The zebra mussel was discovered late last month in neighboring Canadarago Lake giving rise to increased concerns about its being introduced into Otsego Lake.

The discovery, field station director Dr. Willard Harman told council members during their Tuesday night meeting in the Springfield Community Center, "greatly increases the proabability it can make its way into Otsego lake."

The council, however, told association members that there was little they could do because they had no budget and no authority to appropriate funds.

One of the main ways to prevent the spread of zebra mussel is by thoroughly washing boats to remove any mussels which may have attached themselves to aquatic weeds caught on the propellor or boat trailer. The larval stage can also be transported in bilges, engine cooling water and bait buckets.

Boat washing facilitteis have been talked about in the past, but problems associated with them and a lack of funding have sunk any efforts to establish a program in the past on Otsego Lake.

Robert Einreinhofer, president of the lake asociation that was formed last Saturday, said the group wants town leaders to do whatever is necessary to prevent the zebra mussel from getting into Otsego Lake.

"There's no cleaning station and the mussel is at our back door," he said."If there is anything we can do, we stand ready."

"It's my feeling that we developed the plan, but I don't feel it is up to us to initiate it," chairman John Mitchell said about the council's lake managment plan adopted in 1998 by the four municipalities surrounding the lake. The plan has a provision for preventing the introduction of non-native species like the zebra mussel.

"I suggest you people go to (municipal) board meetings," he said, adding that the associaiton has to demonstrate to local officials the number of people who want action taken. "Put on the pressure," he said.

"I'm for boat washing," said Kevin Grady, one of the town of Otsego representatives on the council, "but pressuring us won't get you anywhere. You have to go to the boards. They are the only ones who can allocate money and pass laws."

Mitchell said boat washing could be required, but there have been problems associated with programs when it was tried elsewhere. The launches arond Otsego Lake don't have a lot of room and there are concerns about run-off.

Harman commented that the washing facility does not have to be at the launch site, but could be located at the south trolley lot, for instance, and could be combined with a sticker program to prove the boat had been cleaned.

Mitchell also expressed his belief that it might be more appropriate to try and located a washing facility at the state operated boat launch on Canadarago Lake so boats could be sprayed off when they come out of the water.

Dr. Tom Horvath, an internationally recognized authority on zebra mussels who is on the staff at the field station said he has been working with Glimmerglass State Park Manager Dave Peterson, who also oversees the operation of the Canadarago boat launch. Peterson has been "very, very cooperative in getting information out to boaters." A boat wash facility there would also be a matter of finding the funds.

Otsego Lake Watershed Manager Win McIntyre explained that there are grant funds in the final stage of approval which are allocated for establishing two boat washing facilties on Otsego Lake. McIntyre said he requested $8,500 in a matching funds grant for the two village launch sites at the south end of the lake. The local match would come through in-kind services, he said. Those funds would not be available until this fall at the earliest.

Council members were quick to point out, however, that the grant money would not cover the salaries required for people to staff the washing facilities and that the local municiaplities would have to be willing participants.

Springfield supervisor Tom Armstrong said he believes staffing his town's boat launch could cost as much as $20,000 a season and could close the facility. "I think we would shut down before we would do it," he said.

"To support a facility like that at the south end, the village would have to buy in. The town and village boards need to be brought in," McIntyre said.

"We have to convince the boards that it's money well spent," said Einreinhofer.

The council and members of the audience discussed possible approaches to boat washing and problems associated with putting a program in place.

"If we make it too complicated, we'll be talking about it forever. If we go for an expedient solution and get 80 percent of the people, we'll be ahead of the game," said lake resident Bob Kingsley of Springfield Center.

Council members restated their recommendation that the message needs to go directly to the municipal boards that control the purse strings. Mitchell said the council would communicate its concerns to the governing bodies and write letters to state agencies and officials.

"I know where we need to go as an organization," Einreinhofer said.