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Toledo Bend Bi-State Alliance
Minutes July 26, 2004
The meeting was called to order by Larry Kelly.
The opening prayer was given by Joe Griffin.
Larry asked members and visitors in attendance to introduce themselves and tell where they are from. Special guest was Kelley Stripling from Senator Todd Staples Office. Larry welcomed Kelley and thanked her for coming to our meeting.
Linda Mauer noted a change to the Agenda. Approval is being sought to send a letter from TBBSA to Senator Staples asking that Cal Ebner, SRA of TX member, be re-appointed for another term on the TX SRA Board of Directors. Linda offered to write the letter. Linda also asked about inviting Roy Blake, Republican candidate for State Representative. Larry mentioned that a representative from the Roy Blake Campaign was at our June meeting, but we could again invite both the Republican and Democratic candidates to our meeting.
Minutes of the June 28, 2004 meeting were approved and accepted as read.
Janna Lehman, Treasurer, was absent. No Treasurer’s Report available. Linda Mauer has $42 to be deposited.
Old Business:
East Texas Regional Water Planning Committee Report: No report. Bill Heugel, representative, was not present.
Status of Current Lake Level Efforts:
Larry Kelly said he had spoken with Rep. Salter of LA, and he had agreed to let Larry know about any meeting of Entergy of LA with Entergy of TX regarding compliance with the new LA law to stop generation when the lake level reaches 168 msl. Rep. Salter should be returning from vacation next week, and Larry should hear something after that. For the members and visitors not familiar with the LA bill that went into law on May 1, 2004, Larry explained the statutes of the bill. The LA SRA Board continues to support that bill strongly. The TX SRA Board is not in agreement with that bill. One issue that is a problem in Texas is the Sabine River Downstream Flooding case, and it is still to be decided. The $34 Million award in the Richland-Chambers case has caused much concern about the Sabine River case. There are differences in the two cases as the Richland-Chambers case was a "taking of the land", whereas the Sabine River case was like a "temporary deprival of use of the land".
Don Driscoll said people visiting and living around the lake have commented about the lake being up has made the recreation and fishing more enjoyable this year.
Larry reminded members about the meeting with Senator Todd Staples on Tuesday, August 3rd at 9:30 AM in Nacogdoches at the City Hall, Room 203. About 11 or 12 folks have indicated they will be able to attend. Larry stated the areas we need to address with Sen. Staples, such as the FERC’s response and need to get the support of the power companies, PUC , the governor and the TX SRA. We feel the movement of water from Toledo Bend to the north should be compensated by the cessation of power generation when the lake level is below 168 msl.
New Business:
Larry Kelly announced the resignation of his position as TBBSA Co-Chairman. He has submitted his application as an Associate member. He has been appointed as a Commissioner to the LA SRA Board, and also to the Joint Board of the SRAs.
Linda Mauer agreed to, and the membership voted to elect her as the Temporary Co-Chairman of TBBSA for Texas. Larry will send (via e-mail) his TBBSA files to Linda. He will provide the TBBSA data on disk to Sen. Staples and to members desiring it. Larry has received the first of Property Owners Membership data files and will begin to form a data base.
Linda Mauer recalled she has a conflict with the date of our next regularly scheduled meeting on August 23rd. The membership voted to move the August meeting to Tuesday, August 24th at 6:30 p.m.
Members wishing to car-pool for the trip to Sen. Staples’ meeting on August 3rd will be meeting at the Library that morning.
Kelley Stripling of Senator Todd Staples’ Office was again thanked for coming to our meeting. She stated she was happy to be in attendance at our meeting.
Approval of New Members: Larry Kelly, and Claudette Galen of Harborlight Marina were voted in as new Associate Members of TBBSA.
Approval of Payment of Outstanding Bills: None
Next Meeting Date: August 24, 2004 (Note change of date for this meeting)
Meeting Adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Betty Griffin, Secretary
TBBSA
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