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LOCAL
Candlewood Lake receives $100K donation for new patrol boat after busy summer
Shayla Colon | on December 9, 2020
The Candlewood Lake Authority received a $100,000 donation to help pay for a new patrol boat after a busy summer, according to a press release from the organization.
The donation from FirstLight — a clean power and energy storage company — stems from its collaboration with the CLA to regulate and preserve the lake for residents’ use. Patrol boats are used by local officials to monitor activity on the lake and respond to emergencies nearby.
“FirstLight’s generous and timely donation made it possible for the CLA to order a third patrol boat to increase our public safety presence on the lake next summer,” said Mark Howarth, executive director of the authority.
The total cost of one patrol boat is $150,000, according to Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn. The donation from FirstLight covers the bulk of a third boat, but the authority is hoping to draw the remaining $50,000 from the five towns’ — Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford and Sherman— budgets. The authority previously requested the towns pay the total sum before the donation.
“The price of this boat is pretty typical for this type of boat for the purpose they’re going to use it for,” said Dunn.
“As the old expression goes, they’re not buying a Cadillac. They’re buying a Chevy, a good quality Chevy,” he added.
A marine patrol boat on Candlewood Lake part of the Connecticut Lake Authority's Lake Patrol. A new boat is being purchased to replace the 2002 McKee Patrol Boat which has developed serious cracks in its transom and was taken out of service.
The boat is expected to be able to withstand years of use and is packed with special equipment needed by patrol.
The CLA was in critical need of a new patrol boat after two boats were decommissioned this year and another is nearing the end of its life. Officials only have two working patrol boats at this time and are filling the gaps using a boat purposed for scientific conservation. This comes after heavy usage of the lake as people sought passive recreation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ideally, the authority would like to have four patrol boats stationed around Candlewood Lake so officials can respond to any emergency within five to ten minutes.
“We believe the increasing volume of activity on Candlewood Lake is best managed having four CLA Marine Patrol boats available for public education and safety,” Howarth said.
The CLA plans to ask each town for a $30,000 contribution toward a fourth boat in the upcoming fiscal cycle that could be available until the summer of 2022, according to Howarth.
Dunn thinks it will be hard to appropriate the funds for another boat since it is coming from town budgets.
“It’s not in the budget so we would have to take it out of our general fund or lower other budget lines to pay for it,” Dunn said. “When you’re outside of your normal budget cycle... it’s very hard to appropriate money because you have to find it somewhere, you can’t tax people.”
Town officials are waiting to see the budget costs but acknowledge a need to update the equipment, especially with the recent influx of people using the lake, according to New Milford Mayor Pete Bass.
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