02/26/2024
Hello Sue,
The Environment Committee has scheduled a public hearing this Wednesday, February 28 on HB 5216 AN ACT CONCERNING THE SAFETY CAPACITY AT GARDNER LAKE STATE PARK. Attached is a copy of the bill for your convenience. Please share the public hearing notice and copy of the bill with the Friends of Gardner Lake State Park. The Connecticut General Assembly website can be reached at www.cga.ct.gov
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.
Best Regards,
Holly
Holly Cheeseman
State Representative, 37th district
East Lyme, Montville, and Salem
ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2024
The Environment Committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, February 28, 2024 at 10:00 A.M. in Room 2B of the LOB and via Zoom. The public hearing can be viewed via YouTube Live. In addition, the public hearing may be recorded and broadcast live on CT-N.com. Individuals who wish to testify must register using the On-line Testimony Registration Form. The registration form must contain the name of the person who will be testifying. A unique email address must be provided for each person registered to speak. Registration will close on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 3:00 P.M. Speaker order of approved registrants will be listed in a randomized order and posted on the Environment Committee website on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 6:00 P.M. under Public Hearing Testimony. If you do not have internet access, you may provide testimony via telephone. To register to testify by phone, call the Phone Registrant Line at 860-240-0440 to leave your contact information. Please submit written testimony using the On-line Testimony Submission Form. The Committee requests that testimony be limited to matters related to the items on the Agenda. The first hour of the hearing is reserved for Legislators, Constitutional Officers, State Agency Heads and Chief Elected Municipal Officials. Speakers will be limited to three minutes of testimony. The Committee encourages witnesses to submit a written statement and to condense oral testimony to a summary of that statement. All public hearing testimony, written and spoken, is public information. As such, it will be made available on the CGA website and indexed by internet search engines.
SUBJECT MATTER: Environment Bills
H.B. No. 5216 (RAISED) AN ACT CONCERNING THE SAFETY CAPACITY AT GARDNER LAKE STATE PARK.
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5216
February Session, 2024 LCO No. 1102
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE SAFETY CAPACITY AT GARDNER LAKE
STATE PARK.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection shall develop and post for members of the public, on or before January 31, 2025, the capacity limit of Gardner Lake State Park. Such capacity limit shall be determined utilizing the following factors: (1) The number of visitors that can be safely supervised, taking into account the staffing at said state park; (2) the number of swimmers that can be safely supervised, taking into account the lifeguard staffing in said state park; (3) the parking capacity at said state park; (4) the public restroom facility capacity at such state park; (5) the pedestrian and vehicular traffic on any state highway without a sidewalk that leads to said state park that threatens, or is reasonably likely to threaten, public safety by pedestrians walking on the side of the highway or by impeding the travel of emergency vehicles because of the high volume of vehicles parked or moving on the highway; and (6) the authority of the commissioner to utilize the number of vehicles entering said state park as a proxy for the number of visitors at said state park. Raised Bill No. 5216
LCO No. 1102 2 of 2
The commissioner shall coordinate with municipal and state law enforcement agencies to implement traffic control efforts to minimize public safety concerns on local roadways and any state highway outside such state park and may close such state park to new entrants when such capacity is reached, regardless of the means by which patrons enter such state park.
Please submit written testimony using the On-line Testimony Submission Form.
I hope all of you can submit your testimony about the GARDNER LAKE STATE PARK and don't forget to mention the GARDNER LAKE STATE BOAT LAUNCH too!. Thank you, Sue Coffee
The Connecticut General Assembly 2023 Regular Session convenes January 4th and adjourns June 7th
