SRBA deviates from agenda; lets lake's proponents, opponents speak

By LYNN MONTGOMERY | East Texas Edition

March 28, 2002 -- Two key groups of the controversial Marvin Nichols Lake held meetings on March 19 and March 20 in Mount Pleasant.

The Sulphur River Basin Authority's (SRBA) monthly meeting, March 19, held an interesting twist to the agenda. The board, which has been adamant about keeping to the agenda, decided to let six people speak - three people "for" and three people "against" the proposed Marvin Nichols reservoir. Each person was given the opportunity to speak for three minutes.

This move was looked to be a shock to some of the 100-plus attendees as opponents to the planned lake began to look through folders and notebooks to find articles they could use for reference.

"We were ambushed," stated Max Shumake, president of the Sulphur River Oversight Society.

The statement was echoed by several after two of the proponents (Steve Harris, a member of the Northeast Texas Economic Development Round Table from Nash, and Walt Sears, administrator for the Northeast Texas Regional Water Planning Group) gave prepared hand-outs to the SRBA members.

"We know that they (Harris and Sears) were notified in advance that this was going to be done. How else would they have known to bring hand-outs for the board," Shumake said.

Sears said, "I was notified to be prepared to identify the position of the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District with regards of Marvin Nichols."

The third person to speak "for" Marvin Nichols was Ann Rushing, mayor of Clarksville. Rushing stated she was for more studies being done to figure out whether the lake was needed.

People speaking "against" Marvin Nichols were Bill Ward, owner of Ward Timber Company, Linden, and Daniel Kessler, a Texarkana College student, also from Linden.

Ward, who carries a notebook to every meeting, stated that Marvin Nichols was a "land grab" and if people were wondering whether Ward Timber Company was set to make money off the sell of the timber, yes, they were, he said.

But, he said his interest was in the heritage that was going to be lost. Ward also read a letter written by officials at International Paper expressing concern about the lake. The letter read, "Construction of Marvin Nichols could have a major impact on the Texarkana mill."

Huddleston replied, "The key word here is 'could'."

Kessler was applauded by the opposition after stating differences between two newspaper ads written by Huddleston (and paid for by Huddleston) and Janice Bezanson, the executive director of the Texas Committee on Natural Resources.

Other issues discussed were action on advanced funding agreements with the North Texas Regional Water District, Tarrant Regional Water District, City of Irving and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District, and the board addressed how to remove Marvin Nichols from the state water plan. (see related story.)

The next SRBA meeting will be April 16, 1:30 p.m., Titus County Civic Center. Ward is listed to be on the agenda with questions regarding land mitigation in the lake's proposed area.

The Northeast Texas Water Planning Group (NETRWPG) met March 20.

A letter of resignation was submitted by Ruth Culver of Harrison County. This resignation was accepted and approved by the group. Legal notices will be posted in eight newspapers announcing the vacancy.

The group also approved the Infrastructure Financing Report which allocated more money to public awareness. This measure was met with approval by the crowd.

"I am glad to see that more money is being spent in letting people know what is going on," expressed Dr. Jim Presley. He also expressed to the group, especially Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) member Virginia Towles, concerns about possible desalination of Lake Texoma for Region C. Towles responded, saying TWDB is requiring increased studies on desalination and invited anyone who wanted to attend Region C's meeting to please do so. (Region C's next meeting is set for April 29, 1:30 p.m., in Grand Prairie.)

Another concern of NETRWPG is population projections proposed by TWDB. These projections are based upon 1997 census figures using an estimate of .5 percent increase. The group believes the numbers are extremely low compared to population growth over the last 40 years. Members, along with Hayter Engineering, the firm that is handling studies for NETRWPG, traveled to Austin, March 21, to express to TWDB their concerns over these low numbers.

"We need to be realistic about population. For example, Rains County has tripled in population since 1960. Franklin County has almost doubled. We need at least a one percent projection versus the .5 percent," Walt Sears, Northeast Texas Water Municipal board, stated.

The meeting ended after public input in which George Frost, from Maud, summed up the attitude of the crowd in one statement: "This board (NETRWPG) has a responsibility to the people of Northeast Texas to get all the facts and do what is best for the people of Northeast Texas, not Dallas."

The next NETRWPG meeting is scheduled for May 15, 2 p.m., Texas Agricultural Extension Service Center, Mount Pleasant.