GAINESVILLE — There will be a social hour, with heavy hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar, but also some serious talk about the many pressing issues facing Lake Lanier at the Gainesville-based Lake Lanier Association’s annual meeting Saturday.

Val Perry, the group’s president, will follow the presentation with a short question-and-answer period during the meeting at Port Royale Marina in northeastern Forsyth County.

One key topic for the group is abandoned vessels and docks.

“That’s very expensive and we’re trying to get the [U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] to put some money in their budget for this,” Perry said. “We’re working together on that and I think it’s going to come to fruition.”

The association has worked in the last year to remove “some very big, ugly houseboats off the lake,” he said.

Another big issue is Florida’s lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court claiming Georgia’s water consumption in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin, which includes Lake Lanier, is hurting its oyster industry in the Apalachicola Bay.

“We’re watching the lawsuit. We’re not in it,” Perry said.

The association also is involved in a riprap program.

“If you look at the islands in the lake [over time] ... you’ll see they’re really eroding,” Perry said. “They have become an eyesore and a hazard.”

The group is looking at raising money over the next several years to put riprap — rock used to protect shorelines — around “as many islands as we can,” he said.

Perry also will update members — and others, as the event is open to the public — on the association’s efforts to install lights atop hazard markers around the lake.

The group has hired a company to check monthly on lights and replace them as needed, he said.
Overall, “we’ve had a great year,” Perry said. “The solar lights have been great and we’ve made a lot of advancements in some other things.”

His talk will take place during the meeting’s second hour, the business portion.

“It’s not going to be real lengthy and we’re going to refer people to more detail in our newsletter,” said Joanna Cloud, the group’s executive director.

Retired meteorologist Ken Cook will be the event’s featured speaker, she said.

In addition, “we will be giving ... a current financial overview of our association,” Cloud said.

Cook, Cloud and Perry are all Forsyth County residents.

The first hour of the meeting will be a social hour and lake vendor expo.
Door prize tickets will be handed out until 4:30 p.m. The Lanier Crappie Anglers Club is providing the hors d’oeuvres.

Iced tea, lemonade and bottled water will be free.

Those attending the event by boat are asked to park at courtesy docks past the fuel areas and walk up to the main parking lot. A golf cart will serve as the shuttle service.

After the meeting there will be live music, food and drinks, at Pelican Pete’s restaurant on the water.