A Letter From The President (Pro tem) – Dale Jones

Hello, and thanks for visiting the web page. I'm Dale Jones and the LABARA organizing committee has selected me to serve as the president pro tempore for 2007.  As the first president of the Lake Anna Boating and Recreation Association I am pleased to introduce myself.

I have lived on Lake Anna for many years and been involved in lake issues.  I believe in protecting boating privileges, voluntary education and keeping our lake open for the recreational boater.  I want you to know that you have a great leadership group coming together to make this a vibrant and exciting organization.   We have only just begun!

But there are very important issues to deal with that cannot wait.  The leadership of another local organization was recently quoted in the paper characterizing LABARA as a "splinter group" and a "go fast and make a lot of noise organization." It has only been a little over one week since LABARA’S inception, so of course it has limited (but growing) numbers. And, it is true that several of the current members own what are classified as performance boats, but other types of vessels are also owned. The other ninety two percent of the new members (thus far) own what are considered family boats of all types including pontoons, ski boats, wake board boats, jet skies, fishing rigs, etc.  The majority of these boats will not go over 55mph. All of them have mufflers installed as original equipment.  These folks would be surprised to find anyone suggesting that they are particularly "go fast" or noisy boats.  Lets set the record straight.  We as a group are interested in encouraging safe and responsible boating and advocate boating education.   We are a boating organization that does not want to see any changes to the lake that would be overly restrictive to our boating community.  We can foresee changes of this magnitude having an adverse affect on the businesses that rely on lake income and on lake property values.  Boaters and potential home buyers that enjoy what we now have would tend to look elsewhere for their recreation.

We met with some of the business establishments located directly on the lake and after explaining our goals and concerns we were granted, in every instance, permission to solicit members via their establishments by stocking LABARA membership applications.  Some of the businesses expressed gratitude that we formed LABARA and stated they felt it was long overdue.

This organization consist of assortment of people with diverse backgrounds that get together for the reason most of us originally came to Lake Anna. We want to socialize and exchange ideas about boating in general and Lake Anna in particular.

You need to know that Lake Anna Civic Association (LACA) submitted to the Louisa Board of Supervisors a Lake Anna Special Plan for review. It included some of the following:

1. Waterskiing, speed boating and sailing will be restricted to the general area between the dam and plant site

2. Ban powerboats from beach and swimming area

3. Direct water skiing to large expanses, away from narrow areas, beaches, and marinas

4. Limit horsepower of boats in fishing areas

5. Build additional road across the second dike.

In the coming weeks we will start a full fledge membership drive. Some of our new members that have joined are also members of LACA. We do not see this as a conflict. We take this opportunity to make all boaters and families of Lake Anna welcome to this new organization and hope you will join us in order that everyone who uses and enjoys Lake Anna may have a voice in our boating community.

Thank you for your time and please remember to boat safely and responsibly.  Please work with us to protect your boating privileges on Lake Anna.

Sincerely

Dale Jones,

Vice President Pro tem