After being placed on hold for several months, plans to form an advisory committee to discuss issues pertaining to leaseholders at Shawnee Twin Lakes have been made and several potential members have volunteered to serve.
However, Shawnee city commissioner James Harrod said he did not agree with the number of those selected to represent two groups — the Shawnee Twin Lakes Association and the Commission of the Land Office leaseholders. Each of those groups listed two potential members for the Shawnee Lake Advisory Committee when presented to commissioners for approval, although earlier agreements from the city commission had specified that there would be one appointment each for those groups.
Vice Mayor Pam Stephens said she was concerned that if there were more than one representative from each of the categories commissioners approved, there might be an imbalance and misrepresentation of viewpoints and said she would like to see another Shawnee non-lake resident on the committee. Commissioner Frank Sims said he also would like to see that but that no volunteers other than those on the list had stepped forward to serve on the committee.
Although there has been some dispute regarding the number of those serving from each category, all commissioners agreed that forming a short-term committee that dealt specifically with lake lots topics would help the city move forward with addressing any appropriate zoning and ordinance changes at the lake. It also would help the commission to be aware of any changes needed with recreational use, costs and services at the lake, commissioners and city staff said.
“Issues with the lake lots have been kind of controversial recently but forming this committee shows that commissioners and city staff want to chart a new direction, a new path, for communications regarding the lake,” Justin Erickson, Shawnee community development director, said. “Forming the committee is something that has been discussed for at least one and one-half years but it wasn’t the right time to form the committee during the time the CLO leases were being discussed. The committee will be able to have people review pending ordinances, particularly those people who will be directly impacted.”
Shawnee City Manager Brian McDougal said he was anxious to see the committee formed too. “In the past, we’ve had some difficulty communicating with people at the lake,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to interact with the residents there. We want to get input from all the residents out there, especially regarding lease terms and what they would like to see as far as services.”
The commission approved a committee that includes a variety of members. Those members are Russ Adams for STLA; Julie Akerman for CLO lessees; Wolf Gugler, lake resident at-large; Mark Wolfe of Shawnee Lake Leaseholders Alliance; Link Cowan for Homebuilders Association; Lance Wortham, Shawnee non-lake resident at-large; and Harrod and Sims for the city commission.
Chalk Norton also was on the list of appointees, as a representative of STLA, and Annette Stuckey was on the list as a second CLO lessee representative. Each of those volunteers were stricken from the list of committee members at the suggestion of Harrod to keep the number of representatives from the groups as originally approved by the commission.
Sims requested that the committee membership be amended to include both Norton and Stuckey and asked that the commission consider adding them at the next commission meeting scheduled for Feb. 15.
The committee’s primary responsibility will be to discuss lake zoning issues, ordinance changes, future services, lease terms and recreation issues and to then report to the commission any suggestions it has regarding those issues. Erickson said he believes the committee should be able to hold its first meeting by the end of February.
Watch for updates to this story in future editions of the News-Star.
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After being placed on hold for several months, plans to form an advisory committee to discuss issues pertaining to leaseholders at Shawnee Twin Lakes have been made and several potential members have volunteered to serve.
However, Shawnee city commissioner James Harrod said he did not agree with the number of those selected to represent two groups — the Shawnee Twin Lakes Association and the Commission of the Land Office leaseholders. Each of those groups listed two potential members for the Shawnee Lake Advisory Committee when presented to commissioners for approval, although earlier agreements from the city commission had specified that there would be one appointment each for those groups.
Vice Mayor Pam Stephens said she was concerned that if there were more than one representative from each of the categories commissioners approved, there might be an imbalance and misrepresentation of viewpoints and said she would like to see another Shawnee non-lake resident on the committee. Commissioner Frank Sims said he also would like to see that but that no volunteers other than those on the list had stepped forward to serve on the committee.
Although there has been some dispute regarding the number of those serving from each category, all commissioners agreed that forming a short-term committee that dealt specifically with lake lots topics would help the city move forward with addressing any appropriate zoning and ordinance changes at the lake. It also would help the commission to be aware of any changes needed with recreational use, costs and services at the lake, commissioners and city staff said.
“Issues with the lake lots have been kind of controversial recently but forming this committee shows that commissioners and city staff want to chart a new direction, a new path, for communications regarding the lake,” Justin Erickson, Shawnee community development director, said. “Forming the committee is something that has been discussed for at least one and one-half years but it wasn’t the right time to form the committee during the time the CLO leases were being discussed. The committee will be able to have people review pending ordinances, particularly those people who will be directly impacted.”
Shawnee City Manager Brian McDougal said he was anxious to see the committee formed too. “In the past, we’ve had some difficulty communicating with people at the lake,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to interact with the residents there. We want to get input from all the residents out there, especially regarding lease terms and what they would like to see as far as services.”
The commission approved a committee that includes a variety of members. Those members are Russ Adams for STLA; Julie Akerman for CLO lessees; Wolf Gugler, lake resident at-large; Mark Wolfe of Shawnee Lake Leaseholders Alliance; Link Cowan for Homebuilders Association; Lance Wortham, Shawnee non-lake resident at-large; and Harrod and Sims for the city commission.
Chalk Norton also was on the list of appointees, as a representative of STLA, and Annette Stuckey was on the list as a second CLO lessee representative. Each of those volunteers were stricken from the list of committee members at the suggestion of Harrod to keep the number of representatives from the groups as originally approved by the commission.
Sims requested that the committee membership be amended to include both Norton and Stuckey and asked that the commission consider adding them at the next commission meeting scheduled for Feb. 15.
The committee’s primary responsibility will be to discuss lake zoning issues, ordinance changes, future services, lease terms and recreation issues and to then report to the commission any suggestions it has regarding those issues. Erickson said he believes the committee should be able to hold its first meeting by the end of February.
Watch for updates to this story in future editions of the News-Star.
