CENTRE —   Members of a year-old group interested in the long term health and viability of Weiss Lake as a tourist attraction met with representatives from Alabama Power here last week.

Local residents Tom Taylor and Tim Farnham represented Save Weiss Lake, founded in 2011 by Taylor. The group's website (www.saveweisslake.org) lists as its main goals “to heal our beautiful but sick Weiss Lake and to protect the health and safety of our children and everyone who uses the lake.”

Representing Alabama Power were Dennis Trammell from the Shoreline Management office in Centre, along with his manager in the Corporate Real Estate Division, Bobby Edge, and Environmental Affairs Supervisor Charles Stover. Brandon Glover, from Alabama Power's media relations office, was also at the meeting.

“Our effort is a grassroots organization, and right now there are probably a hundred people who have shown interest with a 'Save Weiss Lake' bumper sticker,” Taylor said in his opening remarks. “Our website, so far, has received about 750 hits. So we're gaining a lot of momentum.”

The meeting came about as a result of a letter Taylor sent to Alabama Power executives earlier this year. In the letter, Taylor outlined a list of problems he saw with Weiss Lake's continued viability. Among those were continued illegal structures in the Weiss Lake flood easement; dilapidated shacks and abandoned recreational vehicles in the flood easement; run-down piers in danger of falling into the water; a shortage of no-wake buoys and other signage in the lake; silting along the Coosa River channel; and the need for dredging in areas of the lake.

“The model for Save Weiss Lake was 'Save the Bay,' a program that started on the Chesapeake Bay when I lived there 20 years ago,” Taylor said. “The bay became very polluted and some people like myself started it and it became a very powerful organization. And we cleaned up the bay.”

At last week's meeting, the Alabama Power officials listened attentively as Taylor listed his concerns. As the points were discussed, everyone engaged in a dialogue that it was later agreed was, if not necessarily productive, at least beneficial to all for information purposes.

Asked if Alabama Power had a time schedule for dealing with an estimated 800 permitting violations that the Shoreline Management office has identified since it opened in Centre in 2006, Edge said progress is being made, even if the progress is hard to see from the outside.

“You have to realize we can't file 700 lawsuits in a day,” Edge said. “Our policy is to work toward a resolution with the landowner, obviously. We have people out there working trying to get structures brought into compliance.”

Trammell concurred that Alabama Power tries to work with lakefront property owners as much as possible.

“We are trying to work with individuals to protect our rights so we have the right to flood, but at the same time work with them so we don't just kill them,” he said. “We want to work out a solution, and that takes some time.”

Later in the meeting, Taylor asked if Alabama Power has any plans to deal with what he said he considered a serious silting problem, along with the need to dredge areas along the river channel.

“This is a serious problem because Weiss Lake is shrinking, and it is becoming a problem for boating,” Taylor said.

Stover said the costs of dredging large areas of Weiss Lake would be extremely cost-prohibitive.

“Where you are going to see siltation on Weiss Lake, and on other lakes, is where the streams come in,” Stover said. “A lot of times, it's not a matter of digging things out, it's the way the water flows. There are places where things may be able to be fixed without dredging.”

After the meeting, Taylor said he was disappointed with the outcome but plans to “keep at it.”

“The meeting was very cordial but it was non-productive,” Taylor said. “It was good to share some information but there were no decision-makers at the meeting. All they could do was defend Alabama Power’s failed policies.”

The Save Weiss Lake website has a page of photos of permitting and sewage-related violations taken around Weiss Lake titled the “Wall of Shame.” It also includes copies of most of the letters and editorials Taylor has written and sent to Alabama Power, the state Health Department and others.

Glover said he felt the meeting was very productive.

“It was great to sit down and talk about the issues that concern Save Weiss Lake and see where there are areas we can work together,” Glover said. “We are interested in working with anyone who cares about the future of Weiss Lake.”

Glover encouraged anyone interested in learning what is and is not permissible along the shores of Weiss Lake to visit the Alabama Power website at www.alabamapower.com/lakes/shorelines.asp. Click the “Weiss” link for rules related to Weiss Lake.