2.4.06

Residents will flood hearing on lake study
by Nancy Gaarder, Omaha World-Herald

The bus is chartered, the banners are being printed, the e-mails are flying. A lifesaver with "Save Ashland" written on it is displayed on a store window in downtown Ashland, Neb.

Two weeks after Ashland residents learned that a proposed lake would flood most of their community, they hope a Monday legislative hearing brings a decisive end to the proposal.

By contrast, the chief legislative proponent of the lake sees the hearing as one step in a long journey.

The Legislature's Appropriations Committee will take public comment on a proposed $3 million lake study before deciding whether to advance the bill to the full Legislature.

Bob Luebbe, a spokesman for the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, said he hopes the committee moves quickly to kill the bill.

Interviews with committee members found a majority leaning against the study. But members said they would reserve final judgment until they heard testimony.

"At first blush, I don't think I could support it," said State Sen. Pat Engel of South Sioux City. "It's such a huge price tag. But until we have a hearing, we don't have all the facts."

Luebbe said he's taking nothing for granted.

"We're still going to raise hell and make sure that anybody thinking they can control our future and our families needs to think again," he said.

The hydroelectric dam and recreational lake near Mahoney State Park could cost $2 billion to $3 billion. It would flood up to 30 miles of the Platte River valley.

Sen. Pam Brown of the Omaha, the bill's sponsor, said she's not surprised by the committee's posture.

"The only thing I ask is that they remain open-minded. We will present information Monday that will be very compelling," Brown said.

The lake faces hurdles beyond the cost of the study.

Habitat for endangered species would be flooded, triggering numerous federal reviews. Water supplies for Lincoln and Omaha would have to be replaced. Small communities outside Ashland also would be flooded.

Luebbe said he doesn't want a repeat of the 1960s. A similar lake proposal back then dragged on for years before being abandoned. In the meantime, Ashland's growth stalled.

"The study itself will create a shadow," Luebbe said. "No one will want to come here, build homes here or move their businesses here if they thought that there was a potential for a lake to flood them out."

Sen. John Synowiecki of Omaha took a different tack from some of his colleagues: "It will be up to the homeowners and business owners to make a convincing case that we should not move forward with this."

This may be the year when this type of ambitious study has its best chance, said Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln, another committee member. Revenue is strong, and the state is anticipating a $261 million surplus.

"That's not to say that it would be any easier or tougher on the proposition itself," Beutler said. "If you can't do it this year, you're probably never going to do it."

Brown already is setting her sights beyond the hearing. "Whatever the outcome is," she said, "I don't see Monday as the end of the discussion."

"So far, the discussion has been mostly about Ashland," she added. "It hasn't been about the broader context. Nebraska needs to either grow or accept that we're not going to become a place with some vibrancy."

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