The Ohio Lakefront Group Annual Meeting was held at the Holiday Inn Westlake on Thursday May 26th. The business meeting was conducted by Greg Baeppler. After a call of additional nominations from the floor for the Board of Directors and there were none, a vote was cast by the secretary to accept the slate of officers as submitted by the nominating committee. Greg announced changes in the Board; former Board member Bob Merrill has retired form the Board. Former Board member Bob Bunsey was elected to replace Merrill. The remainder of the board is unchanged. To see the 2011 Board of Directors, please visit our website. Rick Rennell presented the Treasurer’s report. Rick noted that expenses exceeded income for the year, however a carry over balance from the previous year covered all expenses with some surplus for the coming year. The formal business meeting was adjourned.
OLG President gave a brief presentation giving examples of how the ODNR is determining historic shoreline boundaries and how it affecting current shoreline property owners. He also showed photos of private property trespass including duck hunting and littering.
Maurice Thompson, Executive Director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, returned this year to discuss our case and his Amicus Brief referring to wild animals as State property and the absurdity of claiming land where they roam, as the State is claiming land that may have once been covered by the waters of Lake Erie. Maurice stated that if we should lose in the State’s Appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, our case would be ripe for appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court since the State would be trumping private property rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Ohio Senator Tim Grendell spoke of his history with OLG’s fight for private property rights and the need for all OLG members to continue their support. He stated that if we win, we need to clarify Ohio law on the extent of the Public Trust, which will require time, energy, and finances. Conversely, should we lose the case, we will need to mount an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Tim pledged his continued support to protecting private property rights.
After a question and answer period, the informal portion of the meeting was adjourned.