Editor:
I went to the meeting in May for the proposed 150-slip marina at Foster Lake and was amazed at how few people attended.
The developers gave a 51-minute PowerPoint presentation on the benefits of having a marina. According to the three-year-old statistics used in the slide show, there is no overcrowding on Foster Lake and that it is probably under-utilized. They assert the marina will not interfere with swimming, fishing (well, maybe just a little at its borders), boating, or water skiing and will actually improve safety.
Foster Lake is already overcrowded (except in the winter) and too beautiful to spoil it with a marina.
The area affected was shown using a rectangle on the slide show measuring about 1 1/2 by 3 inches. The problem, as I see it, is that little rectangle actually represents the size of one football field by two football fields plus an unknown number of “no-wake zones” (usually 100 feet or more). Nobody seems to know or wants you to know the exact area affected until it is built. There is no way that a private marina utilizing an area this big will not interfere with the recreation that currently happens on Foster Lake.
I was astonished to hear the developer say that it is a proven fact that marinas don’t make money. Since it isn’t going to make money, put in on Green Peter Reservoir where it is needed and belongs.
The Corps of Engineers will have a comment meeting about this within the month. I urge you to voice your opinion at this meeting or you will lose at least 3 1/2 acres of the most prime lake area. This lake belongs to the public and no part of it should be converted to a private marina.
Greg Stephens
Sweet Home