Master Plan Reports Meeting
October 28, 2005
(printable view)

President Dave Baker welcomed approximately fifty participants, and introduced City Council members Cynthia Engle, Steve Shepard, Rich Evans, and J.D. Jones, Jr.

Dave then introduced Dr. Curt Brungardt, Chair of the Center for Civic Leadership at Ft. Hays State University. Dr. Brungardt stressed that all of the planning processes are open meetings and all are invited to participate. For the process to be successful the plans must reflect all inputs. The easiest way to participate is through the Lake Association Web Site Bulletin Board or email. Letters and phone calls are also welcome. The remainder of the meeting was a review of progress from the Task Force Groups and discussion of these areas.

Governance Task Force

Julie Hower summarized the group’s activity explaining they considered four options
1. Renegotiate the current lease
2. Look at a Master Lease Agreement where the Lake Association assumes maintenance (reference to Lake Kahola & their Homeowners Association)
3. Lease with buy-out, where homeowners, over time, purchase their lot from the city
4. Negotiation in the lease with a “first right of refusal” to purchase the lot if the city should ever decide to sell.

Much discussion ensued raising the following issues:

Why does the city want to annex---and why so soon?
What is the history of the lease---why did the city lease lots and not sell them in the beginning?
What are the real and true figures of the costs of operating the lake to the city and what is the true revenue the city receives from the lake?

Cynthia Engle stated she senses distrust, and suggested some City Council members could assist in verifying income and expenditures. Dr Brungardt stressed we must be open and honest. It is imperative that correct figures be provided by the city before we can move forward. He ask City Council members to take responsibility for securing and providing truthful and substantiated figures in writing. He also ask members of the City Council to provide a document showing the benefits of annexation to the city and to lake homeowners.
The Governance Task Force Group ask for guidance on which options to focus on. It was decided they will do more research on options 2, 3, and 4 listed above.

Infrastructure Task Force
Mary Ann Clark, spokesperson for the Infrastructure Task Force, reported they are concerned about the building code. She stated the “rule guide” needs to be restructured so we can readily access the information pertaining to the lake. Also, there needs to be clarification not only to the building codes and ordinances, but also to HOW they are applied. There is a general feeling now that we have “selective enforcement”.
Dr Brungardt ask if this Task Force could look into the possibilities of the city using the Federal Reservoir as its water source.

Beautification and Park Area Improvements Task Force
Dave Baker led discussion in this area. Points discussed included why are we maintaining some things which don’t work or aren’t functional such as the toilets at the north end of the lake which are unusable? A maintenance plan needs to be developed to set priorities

Water Quality, Environmental Issues/Water Level Task Force
Dr. Ransom suggested the quality of the water needs to be looked at over the long-term. Records need to be researched to see which direction quality is going and what can be done to protect the quality of the water.

Recreation Use, Public Safety and Fishery Management Issues Task Force
Dr. Ransom, spokesperson for this task force pointed out that many of the functions of this group overlap into the water quality task force areas and suggested these two groups work together and coordinate their efforts.

Closing discussion: Volunteers are still needed in the Beautification, Water Quality and Recreation Use areas. Steve Shephard reminded all that economic development is the greatest asset of the lake to the city and county. All agreed. In closing, President Dave Baker thanked all for participating and expressed to City Council members the Lake Association’s appreciation of their spirit of cooperation. He also reminded the Lake Association that we need to appreciate the viewpoint of City Leadership. Dave asked that everybody, both the lake and city communities step up and present ideas and suggestions.
The Lake Association web site Bulletin Boards are open for all people to express opinions. The Web Site is http://www.cgclakeassoc.org/ He closed the meeting emphasizing that that we are at a critical point in time to establish a positive future for both the City and City Lake homeowners.

Council Grove Lake Association Master Plan
Task Force Groups

Governance Task Force

Infrastructure Task Force

Beautification and Park Area Improvements Task Force

Water Quality, Environmental Issues, Water Level Task Force

Recreation Use, Public Safety and Fishery Management Issues Task Force