The Council will hold it’s organizational meeting on Thursday (always on July 1 after an election). That’s at 5:30 at City Hall. After that, we’ll adjourn and reconvene over at Public Works to talk about the possibilities of recreation on Lake Manassas.
As I see it, it would be a good thing to have people enjoy time on Lake Manassas but the sticking points are as follows:
1. Drinking water. Lake Manassas is a drinking water source for many people. We need to make sure that we control access to the lake so it does not become polluted. Hand-wave this all you want, it’s important.
2. Money. In order to control access, there needs to be established a marina so that we can keep tabs on what’s going onto the lake. The State is involved as is George Mason but nobody wants to put much money into this project – nobody has any!
We’ll see what happens tomorrow night! I look forward to the update.
June 30, 2010 at 9:50 am
Andy, you have some valid points. I believe there are answers to them, especially if the community thinks outside the box…
1) Yes, it’s a primary source of drinking water for the City of Manassas. Likewise, the Occoquan reservoir is a primary source of drinking water for several Northern VA counties as well as a secondary for Manassas, if I am not mistaken.
There does not seem to be any major pollution issues there, at least according to their latest water surveys. So, what are those respective water authorities doing to maintain suitable drinking water for their communities?
2) The community can mitigate money issues by utilizing it’s current resources…people.
Since George Mason is involved, perhaps the City of Manassas could open up opportunities for students to volunteer man hours to operate and maintain the marina for credit in their courses of study. Perhaps even citizen’s of Manassas would be willing to donate time to operate and maintain the marina.
Fountainhead Regional Park offers jon boats, canoes, and kayaks for rent. This is another source of money to offset the costs.
Would it be feasible to also become a member of the Northern VA Regional Park Authority?
Those are just a few thoughts that I have. I am a citizen of the city and have those same concerns as I want to be sure that my water supply is of good quality. I would also like to see the lake opened up to recreation as well.
Is the meeting at Public Works open to the public? I’m not sure I’d be able to make it, at this point, but this is certainly a topic of interest for me.
June 30, 2010 at 9:54 am
Public meeting – open to all.
June 30, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Andy,
As so many like to do, including you, when trying to defend a position, spending, etc, they turn to what other Cities do in our area.
So, a bit of table turning, exactly how does Fairfax, DC, etc, keep their public water ways open to the public and at the same time keep the same water sources clean?
I’ve never heard of a public water source being closed due to pollution that is from those that are enjoying the lake, i.e. fishing boating, etc.
I believe this is very simply a made up excuse and only that. If I’m wrong, I’ll gladly accept it as a real possibility, but I believe there are far far many local and Nation wide examples were public water sources, fishing and boating work out very well for everyone.
I have no issues with bringing up the costs of such a project, and believe partnerships are a good place to start in order to keep costs down as much as possible.
June 30, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Rick,
You bring up some very good points. We can find volunteers for just about every task. I’m sure, people, myself included would love to volunteer at the lake in exchange for having the chance to fish it.
July 1, 2010 at 9:42 am
How much is it going to cost to protect the dam?
If GMU ended the Hemlock Overlook partnership last year to save money, why take this on?
I know, come to the meeting.