As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
AFFECTED AREA OF ICE
The area of the water body or ice surface disturbed by the
operation of an ice-retardant system. Said disturbed or affected area
includes open water, weakened ice (excessively cracked), thin ice
(less than four inches in depth) and area where adjacent ice is covered
by a film of water.
BULKHEAD LINE
The high-water mark of 10.30 feet on the staff gauge as recorded
at Lake Hopatcong State Park or the line established by the Bureau
of Navigation, State Department of Environmental Protection, defining
the lake's permanent shoreline.
ICE-RETARDANT SYSTEM
A mechanical device(s) or a series of mechanical devices
designed to retard or prevent the formation of ice in or around lakefront
structures. Said devices utilize as their mode of operation one or
more of the following mechanisms: pumped air, artificial water turbulence
or the addition of heat to the water body.
OWNER or OPERATOR
The owner of record of a tract of land according to the tax
rolls of the Borough of Hopatcong or any person occupying said premises
or utilizing the property.
PERSON
Any individual, association of individuals, corporation or
partnership.
PIERHEAD LINE
A line running parallel to the bulkhead line and extending
not more than 50 feet from said bulkhead line, as approved by the
Natural Resources Council and Bureau of Navigation, State Department
of Environmental Protection, beyond which no dock, pier or marina
or other structure, permanent or temporary, floating or affixed to
shore or lake bottom, may be located.
PROPELLER-DRIVEN DEVICE
Any device designed, marketed, or sold to the general public
for use in retarding the formation of ice around protected structures
which is typically cylindrical in shape, containing an electric motor
within the cylinder which drives a propeller in such a manner that
it forces water to travel through the cylinder and agitate the surface
of the water body to prevent the freezing of water through artificial
water turbulence.
PROTECTED STRUCTURE
Any lakefront or within-lake structure which the ice-retardant
system is designed to protect. Such protected structures include but
are not limited to docks, piers, bulkheads, catwalks, seawalls and
boathouses.
The Mayor and Council may, by resolution, waive
the requirements of this chapter in situations of hardship or exceptional
public necessity. "Exceptional public necessity" shall include but
not limited to a necessity to maintain an open channel of water for
ferry service or access to island lakefront homes. In considering
such an application, the Mayor and Council may refer the application
to the Lake Hopatcong Commission for comment. In adopting the resolution,
the Mayor and Council shall specify requirements as to markings and
lighting. Such requirements can include but are not limited to requiring
buoys to be placed in the frozen water body to clearly mark the approach,
requiring nighttime illumination or flashing light to indicate that
open water is present, limiting the size of the affected ice area
to the minimal necessary for the use and/or publishing public notice
of the condition to specify minimal levels of insurance requirements.