Meadow Grounds Lake, Still Empty At Year's End

Empty, with the exception of a small pool, the Meadow Grounds awaits the political will to identify funding for the necessary repairs.

 

View of the lake outlet.  Notice the outline of the concrete abutment in the ice.  I can only surmise that the outline was caused by the temperature difference between the concrete and the deeper water as the ice is a few inches above the abutment. 

There is an old saying that goes thus, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease", and in view of recent developments apparently we Fulton County residents and Meadow Grounds Lake users are not squeaking loud enough.

 A view from the former lake bed looking west into what was a cove that was productive for both fish and waterfowl.

Tonight I visited the PFBC website and viewed the High-Hazard, Unsafe Dam Revitalization Program Update page which had just recently been updated.  Reading over the projects the Colyer Lake repair grabbed my attention.

 The draining of Centre County's Colyer Lake was announced the day of the first public meeting about the Meadow Grounds, about a month after the Meadow Grounds drawdown anouncment.  Colyer Lake drew much media attention from the State College, Johnstown area and by early May the PFBC had reconsidered the complete drawdown and announced that a 17 foot reduction in the water level would be adequate to insure safety until funding could be found.

Fish structure installed by the PFBC in 2012

 

With much media attention and apparently the attention of the state senator serving the area today the 7.2 million Colyer Lake project is fully funded as listed below (PFBC website) 

                                                     1. GBO - $5.85 million (Senator Corman
                                                     2. Save Colyer Lake inc. - $100,000
                                                     3. PFBC - $1.25 million in Act 89 funding

 

Not only is the funding in hand but the PFBC has completed the engineering design and the project is currently awaiting Department of Environmental Protection review and approval!  It is very apparent from line 1 above that Senator Corman heard his constituents concerns and acted in their interest.

Meanwhile the Meadow Grounds lies empty with no funding identified.

 

And I have yet to receive a reply to a November 9th email sent to my State Senator, John Eichelberger, asking what effect if any that Senate Bill 680 has on funding the repairs to the Meadow Grounds dam.  In the beginning Senator Eichelberger seemed quite eager to do what was necessary for the restoration of our lake, now I am not as sure.

 

Rest assured that prior to voting for anyone for county commissioner or state office I will need to know their position concerning the lake and before voting for any incumbent I will not be listening to their promises but rather will be looking at their record.