PERRY COUNTY CHOOSES COMPANY FOR LAKE STUDY

PERRYVILLE - Burns and McDonnell Engineering Co. has been chosen by the Perry County Commission to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed 4,000-acre lake in the northwest part of the county.

A committee studying the lake idea interviewed three firms on Jan. 8, and recommended to the commission that it hire the company for the study.

The study will be conducted from Burns and McDonnell's St. Louis office with Dennis Welker, a Perryville native and manager of the civil engineering department in St. Louis, serving as project manager.

The study will evaluate the feasibility of constructing a dam on the South Fork of Saline Creek to create a lake with 74 miles of shoreline.

Another study, conducted in the mid-1960s, examined construction a 1,900-acre lake in approximately the same place. The study found the project to be feasible; however, due to inadequate funding the lake proposal was abandoned.

Burns and McDonnell will begin its work in mid-February, and the first phase should be finished in about two months. In addition to the engineering aspects, the initial phase of the study will emphasize the project's environmental and economic impacts, and may address alternative sources of revenue for constructing and operating the lake.

Results of the study will be released at upcoming public meetings.

Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence, has introduced legislation giving voters in Perry County the opportunity to vote on whether to pay for a lake with a 1-cent sales tax. The bill would also enable the county to establish a lake authority to oversee maintenance and development of the lake.