Lake group petitioning EPD for town hall meeting

BUFORD - Upset that the Lake Lanier area has been left out of a series of meeting on the state's Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Plan, the Lake Lanier Association is petitioning the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) for a meeting in Gainesville.

Two association officials say they learned at a meeting in Atlanta Monday that only four meetings have been scheduled - none in the immediate Lake Lanier area.

As a result, they are starting a petition drive aimed at convincing state officials to include a meeting in Gainesville.

They are sending out a form letter to be signed by up to 25 people and sent the head of EPD, Dr. Carol Couch.

"We learned that the EPD has only scheduled four towns for public comment on the statewide water management plan, and we are trying to organize a town hall meeting in Gainesville at the end of July," they wrote in a preamble to the letter.

They added, "Apparently EPD has determined that those of us who live and work in the (greater) Gainesville area as well as you who enjoy boating on the lake, are of no consequence. It appears that the citizens of Marietta, Macon, Tifton and Savannah are more important that those of us of the Lake."

A copy of the letter follows:

Dr. Carol Couch, Director
Environmental Protection Division
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Suite 1152 East
Atlanta, Georgia 30334-9000

Dear Dr. Couch:

On behalf of the citizens who live in or near Gainesville, we request a town hall meeting with representatives of the Georgia Water Council in Gainesville. We believe that the Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Plan will have a very significant impact on citizens in our area, and we would like to have the opportunity to comment on components of the Plan at important meetings such as the town hall meetings you are planning to hold this summer.

It is our understanding that the town hall meetings are currently limited to Marietta, Macon, Tifton, and Savannah because all Water Council members are expected to attend. We recognize that the Water Council members have busy schedules, and so it is not critical that all Water Council members attend each meeting. We believe that providing a variety of locations so that citizens can attend and express their views should be a top priority for the Water Council, regardless of whether all Water Council members can attend. We will be glad to have your capable EPD staff report our public views to the Council. But we should have that opportunity here in our community.

We appreciate your consideration and hope that the Georgia Water Council will host a town hall meeting in Gainesville between July 26