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Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance
C/O Route 1, Box 1069
Hemphill, Texas 75948
January 15, 1999
Honorable Jerry T. Stallworth
President, Board of Directors
Sabine River Authority of Texas
Rt. 1 Box 270
Burkeville, Texas 75932
Subject: Toledo Bend Reservoir Water Level - Special Board Meeting
References: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) letter to SRA dated December 15, 1998.
Fact Sheet provided by Entergy and Cleco at a public hearing held December 14, 1998.
News release of the SRA Meeting of December 8,1998 copied from the WEB page of the SRA of Texas.
Dear President Stallworth:
First we congratulate you on your election to President of the Board of Directors of the Sabine River Authority of Texas. We wish you the best during your term. We also hope the Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance will be able to work with you and the Board to further improve Toledo Bend Reservoir as a major recreational resource of both Texas and Louisiana.
By this letter we request you call a special meeting of the Board of Directors Sabine River Authority of Texas. We believe a meeting devoted strictly to Toledo Bend Reservoir and the problems created when routine power generation takes the water level below 168' msl is necessary to reach a successful solution to the problem. The few minutes the Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance has been accorded during the public comment period of your regular meeting is hardly adequate to explain our views. Further, there was no discussion about the problem with us present.
The FERC in their letter of December 15, 1998, expects the Sabine River Authorities will meet with the Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance to discuss the low water level at Toledo Bend. The letter is attached for your convenience.
We believe the Sabine River Authorities have the right and responsibility to operate the reservoir. This belief is supported by the statement made by the power companies in the next to the last paragraph of their Fact Sheet that is attached.
We are also very concerned that the Sabine River Authority of Texas did not provide complete information to the citizens of Texas when they issued a news release concerning what transpired at the December 8, 1998, board meeting. The release did not even mention that the Bi-State Alliance had made a presentation or that 13 individual members of the Alliance as well as aides to a state senator and representative were in attendance. The public is entitled to be informed of all issues before a public agency, not just those issues that are non-controversial. The public is demanding a change to the operation of a public agency and should not be ignored. A copy of the news release is also attached.
Again, we request you call a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Sabine River Authority of Texas. We request this meeting be for the limited purpose of meeting with the Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance and other interested persons or groups to discuss the problems created when the water level of Toledo Bend is taken below 168' msl for routine power generation.
Please contact us at the address listed above or call either of us to set a meeting date.
Sincerely,
Janna Lehman Larry E. Kelly
Co-Chairman, Texas Co-Chairman, Louisiana
(409) 625-3394 (318) 286-9946
Copies: See Attached Page
Copies:
Board Members, Sabine River Authority of Texas
Board Members, Sabine River Authority of Louisiana
Governor Bush of Texas
Governor Foster of Louisiana
Secretary Boergers, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
U. S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
U. S. Senator John Breaux of Louisiana
U. S. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas
U. S. Senator Kay Hutchinson of Texas
U. S. Representative Jim McCrery of Louisiana
U. S. Representative Jim Turner of Texas
Louisiana State Senator James David Cain
Louisiana State Senator Kenneth M.( Mike) Smith
Texas State Senator Drew Nixon
Louisiana State Representative Joe Salter
Louisiana State Representative John Smith
Texas State Representative Wayne Christian
State of Louisiana House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee
Mr. Joe Love, Sabine River Authority of Texas
Ms. Linda Curtis, Sabine River Authority of Louisiana
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