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FERC hears opposition
Hundreds turn out for lake hearing on IMZs
By Joyce L. Miller/Lake Sun Senior Writer
Published: Friday, March 24, 2006 1:19 AM CST
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Sentiment was visibly anti-IMZ, judging by the 300 or so signs handed out before the Federal Energy regulatory Committee hearing on Horseshoe Bend Thursday night.
Erin Tracy Photography
LAKE OF THE OZARKS- The Shoreline Management Plan goes too far in restricting the rights of private landowners in areas that are considered to be environmentally sensitive by AmerenUE and the resource agencies who helped develop the rules and regulations. That was the general consensus of more than 400 people who showed up to voice their concerns and objections about the SMP before the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission Thursday evening at the Lodge of Four Seasons. The plan which was intended to protect the lake and the environment is at the center of an ongoing controversy fueled by those who say the plan needs to be revised. The crowd applauded and waved hand-made signs protesting the designation of approximately 200 miles of shoreline as Impact Minimization Zones.

A rousing speech by Rep. Tom Self, R-Cole Camp, and a power point presentation prepared by the Concerned Citizens for Lake of the Ozarks that highlighted the problems with the SMP drew the crowd to its feet. Rep. Wayne Cooper, R-Camdenton, and Rep. Rodney Schad, R-Versailles, stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Self in asking FERC and AmerenUE to reconsider the SMP and find a more equitable solution to would protect the rights of landowners and property values.

Camden County surveyor Greg Hasty testified his family had left Scotland over land rights and came to America.


Eventually, his family ended up in the Osage River Valley where they settled and carved out an existence until the 1920s when a company from St. Louis came with plans to build what was to become Lake of the Ozarks.

Hasty told AmerenUE and FERC officials that the growth and development of the lake area has been the result of the struggle of those who were here when the lake was built.

He, along with Self and others, stressed the impact of the SMP and IMZs and urged them to reconsider the plan that has been submitted.



The City of Osage Beach, the Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and Central Bank of Lake of the Ozarks all recognized the contributions of AmerenUE to the lake area, but asked for the SMP to be revisited and revised.

The hearing last night was the first of two scheduled by FERC in the lake area. The second is scheduled for tonight in Warsaw at the Community Center from 7 to 10 p.m.

fstboater

Makes me glad I went for the dock that was to big when i moved here should make my house worth more. But I would like to build some day and was thinking about some of the areas that are red flagged. Just think about the people that own that land it will be hard to move with no dock rights or a small one.