Executive Director's Monthly Column
BY MOIRA UNDERWOOD
(Editor’s note: Moira Underwood is Lake Gaston Association’s
Executive Director and will be coming to you every month. She can be
reached at ExecDir@lakegastonassoc.com or (252) 586-6577.)
JULY 2008:
Lots to Tell You About
Where do I start first? I
have lots to tell you about this month.
First,
we are really excited about North Carolina State University graduate
student Bridget Lassiter’s Award for her Paper and presentation at the
48th Annual meeting of the Aquatic Plant Management Society
in Charleston, SC. Her paper – “Assessing the Potential of Creating
Management Quality Invasive Plant maps of Lake Gaston” - was considered
the “Best of the Best” of all the students’ papers.
Why are
we at the Lake Gaston Association so excited, our Lake Environment
Monitors (LEMs) were the volunteers from Lake Gaston who collected the
data for the study called the ‘2007 Lake Gaston Fall Mapping Project.’
We are
going to take part again this year and Bridget wants to cover the entire
lake this time and that will require a significant increase in
volunteers in addition to the 14 LEMs that took part last Fall.
So, get
your calendars out, and write down that training for this year’s study
will be conducted on August 1, 9:30 a.m. at Eaton’s Ferry Grocery and
Grill, 1519 Eaton Ferry Road, Littleton, (down from Lake Gaston Supply
Company on Hwy 903) by Bridget and her team from NCSU. No experience is
necessary. What are you waiting for … we’ll see you there!
During
August our LGA directors will be telephoning our primary and alternate
LGAlert contacts to make sure we have the latest contact information. We
use this list to get the word out to the subdivisions if there is a Lake
Gaston emergency. Several of our officers wear Dominion pagers in
readiness for such an emergency call from Dominion. We rely on our
LGAlert contacts passing on the emergency message to their neighbors.
Thankfully in recent years there has not been an emergency situation,
but periodically we do call everyone to make sure the information we
have is accurate for when we do need to make that call.
In my
May column I told you about the E911 Data Emergency card that our Public
Safety Committee produced. You would keep the card by your telephone to
remind you of critical information that you will be asked to give. The
card is now accessible from our website along with the accompanying
emergency information specific to your county. Go to
www.lakegastonassoc.com/Safety/Safety.htm.
This is
a message for those of you who live in Halifax and Northampton counties
who are not members of the LGA. Having read my column today, I hope you
will seriously consider responding to the letter you received from us
earlier this month. We have had lots of new members that have joined,
but if you haven’t responded yet – please do. We are “Your VOICE on lake
issues.” Help us increase the numbers we represent in Halifax and
Northampton.
Join us
August 6 for our monthly meeting at 9:30 a.m. at Lake Gaston Baptist
Church on Hwy 903 which is one mile north of Eaton Ferry Bridge. Guest
speaker will be Lesley Sullivan, Brunswick County Planning and Zoning
Director who will talk about county planning activities in general, and
any specific issues that might affect the lake.
JUNE 2008:
Director opportunities for you
It’s that time of year at the Lake Gaston Association
when we’ve had our Annual Meeting which means that those directors whose
terms are up go off the board and new directors are voted aboard, and we
get to regroup during the following month.
LGA directors get to decide if they want to stay on the
same committees, or change to another one or two. Sometimes the chairs
change as well. This year we will see a change in the officers too.
I can’t believe that I have just completed three years as
Executive Director of the LGA. My start date was July 1, 2005. During
that time I’ve seen how dedicated the Board of Directors are. In most
cases they are all retired while we have a few that are still working.
Wait a minute … I should qualify that by saying the retired directors
are working but not getting paid.
We have some very interesting projects at the LGA that we
are working on for you. It is amazing how diversified our directors are
and the multiple hats they can wear. Working hours are flexible, and the
workplace (Lake Gaston) is terrific. We strive for five directors per
lake county (Brunswick, Halifax, Mecklenburg, Northampton and Warren.
I’m leading you to an opportunity … We have director
vacancies in Brunswick (2), Halifax (3) and Northampton (1) counties. If
you would like to get your feet wet by joining one of our committees;
Government Relations, Lake Environment, Membership Development, Planning
& Development, or Safety, to see the types of projects we are involved
and how your interests would compliment the projects, contact
Info@LakeGastonAssoc.com or call the office at (252) 586-6577 or
toll free 1-888-586-6577, and I’ll put you in touch with the relevant
Chair. Or, you can jump in at the deep end and inquire about becoming a
LGA director – same contact information applies and I’ll put you in
touch with our Nominating Committee Chair.
Or, if you are at the Lake on Wednesday, July 2, join us
for our monthly meeting at the Lake Gaston Baptist Church at 9:30 a.m.,
and find out about us then. The church is one mile north of Eaton Ferry
Bridge on Hwy 903. Guest speaker will be Macon Robertson, Director,
Warren County Public Utilities who will address water issues in the
county.
Independence Day celebrations are just a week away. Don’t
forget the Annual Lake Gaston Fireworks Display at Eaton Ferry Bridge on
Saturday, July 5 at dusk. Longbridge Volunteer Fire Department organizes
this event.
MAY 2008:
LGA’s 911 Emergency Data Card
What a glorious Memorial weekend we had to welcome in
Summer on Lake Gaston. And, before we know it, it will be time for July
4th celebrations and the Annual Firework Display at Eaton
Ferry Bridge on the 5th. Slow down 2008 you are going too
fast!
Lake Gaston Association’s Public Safety committee has
produced a 911 Emergency Data Card that can remind you of critical
information that would be needed when placing a 911 call for help.
Especially helpful when in the excitement of an emergency, it can be
difficult to think straight when responding to the operator’s questions.
The emergency will vary between something medical like a
heart attack, cut or bad burn, or house fire, or robbery. But the
constant items for a particular residence will be the address, nearby
major crossroads and subdivision. Visitors to your home will not be
familiar with local address information and even the resident during a
moment of duress, may have trouble with some known information. We hope
this card can be helpful to you if kept by the phone or on the fridge.
911 Emergency Data Cards have been printed and will be
distributed to our members, and local organizations such as
Lions clubs of Lake Gaston and
Littleton, the Lake Gaston Water Safety Council, the Lake Gaston Ladies
Club, all the VFD and Rescue Auxiliaries, AARP, the Computer Club,
and they will be
available at LGA’s Annual meeting on June 14.
Our monthly meeting is coming up on June 4, at 9:30 a.m.,
a week before our Annual meeting. We will have reports from our
Committees: Government Relations, Lake Environment, Membership, Safety,
and Planning and Development, but no speaker. All the committees have
interesting projects they are working on. Come and join us, it will be a
shorter meeting than usual.
We look forward to welcoming you at our Annual Meeting on
Saturday, June 14, at 9:30 a.m. for registration and refreshments.
Meeting starts at 10 a.m., out at noon (or before). Discussion topic
will be incorporation – a Town of Lake Gaston? The Virginia side of the
equation, and a recap of incorporating a town in North Carolina.
We meet at the Lake Gaston Baptist Church which is one
mile north of Eaton Ferry Bridge on Hwy 903.
APRIL
2008: Lake
Environment Monitors needed
Last Saturday morning I went to the annual
Lake Gaston Association’s Lake Environment Monitor training session.
It’s a what’s new, for the seasoned LEM, and what’s involved if you want
to be one.
LEMs used to be called Weed Monitors but
the tasks were expanded to include the lake environment. Saturday’s
agenda included Identification of Aquatic Vegetation by Justin Nawrocki
from North Carolina State University; Triploid Grass Carp by Kirk Rundle
from NC Wildlife; an update on the Weed Survey that the LEMs did last
year with NCSU from Bruce Johnson; and Jack Saunders (LEM chair)
concluded with updates to the LEM checklist.
I was particularly interested in the Weed
Survey which was referring to the Lake Gaston Fall Mapping Project of
identifying and mapping the most common and problematic noxious weeds in
the lake. The survey was conducted by NCSU who trained the LEMs last
August to collect the weed data in September and October, and data on
floating mats in December. This is an exciting project.
LEMs were equipped with handheld computers
with GPS for recording location and type of weed (complete with
waterproof and floatable case), rakes for collecting aquatic plant
samples, a waterproof book with photos and descriptions to identify the
weeds, and so as not to waste an opportunity Secchi disks for recording
water clarity. LEMs collected data from motorized boats or kayaks.
Data chips from the handheld computers
along with a paper version of the data recording sheet (for those LEMs
who preferred not to use the computer) were sent periodically to NCSU
for compilation.
I have to tell you about last year’s
survey results: Volunteers recorded data from over 1,400 distinct
sampling points; over 97 man hours of labor were spent, scouting an
estimated 67 miles of shoreline (approx. 20 percent of total lake
shore); data points were overlaid on existing topographic maps for
detailed documentation of hydrilla presence or absence in certain areas;
volunteers recorded the locations of floating mats of hydrilla, grass
carp sightings, length of hydrilla whether the area had been treated
with herbicides, and condition of the plants collected.
2007’s survey focused on eight submerged
plants and this year’s survey will be expanded to 13 plants that will
include emergent plants. NCSU will be holding a training session for
this year’s mapping late June/early July.
For this year’s mapping, the goal is to
cover more shoreline and to do this we want to increase the number of
Lake Environment Monitors we have. If you would like to sign up or find
out more information, please contact
jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com. Or, you can call the office at (252)
586-6577, or toll free 1-888-586-6577 and I will get Jack to call you.
Or, join us at our next monthly meeting on
May 7 and get more information then and see the display boards and
overlay maps of the project. Guest speaker will be Allen Garrett,
Operations Manager, WZRU 90.1 and 90.5 FM, a listener supported radio
station broadcasting to Eastern North Carolina and Southside Virginia,
who will be talking on the state of radio in the 21st
century.
Meeting starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Lake
Gaston Baptist Church on Rte. 903, one mile north of Eaton Ferry Bridge,
near Littleton.
Please join us on May 7, bring your
neighbors along, and hear about the other exciting projects we are
working on too.
MARCH 2008: Opportunities for you
You will
need your calendars ready for this month’s column. I have two great
opportunities to tell you about. Our upcoming “Meet the Candidate
Forums” for Halifax and Warren County voters, and our next monthly
speaker. All happening in the first two weeks of April.
On April 2
at 9:30 a.m. our monthly meeting guest speaker will be UNC Professor of
Public Law and Government David Lawrence. He will be speaking on why to
incorporate and what is involved in incorporating a town.
The
possibility of a town of Lake Gaston? There has been much discussion
over the years of such an opportunity. The Lake Gaston Chamber of
Commerce has a committee studying this possibility and the LGA is a
participant.
Meeting
starts at 9:30 a.m. at the Lake Gaston Baptist Church on Rte. 903, one
mile north of Eaton Ferry Bridge, near Littleton. I have a feeling this
is going to be one of our more popular monthly meetings.
The Lake
Gaston Association will be hosting two “Meet the Candidate Forums” for
Halifax and Warren County elections to be held at the Littleton
Community Center, 225 Oak Street, Littleton. This is your opportunity to
come and meet your candidates and ask those questions.
On April 5
at 10 a.m., the following Halifax County candidates have been invited to
participate … NC State House District 49 - Lucy Allen (incumbent) and
Keith Shearin; NC State House District 7 - Angela Bryant (incumbent) and
Jean Reaves; and NC State Senate District 4 - Ed Jones (incumbent)
unopposed. Halifax County Commissioners – District 1, Carolyn Johnson
(incumbent) and Ronnie Locke; District 2, Marcelle Smith (incumbent) and
Sammy Webb; and District 3, Rachel Hux (incumbent) unopposed.
On April
12 at 10 a.m., the following Warren County candidates have been invited
to participate … NC State House District 27 – Michael Wray (incumbent)
unopposed; NC State Senate District 7 - Doug Berger (incumbent) and
Chuck Stires. Warren County Commissioners – District 1, Clinton G.
Alston (incumbent) and Jennifer Jordan; and District 5, Barry Richardson
(incumbent) unopposed.
Each forum
will follow the same format. First, candidates will be given a few
moments to introduce themselves and their platform. Second, moderator
will ask questions that will have been submitted in writing by audience
members before and during meeting. All questions will be screened and
candidates will have two minutes to respond. Time permitting, each
candidate will have two minutes for summation.
Register
of Deeds candidates have also been invited for both counties and will
have the opportunity to introduce themselves at the beginning of the
forum.
So … make
a date to join us!
FEBRUARY 2008: LGA
invites you to join us
We are kicking off our 2008 membership
drive with this edition. You will see within this newspaper an
application form to join us.
Whether you live full-time at the lake, or
part-time, please consider joining the Lake Gaston Association. We are
“Your primary VOICE on lake issues” with a mission to … Identify
issues affecting our members and pursue resolution with the responsible
organizations.
The LGA has a board of 25 directors – five
directors from each county that is home to Lake Gaston – VA: Brunswick
and Mecklenburg and NC: Halifax, Northampton and Warren. We pursue
issues through our committees: Government Relations, Lake Environment,
Membership, Planning and Development, and Safety.
We take positions on issues affecting Lake
Gaston. As the saying goes “strength comes in numbers,” that’s why this
membership drive is important to both of us. We want to increase the
number of members we represent. That’s why WE NEED YOU!
You will be increasing our VOICE on your
behalf.
Stay informed through our Bi-Monthly
Bulletins that come to you via US mail or email, or both – your choice.
If you have an email address you will receive time sensitive information
that can’t wait until the next Bulletin. The subject line always starts
with LGA:.
Speakers on a variety of lake related
topics are scheduled for our monthly meetings (the first Wednesday of
every month). Join us next week, March 5, to hear Gene Addesso, Vice
President of the Roanoke River Basin Association, present on inner-basin
water transfer. Currently, 60 million gallons are transferred from Lake
Gaston to Virginia Beach every day and 10 MGD go from Kerr Reservoir to
Oxford NC (and on south to Franklin County).
Another speaker, scheduled for our April 2
monthly meeting, is UNC Professor of Public Law and Government David
Lawrence. He will be speaking on what is involved in incorporating a
town. The possibility of a town of Lake Gaston? There has been much
discussion over the years of such an opportunity. The Lake Gaston
Chamber of Commerce has a committee studying this possibility and the
LGA is a participant. Come hear Mr. Lawrence's remarks at the LGA
meeting on April 2nd.
Our monthly meetings are held at 9:30 a.m.
at the Lake Gaston Baptist Church which is located one mile north of
Eaton Ferry Bridge on Hwy 903.
Please consider adding YOUR VOICE to OURS
by using the application form in this newspaper – look for our logo –
and help make our membership drive a success for the good of Lake
Gaston.
JANUARY 2008:
2008 - Elections and revaluation
I emigrated to the United States at the
end of 1981, and became a citizen in 1993. Initially I was here on a
green card, could work, and buy property, but I couldn’t vote. I was
born and raised in Southampton, England where my grandfather ruled our
house with the belief, “We’re working class and we vote Labor.” No
discussion was allowed.
Since becoming a citizen and gaining the
right to vote, I would try and get to know the candidates as best I
could through the media - while living and working in Raleigh that
seemed to be the only way to do it. A chance to be in the same room with
the candidates would have been more fulfilling but I didn’t have the
contacts to know where they would be during campaign time.
This past month I’ve been in my element.
I accepted the task from the LGA Government Relations to find out from
all five counties that are home to Lake Gaston – Brunswick, Halifax,
Mecklenburg, Northampton and Warren – their election schedule for 2008.
I was looking for candidates that would be up for offices, filing dates,
primary dates etc. etc. I also needed information for any candidates
running for North Carolina, Virginia and Washington Senate and House of
Representative seats.
We needed the information to know when to
hold “Meet the Candidate Forums” and which candidates to invite.
At this point, from the information I was
able to gather earlier this month, we know enough to get started with
setting the Forum dates. Look for LGA press releases with the details.
The LGA’s Candidate Forums are a great
opportunity to get to know the people who are looking for your vote.
Another topic coming up this year, is the
revaluation of Warren County property. It’s been eight years since the
last revaluation. LGA’s Government Relations Committee is planning a
Forum(s) for Warren County property owners to understand where we are in
the revaluation process – timeline, appeals process, when the
revaluation statements arrive, etc.
Larry Jolly along with other
organizations met with the Virginia Department of Environment Quality to
voice our concerns about the request for a permit by Lakeside Commons
for a water treatment plant on Pea Hill Creek in Brunswick County. Larry
will be reporting on that meeting at our monthly meeting on Wednesday,
February 6 at 9:30 a.m. at Lake Gaston Baptist Church, one mile north of
Eaton Ferry Bridge on Hwy 903.
Our Guest speaker, rescheduled from
January, is Mrs. Bridget Lassiter of North Carolina State University’s
Lake Gaston Fall Mapping Team, who will be speaking on "Using volunteer
input for scouting and mapping weeds present in Lake Gaston using GPS
information." She will be sharing the compilation of the data the LEMs
have collected. You will be able to see the equipment/gadgets they used
on the project, and our display board with our latest pictures.
Please join us on February 6 and bring
your neighbors, and hear about the other exciting projects we are
working on.
DECEMBER 2007:
Ho! Ho! Ho!
As I write
my column this month it is 20 degrees this morning, the sky is blue, not
a cloud in sight, and the water is sparkling on Lake Gaston. And,
(fingers crossed) I have yet to see a floating mat come into our cove.
I mention floating mats because I was
excited to hear that they would be part of a study being carried out by
North Carolina State University, with the help of LGA’s Lake Environment
Monitors. Mapping floating mats for location and size started in
November and will conclude the end of December. According to the LEM
team they did not locate any during November. FYI: I’m writing my column
early this month because newspaper deadlines have been moved up because
of Christmas and New Year, so, at time of writing, I have heard of no
sightings for December so far.
From what I understand, the floating mats
start up around the I-85 bridge and float down stream. The mats consist
mostly of hydrilla that breaks off at the end of the growing season and
is part of the dying process of the foliage. Reportedly the amount of
aquatic noxious weeds is smaller than normal in that area, and may
account for not sighting any floating mats.
Ironically last year when we had loads of
floating mats, they were not being studied. Of particular interest is
whether there are terions (hydrilla seeds) in those mats. We are
interested if you have seen any floating mats. If you have, please
contact Jack Saunders our LEMs team leader at
jackdsaunders@embarqmail.com with a description of the location –
using a mile marker buoy # is a good starting point.
LGA’s Lake Environment Monitor’s have
really enjoyed the opportunity to be part of North Carolina State
University’s Lake Gaston Fall Mapping Project where they have been out
on Lake Gaston collecting and measuring samples of the most common and
most problematic weeds during September and October, and as I mentioned
earlier, mapping and measuring floating mats in November and December.
It truly has been a team effort between the University and the LGA.
We have a display board of pictures and
descriptions of the activities being performed from the initial training
in August, out on the lake gathering samples, a draft map of Lake Gaston
showing aquatic weed mapping sites, and space for pictures of those
elusive floating mats.
You must join us for our monthly meeting
on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 when Mrs. Bridget Lassiter of North
Carolina State University’s Lake Gaston Fall Mapping Team, will be
speaking on "Using volunteer input for scouting and mapping weeds
present in Lake Gaston using GPS information." She will be sharing the
compilation of the data the LEMs have collected. You will be able to see
the equipment/gadgets they used on the project, and our display board
with our latest pictures.
The Lake Gaston Association extends
Seasons Greetings to you all, and if you are traveling to family and
friends over the holidays, be safe.
We look forward to ringing in the New
Year with you on January 2, at 9:30 a.m. at the Lake Gaston Baptist
Church which is located one mile north of Eaton Ferry Bridge on Hwy 903.
Your primary VOICE on lake
issues
Our
mission is to identify issues affecting our members and pursue
resolution with the responsible organizations. How do we know what these
issues are? We survey our members and have them rank what is most
important to them, so that we know on what to focus our work efforts.
Between the six committees – Aquatic Weed, Government Relations
(formerly Public Affairs), Lake Environment, Membership, Planning and
Development, and Safety, we put our energy into what our members say is
important to them. We call them Focus Items
Our Membership’s top five focus items
are: 1. Support Lake Gaston Weed Control Council (LGWCC) & Lake Gaston
Stakeholder Board (LGSB) to improve Noxious Weed Management. 2. Petition
Counties & States to support Lake Area Priorities, e.g. Noxious Weed
Management. 3. Participate In and Influence Planned Lake Area
Development as it Affects our Membership. 4. Increase Law Enforcement
and Visibility (Land & Water) for Lake Gaston. 5. Increase Lake Area
Influence on Local, State and Federal Governing bodies & Issues,
including Proposing Legislation.
We have three issues that we are hoping
to pursue a resolution with the responsible organizations, or, at least
have the opportunity to have our concerns heard:
Last month I mentioned that the Lake
Gaston Association had written to the Commonwealth of Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality (#3 & #5) asking for an opportunity
to meet with them to voice our concerns over Lakeside Commons, LLC’s
request for a permit for a wastewater treatment plant on Lake Gaston.
Subsequent correspondence from DEQ leads us to believe we will have a
meeting with them.
In last week’s edition our president,
John Cataldo wrote a Letter to the Editor about what we have done, and
continue to do, to try and increase law enforcement (#4). If you didn’t
see this, let me know, and we will get you a copy.
We received from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission a “Notice of Amendment of license and soliciting
comments, motions to intervene, and protests” regarding the application
submitted by Dominion to allow Redtail-Gaston LLC (Eaton’s Crossing) to
construct a new 120-slip or so boat facility on a portion of shoreline
along Lake Gaston. (#3 & #5) LGA’s membership issue is the density of
structures and number of boats that will bring to that area. Deadline
for submitting comments is December 7, 2007. The LGA will respond, in
part, stating that in our view this request is in violation of the
existing Shoreline Management Plan.
LGA’s revised Recommended Lake Gaston
Management Plan that recommends 15 grass carp per vegetated acre
(currently 10) was approved by the Board on November 7. Our Weed
Committee is currently reviewing how to get a favorable response to this
plan from the LGWCC and the LGSB. The Technical Advisory Group of the
LGSB will have the opportunity to review this proposal and will have
critical input to the LGWCC and the LGSB concerning the LGA’s proposal.
This should give you an idea of the types
of issues the Association is currently working on.
You can keep up-to-date by joining us on
December 5 at 9:30 a.m. for our monthly meeting at Lake Gaston Baptist
Church on Hwy 903 one mile north of Eaton Ferry Bridge. Our guest
speaker will be Ken Krulik, Warren County’s new Planning Director.
Meeting is open to members and non
members, so bring your neighbors and catch up on all of LGA’s
activities.
OCTOBER 2007: Fall
is With Us
I’ve made several, several attempts at
starting my column this month because October has been a very busy month
for the Lake Gaston Association. I can’t tell you everything we have
been doing because space doesn’t permit. So I’m going to tell you as
much as I can, the rest of our month’s activities you will have to find
out about at our monthly meeting on November 7.
Throughout the month we had been
expecting to hear about water restrictions because of the drought
conditions we have been experiencing. The LGA is included in the loop
with organizations that are involved with monitoring the water level of
the lakes in both Virginia and North Carolina. Interestingly, the
decision to restrict water usage is made by the politicians.
I’m always learning something new
regarding the dynamics of living on Lake Gaston. It’s important to
remember that the Roanoke River is flowing through Smith Mountain Lake,
Kerr Lake, Lake Gaston, Roanoke Rapids Lake and then continues until it
reaches the Atlantic Ocean. A minimum flow of water, measured in cubic
feet per second, has to be maintained to keep the salt water from the
Atlantic creeping up the Roanoke River and harming the freshwater marine
life. Lake Gaston’s level is still being maintained within the operating
guidelines while Kerr Lake is the lowest it has been in the last 80
years.
The Lake Gaston Association’s Recommended
Lake Gaston Management Plan has been revised. LGA’s Aquatic Weed
Committee will be asking LGA’s Board of Directors to approve the revised
plan with a vote on November 7. We tried last year to get the amount of
grass carp per vegetated acre increased to 15 (currently 10), and we are
going to try again with the revised plan. Several organizations are
involved in the approval process, I will keep you informed of its
journey.
Lake Environment Monitors have spent a
lot of time in boats and kayaks this month gathering data of the most
common and most problematic aquatic weeds before the Hydrilla starts
dying and breaking off. In November and December they will be mapping
and sizing floating mats. All these tasks and data are for NC State
University’s Lake Gaston Fall 2007 Mapping Project.
For all the five county
Commissioner/Supervisor, Planning and Zoning meetings there are each
month, we aim to get copies of the agendas for them and email them to
our members. As well as have a LGA director present at each. October was
an excellent month for agendas and coverage.
The Public Affairs committee wrote a
letter of concern to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
about a permit request from Lakeside Commons, LLC for a wastewater
treatment plant in Pea Hill Creek, and asked that our concerns be heard
before the permit was granted.
Membership renewal letters have been
prepared for dispatch the first week of November, and we now have a toll
free # so our long distance members can call us on our nickel:
1-888-586-6577.
Our Mecklenburg
County "Meet the Candidates Forum" was a great success on October 18,
ten of the 12 candidates for Virginia Senate, Sheriff, Commissioner of
Revenue and Treasurer were able to be present and about 80 people
attended and had the opportunity to ask questions.
Our November 7 monthly meeting speaker
will be William Flynn who is the Northampton County Land Use
Administrator in the Community Development Office. Meeting starts at
9:30 a.m. at Lake Gaston Baptist Church, on Hwy 903 one mile north of
Eaton Ferry Bridge. Meeting is open to members and non members, so bring
your neighbors and catch up on all of LGA’s activities.
SEPTEMBER 2007: Candidate Forum
Time
Lake Gaston Association’s Public Affairs
Committee is responsible for organizing Candidate Forums so that our
members and the public can have an opportunity to meet their respective
candidates, ask questions, and be informed for the upcoming elections.
For November 6 elections, our focus has
been on Brunswick and Mecklenburg County candidates as there are no
North Carolina elections this year.
The Brunswick County campaigns are
being adequately covered by two events, one hosted by St. Paul's College
and the Brunswick Times/Gazette. The other by the local NAACP. We will
keep you informed of the time and place of these events.
We will host a forum for Mecklenburg
County's candidates on
Thursday, October 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the R.T. Arnold Library, 100 East
Danville Street, South Hill, VA.
Virginia Senator Frank Ruff (R), District
15 (Mecklenburg and Brunswick (part)) is being contested by Robert
Wilkerson. Sheriff Danny R. Fox is being contested by Robert W. Hawkins,
Jr. Commissioner of Revenue candidates: Robert L. Hendricks, Joseph E.
Taylor, Annette M. Tucker, Jay Jennings, Timothy A. Mull and Meade
Pratell. Treasurer: Sandra P. Langford and Tammy W. Johnson.
We are in the process of inviting those
candidates. Look for more details in upcoming press releases.
Any time is a great time to join the Lake
Gaston Association. When you join at this time of the year, your
membership dues will take you through December 31, 2008.
Members who join through their Home Owner
Associations receive a $5 discount off our General Membership dues. We
have relaxed the ‘all’ must join to receive the group discount to the
“majority.” Contact us for further details.
Join us for our monthly meeting on
Wednesday, October 3 – guest speaker will be Robert Hendricks, Zoning
Administrator for Mecklenburg County, Va. who will be speaking on
cluster home development, erosion and sediment control, and sign
ordinances.
All our committees will be reporting on
their current work activities at the meeting which includes the data the
Lake Environment Monitors have been collecting this month for the work
effort with North Carolina State University’s Lake Gaston Fall 2007
Mapping Project of the most common and most problematic aquatic weeds.
It will include mapping/sizing floating mats in November and December.
Our monthly meeting is an opportunity for
you to bring up any concerns you may have and find out more about the
Lake Gaston Association.
Make a date to join us on Wednesday,
October 3 at 9:30 a.m. at Lake Gaston Baptist Church which is one
mile north of Eaton Ferry Bridge on Hwy 903.
AUGUST
2007: Safe Boating Forum
Our September 5 monthly meeting has
developed into a Safe Boating Forum. Our speakers
Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' Sgt. Jon Hart and North
Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission's Sgt. Carl Hatcher, will be
joined by NC House Representative Michael H. Wray (D) District 27
(Northampton, Vance and Warren Counties).
Both Sgts.
Jon Hart and Carl Hatcher will discuss boating enforcement on Lake
Gaston, areas of responsibility, safety issues, changes in law, and
issues they see as problems on our lake as boating numbers continue to
rise.
Representative Michael H. Wray will talk about NC House Bill 1585 that
he has proposed for North Carolina – “Study Mandatory Boating Safety
Education.” Mandatory Boating Safety Education legislation has already
passed in Virginia (HB 1627 and SB1241).
HB 1585
proposes … “The Wildlife
Resources Commission shall study the feasibility of implementing
mandatory boating education in this State. In conducting its study, the
Commission shall evaluate the feasibility of requiring all persons to
satisfy boating education requirements prior to operating a motorboat or
personal watercraft. …” This House Bill
did not pass in the NC Senate.
Question and answer session following
could present some interesting questions and discussion when you
consider Virginia is in the process of getting ready to implement
mandatory safe boating education, and North Carolina has no legislation,
and boaters don’t necessarily know in which state they are traveling
when on Lake Gaston.
Under New Business LGA’s board will be
discussing what our position should be regarding Brunswick County’s
proposed amendments to their sign ordnance. A Public Hearing has been
scheduled for September 19 at Brunswick County’s Board of Supervisors
meeting at 7 p.m. Information will be emailed to our members.
There is so much more to tell you about
what’s going on in the Lake Gaston Association, but I’ve run out of
space. You will just have to make a date to attend our September 5
meeting to find out.
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