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A cooperative agreement signing ceremony was
held at Crystal Springs Recreation Area on Lake Ouachita.
Seated, from left, Arnold Habig,
chairman of the Lake Ouachita Citizen Focus Committee, Al Gathright,
president of the Friends of Lake Ouachita, Col. Jeff Eckstein, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District commander, and Steve
Jones, Vicksburg District acting chief of operations, and standing,
from left, Tom Butler, Jerry Shields, Robert Cavanaugh and Dave
Doty, members of the executive board of the Friends of Lake
Ouachita, and Richard Stokes, Vicksburg District resource manager,
Lake Ouachita.
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Friends of Lake Ouachita a non profit organization will
Partner with Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District in the management of daily
operations of the
Crystal Springs
Recreation Area at Lake Ouachita. The Friends of Lake Ouachita (FOLO) is
an organization consisting of a Board of Directors and there are
no
provisions for members.
See news release from
Corps of Engineers October 19, 2011
Friends of Lake Ouachita was organized to manage
grants and donations for local community action projects for the enhancement
of Lake Ouachita for the visiting public.
Friends of Lake Ouachita a non profit organization has sponsored such activities
as the Lake Ouachita Shoreline Clean-Up, assisted with the construction of
the LOViT Trail and Barrier Free Trail at Denby Bay, and using grant monies
received from Wal-Mart, purchased water safety items for Park Rangers at
Lake Ouachita to provide to the visiting public.
The relationship between the U.S.Corps of Engineers, Friends of Lake
Ouachita (a non profit organization) and the
Lake Ouachita Citizens Focus Committee has been ongoing
since 2002, and has grown into a full partnership dedicated to improvements
at lake Ouachita.
A recently approved national program known as the
Cooperative Agreements
allows the Corps to partner with non-profit organizations to improve
recreation areas through better use of fees collected from visitors.
Under the new program, Friends of Lake Ouachita will collect fees and utilize them directly at
Crystal Springs Recreation Area for operations, maintenance, and enhancement
of facilities.
The Agreement allows FOLO to utilize collected fees to conduct daily
operations of the area.
The Corps will continue to provide visitor
assistance, perform major maintenance, and oversee all operations.
Friends of Lake Ouachita begins operations at Crystal Springs in January 2012 and visitors will
see little differences in operations.
For interviews or more information on this or other Department of the Army,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers topics, contact Kavanaugh Breazeale, Public
Affairs and Communications Office, 601-631-5052 or email @
kavanaugh.breazeale@usace.army.mil
CALL TO ORDER:
1900 by Arnie Habig :
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers personnel present:
Bill Jackson, Supervisory Park Ranger, Lake Ouachita Field Office, Amy
Shultz, Park Ranger, Lake Ouachita Field Office
LOCFC Members Present:
Tom Butler, Phillip Carr, George Dooley, David Doty, Rick Farmer, Al
Gathright, Arnold Habig, Larry Raney, Buck Rodgers, Jerry Shields, Jerry
Williams, Howard Wright
Rick Farmer inquired about how the membership
is determined for the Friends of Lake Ouachita?
Arnie Habig related
the Friends of Lake Ouachita members were chosen to develop a Crystal Springs lease and
Cooperative Agreement between the Corps and FOLO.
It was more beneficial to have a small group
of representatives that would be able to discuss issues and make it easier
to come to a consensus regarding FOLO’s partnership with the Corps in
operating Crystal Springs campground.
FOLO would keep the LOCFC members informed of their actions at monthly
meetings, at which time the LOCFC Members would have an opportunity to make
official suggestions and comments, FOLO, although a separate entity for
Crystal Springs campground operations, is still affiliated with LOCFC.
David Doty handed out minutes from the Friends of Lake
Ouachita (FOLO) meeting held on September 13, 2011 with Rick Stokes,
Resource Manager, Lake Ouachita Field Office concerning the Crystal Springs
Recreation Area Cooperative Agreement.
Rick Farmer inquired why this was not put to the committee
for discussion.
David Doty explained that the FOLO was approached by the
Corps in 2009 about forming a cooperative agreement, but before an agreement
could be established, the program was halted until further review of the
program could be conducted.
In May 2011, guidance and policy was provided to Vicksburg
District for the establishment of the Cooperative Agreements with non-profit
organizations for the operation and management of Corps facilities.
David Doty went on to relate that this proposal was
brought before the LOCFC and discussed in length in 2009.
Rick Farmer expressed concern that some of the public would
not approve and there are rumors already circulating regarding this
agreement.
Bill Jackson, Supervisory Park Ranger, Lake Ouachita Field
Office, related that the Corps is foreseeing a smooth transition. The only
change the public will possibly see is a change in the uniform that the fee
booth operators would be wearing and their name tags. Instead of being a Corps Contractor or Corps volunteer, the
person will be a FOLO contract employee.
Park Rangers would continue to patrol the recreation area
and O&M contractors would continue providing service in the recreation area
as well.
Bill Jackson continued that the Crystal Springs Recreation Area was
selected as a "test site" for the Cooperative Agreement program at Lake
Ouachita and as inquires from the public came, those would be addressed to
quell the all the rumors and miss-information provided to the public.
David Doty stated that the public should be informed that fees collected
at Crystal Springs for camping, day use and boat ramp use will be retained
by FOLO and utilized for the operation and maintenance of the recreation
area.
Bill Jackson further related that Lake Ouachita is the first
project to establish an agreement in accordance with the new guidance and
policy.
Contact
lakeouachita@aol.com
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