As you know, the PLDA and the new Lake Dunlap WCID Board are working hard to secure the resources we need to fix the dam at an affordable cost. We have a tremendous opportunity to do that through the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) with a zero percent 30-year loan!! Securing funds at zero percent would greatly reduce the cost to repair the dam, as you can imagine!
We are not alone in going after these funds though — this is a very competitive and political process. We really need our community to step up right now and let the TWDB know how important this project is to our community, our economy, and our families. We are hoping to reach everyone that wants to see this project succeed to get them involved! For that, we need your help!
GBRA is the entity that would borrow the funds on our behalf, and working together with them, we have already submitted the required pre-application. The process is designed so that if the TWDB looks favorably on our project, we'll be invited to submit a full application. We need you, your family, your neighbors, and anyone else to let the TWDB know how important this project is, and that we should absolutely be invited to submit a full application.
Several Texas lakes are asking for TWDB support to upgrade their infrastructure, but our lake, Lake Dunlap, is the ONLY lake applying for funds that no longer has any functioning spillgates because the original dam failed more than a year ago on May 14, 2019.
Please help us by sending a letter and/or emails to the TWCB as a whole and/or to its members individually. We need to get hundreds of emails to them in the next week! Many of you have asked how you can help us keep this project on track, and this is a simple but very important way you can!
Clearly, a personal letter would make the most impact, but I have included one you can simply "cut and paste" below that you can use if you're busy but want to help. Just copy it, add or change whatever you like, and send it off as soon as you can. Keep in mind, letters from ANYONE can help us — these letters can be from your family, your neighbors, people you know that live in other cities. The MORE they hear from us, the BETTER!!
Pro Tip: Sending a separate email to each board member will have a greater impact than copying all of them on a single email.
Sample Email or Letter
Dear (insert a board member's name from the list below, or address it to the Texas Water Development Board as a group):
I write today to ask you to look favorably on the GBRA pre-application to apply for a zero-percent 30-year loan that would be used to restore Lake Dunlap's dam, which failed catastrophically just over a year ago. The citizens who live on this lake are not asking for a handout, but rather a LOAN.
My family and my neighbors strongly support this project, and we ask that you do as well.
Please take a good look at the pre-application, and find it in your heart to recommend that GBRA and the newly created Lake Dunlap WCID be invited to submit a full application in support of qualifying for the zero-percent loans the TWDB is considering.
Sincerely,
If you want to write a personal letter, here are some key points you might make:
1) On May 14, 2019, a catastrophic failure of one of the Dunlap dam’s spillway gates occurred, and the spillgate explosively detached from the dam. The lake subsequently dewatered within 24 hours.
2) The failure of the dam has had a devastating effect on the local and regional economy. Property values on the lake for 2020 are estimated to be down by 20% or more. Businesses whose livelihood was related to the lake or lake recreation have seen revenues plummet, and the ability of residents, their families, tourists, and visitors to enjoy and use the lake is greatly diminished.
3) The Lake Dunlap community is committed to restoring Lake Dunlap and reversing the effects of this disaster and is working in partnership with the GBRA to do so. Residents have successfully created the Lake Dunlap Water Control and Improvement District (WCID) and plan to tax themselves to fund the repairs. A zero-percent loan would make this citizen-funded project affordable. The entire State of Texas will benefit from having this important water resource returned to service, as will all the citizens who use the hydroelectric power generated, all the businesses whose livelihoods are based on the lake, and thousands of citizens in Comal and Guadalupe counties, the City of New Braunfels, and indeed this entire community.
To contact the TWDB by mail, use this address:
Director's Name (see list below)
Texas Water Development Board
P.O. BOX 13231
Austin, TX 78711
To contact the TWDB or an individual director via email
General email:
Peter Lake, Chairman
Kathleen Jackson, Director
Brooke Paup, Director
Jeff Walker, Executive Administrator
—————————
I guess that is enough for now. From us here at PLDA, we very much appreciate your support, and hope you and your families are safe and managing things as best you can. We look forward to seeing all of you again as soon as we are able. In the meantime, please know we are all still working hard to bring back our lake. We know you are busy, and hope that you can take a few moments to send a note to the members of the TWDB, and encourage your family, your neighbors, and your friends to also do so. Together, we can make this happen!
Thank you. J Harmon President PLDA jrharmon123@yahoo.com PS We're moving to a new format for our emails, and as part of that I won't be signing these any longer. Please know that I will still be involved in every communication - we've just decided to drop the signature going forward. Replies will also go where they always have gone, but via a new email address — PLDA Communications.
As you know, the PLDA and the new Lake Dunlap WCID Board are working hard to secure the resources we need to fix the dam at an affordable cost. We have a tremendous opportunity to do that through the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) with a zero percent 30-year loan!! Securing funds at zero percent would greatly reduce the cost to repair the dam, as you can imagine!
We are not alone in going after these funds though — this is a very competitive and political process. We really need our community to step up right now and let the TWDB know how important this project is to our community, our economy, and our families. We are hoping to reach everyone that wants to see this project succeed to get them involved! For that, we need your help!
GBRA is the entity that would borrow the funds on our behalf, and working together with them, we have already submitted the required pre-application. The process is designed so that if the TWDB looks favorably on our project, we'll be invited to submit a full application. We need you, your family, your neighbors, and anyone else to let the TWDB know how important this project is, and that we should absolutely be invited to submit a full application.
Several Texas lakes are asking for TWDB support to upgrade their infrastructure, but our lake, Lake Dunlap, is the ONLY lake applying for funds that no longer has any functioning spillgates because the original dam failed more than a year ago on May 14, 2019.
Please help us by sending a letter and/or emails to the TWCB as a whole and/or to its members individually. We need to get hundreds of emails to them in the next week! Many of you have asked how you can help us keep this project on track, and this is a simple but very important way you can!
Clearly, a personal letter would make the most impact, but I have included one you can simply "cut and paste" below that you can use if you're busy but want to help. Just copy it, add or change whatever you like, and send it off as soon as you can. Keep in mind, letters from ANYONE can help us — these letters can be from your family, your neighbors, people you know that live in other cities. The MORE they hear from us, the BETTER!!
Pro Tip: Sending a separate email to each board member will have a greater impact than copying all of them on a single email.
Sample Email or Letter
Dear (insert a board member's name from the list below, or address it to the Texas Water Development Board as a group):
I write today to ask you to look favorably on the GBRA pre-application to apply for a zero-percent 30-year loan that would be used to restore Lake Dunlap's dam, which failed catastrophically just over a year ago. The citizens who live on this lake are not asking for a handout, but rather a LOAN.
My family and my neighbors strongly support this project, and we ask that you do as well.
Please take a good look at the pre-application, and find it in your heart to recommend that GBRA and the newly created Lake Dunlap WCID be invited to submit a full application in support of qualifying for the zero-percent loans the TWDB is considering.
Sincerely,
If you want to write a personal letter, here are some key points you might make:
1) On May 14, 2019, a catastrophic failure of one of the Dunlap dam’s spillway gates occurred, and the spillgate explosively detached from the dam. The lake subsequently dewatered within 24 hours.
2) The failure of the dam has had a devastating effect on the local and regional economy. Property values on the lake for 2020 are estimated to be down by 20% or more. Businesses whose livelihood was related to the lake or lake recreation have seen revenues plummet, and the ability of residents, their families, tourists, and visitors to enjoy and use the lake is greatly diminished.
3) The Lake Dunlap community is committed to restoring Lake Dunlap and reversing the effects of this disaster and is working in partnership with the GBRA to do so. Residents have successfully created the Lake Dunlap Water Control and Improvement District (WCID) and plan to tax themselves to fund the repairs. A zero-percent loan would make this citizen-funded project affordable. The entire State of Texas will benefit from having this important water resource returned to service, as will all the citizens who use the hydroelectric power generated, all the businesses whose livelihoods are based on the lake, and thousands of citizens in Comal and Guadalupe counties, the City of New Braunfels, and indeed this entire community.
To contact the TWDB by mail, use this address:
Director's Name (see list below)
Texas Water Development Board
P.O. BOX 13231
Austin, TX 78711
To contact the TWDB or an individual director via email
General email:
Peter Lake, Chairman
Kathleen Jackson, Director
Brooke Paup, Director
Jeff Walker, Executive Administrator
—————————
I guess that is enough for now. From us here at PLDA, we very much appreciate your support, and hope you and your families are safe and managing things as best you can. We look forward to seeing all of you again as soon as we are able. In the meantime, please know we are all still working hard to bring back our lake. We know you are busy, and hope that you can take a few moments to send a note to the members of the TWDB, and encourage your family, your neighbors, and your friends to also do so. Together, we can make this happen!
Thank you. J Harmon President PLDA jrharmon123@yahoo.com PS We're moving to a new format for our emails, and as part of that I won't be signing these any longer. Please know that I will still be involved in every communication - we've just decided to drop the signature going forward. Replies will also go where they always have gone, but via a new email address — PLDA Communications.
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