The state senate and assembly have approved a bill that would limit the size of boats that could use a state launch on Otsego Lake should the state ever seek to establish one here.

The bill is a watered-down version of a request made by the village board of trustees in March asking the state for an outright ban on a new state launch.

Should the state ever establish a trailered boat launch on Otsego Lake, the bill now waiting for the governor's signature would limit it to boats 16 feet in length or less, according to Senator James Seward's spokesman Duncan Davie.

That limitation, he said, would prohibit big powerboats from using a state launch to gain access and "tear up and down the lake."

The senator remains interested, Davie said, in ensuring access for local sport fisherman and has spoken with people around the lake who might provide additional access for fishermen.

He has also spoken with the village about improving parking for fishermen using the village launches on Fair Street and Fish Road.

Last week the village's zebra mussel committee met with Dr. Henry Weil, a member of the Cook Foundation board of directors about a proposal a proposal under consideration that provide access for ten fishermen at the Brookwood launch site.

"It could positively influence the minds of legislators in regards to some possible legislation that would preclude a state launch on the lake," Weil said.

The zebra mussel committee had sent a letter to the Cook Foundation early this month expressing its concern about the plan and the potential to introduce zebra mussels or another exotic species into the lake.

Weil reassured the committee no final decision had been made and that they are still investigating how such a plan would be structured. The Cook Foundation board, he said, was also very concerned about the possible introduction of exotic species and wants to establish a procedure for any boats launched there that was at least as stringent as the village's.

"We do not intend to open the Brookwood launch site to the public. We have merely resolved to allow ten fishermen to use the launch as guests of the foundation in accordance with a rigorous set of rules," wrote Cook Foundation chairman Robert Poulson in a letter of response to the committee.

Weil told the committee that the Cook Foundation board sees it as having to make a risk/benefit analysis. If it can be done safely then it is worth doing, he said. The board, he said, is now in the process of determining a procedure for launching that would safeguard the lake.

"I personally think that it is a small cost. If it is done perfectly safely, it is worth the risk," Weil said.

Zebra mussel committee member Carl Good said that he believes any inspection system established by the Cook Foundation would require an on-site inspector to make sure fishermen's boats are clean.

"In order to safely launch at Brookwood, multiple trained inspectors will have to be on duty during launch times, seven-days-a-week for the six months of the season. They will have to be trained in the use of high temperature/high pressure washing equipment. Expenditures, including unemployment compensation will be in the range of $20,000 per year," the committee stated in its letter to the Cook Foundation.

Weil said any costs associated with safely launching at Brookwood would have to be paid by the fishermen.

Davie said sport fishermen are not "careless" when it comes to the introduction of exotic species.

"They will see to it that it doesn't happen," he said. "I don't think there's anything worth panicking about with sport fishermen. They're good conservationists."

Many fishermen are very conscientious about cleaning their boats before launching, Good said, but added that the village's boat inspectors have had to turn away boats that had previously been in neighboring Goodyear and Canadarago Lakes where the zebra mussel is now flourishing.

The village, according to the committee, has spent in excess of $100,000 in the last three years to prevent zebra mussels and other non-native flora and fauna from being introduced into the lake.

Weil said no final decision has been made and that he would recommend that the committee be given a draft of the procedure for launching at Brookwood so they may review it and comment.