. Drisko is so intent on assessing fees to those alleged responsible parties for milfoil, then maybe he will be a strong advocate and file another bill to eliminate the statewide donor fee on property owners that do not call NH their residence and do not use any of the schools. After all, lets look for REAL equality....not just look for ways to stick it to the waterfront people who may not vote. CONTACT your State Reps !!!!

11-20-2010, 08:54 AM	#1
tummyman Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 832 Thanks: 256 Thanked 672 Times in 243 Posts	New PROPOSED Waterfront Property Milfoil "FEE" In today's (11/20/10) Laconia Daily Sun, Rep. Richard Drisko (R-Hollis) is proposing a new fee that could be imposed by municipalities on waterfront property owners and would be dedicated to fighting milfoil on public water bodies. Drisko argues that waterfront property owners benefit from the control of milfoil since its removal benefits their property values. The "fee" would be set by individual communities, that could opt in or out of the fee process. However, all funds collected must be dedicated to milfoil removal. Once again, here we go hitting waterfront property owners. Let's review some other facts. Milfoil wasn't something that waterfront property owners necessarily brought into the lakes in NH. Boaters are the prime responsible parties, who, if they trailered their boats after being in an infested lake/pond, could easily transplant the weed into a lake. If any fee is needed, it should be assessed on boaters at a higher rate than it is today(a portion of each registration today goes to a fund to fight milfoil). What about people who use public beaches for swimming...they benefit from lack of milfoil. Will we charge them a fee to swim? How about those fishermen who come into the lake for a weekend tournament and who I believe do not have to have a NH boat registration....will we charge them a fee to just launch their boat to help pay for the milfoil? How about those seaplane operators that land on water....will we assess a fee on them for each time they touch water...and they could be contributing to the spread milfoil or other aquatic weeds all the time but are they going to pay for the clean-up? How about all those people who "pee" in the lake...will they have to pay a fee for increasing uric acid levels? The bottom line is that many people benefit from the use of public waters and many have contributed to the spread of milfoil. Time once again to contact your representatives and express concern for more unfair fee burdens on lakefront property owners. If Mr. Drisko is so intent on assessing fees to those alleged responsible parties for milfoil, then maybe he will be a strong advocate and file another bill to eliminate the statewide donor fee on property owners that do not call NH their residence and do not use any of the schools. After all, lets look for REAL equality....not just look for ways to stick it to the waterfront people who may not vote. CONTACT your State Reps !!!!