GLUE Members Report May 15, 2008
As some of you may have noticed, I have returned to pages of The Chronicle with a weekly column. While I’ll be writing about various subjects and issues, the space will also give us an exposure opportunity for GLUE and the issues we support. I’ve also developed a blog site, http://wwwaroundthepondcom.blogspot.com. I’m contemplating posting all of my columns to the site along with additional comments that might be a little pointed for print. Our friend and fellow member, Brian Ruth, does have a living to make with his publication.
With all the spam filters out there, getting our e-mailed reports to our members is not without problems. I’m thinking of posting the entire report to the blog and notifying our membership by e-mail when it is available for viewing. I would welcome your input and suggestions. You might want to add the blog to your address book because it is slightly different than most web addresses with no dot between the www and the com. Anyway….check it out and give me your thoughts.
This week’s piece in The Chronicle will include a letter to FERC from us on the Duck reek Homeowners Association letter of protest on CYC that I included in our report of April 24th. A you can see at the bottom of our letter, we have developed a legislative distribution list to keep our elected officials informed about our position on Grand Lake issues. We are definitely going to need their help once the shoreline management plan finds its way to FERC. Nothing has changed from what I said in the April 24th report as follows:
As it stands right now, the shoreline management plan, after two postponements, will be presented to the GRDA board of Directors at the regularly scheduled June meeting the second Wednesday of the month. We believe the habitable structure issue will also be addressed at that same board meting. I anticipate the smp will be approved and that habitable structure issue could go either way. Since the definition of a habitable structure included any enclosed boat dock, many of our members could be affected by the outcome.
My plan calls for speaking at the June meeting in support of both the SMP and habitable structures as long as mandated plumbing codes are met and the handling of both waste and gray water are in compliance. To me, this is a very significant issue when you stop and think about how this potential action could relate to many boats on our lake. Both cruisers and house boats could very easily be considered habitable structures since they have heads and generate gray water from showers, washing dishes and more. The way the feds work this is a potential disaster in the making. To me, habitable structures merely represent a more affordable approach to recreating on Grand Lake.
If as anticipated the SMP is approved at the June meeting of the GRDA board of directors, the next step will be monitoring its way towards the federal level. We will want to orchestrate a campaign of support for the plan in the way of e-mails and letters to both FERC and our elected officials. We’re still planning a meeting in July with as many of the politicos as possible to give them an overview of the SMP and what is at stake. Although the smaller this gathering is probably the better, if any of you want to be involved let me know. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
Our letter to FERC is as follows:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20426
Attention: Secretary
Project P-1494-337 Grand Lake
Ref: Comments on alleged Commercial Encroachment into Project Boundary by the Duck Creek Property Owners Association
In a letter received by the commission, dated March 5, 2008, the Duck Creek Property Owners Association has accused the Grand River Dam Authority of license violations and the Cherokee Yacht Club of serious encroachments into the project’s boundary. If the commission were to ever simplify their operating procedures, by establishing guidelines for frivolous submissions, this DCHA correspondence should be selected to serve as the poster child.
It’s filled with half truths, convenient exclusions, unfounded accusations, insinuated expertise in the area of surveying and appraisal of property values with no accredited training. It also contains the usual disparaging remarks regarding the professionals with the training and expertise to administer the rules and regulations related to the management of project p-1494….Grand Lake, Oklahoma. Sadly, those types of comments have become synonymous with the Duck Creek Property Owners Association in general and specifically in any correspondence orchestrated by Mr. Mike Brady.
But we’ll confine our comments to this particular submission and the glaring absence of some facts, total misrepresentation of others and more. The vastly exaggerated claim of an encroachment of over 31,000 square feet by the Cherokee Yacht Club is in actuality less than 5,000 square feet. It should be pointed out this number was originally approximately 6,500 square feet. But thanks to the efforts of the Duck Creek Property Owners Association, and an associated Cherokee Yacht Club open records request by Jack Lenhart, a sixty-five year old deed was discovered conveying a portion of the land in question. Although the deed and associated correspondence between the authority and the club was included in the records provided to the DCHA, where was that fact was included in their letter of protest?
As the former publisher of The Chronicle of Grand Lake, my observations of what has transpired at the Cherokee Yacht Club over the past twenty-five years is predicated by much more than an open records request for a file deemed public in nature. I was on the scene when the club burned to the ground in 1983, after being rebuilt; I watched its demise into bankruptcy. I was there when now Director Terry Frost announced his plans to breathe life back into this Grand Lake legend. Later, I was on hand when he announced his initial expansion plans, including a marina installation approved by the Grand River Dam Authority and your commission. Also, I was there when the meeting occurred between GRDA officials and Mr. Frost about the retaining wall in question. It apparently is very easy to be an expert on what the parties involved were thinking or said when you were nowhere to be found.
Mr. Brady states as absolute fact, and we’ve discovered over the years that some of his facts are questionable, that the Cherokee Yacht Club in no way is utilized by the public without charge, that padlocked gates guarantees access only to members and there are no signs posed inviting the public to enjoy the facilities and associated shoreline. As a champion of the public use issue, you would think Mr. Brady would have signs inviting the public to use project property in front of his lake home on Duck Creek.
As the sitting vice president of the Grand Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, I can testify to the fact our organization routinely utilizes the Cherokee Yacht Club for public functions like monthly meetings, annual banquets and fund raisers. I have been on hand for weddings, political forums, lake association banquets and charity events that benefit places like the Home of Hope, an area home for mentally challenged adults. And did I mention their club is open to the public on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the season.
Unlike Mr. Brady, I am a member of the Cherokee Yacht Club and have never personally encountered a pad locked gate restricting access to the facility. The picture painted in this letter from the Duck Creek Property Owners Association is a far cry from reality.
In short, the Duck Creek Property Owners Association is living in the past. Most of their rhetoric is based on happenings in the past when the authority paid little attention to anything unrelated to the generation of power. Mr. Brady and the DCHA have been effective in bringing some of those shortcomings into focus, but most of the credit can be directly attributable to changes in management at GRDA.
The introduction of an eco-systems team, lead by Dr. Darrel Townsend, a professional legal staff with Chief Council Gretchen Zumwalt-Smith defining its direction and priorities and a more visible presence within the Grand Lake community, as demonstrated throughout the shoreline management plan process by the involvement of Chief Operating Officer Michael Kiefner and Community Relations Manager Holly Moore were brought about by Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley.
As a full time Grand Lake resident since 1981, I can attest to the fact this is a far better place because of the authority and business endeavors like the Cherokee Yacht Club. They provide jobs, taxes to support our schools and other critical infrastructure. This lake is the economic engine that drives our economy. I would contend Grand Lakers United Enterprise is far more representative of the public than the views expressed by the Duck Creek Property owners Association. One needs look no further than the recent SMP public meetings for confirmation of that claim.
The Duck Creek Property Owners Association was instrumental in the initial SMP draft which was opposed by an overwhelming majority of those in attendance. Mr. John Rothman, the moderator of those meetings, submitted a report, which substantiates how far out of step this group is.
On Saturday night, we had a tornado strike in nearby Picher, Oklahoma, which flattened the south side of the community and killed seven. I would contend the time and money wasted on this letter of protest by the FERC and the Grand River Dam Authority could have been put to far greater use in Picher, Oklahoma.
Sincerely Yours
Rusty Fleming
Executive Director
Grand Lakers United Enterprise
Copies:
State Representative Doug Cox
State Representative Chuck Hoskins
State Senator Charles Wyrick
State Senator Mary Easley
State Senator John Ford
State Senator Glenn Coffee
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn
U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe
Congressman Dan Boren
Grand River Dam Authority
CEO Kevin Easley
Chief Council Gretchen Zumwalt-Smith
Community Relations Manager Holly Moore