Combating the threat of zebra mussels finding their way into Otsego Lake could cost village taxpayers as much as $30,000 next summer.

Monday night the board of trustees endorsed a plan, developed by the Zebra Mussel Control Committee, headed by Dr. Theordore Peters, that will allow the village to control boaters' access to the lake.

The resolution states that the boat owners will be "strongly requested to have thier boats washed prior to launching if there is any chance of mussels or larvae being on their boat or trailer" and establishes a fee structure for launching boats at both the Fair Street and Fish Road sites. The fee includes a free boat washing.

Barriers will be placed across the sites and an attendant will be on duty 12- to 15-hours-a-day. When the attendant is not on duty, the barrier will be removed.

The boat washing included in the launch fee will take place near the village DPW building on the Linden Avenue extension where it had been conducted this fall.

"It's the only space we could find," Peters said.

Ideally, he said, it would have been preferable to have the washing facility at the launch sites, but because of space constraints and congestion is not possible.

And Peters told the trustees that he believed that same congestion would make a mandatory boat washing requirement unworkable. The launch sites are crowded on the weekends and frequently there is a line of boats waiting to launch. If it was mandatory, he said, "the fisherman would be up in arms."

Trustee Stu Taugher questioned making boat washing a recommendation rather than mandatory. "Knowing how people are," he said, "but hopefully they'll cooperate."

It is a new venture for the village and there will some trial and error, he said of the plan.

In July 2001, the village ran afoul of the DEC when it changed boat trailer parking for the Fish Road access site. Representatives from the agency received angry calls from fishermen.

"When the signs went up, we were inundated with phone calls," Alan Martel, Region Four Principal Fish and Wildlife Technician said at the time.

Martel said the DEC and village have an oral agreement about providing access to the lake. That agreement came about as part of a compromise when the state dropped plans to build a boat launch facility at Glimmerglass State Park at the north end of the lake.

The agency stocks the lake with fish each summer, but stocking is linked to access and any reduction in access would result in a similar reduction in stocking, Martel explained.

"There has always been a high priority for access to Otsego Lake. It's very apparent a lot of people are anxious to get to the lake," he said.

Martel could not be reached for comment about the launch fee plan, but Rick Georgeson, DEC's Region 4 spokesman said Tuesday that they have no problem with the village imposing the fees given the concern over zebra mussells. "They are taking steps to protect the lake," he said.

The cost of operating the boat washing facility and having an attendant on duty at the launch sites is estimated to be $40,000 annually. At the same time, the revenue generated by the launch fees is expected to fall far short of making it a break-even proposition.

Peters told the trustees that the $10,000 to $12,000 the fees will bring in could have a $30,000 impact on what is shaping up to be a tight village budget in the coming year.

Mayor Carol Waller said following Monday's meeting that she is "very concerned" about the cost. "Money is very tight," she said.

Waller said she is in full support of protecting the lake, but is not sure the plan is the right way to go. For the moment, she said, there is a plan in place to address the zebra mussell threat, but she anticipates the board will continue to examine any other options or funding sources that could cut the cost without compromising the lake.

The fee schedule adopted Monday night will charge boaters $10 for one lauch; $20 for four launches, or one week; $75 for 25 launches and $100 for a season pass.