Page 3 - The Friday Flyer • March 27, 2015

MARCH 27, 2015 THE FRIDAY FLYER A-3 Could CL lose recreational rights to lake?
BY SHARON RICE
EDITOR, THE FRIDAY FLYER
The contract for the lake lease be- tween the Canyon Lake Property Own- ers Association and Elsinore Valley Mu- nicipal Water District was back in the news this week.
In February, Canyon Lake’s Legal Counsel Scott Levine warned members at the CLPOA Board of Directors meet- ing, “EVMWD will likely begin a PR campaign or a ‘scare’ campaign . . . Don’t be fooled by EVMWD’s scare cam- paign.”
An article in The Press-Enterprise this week (March 23) started out with this statement, “Recreational activity on Canyon Lake is at risk of being shut down due to a dispute between the wa- ter district that owns the lake and the property owners association allowed to use it. If the closure takes place, nearly 11,000 residents and their guests would no longer be allowed to fish, boat, wa- ter ski or swim at the lake that stretches across 383 acres.”
Perhaps this is what Levine meant by “scare campaign?”
The article went on to state that EVM- WD officials sent a notice to the Asso- ciation last week that it is in default after failing to make a payment of $344,303 that was due March 15. EVMWD’s at- torney warned that failure to pay could lead to termination of the lease, with the possibility that members “may no lon- ger be permitted as a matter of law and public policy to make recreational use of Canyon Lake.”
The District’s action was in response to the CLPOA’s notification, sent to the District on February 18, informing EVMWD that it owed Canyon Lake more than $6 million for overcharges that the Association claims amounted to an “illegal tax.”
At that time, Levine told members the Association would put the March 15 lease payment into an escrow account while waiting for EVMWD’s response.
After getting EVMWD’s response
Look for more news stories to come out about the CLPOA vs EVMWD lake lease dispute. A Press-Enterprise story was in the paper earlier this week and the Channel 4 News van was in the Towne Center Wednesday. CLPOA Communications Specialist Tiffany Cribbs said Channel 4 was directed to speak with Canyon Lake's Legal Counsel.
last week, the CLPOA filed a lawsuit against EVMWD that seeks to clarify the rights and responsibilities of both parties should the lease terminate.
As Levine explained to members at the February and March meetings (see presentations at canyonlakepoa. com), state law prevents agencies such as water districts from imposing increases beyond the costs of the ser- vices provided or what is reasonable
for providing services. He showed the history of the lease and the costs to EVMWD of owning and maintaining the lake. He demonstrated that what Canyon Lake has been paying and will be paying, based on the current con- tract, far exceeds the “costs of services provided or what is reasonable for pro- viding services.”
Levine reminded members:

will not sit back and watch the cost of the lake escalate an an average of 8 per- cent per year compounded.
they can lose this cash cow.
dictate.
“Follow the money,” he said, “EVM- WD has $1.5 million reasons to contin- ue the current lease. Don’t be fooled by EVMWD’s ‘scare’ campaign.”

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