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LAKE ZOAR AUTHORITY
P.O. Box 931
Southbury CT 06488
Member Towns
Monroe Newtown Oxford Southbury
A Special Meeting of the Lake Zoar Authority was held on Thursday, August 13,2009 at 7:30 p.m. to discuss Commissioner Bob Carlson’s proposal for a 6 m.p.h. speed limit at night ; hear public comments and discuss possible action to be taken on Bob Carlson’s proposal by the Lake Zoar Authority. A second Special Meeting was held on Wednesday , August 26,2009 to continue the discussion after the Monroe Legislative and Laws Sub Committee addressed the proposal for a six m.p.h. limit on Lake Zoar as Bob Carlson submitted his proposal and petition to them.
Present
Bob Barnes, Chairman Bob Mouchantat, Vice Chairman
Carolyn Wilson, Secretary Jeannie Purcella Nick Schmidt
Dave Perriello
Bob Barnes ,Chairman, called the Special Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Twenty –three members of the public attended the Special Meeting.
Bob Barnes, Chairman , discussed Bob Carlson’s proposal and petition which he presented to Monroe to change the current night speed from 25 mph to 6 mph and read his letter to Thomas Buzzi, First Selectman of Monroe regarding Bob Carlson’s petition and that he was acting on his own and he was not representing the LZA as “ his views are his own and do not reflect the views of the LZA as a whole”; “his facts are misconstrued as alcohol was a factor in the Lake Candlewood fatality” “.Liability would be increased on the member towns and LZA and Bob Carlson spoke on behalf of the other three towns which he cannot do “;” Monroe would be the only town to enact this ordinance speaking on behalf of the other three towns.” Bob Barnes discussed the ordinance &
petition process of obtaining ten signatures minimum ,presenting it to the Town and if approved, then DEP would determine if it was appropriate and make the decision to change the speed limit or not. The Meeting was opened to Public Comments :
Where did the 6m.p.h. speed limit come from ? Bob Mouchantat , Vice Chairman, replied that several Ct small lakes have 6/8 m.p.h ; Who voted for/against the 6 m.p.h. ?Bob Barnes ,Chairman, replied that Bob Carlson was acting on own and told to check on it and get back to LZA meeting; Is Bob Carlson a part of LZA ? working for the public? 6 m.p.h. is rediculous.;Another LZA member was voted off the Authority for issues ; does a Commissioner work for the majority of lakeusers or not? Little Nazi-istic; lake current takes you faster, 25 m.p.h. is very reasonable at night; you need to ask how many here are in favor
of change to 6 m.p.h .most boats can not do 6 m.p.h. i.e. electric motor and Chris Craft , etc.; Bar/Restaurant at end of Lake closed ; thus far, 125 people have signed a petition against a 6 m.p.h. speed limit ,forty-five or so are lakefront property owners , some are LZA members, Monroe does not have many on waterfront and people with waterfront need to have more input due to impact on property values and businesses on the lake, on Candlewood, boats go in many directions and don’t on Zoar ; oppose any changes of speed limit, as I prefer to boat early in the a.m. and after 6 p.m., 6 m.p.h. would create safety problems on the lake, the 4th of July was very safe , need increase of patrols on weekends and during daytime ; 25 m.p.h. at night is perfectly safe as boaters self police on Zoar, Candlewood is a different Lake and boaters go in many different directions, 6m.p.h. law targets homeowners ; 6m.p.h. would take 1 ½ hours to get home ,Zoar has no
major issues with 25 m.p.h. at night ,to change to 6 m.p.h. is unnecessary and unenforceable; can not enforce law with radar at pitch darkness of night , need to encourage the LZA to look at record of removal of Commissioner , can not let a Commissioner go on his/her own without recourse and repercussions as your integrity as the LZA will be gone , a Commissioner can not pursue own agenda, remove the Commissioner;
A show of hands against the 6 m.p.h. was requested : it was unanimous with one LZA employee abstaining; noone was in favor of it. Public comments continued :
What is Monroe’s rationale? Bob Carlson made a mistake but meeting is regarding the 6 m.p.h. not an individual ;what is the history of LZA Liability Suits? If speed limit goes through where would the enforcement monies come from and how would it be enforced?; Lakefront property taxes are higher than inland taxes now; who controls LZA patrols ; what’s going on with speed changes? Lake Zoar accidents are during the day not night, can’t overreact to one complaint
Jeannie Purcella , LZA Commissioner , made a motion to maintain the nighttime speed limit at 25 m.p.h. ( seconded by Carolyn Wilson ) Discussion: Due to the August 24th Monroe Meeting , the vote should be done at next scheduled regular LZA Meeting , thus Jeannie Purcella withdrew the motion until the next LZA Meeting. Public Comments continued: have other towns been informed regarding the 6
m.p.h. proposal? Bob Barnes,Chairman ,stated that he informed Southbury, Joe Borst,Newtown and Oxford and copies of the letter to Thomas Buzzi, First Selectman of Monroe were sent to the other Towns.
Bob Barnes, Chairman, adjourned the Wednesday, August 13,2009 Meeting at 8:48 p.m
A continuation of the Special Meeting of the Lake Zoar Authority was held on Wednesday, August 26,2009 at the Southbury Town Hall at 7:30 p.m. to hear additional public comments prior to taking action on LZA Commissioner Bob Carlson’s proposal to reduce the night speed limit to 6 m.p.h.
Present
Bob Barnes,Chairman
Bob Mouchantat, Vice Chairman
Carolyn Wilson, Secretary
Glenn Ganz, Treasurer
Bernie Lintzner
Jeannie Purcella
Dave Perriello
Bob Carlson
Nick Schmidt
Bob Barnes, Chairman , called the Continuation of the Special Meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.
Sixteen members of the public attended the Meeting. Bob Barnes, Chairman, discussed the public comments made at the August 13,2009 Meeting and reviewed the letter from Thomas Buzzi, Monroe First Selectman. Bob and Bernie Lintzner attended the Monroe Meeting which requested vote of the LZA as a whole.. Bob read a letter from Joel Zeisler, a lakefront property owner and Leaps of Faith member, who stated that “ education and discretion of the vessel operator is where the responsibility should rest re slower at nighttime/ in restricted visibility ; accidents
involving drugs and or alcohol should be looked at more carefully”. Joel also questioned how a Lake Zoar Commissioner can either legally / morally start a petition that LZA might not back and that any Commissioner should only act as LZA and not independently. Bob stated that a petition, with 125 signatures against the proposal to decrease the speed limit to 6 m.p.h.,was submitted at the August 13,2009 Meeting and was also submitted at the Monroe Legislative Meeting .Bob introduced the members of the Lake Zoar Authority.
The Meeting was opened for Public Comments: against 6 m.p.h. speed limit on Lake Zoar, one LZA member has total disregard for us and the LZA by taking it alone ,remove the Commissioner from the LZA as per Bylaws he injured the good name of the LZA, “I’d like you removed”; I support the past speaker; I submitted 125 petition signatures representing homeowners and businesses on Lake Zoar, need to listen to the voice of the people on the Lake and stop running with complainers, boats have navigation lights , we drive safely at night , we’re responsible adults and don’t need a change in Laws; a half hour after sunset eliminates those who use the Lake for two hours or more, the a.m. eliminates the fishermen and boaters who use the lake early , not fair to lump it together , don’t need a reduced speed
limit, we are adults, the Lake Zoar track record is good: two accidents occurred during the day and none at night, it’s a recreational place that we enjoy stop the changes, have more petition signatures : 150 now; enjoy Lake Zoar as a boater,; the LZA is a wonderful organization if you run it properly/state will take it over, encourage you to get it done and start tonight; formally request FOI information by Sept 2009 LZA Meeting :emails etc as per my letter which is submitted now;
Bob Carlson, LZA Commissioner , explained his reasons for his request for an ordinance and stated that he was asked to investigate what was involved to reduce the speed limit and contacted DEP regarding the process and his intent was to bring the Monroe ordinance to an LZA Meeting. “Email I sent to Tom Buzzi, stated that majority of LZA members were for it ,I was wrong”“You people don’t want the speed limit that’s fine”.He stated that he discussed it at an LZA Meeting which members of the LZA disagreed and stated that he did not.Bob Barnes, Chairman, stated that the May minutes reflect the issue of the 6 m.p.h.; the LZA never voted on any of this at an LZA Meeting and there was no discussion by Bob Carlson, LZA Commissioner , prior to going to Monroe for an Ordinance. Bob Mouchantat clarified that if
the Monroe Ordinance passed it would go to DEP not the LZA for a decision .Bob Carlson stated that per DEP if it passed it would go through the LZA and he was corrected by Bernie Lintzner,LZA Commissioner that he was wrong and if Bob Barnes and I were not at the Monroe Meeting regarding the Ordinance it would have gone through.; Bernie stated that Monroe requested a letter from the LZA regarding the vote for or against Bob Carlson’s proposal .Bob Mouchantat ,Vice Chairman , stated that he ,Bob Carlson, was told at the LZA Meeting to investigate the issue and inform at a Meeting ; it was never an agenda item/topic covered..Jeannie Purcella,LZA Commissioner, made a motion (seconded by Bob Mouchantat,Vice Chairman) to maintain the speed limit as it is.Bob Barnes, Chairman, tabled Jeannie Purcella’s motion for fifteen minutes for the Public Comments to resume.
.Public Comments: understanding Mr Carlson properly, why was the 6m.p.h. petition presented to Monroe?Cart before the horse: minutes are not official until next meeting when accepted and you,Bob Carlson, should have amended the minutes; thirty years ago,one Commissioner presented an Ordinance to DEP and a speed limit was published in a Law Journal and no Public Hearing was held thus we have a speed limit law;need to address all facts re the ordinance if passed , ? need dark to sunlight patrol and oversite along with proposal should be a cost projection of patrols etc,the cost projection would impact every LZA town and Authority; .there are four towns on Lake Zoar and Monroe has the least waterfront ,least population on the lake thus the other towns have more and Monroe should not lead the charge; don’t understand why Mr Carlson did not
bring the issue back to the LZA prior to pursuit of it, two fatalities on Lake Zoar were during the day none at night ,put police out at night;reason of 6 m.p.h. for safety? there is much wood in the lake and that is the hugest safety issue in Lake Zoar ,CL&P/whoever needs to take care of it ,speed is not ,we’re here why are you s---- -with people on the Lake instead of yahoos, you work for us and we are telling you to cut it out ,whatever we have to do we’ll do it to stop it ;we’re tired of people changing what don’t need to be changed ,now 6 m.p.h. by someone else we’re p/oed about it and now will take it to a higher level if we have to ; we’re trying to do it civilly; increase the police patrol in the a.m. and p.m.; irresponsible persons cause the accidents not the speed.
Bob Barnes, Chairman returned to Jeannie Purcella’s motion “ to maintain the speed limit as it is “and discussion. Bob Carlson
stated he would have brought it to LZA before DEP ;idea is to have something on the books to protect self from liability; limit is moot point. Jeannie Purcella stated that no member should act by self thinking LZA feels this way or that without a vote .Bob Carlson stated that he made an assumption the LZA was with it and not correct. Jeannie Purcella restated that noone should act alone ,a former member acted alone and was removed from the LZA.The motion passed unanimously with one abstention , Bob Carlson. Per Bernie Lintzner’s request Bob Barnes, Chairman will submit a Return Receipt letter to all towns refelecting the vote .Dave Perriello,LZA Commissioner stated that he is on the LZA to promote safety,etc and some Commissioners interject own agenda, not up to LZA/DEP but waterfront owners of all the towns.
Bob Barnes, Chairman, adjourned the Meeting at 8:20 p.m
.Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn Wilson,LZA Secretary
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