QUESTIONS ON LAKE PLAN TO BE DISCUSSED TONIGHT

JACKSON -- Almost a month after they asked questions, landowners that would be affected by a Bollinger-Cape Girardeau County lake will get the answers they have been waiting for.

Any landowner directly affected by the lake can attend a meeting at 7 tonight at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 3305 N. High St. The meeting will present answers to specific questions about legislation.

A committee of landowners was selected earlier to study the state legislation that allows the lake to be created, and suggest possible changes. The committee has been meeting weekly since July 2.

The Bollinger-Cape Girardeau County lake project was first proposed in 1990, and resurfaced last summer. The 7,680-acre recreational lake would be built near the Millersville area and would affect about 200 landowners. It would be funded by a 1-cent sales tax in both counties.

A past proposal did not materialize. Voters must approve the sales tax, but the Bollinger County Commission wouldn't put the issue on the ballot in 1990.

"There were a number of things wrong or that the landowners felt were wrong," said Joe Vernier, who has been heading the study committee. "We've worked on going over each one of the changes needed."

Some of the proposed changes include revising zoning regulations, grandfather clauses and the land area that the lake authority could encompass.

"The bill is not specific, and the proposed changes are specific so that it would only refer to this lake authority and this lake," Vernier said.

As written, the Senate bill applies to any project in the state.

"We tightened the language on the bill as a direct response to what the landowners wanted," he said. "A lot of the changes came as a direct result of the owners' questions."

When complete, the changes would be presented to area legislators for consideration.

Questions about finances and how the lake would support itself will not be answered at the meeting. "We just haven't had the time to get to any of those," Vernier said.

The lake project has been endorsed by the Bollinger County Chamber of Commerce and the Regional Commerce and Growth Association.