It’s time for the politicians to step up to the plate!

Yesterday, September 14th, was the deadline for filing comments on the recommended changes by the FERC staff related to the Shoreline Management Plan submitted by GRDA months ago. The GRDA response was a good one and I have to apologize for previous comments I made in an anticipated “Roll Over” by the authority staff. The response objects strongly to the two primary points which most Grand Lakers found most objectionable….reclassification of areas around Grove and Monkey Island to sensitive, which would prohibit any development in those areas and the re-zoning of the multiple purpose areas as defined in the plan. There were other minor changes suggested in the GRDA response as related to water quality monitoring when they pointed out the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and DEQ should be included in these activities in addition to the resource agencies named. In summary, there were 14 recommended changes and GRDA pretty much accepted eleven of them. In most negotiations, conceding eleven out of fourteen points would be a deal maker, but will it be in this case? The entire GRDA response is available through a link being provided on the Grand Lakers United Enterprise website, www.grandglue.com. . If you review the document, it becomes very obvious how much weight the resource agencies have at FERC. In an effort to neutralize some of this power, GLUE filed a “Motion to Intervene” with FERC yesterday. GLUE, the organization I’ve been actively involved with throughout the entire SMP process, is using the Duncan-Allen Law Firm, with offices in Kansas City and Washington, who has a proven record interacting with federal agencies. A Motion to Intervene makes GLUE an official party to the proceeding. It grants the citizens based group equal status with the resource agencies and any other interveners. We will be able to seek out clarification, methodology and reasoning behind some or all of these recommendations. We could potentially take it as far as our funding would allow. The important thing is that we’ve recruited several other lake organizations to join in our efforts. That list includes GLUE, the Grand Lake Association, the Grand Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, the Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of Grove, the Oklahoma Marina Association, the Grand Lake Marina Association, the Grand Lake Boaters Association, the Chronicle of Grand Lake Newspaper and the Grand Lake Business Journal. The feds will be made fully aware of the wide spread interest in the outcome of this negotiation. No where are the stakes higher than in Grove. Last week, Representative Cox met with city planners and developers with an interest in future growth in the Grove area. City official had adopted a proclamation opposing the FERC recommended changes that would essentially shut down any waterfront development within the city limits of Grove, but weren’t sure where to turn next. At the urging of Dr. Cox they joined in the GLUE intervention and filed their proclamation with FERC accordingly. The wheels have certainly been placed in motion to protect potential development of the Grove economy. Throughout this process, Representative Dan Boren and both Senators Inhofe and Coburn have been kept updated on these proceedings. In my opinion, the time has come to solicit the support of our elected officials in supporting what’s best for the future of Grand Lake. I would like to ask each of you to encourage our elected representatives to get involved in bringing this long, drawn out process to a reasonable conclusion. We can’t just hope for their support. We need letters, e-mails and phone calls. Grand Lakers are an affluent group as a whole and many of your have a history of significant political contributions….Isn’t it time for a little pay back?