A plan by the state’s largest utility to preserve its right to run one of the most popular lakes in the state is drawing the ire of some residents on that lake. In order to help its Bagnell Dam license renewal with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, AmerenUE has proposed limiting the number of boat docks at the Lake of the Ozarks. Ameren’s Mark Jordan says the utility is setting up impact minimization zones with limits on the minimum distance between docks. Those limits worry state Representative Tom Self of Cole Camp. Self says the move would lessen the values of some shoreline property because a dock adds to what a property is worth. Jordan says no current docks would be eliminated and the company could have chosen a much more restrictive option. Ameren regulates the lake and a thin band of shoreline around the Lake of the Ozarks.
