FirstLight has made proposed changes to their Shoreline Management Plan for Candlewood Lake as part of the required 6-year review.  One is to increase the review to 10 years. 

The report calls for adding administrative fees when residents apply for shoreline uses within the project boundary.  Another is eliminate the requirement for new homeowners to install a vegetated buffer garden following a property sale and annual buffer progress reporting.  There would also no longer be a requirement for homeowners to install shoreline stabilizing and erosion controlling rip/rap instead of new seawalls and eliminates reporting on seawall and rip/rap installation.

The Candlewood Lake Authority is highlighting other proposed changes.  One would eliminate the commitment to share data, particularly of GIS mapping data valuable when evaluating lake health, with municipalities and lake authorities.  The draft moves many requirements to appendices where they can be freely updated by FirstLight without public notice, comment, or approval.  It would also make many requirements that were mandatory, discretionary through the use of the word “may” instead of “will”. 

The draft must be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by March 27th.