Fair and reasonable representation for lake residents

The Lake Byron Sewer project is needlessly creating tension among the Lake Bryon community.
Unfortunately, tensions flow from the fact that the Lake Byron Sanitary District (LBSD) is, somewhat secretly, controlled by a small group of Lake Byron residents who want others to pay for their desired sewer needs by trying to get the rest of the lake property owners to pay for the expensive costs related to such a sewer system. It’s important to note that, by all fair indications, the majority of lake property owners do NOT support the currently proposed expensive and unnecessary sewer project.
Disappointingly, however, the voice of the majority of property owners is not being considered and is essentially being ignored.
Key to the supposed sanitary sewer system concerns here is the fact that contaminants to Lake Byron are, unfortunately, from agriculture runoff and/or from water that is pumped into the lake from the James River. In fact, the project engineer who addressed a number of Lake Byron concerned citizens back in May specifically stated that installation of the proposed costly sewer system “is unlikely” to improve the quality of our lake water.

When it comes to what we would trust to be our right to vote “yes” or “no” to such a proposed taxpayer-funded project, the self-appointed Lake Byron Sanitary District trustee’s words and actions unfairly indicate that if you’re not a Lake Byron year-round registered voter you have no voice as to how you or your family’s property will be taxed.
However, even as - at best - “placeholder trustees” of the LBSD, it’s the civic responsibility of any such “trustees” to earn the trust and respect of ALL the Lake Byron property owners by fairly and objectively representing ALL the rights of lake property owners without bias and/or without making decisions based on their own (financial or personal) self-interests.
Regrettably, no such fair, transparent and objective decision-making has been undertaken here and the minority’s self-interests are controlling what appears to be essentially the ram-rodding of expensive tax-heavy sewer-related decisions here.
Folks, it should really go without saying - in what should be our free, fair and democratic society - that stinks!
As the tensions and concerns of all lake property owners has increased from and after 2015, in May of this year a group of lake property owners organized and, with unified group input, created the Lake Byron Concerned Citizens, Inc. As a group of concerned taxpaying property owners, our goal was and is to, at a minimum, hold the LBSD self-appointed trustees accountable to all property owners and have the final decisions made by ALL lake property owners – not just a chosen or self-appointed few.
That is, with an eye on reasonableness and fairness, one vote per property and the demonstrated will of the majority appropriately acted on. As such, do you support the proposed costly sewer project, or are you opposed to it? Do you also want a transparent and fair all-property vote on any such proposed sewer project? We would like to hear from you, please e-mail us at lakebyronconcernedcitizens@gmail.com

Chuck Hoffman is a director for the Lake Byron Concerned Citizens, Inc.