RE: Mon Com Meeting of August 23, 2006
Duane Nichols, President of the Cheat Lake Environment and
Recreation Association, presented the Commission with an overview of the
Triennial Review process for the Cheat Lake Park and
Trail. This process was initiated in February of this
year. A public hearing was held on March 29th at the Cheat Lake Fire Hall
and written comments were received by Allegheny Energy. On June
29th, Allegheny Energy submitted a Final Report on this review to the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC.
FERC advertised a 30 day comment period on the Final Report, to end
on August 28th. Duane Nichols requested that the Monongalia County
Commission submit a letter to FERC to (1) acknowledge receipt of the Final
Report, (2) indicate support for the efforts of CLEAR, the Greenspace Coalition,
and others to expand the recreation and safety activities of the Park and Trail
system, (3) support the interconnection of the Cheat Lake Trail with the Mon
River Trail System and the Sheepskin Trail to extend past Uniontown into Western
Pennsylvania, and (4) to support the activation of the Cheat Lake Advisory
Committee as an entity to coordinate advice and support for future projects
involving recreation, safety, and security, both on and around Cheat
Lake.
The Commission approved a motion to provide this input to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at this time. CLEAR is working with
other not-for-profit groups to achieve these and other goals, although limited
funds have been available to support these activities. Greg Good of the
Greenspace Coalition also spoke to the Monongalia County Commission in support
of these efforts to expand recreation for the Cheat Lake area, with appropriate
attention to safety and security.
Duane Nichols, CLEAR