The rain/lake level celebration meeting at the Historical Park to honor God and salute the Corps of Engineers' was a good get together on August 5, 2009.

The kids from Camp Lakeside, the Y camp, stole the show. It was a cloudless hot day. A few minutes after Travis Reid's moving blessing, there was aloud clap of thunder and rain drops the size of golf balls hit the metal roof of the Lewis Family Pavilion. Then, just a suddenly as it came up, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Governor Perdue sent a letter to all attendees that read in part - "I am thankful to know there are so many wonderful people of faith around our state willing to seek God's blessing and to focus on being good stewards of all we receive."

The meeting was a community effort with many local organizations and churches helping. When Colonel Edward Kertis was asked when was the next get together, the plan is to have a bigger party 30 days after the lake hits full pool, hence 330 plus 30.

Also discussed on August 25 was the lake related issue of hydrilla. Hydrilla was first found in our lake in 1995.

The Corps estimates hydrilla already infests well over 10% of the lake and is rapidly spreading.

The July 2008 Republican Primary ballot had a question regarding the state of Georgia's fish hatcheries raising sterile grass carp (triploid) to fight this Asian invader before it spreads to other areas of our lake and into every lake in Georgia and South Carolina like it did in Florida. Almost 80% of those Lincoln County voters who voted on this issue agreed with the Lincoln County Republican Party's position.

Since that vote, the Party has learned that hydrilla has been proven the root cause of bald eagle deaths. Fifty one (51) dead bald eagles have been found around the lake, mostly in the Bussey Point area. Estimates, from surveying empty eagle nests and other data, are that for every dead bald eagle found, there are 8 to 10 more that are not found.

This means that hydrilla is far more than a nuisance around docks and boat ramps. This means that hydrilla, an Asian invasive plant, has killed hundreds of our national symbol. This is an outrage. For more information, put "Susan Wilde University of Georgia Hydrilla" in your search engine. All present and now the readers are urged to educate themselves on this disaster and contact our federal and state elected officials.

The next item discussed was county property taxes. For the first time in decades, the county government's part of the total property tax is not going up, in fact it is going down 5.86%. Unfortunately this tax reduction will be offset by the Board of Education raising property taxes to pay for the new high school and by the state of Georgia eliminating the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant. Most county taxpayers will likely have to pay more because of the Board of Education and the State of Georgia.

Local subcontractors not getting work at the new middle/high school was discussed. After much discussion, it was decided to get more information on this problem.

Atlanta's water system leakage was discussed. Atlanta has its eyes on our river for drinking water. Lee Anderson said, at the August 5 lake level meeting, that he was ready to fight to protect out water. All present agreed with Representative Anderson. Atlanta needs to fix there water system leaks before they try to get water from anywhere else. The Party decided to add this issue to our local platform and protect our river.

A question was raised about the new sewer system in the county and how the county would handle delinquent bills. A later question to Planning and Zoning resolved the issue. To be on the new sewer system a customer has to get county water. No water/no sewer. This is a very effective program.

Several ideas on how to get citizens and visitors to shop locally were discussed. It was decided to communicate the fact that for every dollar in SPLOST that is spent in another county, the Board of Education will raise property taxes, dollar for dollar, to pay for the new middle/high school. No one knew how to get this fact out in a positive light. Property tax increases this year and future property tax increases will hit those on fixed incomes very hard.

The next Republican Party meeting will be September 29, 2009. Details will be published in the Journal.