State to pay LHC salaries; weeds will continue to be harvested this summer

In a last-minute move that will allow the weed harvest to continue for the rest of the summer—and possibly for future summer seasons—the state will pay the salaries of the Lake Hopatcong Commission employees. The move was announced at Monday night's commission meeting at the Jefferson Township Municipal Building all-purpose room, which was standing-room only.
“This is good news for all of us,” commission chairman and Jefferson mayor Russ Felter said. “We’re starting to move ahead.”
The solution, Felter said, came about during a meeting with state Sens. Anthony R. Bucco and Steven V. Oroho, Assemblymen Jay Webber and Anthony M. Bucco, N.J. Department of Environmental Protection commissioner Bob Martin, N.J. DEP deputy chief of staff Dave Glass, and state treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff last Tuesday. “It was obvious that discussions had gone on before we walked into that room,” he said. “They understand the importance of this lake to the environment and the economy of the state, and they made that clear. They’re not abandoning us.”
With the new system in place as of August 1, the commission won’t have to remove the three harvesters from the water this week, as originally planned, and the harvest of Eurasian milfoil, tapegrass, and other aquatic weeds will continue through the end of September. Since the harvest began on July 11, administrator Donna Macalle-Holly reported, the harvesters have removed 168 tons of biomass from the lake.
The harvest so far had been planned around getting the worst parts done as quickly as possible, a point that was emphasized by weed harvester Barry Marke after the meeting. “Now we can set a program for the summer,” Marke said. “Now we can help more people and reset a program to get the full lake.”
Marke said it was a relief to hear the news, but that he’s still cautious in his optimism. “In this job, seeing is believing,” he said. “But that was something optimistic, which we haven’t heard in a long time.”
In past years, the state has provided funding for the commission, which then paid salaries to administrator Donna Macalle-Holly, harvester foreman Michael Calderio, and other employees, including seasonal weed-harvest operators. Even this year, the goal of providing funding for the weed harvest operation was hoped to be met with a $600,000 allocation in the state budget—a line that was taken out of the final budget.
The solution shared on Monday would not involve direct money from the state to the commission; rather, the state will make those commission workers state employees, and pay their salaries as State Park DEP employees. Felter said that the meeting also generated some commitments for next year, but nothing that could be confirmed yet. The DEP will also continue to fund commission activities, such as stormwater basin installations and regular water-quality checks, through environmental grants.
Felter thanked those who attended the meeting to come up with this plan, the commission staff, Tim Clancy and the Knee Deep Club for coming up with a fallback fundraising plan if necessary, and the Lake Hopatcong Alliance for their plan to hold a boating festival to raise money for the cause. “What was obvious in this meeting is that this commission needs to work with those groups; the alliance, the Knee Deep Club, other groups around the lake, plus the towns, to be a model that we can help take care of this lake,” Felter said. “We need to do that all together and move in the right direction. I think this meeting was a great start… definitely some good news for the future.”
He also thanked his fellow commissioners for the moves they approved leading up to Monday’s announcement, including allocating $32,000 of waning commission funds to get the harvesters ready to go for the season and in the water for at least a week or two of harvesting. “You know, we took a chance funding the harvesting, getting the weed harvesters ready,” Felter said. “If we hadn’t, there would be no harvesting this year.”
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