BELCHERTOWN — The owner of a private water skiing slalom course on Lake Metacomet is still seeking the necessary permits through the Belchertown Conservation Conservation and state Department of Environmental Protection to resume operating the course come summertime.
“My attorney told me to show up to this to notify the commission I want to renew my licenses that expired,” said David Fuhrmann, a 52-year-old New York state resident and owner of the water ski course. “My take and my attorney’s take is that nothing has changed since two years ago.”
At a meeting March 19, the Conservation Commission voted to continue discussing the issue at its next meeting April 9. To receive the necessary permits, Fuhrmann needs to comply with state, federal and town wetlands protection laws and a set of conditions.
Should the commission approve his application, it would give Fuhrmann permanent permission to operate the water ski course, Conservation Administrator Erica Cross explained in an email.
“This permit expires in three years … but would be recorded against the deed and therefore give any future landowners the right to keep and maintain in the same location the water ski course,” Cross said.
Conservation Commission Chairman David Haines asked Fuhrmann for additional information about the course, including photographs and design plans prior to next month’s meeting.
Over a dozen Belchertown residents filled the Conservation Commission office March 19, some sharing their opposition to Fuhrmann’s course.
“Most people here are dead set against it,” Kenneth Douglas told the commission. “If you approve it, what sort of recourse do we have?”
Members of the public have the right to appeal the decision if they do not agree with it, Haines explained. Before the decision can be made, however, the commission is waiting on additional information and comments from the DEP’s independent review of the project.
A wetlands permit from the Conservation Commission certifies the ski slalom course complies with the Wetlands Protection Act and Belchertown bylaws. It was granted in 2013, renewed in 2015 and is set to expire this year.
Fuhrmann used the Conservation Commission’s decision to appeal the DEP’s denial of his initial Chapter 91 permit application. Fuhrmann won the appeal and received a two-year trial Chapter 91 permit from the state, which expires this September. Fuhrmann needs a renewed permit from the Conservation Commission to apply for a new Chapter 91 license.
“Chapter 91 is a Massachusetts law. It protects the public’s right to fishing, fowling and recreation,” Cross said. “This basically says you should not be impacting other people’s ability to use waterway for these purposes.”
Only the lake bottom and surrounding shoreline fall under the Conservation Commission’s jurisdiction, Cross explained, while the waterway itself is owned by the state and governed by Chapter 91 regulations.
“I’m interested to know, since it is a water ski course, I’m wondering if there has been any impact on shoreline degradation,” Conservation Commission member Eric Wojtowicz asked. “That would be my question, because that is quite a strip you’ve got out there.”
“Anybody who water skis, wakeboards or boats would cause shoreline degradation,” Fuhrmann replied.
While water skiing is permitted on the lake, some residents oppose the course on the grounds that it impedes the public’s ability to use the lake and could have potentially adverse environmental effects.
The commission’s primary concern was with three cement-filled buckets used as anchors at the bottom of the lake, air hoses running from Fuhrmann’s property and the effect those could have on fishermen or the ecology of the lake.
“I’ve lost several lures and I attribute it to that,” Douglas said.
Haines said he was less concerned about the environmental impacts of the course than the impediments to public use.
“When you put that all sitting on the bottom nobody can go out there and anchor,” he said.
Lake Metacomet resident Linda Cote said high-speed boats bring in debris to the shorelines.
“I’ve got a lot of weeds in front of my house that weren’t there before,” she said. “And I know it’s not just Dave’s boat, it’s any high-speed boat.”
Cross noted that droughts in recent years have also contributed to the growth of shoreline weeds and invasive species.
To receive the Chapter 91 license, an application must prove the project serves a public benefit.
“Basically, they are leasing that land from the state because the state holds that land in trust for anyone in the state to use it,” Cross said.
The first ski slalom course on Lake Metacomet was installed in 1991 by Ed Kirby and consisted of 40 submersible buoys. Kirby removed the course in October 2012 after learning he would have to apply for a permit to continue its use.
Lake Metacomet is a 74-acre public water body about one mile west of Route 9 in Belchertown. Fuhrmann owns a summer home at 87 Metacomet St. in Belchertown, one of several houses along the shore of the lake.
“There is no issue from my personal opinion,” said Spencer Shumway, a lakeside resident and friend of Fuhrmann. “We just moved in a few years ago and that was something presented to us at the course, and that water sports are allowable.”
The 950-foot-long course runs parallel to the lake’s longest shore, covering approximately 71,250 square feet, comprising 22 submersible buoys. When in use, the buoys inflate and rise from the lake bottom, controlled by a compressor on Fuhrman’s property.
Per order of the Department of Environmental Protection, Fuhrmann said, the course cannot be opened to the public to prevent it from being “egregiously overused.”
“So I couldn’t form a club,” Fuhrmann said, although he admits to letting Shumway use the course.
Cross added that any concerns about public use or Chapter 91 requirements should be sent to David Foulis with the Massachusetts DEP.
“If anyone has any question or wants to access any records to please let me know,” Cross said.
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@gazettenet.com
