Lake Manassas Work Session

I went to the Lake Manassas work session last night to check it out. The meeting went well. It included the City of Manassas Council, the Mayor, the Chief of Police, Public Works officials, VDGIF representative John Odenkirk and a host of around 75-80 others. In the crowd were quite a few fisherman. Some I knew and some I didn't. Charlie Taylor (sports writer) and Rob Grike (CBANV) were a couple that I did know and chatted with briefly. This was an outstanding showing for our sport and to show that we mean business when it comes to opening Lake Manassas back up to the public. However, the City Council mentioned upfront that this would be a work session and NO comment from the public that attended would be allowed.Anyway, the meeting opened with Mike Moon from Public Works giving a history of what had happened to close the Lake in 1999 and the process that led them to working with VDGIF on this new venture. He also explained the work that has been done so far and what he/VDGIF propose. The proposal goes something like this.Brookfield Homes at Saranac on Glenkirk Road has a 20 acre parcel of waterfront land they want to donate to the state. It lays just east of the dam. If this happens, it would fall into the hands of VDGIF and be the new access to the lake. They would contract with someone to open and run a concession /ramp much like Lake Brittle or the old marina at Lake Manassas. This would leave City of Manassas pretty much out of the picture, but they would have to monitor water quality, put in dam protection , etc. (They are still a little concerned about the Zebra Mussel thing, so monitoring boat livewell water brought in from surrounding areas would be an issue.)So, without a total commitment on their part, the City Council moved that the process, meetings, details, investigation into possible problems, etc. between the landowner (Brookfield Homes), the City and VDGIF continue and hopefully within a couple of years (by John Odenkirk's estimation) we would again be allowed on the lake.This is only Step 1 folks. If I hear of anything else on this, I will be sure to post it.