Q: When a
shareholder dies, what action is required of the surviving spouse or the
estate regarding the transfer of stock?
A: Every share
and lease has to be in the name of a real, living individual. The CWC will
work with the surviving spouse or the estate of the deceased, and we
understand that sometimes, probating an estate is not a simple or quick
thing to accomplish. Our bylaws and most of our rules were written long ago,
and many things are just not as simple as they used to be. All that said,
the rules require that the share be transferred within one year and one day
after the death of a shareholder.
Q:
Why do CWC Rules require a "Spotter" 13 years of age or older to be in a
boat pulling a tube or skier, when State law only requires the driver to
have a rear view mirror?
A: We simply do
not agree with the State that a driver with a 4 square inch rear view mirror
can safely drive a boat, look for other boats, and keep an eye on those
being towed. We do not feel that is a realistic expectation. The State rules
are written with the average large public lake in mind, where boat densities
are rarely what they are on crowded holiday weekends on Cherokee. It is
worsened on Cherokee by the fact that for some reason, everyone wants to tow
their tubes and skiers in and through the narrowest and most congested part
of the open water.
Q: Why does the
CWC forbid the use of PWC's to tow skiers and tubes? The State laws allow it
if the PWC is equipped with an appropriate rear view mirror.
A: Quite honestly,
the CWC rule was written before the PWC's became as large and powerful as
they are now, and there was no way for a spotter to be aboard and still have
room for those being towed to come aboard. Again, the CWC does not agree
with the State that a 4 square inch mirror provides a reasonable expectation
of safety in congested situations on our lake (note: most PWC's do not come
equipped with a mirror that meets the Texas mirror requirement). The Board
has discussed this, but has not been able to reach a comfort level with any
change in this rule. So, we still do not allow it.
Q: Can you
include more information on the CWC website
( www.cherokeewatercompany.com
) Lakeometer besides simply the water level? Examples are a date of the
reading, additional specific information regarding the impact of the water
level on boating on the lake, and perhaps even a historical water level
chart.
A:
Great recommendation. We will contact our webmaster and begin implementing
your ideas as soon as possible.
Q:
We have not heard anything about Giant Salvinia lately. Any news?
A:
The folks on Cherokee have been super in their individual and group efforts
to keep the stuff out of our lake. We are constantly watching our
containment areas, and have not found a trace of it so far. It is still all
around us and the State is fighting hard to keep it in check. We have not
discussed it because we have not tried it yet, but one of our Board members,
Board Secretary Dirk Lee, Regional Manager of Great White Energy, has come
up with a way to kill the stuff if we get it that we feel very certain will
work on the Salvinia. He developed the idea after hearing Howard Elder's
presentation at the Board meeting this past spring. To our knowledge, no one
else has tried it yet. We are in discussions with State officials about
trying it on existing infestations. The application technology is
proprietary at this time and so I can not get into details about it. It uses
readily available and cheap materials, uses no chemicals or anything that
will harm the environment or wildlife. It is one of those brilliantly simple
things that make you wonder why no one else has thought of it.
Q: What happened
to the Kiwanis Club's Poker Run earlier this summer?
A:
You can blame this entirely on the Lake Manager, who happens to be the local
Lakeport Area Kiwanis Club's President this year. After organizing and
publicizing the event, he found out that it is the current opinion of the
State Attorney General and the local District Attorney that it is considered
gambling, and illegal, in Texas for a non-profit organization to conduct a
poker run for the purpose of raising money for charitable purposes. Not
being in the mood to be prosecuted for illegal gambling, he cancelled the
event only days before it was scheduled. There were a lot of folks looking
forward to the event, and he apologizes for having to be the wet towel.
Q: How do we make
reservations for the pavilions at Firecracker Park?
A: The Board has
not addressed that subject. Until or unless we receive direction to the
contrary, the pavilions are on a first come - first serve basis.
Q:
What can the CWC do involving
recycling?
A: Recycling is a real
issue for those involved in solid waste. I hate to say it, and avid
environmentalists do not want it said, but most recycling is for show. Most
recycled materials, collected at a considerable cost to all involved, ends
up in landfills. There is simply no viable market for most of it,
particularly in these parts. The kinds of items that are economically
viable, like aluminum cans, seem to take care of themselves. That is,
individuals collect them and sell them to recyclers before the waste
collectors and haulers get to them. It is a good mindset for us all to be
conscious of what we discard and to train ourselves in the practice or
philosophy of recycling, but we simply have to accept the fact that the
educational process and the establishment of the mechanisms are the real
value of the effort at this time. Did you know that book printing for the
masses was the result of people beginning to wear undergarments? As they
wore out their underwear, rag pickers would collect the holey drawers. They
would then sell them to paper manufacturers who needed the cloth threads to
make high quality paper. The availability of lots of good paper led to a
demand for and development of the printing press - which led to mass
production of affordable books. Education from underwear. Now that is good
recycling.
That said, the CWC is doing its research and fact finding to establish a
composting program at our convenience stations. We have visited other
commercial composting sites and learned from their programs. We are not
going to try to generate the commercial-grade compost you buy in bags from
retailers. Our compost will be coarser than that, but our goal is to make
compost that the shareholders can and will use without cost.
It will take us at least a year to "cook" the compost to the point that it
will be ready for use. We do not plan on using any additives such as
nitrogen or chemicals to enhance or speed the project. Our compost will be
completely organic and natural. That also removes the necessity for
expensive and time-consuming permits and paperwork from State or federal
agencies. There is always a governmental agency obstructing and milking
valuable effort. The CWC will be providing you with more information as the
project develops.
Q:
I often hear a large engine
running early in the morning. It sounds like it is coming from the CWC
office area. What is that?
A:
You are probably hearing our diesel engine generator that powers the CWC
Complex in the event of a power outage. Every Wednesday morning, it
automatically comes on and exercises itself for about 15 minutes.
I appreciate the question,
because it gives me a chance to talk about a subject we have not addressed
in a couple of years, and many new shareholders probably do not know about
it. The generator has several purposes. The main purpose is to provide power
to keep our radios, repeater and communications system functioning, even in
emergency conditions. It also powers the wireless internet service on the
lake. The second purpose is to provide power for the control center that we
set up at the CWC Complex if the Manager activates the Emergency Operations
Plan. The third purpose is to provide power to operate the building as a
dry, warm or cool emergency shelter for shareholders to come to in the event
of a prolonged power failure or damage to their homes. We have a kitchen
available and plenty of room for cots and pallets.
In regards to the Emergency Operations Plan: If we have a storm or emergency
situation on the lake, the first order of business for our staff is to
travel all the lake roads, searching for road blockages and serious damages
to homes. We also go to shareholders who have contacted us earlier and asked
us to check on them in such situations because they have special needs.
Please contact the CWC office if you have special needs that could be
impeded or interrupted by loss of power or severe weather conditions. You
will be among the first we check on. Also, those of you with gates across
your driveways need to call the office and make certain that our Patrol has
the code or key location information to access your lot in an emergency.
Q:
Why has the stump cutter been parked in front of the NI section?
A:
It recently finished cutting the new boat roads above Silvey Bridge, and
relocating the boat road by the Silvey Bridge boat ramp to make room for the
Invasive Plant impoundment area. It's next mission is to remove pilings that
are confusing the new and improved boat roads on the dam end of the lake.
But, those cannot be removed until a shipment of buoys is received, and they
are overdue. We are waiting on the manufacturer. This is the time of year
when marinas, lakes, river authorities and ports do most of their buoy
replacement, and so the manufacturers are all very busy. In the meantime,
our crews are cutting off the tops of the stumps that stick up two or three
feet above the water and sometimes are hard to differentiate from buoys in
certain light conditions.
Q:
What is the rule, if any, about people hauling their dogs, untethered, in
the back of their pickup trucks?
A:
There is no lake rule about whether or not the dogs must be tethered in the
truck (or boat). But if the truck is stopped or moving slowly, and the dog
sees another dog or pedestrian and jumps out, it is no different than
letting them run loose. That is against the rules, and the owner is
responsible for whatever happens. Most owners will say that their dogs will
not jump out, but we all know that in most cases, that is simply because
they have not yet been sufficiently tempted.
Keep in mind that our rules are written such that the fear or perception of
an individual concerning what the dog might do is just as pertinent as what
the dog actually does. You may know the dog will not bite, but the person
the dog is running, growling or barking at, may not know that. Our rules
intend that we neither are bitten by someone else's dog, nor should we have
to be in fear of being bitten. When you own a dog in a neighborhood
environment like ours, you have accepted a tremendous responsibility and
potential liability that can not be taken lightly. The Manager says that
most of the abuses of our dog control rules are by shareholders that have
not been able to accept the changes in our community insofar as ever
increasing numbers of permanent residents and the fact that the days of the
fishing or hunting camp environment disappeared here a long time ago.
Q:
Those pesky little yellow and black bees are driving me crazy, and despite
what many have told me, they do sting. Is there any way to control them?
A:
A good looking lady I know noticed that every time she looked away from her
glass of wine while sitting on the deck, a bee would get in it. So now, she
leaves a colorful goblet on the deck with about two fingers of cheap red
wine in it. They cannot resist it and the glass has collected twenty or
thirty bees in two weeks and caused them a painless and relatively happy
demise. Once doused in the wine, they cannot (or do not want to) get out.
They are no longer much of a problem at that location.
Q:
A valuable part of our lifestyle and our continued health comes from our
morning walks on the roads of our neighborhood. We have some shareholders
who constantly speed and drive recklessly, and cause us to have to move out
of the way in fear of being hit by them. What can be done about this?
A: We, like any
other community, have folks who have little respect for others and seldom
obey traffic laws and rules. Most of them also think they are a whole lot
more important than the rest of us are, and are better drivers than they
really are. Basically, they are rude people, and we cannot undo the way they
were raised.
You, as a walker or jogger, also have responsibilities when on our roads.
Stay on the left side of the road, facing traffic, and keep to the side,
giving drivers plenty of room to move by you. You do not need an entire
lane. If you walk at dusk or dawn, wear something reflective or
light-colored so that you can be seen. Be aware of the position of the low
setting or rising sun. What sight conditions do the drivers have to deal
with as they approach you? Can they even see you in the sun's glare? Be
aware that the times of day most of us want to walk or run are the most
dangerous times as far as visibility and numbers of cars are concerned.
If you have someone in your area that perpetually drives recklessly, contact
the CWC office and provide them with the name or lot number of the
individual, if you can. Your complaint will be held in confidence, and the
Manager will determine the best course of action to address the problem. If
you do not know where the offender lives, give the CWC a description of the
vehicle and driver, or even a plate number, and the area and time of day you
usually see them. Patrol will take it from there.
Q:
What do you think the impact of the declining housing market across the
nation will be on Lake Cherokee?
A:
I have no idea, but I have talked with several Realtors, bankers and real
estate investors and they do not see the national trend spilling over to
Lake Cherokee. As a matter of fact, the East Texas area seems to be an
exception to the national trend so far. With apologies to former British
Prime Minister Tony Blair and his positive comments on America, a good way
to measure the quality and viability of a nation - or a community - is the
number of people who want in compared to the number who want out.
Q:
What do I need to tell my insurance agent concerning the reduction of my
home fire insurance rates that I read about in last month's Chatter?
A:
We all live in the Gregg County Emergency Services District #1. The District
contracts with the Elderville - Lakeport VFD for fire protection services.
The two entities have succeeded in gaining a reduction in fire insurance
ratings that should save everyone who lives within 1000 feet of a hydrant
considerably more than the ten cents per one hundred dollar tax rate we pay
the District each year. This was due to factors including the new fire
stations, new equipment, staffing and personnel training. Tell your agent
that for every resident of the district that lives within 1,000 feet of a
fire hydrant, the new ISO rate has dropped from 8b to 4, with 10 being the
worst and 1 being the best. The insurance companies all have access to and
use this ISO information and should be fully aware of it. The CWC has
nothing to do with the two water supply systems that serve the shareholders.
Hydrant inquiries should be addressed to them or members of their Boards of
Directors. The District and the VFD continue to work on ways to use the lake
water availability in lieu of hydrants, but the fluctuating water depth is a
problem. During the ISO re-rating inspection last fall, the lake was 5 feet
low and a credit for lake water use in fire fighting was not considered.
Q: I got yelled at by a man on his pier when I
went by his place in a boat road. I thought the boat road speed was 20 mph?
A: Okay. Here’s how that works. Our boat roads
do have a speed limit of 20 mph. But – and a big but it is – our rules and
State law say that when you are within 50 feet of a structure, another boat,
or the shoreline, you must be traveling at NO WAKE speed. This is for the
safety of people swimming around their piers, boats backing out of boat
houses, wave damage, safety and for simple courtesy. Over the last couple of
years, our stump cutter has moved all but a couple of the boat roads away
from the shoreline and structures by building new boat roads. In those few
locations where the boat roads are still right next to the structures, it is
because there are tree stumps that are too large for our stump cutter to
handle that control our road placement. A good way to estimate 50 feet is
about 2 ½ boat lengths. And by the way, there are very few places in our
boat roads where you can meet another boat and not be closer than 50 feet to
them. And another thing. You may receive a letter fining you for breaking
the No Wake speed rule, even though you were not stopped and cited by a
patrol officer. We have started placing officers on land or even on piers in
high violation locations and allowing them to write citations by noting TX
registration numbers or lot numbers on the boats and including descriptions
of the boat and the operator.
Q
: I have encountered some shareholders who
become very angry with me for fishing from my boat around their boathouses
and piers. What is the rule?
A:
No one can restrict or block any part of the
lake water from access and use by boaters and fishers. I guess some folks,
especially those who feed the fish, feel like they have a superior claim to
the fish around their boathouses, but there is no rule to back them up. Of
course there is the other side of the coin insofar as common courtesy and
good manners are concerned. You see, I never get to hear just one side of an
issue.Q:
What's the story on the "Fish Habitat" signs
I have seen in a couple of coves?
A:
In a couple of the larger coves we dredged,
some of the hundreds of stumps removed were turned upside down and partially
buried in the mud with the root balls up. The idea was to try to create
structure for fish. The signs are to let those fishing know where they are
located, and also to let boaters know that if the water gets low, they could
strike some of the roots if passing between the signs. I think we made the
signs too large, and so we will be replacing them with smaller ones that are
not so obtrusive, and in colors that blend a little better.
Q:
How is "feet" calculated? The lake surely isn't 280 feet
deep....
A:
Lake levels are established according to the elevation contour lines
found on topographic survey maps. Those contour levels relate to Mean Sea
Level. In other words, our spillway elevation is 280 feet above Mean Sea
Level. Mean Sea Level is an arithmetic average of the hourly ocean levels as
tides rise and fall. I have found a fun way to explain this to your kids and
grandkids is that when they are wading in the surf in Galveston, they are
standing 280 below the surface of Lake Cherokee, and to return to Lake
Cherokee, they have to drive 260 miles while climbing uphill almost the
height of a 30 story building.
Q:
Like Jesus preformed in the New Testament with the loaves and fishes, how
does 8.8 inches of rain become five feet of water and fill an entire lake?
A:
Thankfully, we are not limited to the amount of rain actually falling in
our lake for our water. Lakes all have a drainage area larger than the lake
itself., and they receive the rainwater runoff from the entire drainage
area. In our case, our main drainage area extends all the way over to a
point west of a line drawn between Henderson and Kilgore.
This is an over simplification since we are not considering the large
contribution of many springs feeding our lake, but it can roughly be assumed
that since 8.8 inches of rain became between 48 and 60 inches of water in
the lake, then our drainage area must be over 6 times larger than our lake.
It is also not uncommon for a certain part of our drainage area to receive a
heavy volume of rain, and as a result, our lake rises, even though it may
not have rained a drop on the lake.
Q:
Is there a Crime-Stoppers Program on the lake?
A:
Yes and No. We do not have a chapter of Crime Stoppers on the lake. But
there is a little known CWC Rule (Article V) which says;
"CWC, as a reward, will pay the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) to any
person who furnishes the information leading to the arrest and conviction of
any person guilty of committing a felony on the property of CWC. All Claims
must be submitted to the Secretary of CWC within sixty (60) days after the
conviction.
Q:
I have a woody vine with small yellow blooms that is taking over my water
frontage. What is it, and what can I do about it?
A:
It is called Water Primrose and it is spreading in coves and even some open
water areas around the lake. It is not as dangerous or invasive as hydrilla, but it comes close. A swimmer could easily tangle
in it and boats cannot get through it when it forms a mat. I met with the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist and Aquatic Habitat Biologist at the
hatchery in Jasper. They provided me with the name and source for a systemic
chemical that is extremely effective in killing the primrose, that is safe
for fish and for use in a drinking water reservoir, and which the TPWD is
using. We have mounted a power sprayer on a barge and when the water gets
back up high enough to get into the mats, we will be spraying the areas that
are in danger of being blocked for shareholder access. We have experimented
in several places around the lake with the chemical before the water level
dropped and have had very good success.
Q: How
does the dredge operation work?
A:
A dredge barge with a cutter head and suction pump removes sediment from the
bottom of the lake and pumps it up through 8 inch pipe to a dewatering unit
that separates the sediment into organic material, sand and silt. The
material comes off the dewatering unit dry enough to handle and move to
piles for storage. The dewatering plant is a large 9,000 gallon
compartmentalized tank with electric motors. The dredge is diesel powered
and has two independent star wheels or paddlewheels to propel it. The crew
improves with experience on the equipment and is now moving from 80 to 110
tons of material a day, depending on the type of material the dredge is
working in at the time. The Board is responsible for determining the work
locations for the equipment. In order to move the dredge, we will find a
location where we have room to sit the dewatering plant, and which has the
three phase electric service available.
Q:
Does a paddleboat with an electric trolling motor have to be registered?
A: The Texas laws require registration for all
motorized boats regardless of length, all sailboats 14 feet in length or
longer or any sailboat with an auxiliary engine(s).
Exempted
vessels — All non-motorized canoes, kayaks,
punts, rowboats, or rubber rafts (regardless of length) when paddled, poled,
or oared and sailboats under 14 feet in length when wind powered.
Q:
It seems like we are seeing more and more trees cut on lake lots and around
the lake. Is the number increasing, or is just my imagination?
A:
It is not your imagination. Shareholders now are building colossal houses on
very small lots and steep lots previously thought to be unbuildable. Our
rules allow them to remove whatever trees are necessary for constructing
improvements on the lot. With site grading, houses, porches, decks, pools,
garages, carports, storage buildings, shop buildings, gazebos, piers,
sidewalks, circular driveways, parking areas, retaining walls and aerobic
systems, there is not much room left for trees on most lots. Then, they may
cut 20 percent of the remaining trees over 10 inches in diameter for
landscaping purposes, once each five years. There are no rules about cutting
trees less than 10 inches in diameter.
We also have a lot of gas well drilling going on, and they typically require
a drilling pad that is flat and clear of trees and about 300 feet by 200
feet in size plus the truck access road. That is at least an acre and a
half. Factor in the cutting being done by Rusk County Electric Co-op to
provide us with adequate electrical power and to minimize the risk of
outages, and the count goes up even higher. It is definitely not your
imagination.
