As has been anticipated, the GRDA staff presented the final shoreline
management plan draft to their board of Directors on Wednesday. Casey Davis was
the primary author of the changes made to the plan and unveiled at Wednesday’s
board meeting, but you can bet all of the senior staff members played a role in
the final outcome.
The Chronicle of Grand Lake interviewed me following the board meeting
and reported my comments as follows:
Initial reaction to the
latest
“We’re extremely pleased,”
said GLUE Director Rusty Fleming. “We look forward to working with GRDA to get this
plan approved.”
“Although many critics of
GRDA would have liked for them to handle this more like all the other
bureaucratic government agencies, they have instead, responded to the public,”
he said.
GRDA is an authority. It is
closer to being an independent business than it is to a state agency. In this
case, GRDA has listened to their customers and has changed directions
accordingly; and I think we need to salute them for that,” Fleming said.
In short, the GRDA has basically incorporated all of our recommendations
for change and then some. The zoning has been simplified to allow the system to
work and you and I will be allowed the freedom to take care of the shoreline in
front of our properties. There are limits of course, but this new version is very
much improved.
There is a great overview in this week’s Chronicle that you can read by
going to www.grand-chronicle.com
and clicking on page A-6. The entire plan can be reviewed at www.grda.com. Below you will find the official
GRDA news release on the release of the plan. Please note the thirty day
comment period and the scheduled public meetings for 6:00pm,
Tuesday, October 2 at the
As I’ve said in previous reports there is still a lot of work to do
before the plan is approved. The GRDA board will vote on the plan after the
public comment period at their November meeting. After that, there’s still a
long way to go with the Feds.
If you specific questions I can answer, e-mail them to this address.
The Grand River Dam Authority
is announcing that the 30 day public comment period related to the much
anticipated final draft of the
The GRDA Board of Directors
received the draft from GRDA staff at its September 12 meeting in Vinita. After
the public comment period, which lasts until October 15, and two public
meetings scheduled for early October, the GRDA Board will vote on the final
plan in November.
At that September 12 meeting,
copies of the final draft were made available to the public. GRDA is also
announcing that those interested in seeing the draft can obtain a copy at
GRDA’s Vinita headquarters or they can view it online at www.grda.com.
The public meetings in early
October will be GRDA’s opportunity to present the final draft plan to the
public and will include a question and answer session after the GRDA
presentation. Those meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, October 2, at 6 PM at
“Going back to June 2005,
when the effort really got underway, through today, many lake area stakeholders
have devoted many hours to this effort,” said GRDA Chief Executive Officer
Stakeholder Working Groups (SWG), comprised of lake area stakeholders who volunteered
to help develop the plan, were established early in the process. Initial SWG meetings began in December 2005. Final SWG meetings were held in May 2007. GRDA also held a series
of public meetings throughout the process, including five earlier this year, to
take public comment on the most recent draft. The information gained during
those sessions including comments from the public was considered during the
drafting of this final SMP version.
“The input has been
invaluable throughout the process,” said GRDA Community Relations Director
Moore
said those interested in commenting on the final draft can send an email to
GRDA began developing the SMP
at the request of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency
which licenses GRDA to manage the