LEGISLATING THE LAKE: PROPONENTS SAY BILL COULD HELP REFLOAT THE PROJECT

The future of the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger County lake project could hinge on a bill introduced by state Sen. Peter Kinder.

The Regional Commerce and Growth Association and other proponents say the bill could help refloat the lake project.

The plan, which has been kicked around for nearly a decade, calls for developing a recreational lake by damming the Whitewater and Little Whitewater rivers.

Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, introduced the legislation Thursday at the request of lake proponents.

It would amend a 1990 law that gave the Cape Girardeau and Bollinger county commissions the power to put a 1-cent sales tax issue on the ballot and allowed for creation of a lake authority to oversee the development.

The lake project never left the dock seven years ago. The Bollinger County Commission in July 1990 refused to put the tax measure to a vote.

The Cape Girardeau County Commission followed suit. Commissioners said there wasn't any point in holding an election unless the tax issue was on the ballot in both counties.

Some of the opposition centered around the 1990 law, which put considerable power in the hands of a lake authority.

Lake proponents want the law amended to give property owners some protection.

They say it could convince affected property owners to support the lake project. About 200 property owners would be affected by the lake project.

Kinder's bill would limit a lake authority's power of eminent domain and prohibit the authority from rezoning the farm land surrounding the lake as long as it stays in the hands of current owners or their heirs.

It also would allow proponents to circulate initiative petitions to get a tax issue on the ballot.

Under the current law, the lake tax can only be submitted to the voters if the county commissions authorize it.

"What is wrong with having a vote?" asked Kinder. "That was the problem seven years ago. It never got to the voters."

Kinder said, "If voters reject it, they reject it. But the voters ought to at least have both cases put in front of them and decide if they want to do this."

Some property owners who oppose the lake project say they won't budge no matter what legislative changes may or may not be made in the lake law.

They say they don't want their farm land turned into a lake or the commercial development that would follow.

Project opponents plan to hold a public meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Millersville School.

The presiding commissioners of the two counties aren't sold on the project.

Gerald Jones, Cape Girardeau County's presiding commissioner, said there isn't any reason to put the issue on the ballot if neither county commission supports it.

"My biggest concern is the dislocation of reluctant landowners," he said. "Why should I kick somebody off their land so I can go fishing?"

Elwood Mouser, Bollinger County's presiding commissioner, opposes the project. He said there isn't public support for the project.

He said the Bollinger County Commission won't put a lake tax on the ballot.

He said that is why lake proponents want the law changed to allow initiative petitions to be circulated.

"So far they can't go over us so they are trying to go around us," Mouser said.

State Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, said he opposes giving a lake authority the power to take land from property owners who don't want to sell.

Lake supporters say they haven't decided yet on a specific tax measure.

But some lake opponents doubt that enough signatures can be obtained to put any lake tax issue on the ballot.

It would take some 500 signatures in Bollinger County and about 2,700 signatures in Cape Girardeau County to put the issue on the ballot.

Ed Sebaugh, a Jackson High School science teacher, lives on the family farm near Sedgewickville.

The farm has been in his family since 1835. He said he would lose his house and some 150 acres of his farm if the lake is built.

Sebaugh said he could profit financially by selling the land. But he said he wants to keep his family farm.

Sebaugh said he and his neighbors like the rural atmosphere. They don't want a huge development in their backyards and the resulting traffic it would generate.

The proposed lake authority also worries him. He doesn't want another governmental agency set up.

He said the power of eminent domain should be used only for necessary projects such as roads and bridges. He doesn't believe the power of eminent domain should be used for a tourism and recreation project.

Steve Sebaugh owns an acre of land alongside his father's family farm.

He opposes the project, which he and others view as a land-development scheme.

Lake proponents hope to profit from the venture, Sebaugh said. "They are expecting people to vote on it, taxpayers to support it and the lake authority will end up running the lake and reaping the profits from it," he said.

"Recreational lakes don't make money. The land around the lakes make money and that is what they are after," he said.

Proponents say a recreational lake would be an economic boost to the area.

Marble Hill businessman Stan Crader said a lake would generate tourism. Crader is secretary-treasurer of the RCGA.

RCGA's executive director Gregory Williams is a member of the lake backers' group. There are about a dozen members on the lake committee. The others on the committee are individuals who own property in the area of the proposed lake.

PROPOSED LAKE PROJECT:

The project would consist of two lakes created by damming up the Whitewater and Little Whitewater rivers about a mile upstream from Millersville. The reservoir would extend up the river valleys about 12 miles in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties.

The total surface area of the two lakes would be 7,680 acres with 133 miles of lakeshore.

Construction cost: $84.7 million.

Operating costs: $28.9 million over 20 years.

Two-thirds of lake would be in Cape County and a third would be in Bollinger County.