Conneaut Lake Borough Council meeting continued from last week's edition ...

Holabaugh asked for a motion and Monahan made the following motion: “I make a motion that we do not request a meeting with DCNR or DEP until Borough Council develops a comprehensive master plan for the beach.” The motion was seconded and carried.

Holabaugh asked for a time frame and she said sixty days would be fine.

When he asked if they could help CDC with anything else, Chairman Yates spoke up and said that there were people in CDC who were really working hard on trying to seek out funding, etc.

He asked if Monahan wished to take that away from them and carry out the various searches without their help.

She said that was not the case as she simply wanted to get on the same page, with both the input of the beach committee and Council being factored in.

The mayor imparted a prediction of what he thought would happen. He said he could already see it coming. “We're going to prepare a list of needs, wants and types of improvements for the beach. We're going to give it back to CDC and they're going to come back and want us to meet with DEP for an environmental-type-grant. I don't think Council wants to apply for another environmental grant at this time.”

Eldridge pointed out to Monahan that a master plan was quite an endeavor to carry out, and he didn't see one unfolding within 60 days. He said these have to include environmental studies, maps, all kinds of documentation, references to laws, best management practices, etc., for it to be recognized as a master plan. “When you say that Council is going to develop a master plan within 60 days, I really doubt that.” He also reminded those in attendance that the last master plan devised, was the one Sherman had talked about earlier, and had cost $14,000.

He said they would not be able to formulate a plan that the state would recognize as suitable for an application for a grant in the hundreds of thousands of dollar range.

Holabaugh said he wasn't sure that is exactly what she meant by her motion as he was under the impression that the motion was more along the lines of gathering a list of things needed.

Eldridge said that last month, Council was asked to provide a prioritized list of what the desires were, pertaining to the beach improvements. He continued by saying that the Mayor gave them a list of six items and those were, indeed, a part of the letter that they were requesting to send.

Eldridge reminded Council that CDC is more or less chartered by them to work on things like this because of the very involved nature of putting together plans, investigating, seeking out grants, etc.

Many on Council audibly agreed and indicated that they understood that coming up with a master plan isn't something that was done overnight.

Holabaugh bottom lined it in saying that the Department of Environmental Protection is indeed a stumbling block. The mayor backed him up and said that Council's eyes were opened the last time over the whole DEP approach.

Holabaugh said that they would be working on the 60 day plan and that he would also have Secretary Joyce get a list of improvements, that had been made to the beach, together for the resident who voiced her views earlier.

He listed a few things like the portable toilets that had been replaced with a regular changing house and bathroom, and some other projects that had taken place over the years. The borough was able to do all of those by using the money raised from dock rentals, parking fees and money from concession sales, to name a few.

He said that for her to state that the borough didn't put anything back into the beach was simply a false statement. The gentleman said that she didn't say that and Holabaugh was putting words in her mouth.

The resident said they were trying to state that not enough money was being put back in. He said he understood that the borough didn't have much money with which to work, and he was clear on how close the budget was.

“You are then suggesting that we raise taxes to improve the beach?” Holabaugh asked. The resident said that it would eventually come to that and it would, more than likely, be sooner, rather than later.

Holabaugh agreed with everything he had said, along those lines, and added that taxes had already been raised last year.

Kribbs spoke up and said that the situation had become very “adversarial.” He pointed out that several people were clearly not happy and were getting angry. Eldridge said he wasn't angry and was not an adversary. Kribbs reminded him that he did not call him an adversary but had said that it had become an adversarial situation.

“The things that were said a little bit ago certainly didn't make any friends—about not spending the money properly and doing commerce down there, when we shouldn't be...,” Kribbs stated.

He went on to say that he thought a list of improvements should be a part of the game plan and he agreed with the mayor, in terms of getting away from the environmental end as much as possible, when it came to funding.

“I'd like to see more people from your committee that don't have property that abuts right up against the beach..., Kribbs said.

He then asked if the entire committee was present and they were not. At that time, Sherman gave some other quotes pertaining to the money taken in. $50,000 was generated and $40,000 of that was spent, which didn't include the maintenance. Her emphasis was the labor cost, as oft times people tend to forget that aspect.

Speaking of maintenance, Mark “Smitty” Smith, the streets man, arrived in time to impart his words of wisdom as to why certain projects simply cannot unfold at the beach.

The reason why various spruce up projects, facelifts, and the like, are not an ongoing part of the overall beach plan, is because of a high pressure gas line that runs through the area.

Because of this, there is quite a bit of danger involved when it comes to digging or carrying out any kind of major overhaul of the region.

The fuel company must be involved, etc., since there could be a major catastrophe if that line were to be hit by mistake.

With that being said, the meeting moved along to other topics, some of which also had to do with other CDC proposals.