LETTERS: LET VOTERS HAVE THEIR SAY ON THE LAKE

To the editor:

You can't put a price on entertainment. I have read yet another opinion by James C. Roche, president of the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger County Landowners Association/Citizens Against the Lake, who, by the way, lives nowhere near the proposed lake site. Before we can move forward on any project, we have to get over the mistakes of the past. Learn from them and move on. Those issues that were concerns have been addressed and corrected. We have an amendment to the original Senate bill which can be obtained by any person who requests one by contacting his senator or representative. Read it. See for yourselves exactly what will take place. Don't rely on hearsay or rumors.

Those who are displaying intentional efforts of distorting the information produced regarding the positive aspects of the proposed lake are truly insulting to those who are objectively looking at both sides and trying to weed through fact and fiction. The constant irresponsible insinuations by Mr. Roche of inaccurate information being disseminated by the Lake Facts Committee is getting really old. I am a member of the Lake Facts Committee. When this lake issue came up the second time, I and my family chose to get involved. The lake would take a portion or our property and, quite possible, our home. With this in mind, do I still want the lake? You bet. The tremendous benefits this lake has to offer every property owner, every citizen, every child is far better and more numerous than the negatives. I believe in growth and prosperity and understand those costs associated with it. I believe in the future. Change is a scary thing even for those who thrive on it. Fortunately for us, not everyone reacts so negatively toward changes. Had that been the case, we wouldn't have automobiles, airplanes, electricity, expanded schools, the arch, the Show Me Center and Interstate 55. You get the point.

The issue is no longer what the lake can or cannot do for our communities. The issue is we, the people, are being denied our right to decide for ourselves what we feel is beneficial or not to our communities through a vote. A lake, or no lake? Put it to a vote. State Rep. David Schwab's position regrading the landowners is admirable but is cause for concern. What he should consider is the percentage of people affected overall by the lake. In order for our representatives and senators to actually do their job of representing the people in the district in which they were elected, they must take the position of putting this amendment on the ballot, before their constituents, and let them decide if they want the lake. By doing just that, they are doing just what they were elected to do: represent the people.

TAMARA S. BAREMORE

Sedgewickville