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Submissions at public hearings

June 11, 2008: Greece, NY

Henry S. Stewart, Rochester, New York

Good Evening.

My name is Henry S. Stewart.

I am and have been a member of the Public Interest Advisory Group and am the President of the Lake Ontario South Shore Council.

I am a resident of the Town of Greece, and I have a cottage and lakefront property at Crescent Beach in the Town of Huron in Wayne County.

The Lake Ontario South Shore Council is comprised of several hundred owners of property along the shore of Lake Ontario.

The Crescent Beach Association in Huron represents the interests of approximately eighty lakeshore homeowners.

I speak tonight as an individual, with whom many members of the organizations noted share a consensus of viewpoint.

In reviewing the aspects that have gone into the proposal of Plan 2007, it appears that the IJC may be deserving of considerable commendation in formulating a plan for regulation that seeks to respect the interests of all of the greatly divergent stakeholder groups. To its credit, the IJC appears to have listened attentively to the concerns expressed by the various constituent interests and to have been conscientious, responsible and careful in holding back from proposing a plan that clearly would cause severe detriment to the publicly and privately owned properties along the shores of Lake Ontario.

Immediately upon the IJC's announcement of its proposed Plan 2007, a significant lobbying effort was demonstrated, particularly on the part of components of the government of the State of New York and certain elected and designated officials, urging the IJC to abandon its proposal of Plan 2007 and to move to or quickly toward a supposedly more environmentally-oriented plan, most particularly to move to adopt Plan B+.

Although the IJC appears to be dedicated to continuing responsibility to hold back from adopting or moving to a plan such as is characterized by Plan B+ unless and until appropriate mitigation against damages is fully in place, the proponents of Plan B+, including certain representatives of the State of New York, have appeared to be urging such movement to or toward Plan B+, without full creation or provision of mitigation protections.

Any adoption of Plan B+, or movement toward provisions of that plan beyond the components within Plan 2007, without adequate shoreline property protections provided and paid for by government entities, as opposed to private landowners, would cause catastrophic harm to properties owned and maintained by hard-working taxpayers.

As a member of the Public Interest Advisory Group, it has been important to me, as it has been to many other members, to be non-parochial in viewpoint and to attempt to assist in building consensus and respect for one another's needs and concerns among members of divergent stakeholder groups affected by regulation of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

It may merit noting that shoreline property owners must be concerned for the safety and welfare of their own and their fellow landowners' properties, but that also, with their interest in living along the lakeshore, they are very likely avid boaters and lovers of nature who are deeply concerned for the welfare of the environment. It is significantly hoped that proponents of any plan deemed more beneficial for the environment than Plan 2007 may be as non-parochial in concerns, requests and demands as are environmentally-conscious boaters and property owners who live along the shores of Lake Ontario.

I wish to thank each of you as Commissioners for your dedication to listening and paying respect and regard to the heartfelt concerns of the potentially conflicting stakeholder interests affected by your decisions, and I respectfully ask that the IJC adopt Plan 2007 and resist any lobbying efforts that would precipitously propel movement to a plan such as B+, without full imposition of proper and necessary mitigation in the form of sufficiently strong shoreline protection provided fully, if it is to be at all, at federal, state and/or provincial, government expense.

Thank you all very much.

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