See if the State of Florida will take it over and manage it as a state park. I see some of the meetings on ch 12 Comcast. The picture jumps constantly, but the sound from the meetings is OK. Would like to see ch 12 (whoever they are) fix the broadcast problems with the video quality regarding the Lake Denton Committee.

Has anyone considered removing the boat ramp and restoring the natural sandy shoreline? Why do we need a boatramp paid for by the Public? Let the folks using the Lake to so at their own risk with NO help from Highlands County.

Re: Today’s newspaper article on the subject…

As the issue of closing access to the Lake and boat ramp from the Highlands County parcel was debated for more than a year, why wasn’t the issue of perpetual use and such legal requirements disclosed to the public before now????

Another reason why no good deed (dedicating land for public use) goes unpunished. This is not a county park, and the county taxpayers shouldn’t be funding management of the parcel so people can scuba dive.

If you are going to charge a user fee, then charge everyone - not just divers.

Sounds like the research on the property, as to the legal ramifications was both lacking and late.  Wasn’t here some kind of offer to trade the County property adjoining the road/boat ramp on lake Denton for a parcel the county owns, located on another lake?

I hope they don’t fool around and allow the property to be reclaimed by the folks that originally gave it to the county.  There is to little public access, to the lakes in Highlands County now.

First, I am not suggesting limiting the access to anyone. Law enforcement issues will not be resolved by charging divers a user fee. Loud parties, tresspass issues all must be resolved using law enforcement.

All the lipstick and rouge isn’t going to make this pig any prettier.  For a year we heard threats about closing the Lake Denton boat ramp, without mention of the parcel being on loan to the county (if these perpetual use access areas were open to the public). Once again, the public is led to believe that this is a county owned parcel. Why all the smoke and mirrors?

The county closed access to Lake Denton in September, and it is still not re-opened. Somebody did not do their homework, and then when the story came out in the paper, the lack of research was exposed. This is why the county is scrambling now to re-open Lake Denton ASAP, hoping that an heir will not come forward and the whole thing will just blow over. Legally, the property should revert to the heirs of the Cain family, who then could sell the property to the county.

The Cain’s heir has been found. See tomorrow’s news!

I’ll ask again - why is this the third time in recent years legal issues are hidden from the public? 1st - Highlands Park Estates community park (Dedicated for Public use as an estate settlement) 2nd - Pearce-Lockett Estate (perpetual public access court order) 3. Lake Denton access road.—Enough already!!!

Considering the quote about her attorney advising against saying anything else, it would seem that she is interested in gaining ownership of the property, or most likely getting $’s from the county taxpayers.  This should get interesting.

Based on the newspaper reports and articles it would seem that the County has an easement deeming the strip of land a quasi county road. It is not clear if the land is owned by the original landowner, or if it is owned by the county. Also unclear is if the county has legal right to close the quasi road / boat ramp at all.

Where are all the lawyers? Another smudge pot issue in Highlands. Highlands County should try to have the public access vacated; then allow the landowner to do with the land as they please.

Ramblings: As I understand the $25 fee is not a lake access fee, but a parking fee to pay for the county provided and maintained parking spaces, and paid parking/security attendant . The limited number of legal parking spaces are provided to control the over crowding by SCUBA dive schools mostly from other counties. Also the residents of LD have suffered long enough with this proplem. BTW I am not a resident, however I am a fisherman/boater concerned with public access to Florida waters. I have fished all over Florida for many mango seasons, and have never paid a fee to launch my boat at a public ramp.

This is not a beach. There are No Swimming signs posted at boat ramps for a reason.
Think about what could happen when power boats and swimmers mix.

The County has not vacated the LD public boat ramp. They have simply reacted to an out of control problem by supending public use until the safety issues can be resolved. IMHO there is scant legal standing for the Cain family heir to claim the property. The coundy Comission simply acted in a reasonable and prudent manner.

Why should boaters not have to pay the $25? Boaters already pay for things such as; aquisition building, and maintaining most of the public boat ramps in the country. They pay through vessel licenses, fishing licenses, and a portion of taxes that are collected for boating and fishing equipment goes toward boat ramps. For further information 0n the Federal Wallop Breaux Act at;

http://www.asa.org/asa/government/wallop_breaux.htm

You can also visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Comission at the following web site.
to see how Vessel registration fees impact public boat ramps in Florida waters.

http://myfwc.com/Boating/RecvesRegisForm2006.htm

Thank you for the opportunity to ramble on regarding this issue.

thevoiceoftruth - 03 January 2008 01:46 PM

The county closed access to Lake Denton in September, and it is still not re-opened. Somebody did not do their homework, and then when the story came out in the paper, the lack of research was exposed. This is why the county is scrambling now to re-open Lake Denton ASAP, hoping that an heir will not come forward and the whole thing will just blow over. Legally, the property should revert to the heirs of the Cain family, who then could sell the property to the county.

WRONG!

Burt,

You may be correct and thevoiceoftruth is wrong. However if what has been reported in the Highlands Today is accurate and the Cain heir makes a claim, a judge will most likely have to make that decision. 

The County may have already violated the terms of the deed by closing the road/boat ramp.  Charging fees for parking could be considered circumventing the terms of the deed and certainly will be argued by the Cain heir’s attorney.

I bet you a dozen shiners that this whole mess is going to cost the county taxpayer plenty, if the Cain heir makes a claim.

We’ll see what the courts decide.

Another reason we need more than one county attorney. Again, the issue of ownership trumps doing good to be prudent. No fees will stop the arrogant few who go out there to cause trouble and snub their noses at the people living along the LD.

Rambling again:
I was trying to provide accurate information, along with some personal opinion mixed in.

I attended several of the LD committee meetings as well as the Commission meeting of Jan 2nd.  I’m a fairly objective person that tries to keep my bias in check, therefore I think I heard what was actually said. Sometimes we hear what we want to hear, and exclude the parts that don’t fit our particular agenda.

As far as some of the newspaper accounts are concerned. Someone asked me yesterday if the reporter writing most of the articles was the same person attending the meetings. I said it was, however it seemed after reading some of the articles, I wondered if I had been in the same meeting as the reporter. The person said that was why they were asking.

Anyway, my ramblings are just an attempt to set the record as straight as my own bias’ will allow. I’ve read a few opinions posted here that made me scratch my head, pucker up, an utter duhhhhhhh.

I agree that this is a real mess. and could end up in court. However, as I said previously, IMHO I doubt if the heir would prevail in a lawsuit to claim the property. Given the situation, what was the county to do anyway?

I’ll just close with this very very important unbiased rambling comment, yada yada yada.................
..........Learn to laugh people, it hurts less when you laugh about it.