By Len Kiese - bio | email
ALBANY, GA (WALB) - Some Albany walkers could soon have to find a new place to exercise if the city and county don't agree to some homeowner's requests.
Many people walk around Lake Loretta but it's actually private property owned by area homeowners. One of them, Sam Shugart, says there are so many speeding cars and pedestrians that the area is becoming dangerous.
Maintenance and water pumping also aren't cheap. Shugart plans to ask city and county commissioners to put in speed bumps and help pay for operating costs.
"It just seems unfortunate that 99-percent of the people who use this lake use it at no cost and they're public citizens on private property. The alternative if they don't see things our way is to post it as private property and use the city police department to enforce the no trespassing law," said Shugart.
"If Sam can get consensus 100 percent from those residents, I think the city would look at it but I just don't think at this point that's likely to happen," said City Commissioner Roger Marietta.
Marietta says he hears mixed opinions from Lake Loretta homeowners and he hopes they can develop a consensus.
Shugart says it costs about $25,000 a year to maintain the lake. Currently that is paid by members and fundraisers. He says with city or county money, they could make improvements to the lake.
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