I agree with most of what you are saying. The county acted in good faith. My concern is that some of these folks are natives of HC and know the long history. Someone should have known if this quasi county road / boat ramp is legal or not, and should have asked for legal research before jumping on the “let’s form a committee” bandwagon.

These legal legacy agreements are fairly common; disputes about public access are common in Florida, esp. beach access. In Highlands County we have to re-create the wheel everytime there is a community dispute. This won’t be the last time we have egg on our faces!

Big words coming from someone who is not even a resident.

“I’ve read a few opinions posted here that made me scratch my head, pucker up, an utter duhhhhhhh.”

How nice that you have me pegged as stupid without even knowing me. Actually, when people underestimate me, it just makes things easier. FYI, I have a graduate degree and I am a member of MENSA.  I happen to be a personal friend of Ms Cain-Anderson. I helped her find her attorney during the time that she was being bombarded by calls from the divers, and another person who had offered legal assistance and then turned around and withdrew the offer.

“Learn to laugh people, it hurts less when you laugh about it.”

I’ll be laughing all right- at people like YOU!

I am almost 50, and I remember the Lake Denton conflicts from the late 70’s.  They put up a big fence to keep people out, then had to remove it.  It seems like it has never been totally resolved.  We used to swim there, especially after we could no longer swim in Lake Isis.  Those were the only clean lakes back then, with cold clear water. 
I no longer swim there, but it should be public access.  Crescent Beach and Hidden Beach in Sebring, used to be good family swimming areas, but no longer.  Now they are limited.  How many beaches are going to be taken away from us?  What about public right of way, etc.?
Youths need somewhere clean to swim and keep cool, especially in the Florida heat.  If there needs to be supervision to assure good behavior, then instead of closing beaches and charging fees, WHY AREN’T THERE LIFEGUARDS OR SOME OTHER TYPE OF SECURITY?  People come to Highlands County BECAUSE OF THE LAKES.  Why not use some of the tax money to hire security?

Re: Land swap deal proposed. Be careful what you wish for. Next we will have an amusement park out there. Law enforcement issues will not be resolved by charging admission fees.

No good deed goes unpunished - Phil Osopher

Swapping Lake Bonnett land for Lake Denton land is a great deal for the county.  Lake Bonnett is nice but Lake denton is plain and simple a better Lake.  I really do not see a problem with people enjoying themselves at the lake.  The senior population needs to realize that the younger generation in this county is not interested in the same activities that they are.

I am not sure about the so-called senior population, but a Public Beach at the LD boatramp area is a great idea for all of Highlands County. This new beach can be designed to accomodate all who wish to use the lake.

Been_There_Done_That - 10 January 2008 12:35 PM

I am not sure about the so-called senior population, but a Public Beach at the LD boatramp area is a great idea for all of Highlands County. This new beach can be designed to accomodate all who wish to use the lake.

I’d support that, as long as people leave their clothes on and don’t abuse the place.  You should see the mess sometimes at Olivia!

The land swap if legal, would seem to be a good idea.  It is my opinion that Highlands County and for that matter the whole State, is lacking in public access to the lakes, rivers and beaches in Florida.  However many of the same problems would still exist at Lake Denton.  Would adding one acre, provide enough space for a public park/swimming area?  The County would still have to police the swimming area.  The residents of the area would still have to tolerate crowds, noise and perhaps crude behavior.

With the Lake Denton Advisory Committee preparing to meet again to discuss a long-range solution to the boat ramp “problem”, it seemed a good time to revive this thread.

I have been swimming, scuba diving, fishing and skiing in Lake Denton for over thirty years.  I have never witnessed any “problem” that could not be resolved by enforcing existing laws, and I therefore dispute the fact that a “problem” even exists.

All of the complaining homeowners either knew or should have known that there was deeded access to the lake before they bought their homes.  Their complaints now have no more merit than those who move next to an airport and complain about aircraft noise.

Lake Denton belongs to the people of the State of Florida.  The commissioners made a terrible initial decision to close the access, which rightfully should have resulted in the property reverting to the existing heir of the person who granted the access.  We are only lucky that she has not yet chosen to assert her legal claim to the property.  This is the first lawsuit the Board exposed the taxpayers to.

The second lawsuit which should be forthcoming will be to have the $25 daily fee for scuba divers declared unconstitutional.  It is ludicrous to think the County could succesfully defend a rule that charges a person nothing if they breath through a snorkle, but $25 per day if they breath through a hose connected to an air tank. 

How the County Attorney could allow the Board to take these actions is simply beyond my comprehension.

And just how many fisherman are going to wait until 8:00 a.m. to go fishing?  And how many are going to use the lake if they have to take their boats out before 5:00 p.m.?  This fine gate-locking policy is designed to do nothing more than discourage fishermen from using Lake Denton at all.  No fool is going to bake in the hot sun in the middle of the day without the opportunity to fish at dawn and dusk.

Mr. Crews made an extremely generous offer to the County and we should hope he and his family still have a mind to give up their property on one of the nicest lakes in the County in exchange for closing access to one of the least-used lakes in the County.  This exchange is the first step toward a long-term plan for Lake Denton and should be pursued with no further delay.  Even if we are not prepared to do anything further with the lake this fiscal year, we could at least secure a very valuable piece of property while giving up very little in return. 

The temporary solution is designed to restrict, prevent and discourage scuba divers, boaters and fishermen from using Lake Denton.  The City of Sebring has already greatly restricted the ability of the public to use two beautiful beaches on Lake Jackson, (primarily because of overly possessive homeowners.)

Our leaders should be looking for opportunities to expand use of the lakes, not restrict them.

"The commissioners made a terrible initial decision to close the access, which rightfully should have resulted in the property reverting to the existing heir of the person who granted the access.  We are only lucky that she has not yet chosen to assert her legal claim to the property. “

I know the lady personally. She has been critically ill, and was in the hospital for about a week. In fact, we almost lost her! 

She is recuperating slowly- her main focus is to get her health back. She hasn’t really pursued her claim due to her health crisis. But she is still around!

This lady you mention should take her land use back from the County. Let’s see what has been done here:

1. Law abiding divers are being charged a fee and penalized for access to a public lake.

2. Alleged troublemakers who hang out, skinny dip, cause trouble are given a free pass because they have no diving equipment.

3. Law enforcement issues cannot be solved by charging a fee to law abiding divers, and giving a free pass to swimmers and others looking to cause trouble.

The ad hoc advisory committee should be disbanded, and the county should vacate the boat ramp, and allow the rightful owner to have the property to dispose of as she wishes.

Either build a county park and make it legal for all users, or shut it down.

wow so much mis-information in such a small place. I would suggest you come to the meeting.

C’mon, Ray, don’t swipe and run like that.

Why don’t you enlighten those of us who can’t come to the meetings as to exactly what mis-information we are operating under?

Ray -

Not all of us who care about what’s happening in the county have the luxury of being retired, or rich enough to not have to work.  Please do tell us what we’re missing when we have to work instead of attending a meeting.

Hey Cavedweller,
I would have to agree that most of the problems are enforcement or lack of I should say of existing laws however there is a problem and there is still safety issues which have not been solved. If the lady wants to sue us so be it. You can sue a ham sandwich but it doesn’t mean you’ll win. The county was within the legal limits of law to close it for safety reasons. I also think that at some point we could get into trouble with the diver fee and I have said I was against it not just in the committee meetings but in the commissioners meetings as well.
The land swap deal with Crews is not a good deal. First off it wasn’t a true swap. He also wanted several roads paved and feel free to read his email to the committee. The land swap will never come to be and the county will never pay what some suggested the property was worth. 600k for a listed tax roll @60k is a bad deal.
The homeowners have not complained about deeded access to the lake.  Actually they feel that they have title to the lake. They just want a reasonable amount of peace and quiet. They want to be able to get to their homes. They want drug use and the sex acts to go elsewhere. They want the guys who use the restroom in the middle of the road shot at sunrise.
I would bet that you could count the people who fish this lake in any given month on one hand. In many trips to the lake over the past 2 years I can honestly say I’ve never seen one. Doesn’t mean there isn’t any but they are not plentiful.
I have seen boaters on Little Lake Bonnet and have spoken to several people fishing from the bank and I have had people who fish there call me up to tell me that. I have never had anyone tell me they fished at Lake Denton.
So in my opinion it would not be a good trade.
The eventual problem will be the overuse of the lake if we were to develop it. The clear water according to C. Ford is just one substance away from being harmed due to the grove and homeowners.  It’s a nice lake but it is just so darn little. The parking lot will help to control the number of people using the lake at any one time. The fee was supposed to offset costs associated with the attendant but it’s a bad idea and it may be scrapped soon. It was a trial balloon if you will. Everyone wanted to get the lake back open to the public asap. The gate is actually to keep late night party goers from using the ramp. I have ask Maxcy to see if he will try to get the hours changed. I really need to check the tapes because I thought it was to be opened longer than 4pm.
I agree wholeheartedly with you on one point. Law enforcement has to get involved. The lights and the gate will only keep people from driving down to the lake at night. The ramp was closed but people continued to walk down. People were there swimming on Thursday. The problem is that if the county allows this then we have to build restrooms. We have to have a lot more insurance. We have to engage in water testing. You will then have even more of the problem that started this thing. Mixing boaters, divers and swimmers in a small area at the same time is not safe. How do we make it safer? Everyone has an idea but not everyone will agree with what is to be done so nothing gets done.
The committee is open to people and I did my best to put them on TV so people could see them and we caught flak for that even thought it was a Comcast cable problem. For those who wanted to attend the meetings but couldn’t, you should try calling Don Bates. If enough private citizens wanted to come he would probably change the time. This committee allowed everyone who attended to speak as much as they wanted. It was open to all comments, good and bad.
And katlady, sorry but I’m not retired and I am anything but rich. I make time to do these things and sometimes it causes me personal problems but I feel this community is worth it.  When I fought to get the county that 186,000 dollar refund and stop the loss of 3,000 a month, it took me almost 5 years and it costs me thousands of dollars. After all that I had one person write me a thank you letter and I had one commissioner say thank you. Guy Maxcy. However, I’d do it all again tomorrow because it was the right thing to do. So sometimes we have to find a way to attend meetings. If not this one other meeting go on all the time. In 25 years of attending these things I have almost never seen a full house. You get one or 2 issues a year that will draw a crowd. Most of the time it’s the same few people watching out for the public as best they can. They don’t always agree kat but they try. Ask Jack Richie if he’d like to attend less meetings. He goes because he cares. I don’t always agree with Jack but I’ll always respect his desire to help. There are several other just like him. Yes it’s hard to attend but would people go if they could? The short answer is no. We have tried night commission meetings and no one came to them either. It’s not about being rich or retired. It’s about making the effort.
As to all the mis-information I was actually referring to the entire web but I didn’t make that clear. Some people have some very valid point. It would be really nice and extremely helpful if you could tell commissioners or committee members what you think. In case you forgot I resigned from the committee because I thought I could be more useful doing other things. I will still go to them whenever possible. I’ll make the effort.