Current News & Events.

January, 2004, online Newsletter

Proponent and opponent testimony for House Bill 218.

Wednesday, January 7, 2004 - House Bill 218 assigned to Senate Committee

House Bill 218 was assigned to the Energy, Natural Resources and Environment Committee. It is time to write/email/call your Senator and the Senators of the Committee. To locate your Senator, go to the 125th General Assembly web site, and type in your zip code. Also available is a list of all Senators, along with a bio and their mailing address, phone number and email address.

The following Senators make up the Energy and Environment Committee: Robert Spada (R), Chair; Jay Hottinger (R), Vice Chair; Ronald Amstutz (R); John Carey (R); Kevin Coughlin (R); Robert L. Gardner, (R); Robert Schuler (D), Ranking Minority Member; Eric Fingerhut (D); Tom Roberts (D).

Remember to keep your correspondence/calls short and to the point, always give your name and address and always mention House Bill 218.  

Friday, January 16 through 23, 2004 - OLG will staff a booth at the Cleveland Boat Show

Members and the Board of the Ohio Lakefront Group will be staffing a booth at the Cleveland Boat Show located at the IX Center, 6200 Riverside Drive (just south of the Cleveland Airport). We will be informing boaters and others of our "love for Lake Erie;" and we will be asking for their support in our endeavors. Let people know about the booth; invite them to stop and visit. We will be located in booth #475.   If you would be available to work, please email us at info@ohiolakefrontgroup.com and someone will contact you.

Sunday, January 18 through 31, 2004   - OLG debates ODNR on local Port Clinton TV

Tony Yankel and Brenda Culler-Gautschi, of the Office of Coastal Management, were interviewed by Ron Miller. The show will air on Adelphia Cable, Channel 20, at 8 a.m., 12 noon, 9 p.m. and 12 midnight January 18- 31.   This can only be viewed in the local Port Clinton area. We will try to get an audiotape and place it on our site. If this is not possible, we will summarize it for you. We won!!    

Wednesday, January 21, 2004 - tentative date for sponsor testimony

We are giving you these tentative dates so that you will set aside Wednesdays during the month of January.   It is hopeful that on the above date Timothy Grendell will offer sponsor testimony before the Senate Energy and Environment Committee. We will share information as soon as it becomes available. We will not be taking a bus to this hearing, but would encourage you to participate if possible.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004 - tentative hearing date for proponent/opponent testimony

We want to make you aware that proponent/opponent testimony may take place as early as the week of January 19. The Energy and Environment Committee usually meet on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. We will share information ASAP. We will be taking busses to the hearings where testimony will be given. We urge you to make the trip. You will become educated; you will become equally concerned.

We will have a bus leaving Port Clinton and Sheffield Lake. If there is enough interest, we will take a bus for the Eastsiders.   Start calling your friends and neighbors, get them organized. We need to "storm" the State House and pack the Senate hearing room; this is very, very important. It is imperative that we put on a good show; our legislators are influenced by the "relentless busloads" of   members "flooding the statehouse." If you are interested in riding the bus let us know. E-mail/call/write us NOW and we will contact you with all the necessary information as it becomes available. E-mail:

info@ohiolakefrontgroup.com or phone 440-925-0148 or write: OLG, P.O. Box 2084, Sheffield Lake, OH 44054.

New suggested regulations coming to a shoreline near each and every OLG member!!

The Ohio Lake Erie Commission invites citizens concerned with the future of the Lake Erie watershed to voice their opinions at a series of informational open houses in January and February on the Balanced Growth Initiative of the LEC. A blue ribbon task force was formed in 2001 to study linkages between land use and water quality in the Lake Erie Watershed and the impacts that growth will ultimately have on the lake. The panel was asked to recommend ways that state and local communities could better promote sustainable development. Draft plans developed by the task force are now ready. For more information visit their web site.

The following are the dates and places for the public meetings:

• January 28, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, Huntington Reservation, 28728 Wolf Road, Bay Village
• February 3, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the LEC Office, 1 Maritime Plaza, Toledo
• February 5, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m at the Blue and Gold Room, Kent State University Branch Campus, 3325 W. 13th Street, Ashtabula

Attendees are invited to submit comments orally or in writing at the informational meetings. Comments can also be submitted by e-mail at lakeeriecommission@ameritech.net or by surface mail to the LEC, 1 Maritime Plaza, Toledo, OH 43604. Comments will be accepted through February 18, 2004. The draft documents are available at the LEC web site.   Read the Lake Erie Commission article from the Toledo Blade.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - House Bill 218 leaves the House - Next stop the Senate
At 11:15 p.m. the Ohio House of Representatives passed HB 218 with a vote of 77 to 20. A small group of OLG members remained on the scene to witness the historic event. A video of the debate can be seen and heard. This is an extremely enjoyable hour showing your government and Mr. Grendell at work.

Tony Yankel, president of the OLG, wrote a letter to members thanking them. Vitas Cyvas, vice-president of OLG, stated that many State Representatives informed him that the Bill passed with such a large margin of "yes" votes because of all the letters they received and the relentless busloads of Ohio Lakefront members who flooded the State House and hearing rooms.

Read the HB 218 as passed by the Ohio House of Representatives. Read the Detailed Legislative Request and the Legislative Summary of the request to understand the original desires of the Ohio Lakefront Group. View a list of the State Representatives who voted NO.

This week culminates a year of hard work by the Board and the members of OLG. But it is all worthwhile. The passage of HB 218 through the Ohio House of Representatives completes step one and enables us to move on to the Senate where the bill can be improved and make the final trek to the desk of the Governor to be signed into law.

Tuesday, December 9, 2003 - House Bill 218 out of House Energy and Environment Committee

Two busloads and many other OLG members who drove to Columbus filled the hearing room, far out numbering the Sierra Club, The Audubon Society, the Ohio Environmental Council and other environmentalists who came to testify against HB 218. Dr. Sam Speck, the Director of ODNR and others also testified against HB 218. After hearing the same rhetoric over and over, the Committee, under the able Chair of Nancy Hollister, voted to pass the Bill out of committee. An important letter from Tony Yankel explains more on the day’s events and outlines what’s ahead.

Sunday, December 7, 2003 - Editorial from the Lorain Morning Journal    

Finally an editorial we like.

Wednesday, December 3, 2003 - Hearing on House Bill 218 postponed

Luck was on our side. We decided not to take any busses to Columbus.

Copyright 2004, Ohio Lakefront Group.

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