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Published: Tuesday, Dec. 04, 2012 / Updated: Tuesday, Dec. 04, 2012 11:15 AM

Lake Wylie Marine group quiet as it gets ready for new year

LAKE WYLIE -- 

As a former member, chairman and now executive director of the Lake Wylie Marine Commission, Joe Stowe may have seen it all on the lake. Lately, he isn’t seeing much.

“This has been one of the quietest times I can remember in all the years I’ve been involved with the group,” Stowe said.

The group met last week for the final time this year. It will reconvene toward the end of January. The group tackles a variety of issues on the water from law enforcement partnerships to clean water initiatives to fielding complaints about erosion or unsafe boating. But, of late, there hasn’t been much to tackle.

Last year’s goals have largely been accomplished. Heated controversies aren’t sprouting. Chairman Terry Everhart said right now, even he’s not sure what issues will press forward in 2013.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’re going to kind of pick up and evaluate the progress we’ve made from our previous goal-setting.”

Early in the new year, commissioners will again take to the annual task of goal setting. Stowe anticipates they’ll look to revamp their clean marina certification program. There’s also the ever-present issue of sedimentation, he said, where group members “really haven’t found the answer to try to stop it.” Invasive species like hydrilla, Everhart said, won’t go away entirely, either.

Otherwise, main targets from the past year were largely met.

“We’re really kind of caught up right now,” Stowe said.

There’s also a down side to this much inactivity. Lulls make it more difficult keeping people involved in the various activities and programs impacting the lake, Stowe said. Times of high activity don’t present that problem.

“It keeps everybody interested,” Stowe said.

Everhart said meetings are expected with businesses on or near the water, even officials with the airport in Charlotte to field concerns for issues that may be important to the lake. The quiet ending to 2012 should be something appreciated by residents, he said.

“It’s been a very good year for Lake Wylie and the community,” Everhart said.