Analysis

Freedom—October 29, 2024—Absent a surprise, we know as much as we’re going to know before the election about the environmental views of those seeking to represent Ossipee Lake in the N.H. House and Senate.

The environment hasn’t played a major role in this year’s political discussions, but it occasionally elbowed its way into view thanks mainly to two local candidate forums that focused on lake and water protection issues.

The big election match-up is Marsh vs. McConkey for State Senate. The pair’s public statements make it appear that they are largely on the same environmental page, but there are differences worth noting.

At this month’s Berry Bay Association forum, for example, McConkey and Marsh agreed there should be a larger shoreline setback for wake surfing. McConkey said he supports 200 ft. and Marsh said he supports 300 ft.

The difference between them may seem slight unless you consider that research shows 500 ft. is what’s needed to materially reduce shoreline damage. That makes McConkey’s setback 300 ft. short of the science-backed goal and Marsh’s setback 200 ft. short.

Neither is what’s needed—that’s called political compromise. But relative to the science-based goal of 500 ft., a 300 ft. setback is better than 200 ft., the latter of which has been pushed relentlessly (and so far without success) by the water sports industry lobby.

So, lots to digest on the wake surfing issue, with the upshot being that the difference between the candidates’ positions on a wake surfing setback is meaningful, not trivial.

McConkey has served nine terms in the House, and at July’s Broad-Leavitt Bay Association forum he spotlighted accomplishments that included a role in replacing the Ossipee River Dam and changing Ossipee Lake’s defined water level from 410’ to 407.25, both of which had broad lake community support.

Marsh, who has two terms in the House behind him, used his time to look forward, saying he would like to see community health officers trained on the “many ways septic systems can fail,” and acknowledging that the lake community is frustrated with the state because the rights of lake property owners and the rights of boaters have become out of balance, and new ideas are needed.

Public Letters
The Conway Daily Sun has published a lot of letters about Marsh and McConkey, but only three have been specifically about the environment.

Wolfeboro resident Abby Adams said she believes Marsh will take a bipartisan approach to addressing lake issues, including resisting efforts to deregulate septic system construction and dilute other environmental protections.

In another letter, State Representative Anita Burroughs called McConkey’s support of groundwater protections “transactional” and based on his personal business interests. She cited his roles in the Meena LLC Effingham gas station case, and in a lesser-known Ossipee case involving his own gas station business.

That followed a letter in the Sun by State Representative Rosemarie Rung, who took McConkey to task for claiming in a campaign mailer that he was a leader in the cyanobacteria debate. “Just plain false,” she wrote.

McConkey did not publicly respond to either letter, and he was not asked about his environmental views in last week’s Conway Daily Sun video interview. The Marsh campaign says the newspaper has not invited Marsh to be interviewed.

Boudman vs. Cordelli
Bobbi Boudman, who hopes to unseat six-term State Representative Glenn Cordelli in Carroll District 7, which includes part of Ossipee, made the environment one of her issues.

She used her two minutes of speaking time at the Broad-Leavitt Bay Association forum to remind the crowd she stood with them to oppose the Meena LLC gas station, and to note that Cordelli voted against bills regulating PFAS and landfills.

Cordelli didn’t respond about his votes, but offered that “lakes are important.” He told the crowd “there’s some great work being done in terms of fighting cyanobacteria in various places along Winnipesaukee.”

Cordelli did not respond to several requests to attend the Berry Bay Association forum, which Boudman attended.

Carroll District 8
Richard Brown and Brian Taylor are on the Republican ticket for District 8, and Jim Pittman and Rob Davies are the Democrats. Three of the four attended the Berry Bay Association forum where wake surfing was the major topic, per the Conway Daily Sun’s reporting.

Brown was out of state that day, and Davies said he would need to know more about the topic before he could comment. That left the issue to Taylor and Pittman.

Pittman, Effingham’s town moderator and a ZBA member during the Meena case, said waves from wake surfing can easily capsize small craft like canoes and kayaks as well as cause shoreline damage.

Effingham native Taylor, now living on Berry Bay in Freedom, has served on numerous non-profit boards, including ours. He said he knows first-hand about the shoreline damage that wake surfing causes when it’s too close to shore.

He said there have been a lot of storms on the bay in recent years, but no storm has produced waves as high as those caused by wake surfing.