CAPE-BOLLINGER LAKE RESURFACES IN PETITION DRIVE

MARBLE HILL -- A handful of people in Bollinger County would like to revive a proposal to create a recreational lake in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties.

They have started a petition drive asking that voters have a chance to decide the fate of the lake.

The goal is to collect 750 signatures by Oct. 8.

The lake project died in 1990 when the Bollinger County Commission refused to place the issue before voters. The project left lots of bad feelings in its wake.

"In a lot of people's minds, the issue never really died since it was never able to be put on the ballot," said Stan Crader, who lives in Jackson but was raised in Bollinger County. He is spearheading the petition drive.

A lake committee began meeting almost 10 years ago. A feasibility study was completed in the spring of 1989 and county commissioners in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties urged the committee to go ahead with planning.

But landowners in the proposed lake site area were unhappy with the project and the legislation. They felt the lake authority had too much power. They also questioned the proposed sales tax increase to fund the lake. It included unlimited 10-year extensions.

Ultimately, Bollinger County Commissioners decided not to put the lake issue before voters. They cited concerns expressed to them about the wording of legislation that would set up a lake authority to oversee maintenance and development of the project.

In the five years since, Crader said, a handful of people have continued to wonder if voters would have said yes to the project.

About two years ago, the group got together and decided to start asking their friends and colleagues what they thought about the proposed lake. "There seemed to be a lot of interest," Crader said.

About a dozen people are collecting signatures from Bollinger County voters.

The petitions serve two purposes, Crader said. Signatures will show if a lake has a good base of support in Bollinger County. The names might also be used to get the measure on the ballot if a change in Missouri law is made.

State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said the group approached him about five weeks ago to ask for help making the change.

"The lake proponents want me to amend the original law to provide for a petition means of getting it on the ballot," Kinder said.

The Missouri General Assembly passed legislation in 1990 giving the Cape Girardeau and Bollinger county commissions power to let voters consider a 1-cent sales tax to fund the lake and to create a lake authority that would oversee development and maintenance of the project.

If approved, the change would add another option for placing the proposal before voters. The system would be similar to a statewide initiative, Kinder explained. Signatures of a certain percentage of registered voters from the county would be needed to place the issue on the ballot.

Kinder plans to confer with state Reps. David Schwab, R-Jackson, Jim Graham, R-Fredricktown, and Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, before introducing the amendment.

"I am certainly in support of placing it before the voters," Kinder said. "I don't see why a project that went this far in the planning stages shouldn't have a public vote."

He added that resurrecting the project might soothe some of the hurt feelings from five years ago.

"I think some of the proponents came on a little strong in presenting this," Kinder said. "We need to lead with our ears on this one."

If the change in state law isn't approved, the petitions are useless in forcing the issue to the ballot.

The proposed 7,700-acre lake originally had a $73 million price tag. It would straddle the Cape Girardeau and Bollinger County lines near Millersville.

The Whitewater River and the Little Whitewater River would both be dammed to create two bodies of water that would be connected by a channel. Highway 72 would cross the channel.

Crader said the lake property would total close to 8,000 acres. A 300-acre island would be situated in the middle of the lake.

Crader said the proposal is identical to the one shot down five years ago.

"It would be good for the recreational aspects -- to give everyone a place to boat, ski and fish," he said. "It would also be good for economic development. I don't look at it as a big panacea for the area, but it's a start."

Elwood Mouser, Bollinger County's presiding commissioner, said he is familiar with the petition effort but wants to wait awhile before making any comments.

Mouser was first elected to the commission in 1990 on a platform opposing the lake.

AT A GLANCE

A study on a lake for Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties was completed in 1989.

A proposal for the lake died in 1990 when the Bollinger County Commission refused to place the issue before voters.

A petition drive now under way will show if the lake has renewed support in Bollinger County.