LAKE PROPONENTS FORM GROUP `TO ADDRESS ISSUES'

It's an old story and now it has a new name: Lake Facts Committee Inc.

For 10 years proponents of a 7,700-acre lake along the border between Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties have tried to get the project on a ballot. Organizers of the new group say more information needs to get out to the public before the project will float.

Joe Vernier of Jackson, an independent businessman, is president founders of the new group. He said it was formed about two months ago from a group that assembled late last year to review proposed lake legislation that was introduced into the state Senate.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, introduced a bill that would have allowed the issue to go on the ballot if enough names could be gathered on petitions. The bill also contained some changes in the size of the area affected by the lake and the power of the lake authority.

"Now what we want to do is address all the issues and get them out to the public," he said.

Vernier said the group is currently made up of a small committee that includes Greg Williams of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association, Tammy Baremore, Jim Hillin and Phyllis King.

Vernier said one of the group's first projects is to raise about $45,000 for a study to see if the lake could be used as a water source in the area. The study would be done by Horner & Shifrin Inc. of St. Louis. Vernier said the group is soliciting funds from businesses in both counties and donations from private sources.

The committee's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. It can be reached for information at P.O. Box 15, Jackson, 63755.

Baremore, vice president of Lake Facts Committee, said the group has received about 100 requests for information on the lake in the last month. She said most of those requests have come from Cape Girardeau County and some from Bollinger County residents.

"They are all very interested in the issues regarding the lake and the possibilities," Baremore said.

She said group is supplying copies of: the lake bill and its proposed amendment, a list of senators and representatives, a map of the proposed lake and an economic impact study done by Southeast Missouri State University professor Bruce Domazlicky.

"We are in the process of putting together some feasibility studies and all that information will be made public also," Baremore said.

The Facts Committee's objective, Baremore said, is to publish all surveys, feasibility studies and reports pertaining to the lake. She said that would include surveys and studies brought by opponents of the project.

"We'd love to work with them on any survey results or feasibility studies or reports that they've had done," Baremore said. "If there is a negative survey or report, it's got to addressed."

Baremore said negative reports need to be studied so that a solution to the problem can be found.

Ed Sebaugh, a member of a landowners' group opposed to the lake, said he would not be interested in working with the proponent group in any way. Sebaugh has compiled a number of surveys that contest the cost of the lake and the amount of money a lake would bring into the area. He said publishing that information through the Lake Facts Committee would be giving the new group too much justification.

Sebaugh said some of the requests for information the group has received have come from lake opponents.

"They just want to know what they're putting out," he said.

Sebaugh said the group might have a new name but it's the same people who have been working for a lake for years.

"Just by changing the name, that doesn't mean anything," he said.