History of Newton Lake

The NLA Board has recently become aware of a posting on social media of a document entitled Newton Lake Community Page - "The History of Newton Lake - Part Eleven". We believe that this document contains both unfair and inaccurate representations of the NLA Boards motives and decisions. Below you will find our response: To the membership of the Newton Lake Association From the NLA Board of Directors The mission of the NLA, enacted by its elected 12 member Board of Directors, is to optimize both the ecology (e.g. attempting to eliminate the introduction of invasive species through education and guidance regarding boat washing and fertilizer usage, preventing erosion of the shoreline by restricting large wake generation boating activities) as well as lake safety (e.g. boating regulations including lake closure during periods of elevated lake levels). Although all Board decisions are not unanimously agreed upon by either the Board, or by the membership as a whole, they are nonetheless made under the guidance of this mission in consideration of the welfare of the NLA membership as a whole. The Board welcomes any concern expressed by any member regarding any decision that appears to deviate from this mission. Ideally, these concerns would be expressed either by email (https://www.newton-lake.com/contact-us) or by attendance at our monthly meetings to allow us to fairly and accurately address these concerns in a public forum. In this aforementioned spirit of fairness and accuracy, the Board feels compelled to address two of the misrepresentations contained on the recent Newton Lake Community Page - "The History of Newton Lake - Part Eleven" In an attempt to be concise and as brief as possible, we would like to address the suggestion that the Board has intentionally or unintentionally done anything that would adversely affect either 1) property values, or 2) interference with deeded lake rights. Regarding property values, we believe these are largely determined by market forces and by how well individual property owners maintain their properties. We are unaware of any Board actions that would adversely impact property values nor are any examples provided. Regarding deeded lake rights, the Board has no authority, and has never attempted to exercise authority over deeded access to the lake, a.k.a. Riparian rights.The Board does however, have the authority to establish and enforce rules on the lake in order to fulfill its safety mission which is the issue underlying recent legal actions. As mentioned at the monthly meeting last Saturday, this situation is analogous to driving on 247. We all have a right to access 247, but none of us has the right to drive 100 mph on it. We hope that this response will serve to promote the confidence of the NLA membership that the Board's decisions are guided by altruistic motives on behalf of all of us who love and benefit from Newton Lake. Respectfully, NLA Board of Directors