Lake of the Ozarks West Chamber of Commerce

Senator Blunt-FERC

lakewest — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:22:48 +0000

Senator Blunt Files Two Amendments To Protect Private Landowners’ Rights At Lake Of the Ozarks

WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) filed two amendments to the Energy and Water appropriations bill today that will help protect current and future landowners’ rights from federal regulators’ infringement. According to recent reports, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may remove a number of properties located on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri that are owned by private citizens.

In order to help protect current landowners, Blunt’s first amendment would direct Ameren to redraw the current boundaries at the Lake of the Ozarks to reflect the 662-foot contour, as necessitated by the changing waters levels over the past 80 years. This amendment would limit FERC’s ability to issue an order to remove structures in the project boundary until Ameren submits the revised project boundary. It would also limit FERC’s ability to reject applications as long as power generation is preserved. U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (Mo.) is cosponsoring this amendment.
“This situation is ridiculous, and the people who call the Lake their home deserve a solution now – not next year,” said Blunt. “That’s why this amendment would help protect current landowners from having their homes removed, and ensure that Ameren takes the proper steps to protect privately-held land from government infringement.”

In an effort to also protect future landowners nationwide, Blunt’s second amendment would modify the Federal Power Act by changing the definition of what can be considered a “project purpose.” Blunt’s amendment would change current law to ensure that FERC includes the consideration of “private landownership and private land use” within the project boundaries. Currently, FERC recognizes public recreational use of land, but not private ownership. U.S. Senators Jim Inhofe (Okla.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) are cosponsoring this amendment.

“It’s outlandish that FERC places more value on protecting public recreation use of land over private ownership,” said Blunt. “My amendment would ensure that private landowners are protected now and moving forward.”

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Task Force moves ahead

lakewest — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:38:03 +0000

The Chamber Collaborative Task Force comprised of the Camdenton, Lake Area and Lake West Chambers of Commerce met on July 13^th to further discussion ideas to work together on joint endeavors for the betterment of the chamber membership and the Lake area business community.

The brainstorming session included a review of current joint efforts and the opportunities for future collaboration. Action items that will be taking place are an annual retreat for all chamber board members in February to create a combined strategic vision for the organizations and task force meetings to be held at least three times per year with the next meeting being held in November at the Camdenton Chamber. The board retreat and task force meetings will include four areas of concentration: membership, special events, marketing/promotion and legislative. Specific short-term initiatives will be reviewed by each respective boards are a joint relocation guide and an official Lake of the Ozarks map. In addition, the chambers along with the CVB and TCLA will be hosting a joint networking social on August 11^th at Old Kinderhook in Camdenton.

The Chamber Collaborative Task Force was created as the result of a membership survey taken in May in which collaboration was a common theme throughout the survey.

Soap Creek Bridge

lakewest — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:54:46 +0000

Finally after all the discussion the decision has finally been made to replace Soap Creek Bridge in October of 2011. All sides came together to come up with a compromise to let business have the summer months and the school to stay away from most of the bad weather. The bridge has to be replaced to provide a safe driving experience on highway 5. Congratulations to all that were involved in this important development.