To the editor:

I have rented space for my boat at the Crescent Bay Marina, aka Duso’s and currently the Saranac Lake Marin,a for over 20 years, and there are any number of people who have been there longer than me. Through seven years of hearings, reviews and lawsuits, the SLM has endeavored to provide the people of Saranac Lake with access to Lower Saranac Lake and 20 miles of waterway. They also provide various rental craft to people who are visiting the area and constitute a sizeable economic boost to the local tourism through their visit to this area as tourists. In my experience with the staff and manager of SLM, they have been courteous and gone out of their way to assist out-of-town customers and local people. I write all this just to build credulity for the value and operation of the marina as a business in good standing, which is committed to the well-being and enjoyment of its customers.

Over the course of the aforementioned seven years, I have witnessed the SLM undergo intensive application review, hearings and testimony before the Adirondack Park Agency, and while I did not attend court hearings, I was certainly cognizant they were happening and was aware of the stress and uncertainty these events caused in the people renting boat space and staff of the SLM. Further, after the court decision last fall (date approximate) and no further legal machinations, the SLM proceeded apace to prepare for the long-awaited structural changes for area citizenry and to accommodate the needs of visiting tourists. I myself was excited that this long journey was coming to closure.

However, a lawsuit was filed was filed in the first days of 2021. I will leave all the legal jargon and matters to the appropriate parties and will speak solely from my perspective. Yes, I am angry. it requires very little thinking to realize the position of the lawsuit initiator, who resides on Lower Saranac Lake, was to change the strategy from a legal recourse to a scorched-earth policy. The implementation of the SLM improvement be damned, and to the citizens of Saranac Lake and nearby villages and visiting tourists, “Hey, you’re on your own. Go use a boat launch choked by cars, trucks and boats.”

I also question the sincerity expressed for the well-being of the lake. I would assume, over the concern of damage done to the lake by boats, that the same concern would be expressed to the lakeshore homeowners and rental properties. Certainly, fertilizer from well-groomed lawns, cars washed in driveways, new constuction of docks and boathouses all despoil this wonderous lake. My rhetorical question to the lawsuit initiator is, when is this meeting to occur? Me? I think it will never happen because the homeowners would justifiably be furious, as many of us are.

To be able to implement an injustice just because you can is becoming anathema among the working people of this country. I do believe the time is now to acknowledge the success of the SLM and its legal journey, and allow it to meet the needs of the community.

Steve DeHond

Saranac Lake