Leaseholders in limbo

Several leaseholders at Shawnee Twin Lakes remain hopeful that, prior to Thanksgiving, they will receive the answer they have sought for at least six months from Shawnee City Commissioners regarding their lake lots, but for now their future is uncertain.
The lease offered by the State Commissioners of the Land Office included a Memorandum of Understanding that Shawnee and the CLO would work cooperatively regarding any future development of the lots.
City commissioners voted against the leaseholders’ request to allow them to lease directly from the CLO with a 5-2 vote to defer the item until a later meeting. Commissioners Carl Holt and Frank Sims voted against deferral while Mayor Linda Peterson, Vice Mayor Pam Stephens and commissioners John Winterringer, James Harrod and Billy Collier approved deferral.
“It was very much a surprise to me,” Julie Akerman, leaseholder, said. “I’m really disappointed that the commissioners and the mayor deferred this and are unable to see the Memorandum of Understanding as a positive tool to begin zoning and getting the ordinances in place they have wanted for many years.”
Harrod adamantly opposed entering an agreement proposed by the CLO. His decision arose from concerns he has that the city would be unable to protect the watershed around the lake if the state were to develop that land, he said.
“It’s not an agreement we want to enter into,” Harrod said. “It’s not what the staff was told to do. The problem is not the money, it’s the watershed. I want to protect that .013 of land; I do have a say of protecting it.”