MAYVILLE – Village Administrator Bill Ward has publicly expressed his support for proposed wetlands regulations from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

In September, the Mayville Village Council sent a letter opposing the wetlands designation. Ward was not present at this meeting.

At the October meeting, Ward expressed disappointment with the village board’s position and read a prepared statement.

His statement is as follows:

“I wholeheartedly agree with the DEC’s recommendation. Wetlands are so precious that they require the highest level of protection. I fully support the proposed regulations, which I believe are a compromise, rather than the stronger protections originally proposed by the DEC.

“I would echo the position of the former Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy director in his letter to the DEC: “Aquatic plant communities that meet the legal definition of wetlands must be protected regardless of whether they occur in navigable waters or elsewhere. Wetlands in navigable waters are no less valuable than other wetlands and should not be exempt from state wetlands regulations. (Wetlands play a vital role) in filtering drinking water, protecting biodiversity and safeguarding our communities from floods and droughts.

“Overall, these revisions to freshwater wetlands regulations present a new vision that I believe will protect the most vulnerable and important wetlands. The draft regulation closely adheres to the adopted legal reforms. Mapping reform alone will protect more than 1 million additional acres of wetlands in New York State.

“(These regulations) will help protect small, vital wetlands, such as vernal pools. These breeding grounds for rare amphibians and invertebrates are becoming increasingly important as climate change accelerates the extinction crisis.

Along with Mayville, Bemus Point, Lakewood, Celoron, Ellicott, Ellery, Busti and North Harmony, all passed resolutions opposing state wetland designation.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, and state Rep. Andy Goodell, R-Jamestown, sent a joint letter in June to Sean Mahar, acting state DEC commissioner, expressing their concerns about how proposed wetlands regulations could affect Chautauqua Lake. They specifically requested that the DEC’s proposed regulations not designate the lakes as wetlands, because that designation would be inconsistent with both existing statutory language and decades of precedent.

Additionally, Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel asked the state to delay adoption of the regulations.