Lake Hopatcong Commission Budget Running Out

The Lake Hopatcong Commission‘s (LHC) budget is in flux, according to commission head Russell Felter. As such, the commission will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday, July 13, to discuss what Felter termed, “alternative sources of funding.

“Basically the discussion at the meeting is going to center around other ways to get money,” Felter said. “I’d like to appoint an alternative funding committee, so we can find ways to get the money we need to keep functioning for as long as we can.”

The commission currently is in negotiations with the state for funding for the commission. The state legislature removed a line item of $400,000 that Senator Anthony Bucco had put into the state budget before the document even made it to Gov. Christie’s desk.

The commission has money from an I Boat NJ grant but, according to Felter, that money cannot be used for salaries.

Even with the precarious state of the LHC’s funding, weed harvesting on the lake will begin on Monday and continue for about two weeks, Felter said. After that, harvesting will be forced to stop until the LHC’s budget is settled.

“When we agreed to harvesting, we wanted to be sure we could not be held financially responsible if funding ran out,” Felter said. “We won’t be held financially responsible, but we found out from our legal counsel that we could be held criminally responsible if we knowingly continue to spend money after the budget has run out. I’m not going to put anyone in that position.

“Because of that, we won’t be able to do a lot of harvesting, but we can get into some of the coves and at least make a dent in the next two weeks,” Felter said.

The emergency meeting will be held on July 13 at 6 p.m. at the Mt. Arlington Municipal Building.