The Otsego Lake Watershed supervisory Committee is getting back on track after having lost its long-time chairman earlier this year.

Village trustee Stuart Taugher, who heads the water board, served as acting chairman for a reorganizational meeting of the committee which is charged with enforcing watershed regulations.

That enforcement extends primarily to addressing septic systems installed within the watershed.

The committee falls under the village's water board.

"This is an arm of the water board to make sure things are done correctly in the water district," Taugher commented.

The supervisory committee is made up of representatives from the four municipalities surrounding the lake - the village and the towns of Middlefield, Otsego and Springfield.

Currently serving of the committee are Dr. Theordore Peters and Dr. Alan Green, of Cooperstown; Kevin Grady from the town of Otsego; Tom Stevens from Middlefield and William Elsey, of Springfield. Grady will be replaced by Nancy Iverson following the first of the year.

The group discussed changing some procedural matters before listening to a presentation from Roger France of the New York State Department of Health in Oneonta.

France discussed the origin of the watershed regulations and the committee's responsibility in reviewing septic system applications.

The rules and regulations adopted to govern the watershed mirror state health department regulations governing a public water source, he said. The village takes its drinking water from Otsego Lake and the supervisory committee was established to include input from the other municipalities in the watershed.

It is the duty of the village, France said, to have someone inspecting septic systems in the watershed. Currently those inspections are done by the county code enforcement office for Springfield and Cooperstown and the town code enforcement officer for the towns of Otsego and Middlefield.

In the past, the village carried out septic inspections in the watershed, but in recent years relinquished that role due to budgetary constraints. Taugher was asked if the village might again take over inspections and he commented that ultimately it may, but that it was still a financial matter.

Former supervisory committee chairman Joe Homberger told the board it was his hope that they would be pro-active in safeguarding the water supply.

"The committee should step forward and take the responsibility for administering the public water system," he said.

The committee established its meeting time as the second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the village meeting room.