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Name:
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Maverick
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Subject:
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Here is the Article
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Date:
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3/30/2006 12:55:09 PM
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Logan Martin, 7 others removed from big boat ban
David Atchison
03-30-2006
MONTGOMERY — Lawmakers Wednesday dropped Logan Martin Lake and seven others from a substitute bill banning big boats on Alabama lakes.
Rep. Richard Laird, D-Roanoke, said only three Alabama lakes, Martin, Harris and Weiss, remain in the proposed legislation.
Laird said the substitute bill is expected to be introduced in the House today.
Dr. Donn Brascho, president of the Logan Martin Lake Protection Association, said he would have liked to stop the big boat ban bill outright, but this is an acceptable compromise.
"I think this will be acceptable to all the people on our lake," Brascho said
There was plenty of opposition to the original big boat ban bill, which outright banned sailboats, houseboats and boats longer than 30 feet, 6 inches on nine Alabama lakes — Martin, Harris, Weiss, Logan Martin, Jordan, Lay, Mitchell, Neely Henry and Smith. A proposed substitute released two weeks ago added two other lakes, Thurlow and Yates.
The substitute bill planned for introduction today would grandfather all boats longer than 30 feet, 6 inches on Weiss, Martin and Harris lakes, but it will ban boats longer than 26 feet, 11 inches, which are capable of exceeding 60 mph, on these lakes.
"This is sort of a defensive thing," Laird said. "We’re satisfied with the three lakes closest to the Alabama/Georgia line."
Laird said he fears Georgia boaters will head to Alabama lakes as Georgia tightens restrictions on big boats there.
Rep. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, said he is going to hold his comments until he actually sees the bill.
Rep. Randy Wood, R-Anniston, said he would probably support the legislation since Logan Martin Lake was excluded.
The bill, if passed by a majority of the House, will head to the Senate for full debate.
Legislators on both sides of the Senate aisle say time is running out for passage of the ban, and there is still wide disagreement there.
"It’s divide and conquer," Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia, said Wednesday. "That’s what is happening here."
He said Alabama Power Co. will continue its efforts to ban big boats on all of its Alabama reservoirs and will not stop at Weiss, Martin and Harris lakes. Alabama Power created the lakes for hydroelectric power generation and had strongly supported a ban on all 11 lakes without locks.
"This is just the start," Waggoner said.
Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said he would not support the bill in its current form.
"I believe this is a pollution and density issue that can be addressed in other ways," Marsh said. "I think this bill has so many obstacles at this time. I see it being pretty hard to pass in this legislative session."
But Sen. Gerald Dial, D-Lineville, said the new substitute bill could be introduced in the Senate as early as Tuesday.
"These are three lakes backed up against the Georgia line, which would have the most impact from Georgia," Dial said. "Twenty years from now, they (people on the other lakes) will wish they had passed something."
Dial said he believes the proposed big boat ban bill could be on the Senate floor by Tuesday or Wednesday.
"Time is running out," he said.
Sen. Jack Biddle, R-Gardendale, withheld comment on the current proposal.
"I want to see the bill before I believe anything," he said. "They haven’t negotiated with me."
Biddle said he has a home on Lake Mitchell, which was also excluded from the ban list.
"It’s been the hottest issue, phone-wise, we’ve had in years," Biddle said. "My wife is in the better part of leaving me because of all the phone calls."
According to the bill’s sponsor, Dial, the legislation was sparked by Georgia resort developers wanting assurances that houseboats would be banned from Lake Harris, also known as Lake Wedowee.
There is a "no houseboat" policy for Lake Harris, but there is no law backing up that policy, Alabama Power officials say.
Developers from Georgia are interested in building a plush, multi-million dollar resort community at Harris.
Alabama Power has 10,000 acres, 3,500 acres that could be developed along Lake Harris, and the company has been involved in talks about the multi-million dollar development.
Waggoner said only a simple majority is needed in the Senate to pass the bill, if it is passed in the House.
About David Atchison David Atchison is a staff writer for The Daily Home.
Contact David Atchison Phone:
E-mail:
205-884-3400
news@dailyhome.com
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