Mayor’s Crystal Lake veto stands

PALMER — In the Mat-Su, it’s kind of a classic storyline — a shoreline of a lake that has been quiet historically is suddenly crowded with new residents.

People buy lots and build homes or cabins. They bring their boats and their personal watercrafts and all of a sudden the lake isn’t quiet anymore.

In the case of Crystal Lake — a lake in the Willow area, west of Long Lake and south-west of Willow Lake — the upset yielded actual legislation that proposed to ban boats with two-cycle motors; expand quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday; and implement a no-wake zone 100 feet from the lake’s shoreline.

Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss, in vetoing the changes to the management plan, said that he hoped the Borough Assembly would revisit the issue again next year, giving the community more time to sort out its differences.

He also noted that there were unintended consequences to banning two-cycle motors in that such a ban could be seen as applicable to snowmachines, too.

Assembly members eventually agreed with DeVilbiss, voting 6-1 to uphold his veto.

Assemblyman Vern Halter, who represents the district that includes Crystal Lake, said that he didn’t completely understand DeVilbiss’ veto, but also didn’t argue in favor of overriding it.

“I think it’s better just to let it set for awhile,” he said.

Halterdid, however, take issue with the idea that a ban on two-stroke motors would ban snowmachines. He said the discussion was always about personal watercraft.

“When you hear that they were going to ban snowmachines, that’s bull,” Halter said.

Assemblyman Jim Sykes was the only person who voted to overturn DeVilbiss’ veto. He said that the changes to the plan represented a year’s worth of work.

“People don’t just get bored and decide that they’re going to waste a bunch of time coming up with a lake management plan,” he said. “We need to respect that decision.”

He said that it discourages people from participating in the process if all their hard work is going to get tossed out when it reaches the assembly.

Assemblyman Steve Colligan said that he thought the changes to the plan were an example of neighbors not acting like neighbors.

“I live on a water body and our neighbors have learned to get along over the years,” he said. “Unfortunately this has devolved to the point where they’re looking for government to weigh in.”

Matthew Subitch who bought property on the lake just as the battle over personal watercraft use was heating up, said much the same thing — that in his view the move to push out loud watercraft was a result of a lack of communication.

“There was no communication. They never talked to the people that were bothering them,” Subitch said. “We can police ourselves out there. We can take care of this in the community if we just talk to each other.”

DeVilbiss said that the intent of his veto, and there was reason to think it might work.

“Because of this process, people are being more considerate out there,” he said, noting that the last time this came to the assembly people from the community testified that was the case. “More than once it was said there hasn’t been an issue this summer.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.