GLUE Member Report - January 31, 2010
I have previously mentioned the possibility of an informal
meeting at the
Many of you attended a meeting two years ago this March at Arrowhead Yacht Club, which we publicized in an attempt to attract new members and inform the general public about our purpose and mission statement. The meeting, while productive, was disrupted to some degree by those opposing our views that were in attendance. It’s would certainly be a mistake to assume all of our members are in total agreement on every issue, but I think the effectiveness of a meeting will be enhanced in a “Members Only” setting.
Status of the SMP:
There has really been no movement on the smp. The last
development was the joint legislative letter submitted by Boren, Inhofe and Coburn
concerning the detrimental effects the plan might have on economic development
in northeastern
Habitable
Structures:
When the subject of Habitable Structures is brought up to those who should be in the know at GRDA, the most common response is either a pained facial expression or the staring at one’s shoes. It appears at this point they don’t even want to bring it up and are perfectly satisfied to let the FERC dictate policy on this issue. This is just a personal impression, but I’ve seen nothing to make me believe otherwise.
We do know this; the rules for such structures, which the board directed the legal staff to develop, are complete, but have never been brought back before the board. As you know, we submitted our recommendations with respect to the development of these regulations. There has to be a reason the senior staff has not seen fit to place this on the board agenda and we probably should be asking ourselves why the board has not requested it.
I do know this. When habitable structures have been visited
in the past, I contacted the then chairman of the board to request that GLUE be
placed on the agenda. After being told our request would be granted, CEO
Since that time, we have been utilizing direct e-mail to the board members to express our views. Public input has certainly not been welcomed as a board agenda item and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Water Quality Issues:
There is some positive news out there folks. As many of you
know, I serve on the board of the Grand Lake Water-Watch Program. There has
been some movement to merge the organization with the new state-of-the-art GRDA
water technology lab in the new Eco-Systems building at the west end of the
Pensacola Dam. This would be a giant step forward in monitoring and analyzing
the water which makes it way into
The authority has a working agreement with both OSU and OU to provide staffing for the lab. There should be more news on this soon.
The Future of GLUE:
For those of you who have submitted your dues payments for
the current year, we appreciate your support. I do think it’s time to address
the future of our organization, which was started in 2006 at the suggestion of
state representative
With the smp issue winding down, I’ve thought about whether there’s a need for GLUE in the future. The real outcome at the FERC is more in the hands of our elected officials at this point as opposed to any pressure our group might bring to the smp game. There’s some progression, with the purchasing of flood easement by the GRDA, to believe the water level issue might be resolved. Here’s the way I see it.
Before GLUE, we were surprised time after time by decision the GRDA made which the vast majority of Grand Lakers never found out about until after the fact. The lake issues and the management of the lake are nothing more than a pain in the rear to the authority. They have sold out to the rate payers, their absolute favorite over-used word, at the expense lake users. You can take this to the bank….If it doesn’t relate to the generation of power and sale there of, and it has an associated cost, you can bet it has either been mandated by the FERC or they think they can use it to point out to FERC how caring they truly are.
I enjoy staying actively involved in the issues and in all likelihood will continue to do so regardless of the future of GLUE. In spite of the economic down turn we still have around 175 members. It my belief that with the current climate at the GRDA, there remains a need for an organization like ours to look out for the interest of non-ratepayers…..even though most of us are ratepayers to a power company that buys their power from the authority, we’re treated like we’re stealing the use of the lake. Let me hear your thoughts on the direction we should take.
Hope to see you at the show…..Cheers from snowy Grays Hollow
p.s. For those of you who inquire
about my writing from time-to-time, I now have a web site, http://www.rustyflemingongrandlake.com/,
where all of my pearls of wisdom will now reside.