On November 8th. LRCA Board members met with the Legislative Delegation in Green Cove Springs. LRCA Board members who attended the meeting were, Lyndel Hale, Janet Barnhardt, Robert Thomas, Doug Rudd and myself. The Delegation of Senators and Representatives who oversee our district meet every year to hear requests from various groups such as city mayors, non-profit organizations and agencies who would like to receive funding for their cause.
Representative Joe Pickens aide, Jack Hall, arranged for a private meeting prior to the delegation meeting for LRCA to present their case of requesting funding for the alternative water resource study. Keystone Heights Mayor Hildreth, the newly elected Clay County Commissioner Chereese Stewart and hydrologist Peter Schreuder were also in attendance of the meeting. LRCA had put a very detailed and concise 38 page proposal together with data supporting their request and handed each delegate a copy.
Peter Schreuder gave an impressive presentation and stated that his firm could elaborate on his previous study for $50,000.
LRCA Board members, Joey Tyson, Robert Thomas, Doug Rudd, Janet Barnhardt, Lyndel Hale and myself met with the Keystone Heights City Council on November 14th. asking the city council to include the $50,000 study in their “Community Budget Issue Request” (C.B.I.R.), which the city will then go before the delegation again in January with the cities request for funding from the legislature.
Mayor Hildreth has also been working very hard to arrange a workable gathering of all parties and has agreed to bring this before the city council on December 12th. for approval of the council. Vice Mayor Bruce Harvin also has suggested that the city council along with the various agencies begin holding summit meetings with the public to hear suggestions on the issues with the “lake restoration”.
It is good to see that we are once again moving forward with positive resolutions to a concern that has enveloped this entire community for over fifty years.
Now that I have updated you with the current news I have some disappointing news for some of you. I want to start by saying that I am very proud of what this grassroots organization has accomplished over the past six years. It has been an up hill struggle from the very start. But with the help of many dedicated individuals we have managed to stay the course and see results. We have been very fortunate to have the support of many prominent citizens who felt the same compassion for our community and our pristine lakes. I attribute the success to team work by everyone involved.
For some of you this may come as a shock for others it was only the hand-writing on the wall. I regretfully must make my resignation as the Vice President of L.R.C.A. And I say this with much regret! But as most of you are aware I am not in good health and therefore I feel as though I am not capable of giving 100% effort to help with the campaign. Please understand this does not mean that I am backing out from the “Save Our Lakes” organization completely. I still intend to help in what ever manner that I am able to do and will continue to edit and publish the Communiqué.
I don’t mean to sound redundant, but I am very proud to have been a part of the LRCA council.
It has been my pleasure to have worked with some of the finest dedicated members on the board and with the officers. LRCA has some very good people who have a heart felt compassion for our lakes in and around Keystone. Several of the officers have been with LRCA from the very first inception of the group. We also have some new members who have stepped up to the plate and have been willing to offer their services voluntarily. You should be very proud of every one of these people as they have worked tirelessly without pay because they have the same passion for seeing our community prosper and our lakes restored for our children and grandchildren.
We have a President who is just as passionate and willing to give of his time because he believes in the cause to save our lakes. Some people may not understand that passion, but if you look at the heart you will see why he is what he is. I ask that each of you continue to support the officers and board members. We need you and your support!
I hope that someone will step forward and assume the position of Vice President of LRCA.
There is still much to be done. I do not want to see this organization fold because of my resignation. We have worked too hard to get where we are now and it would break my heart to see it end when we are so close to making this work. So I am asking each and everyone of you to come together and rally again just one more time.

For the past several months we have been covering a story about the work projects that had been done back in the 1990’s, known as the Etonia Environmental Restoration Plan Phases I, II and III. We gave you a little background as to how the project came into play and who was instrumental in orchestrating the projects. We also made mention of the each phase (Phase I,II, and II), the work involved and how the work was completed. Another newspaper story we found that reflected some of the results of how the different agencies worked together to the completion of the work done back in 1994 was published in the Lake Region Monitor on August 3, 1995.
“One Year Later and Ten Feet Deep”,
“An environmental success story at Lake Brooklyn Bridge”. “For over a decade, the natural Etonia Basin Lake Chain consisting of thousands of acres was being lost, while an unnatural smaller man-made system of old mined area ponds and lakes were being environmentally overprotected. This resulted in millions of gallons of water daily being lost to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf, causing periodic flooding of two other drain basins. This was regulation at its worse. However, the natural system is now finally recovering, thanks to multi-agency cooperation. On July 30, 1994, a Saturday afternoon, no water was under the Brooklyn Bridge on SR 21 north of Keystone Heights on Lake Brooklyn. The next morning, July 31, water began to flow under the bridge and by late morning the water was flowing so fast that rapids were created. One year later the water level under Lake Brooklyn bridge is ten feet deep. It is clear that we have not had 120 inches of rainfall in the last year, even including normal rainfall of 52 inches per year. Total rainfall for 1994 was only 60.9 inches, only 8 inches above normal of 52 inches, in this same area. So what is the answer? Keystone area lakes are returning, thanks to the project of the Keystone Heights Lake Advisory Council, “The Etonia Environmental Restoration Plan.” (EERP). EERP is a success and Lake Brooklyn has elevated by 10 feet, recovering about half of its previous low lake level loss in only 12 months. The first part of the project began on July 5, 1994 by DuPont Corporation, and a major part of the work was completed by the end of July 94 by the Florida National Guard, US Army Reserve, and the Clay County Public Works Department. The results were dramatic. Within days up to 20 million gallons of water flowed down the previously dry Alligator Creek. Brooklyn Bay elevated vertically by 12 feet in one day. The actual work began July 5, 1994 and water overflowed under the Brooklyn Bridge on July 31, 1994. TV Stations 4, 12, 17 and 20 made live broadcasts of the dramatic event. Earlier, in August 1992, the Keystone Heights Lake Advisory Council (KHLAC) was formed and held its first meeting in November 1992. Because of environmental red tape, namely permitting required by water management, and $30,000 in engineering/permit fees just to get permission to do the work, the project was delayed by 16 months.”
(Source: Lake Region Monitor August 3, 1995)
The irony to this is, we are once again stuck with “environmental red tape” due to the requirements of the water management district.