By CHRIS HARRIS, CJ Staff Writer
It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy — or so say the famous song lyrics from “Porgy and Bess.” In Burnside, it’s anything but.
A lake lowered 40 feet below normal summer pool is affecting life on “the only town on Lake Cumberland” for the third year in a row — and it’s showing up in the city’s budget. When the Burnside City Council passed the 2009-10 fiscal year budget which takes effect this month, a town which had seen its coffers swell to record riches last year saw it drop this time, from $1,644,000 to $1,576,621.45.
The culprit is obvious: The economy, one which claims its lifeblood as the lake and its visitors. This is glaringly obvious when staring at the budget itself. The Burnside Tourism Commission, directly funded by the food tax, for instance, has a budget of $165,000 in 2009-10 — over $20,000 less than in the current budget. The Burnside Police Department, funded by the alcohol tax, sits at $356,459 in the new budget, down almost $30,000.
Fewer lakegoers, scared off by the threat of scant shoreline, means fewer dollars coming into the community’s businesses. This means a wrench thrown into the astronomic economic growth Burnside had been experiencing over the last few years.
Burnside Mayor Chuck Fourman isn’t worried, however — even though he’s not only charged with overseeing a tourist town, but owns a lodging business for those very visitors, Villager Resort.
“I think it’s going to come back a little bit,” said Fourman of the local lake-based economy. “Everybody’s finding out that the lake is still there.”
Indeed, the lowered Lake Cumberland is something it has taken boaters, swimmers, and fisherman a while to get used to — and the fact that the problem was still fresh last year shaped this year’s tighter financial picture. Fourman is optimistic that those who were apprehensive are starting to come back, which means a buoy for Burnside’s budget.
“Word is getting out that the lake is no problem,” said Fourman, who noted that Burnside’s major boat ramps, in Waitsboro and General Burnside Island, are still seeing a lot of traffic.
Fourman credits this in large part to the efforts of the city’s Tourism Commission, which have been traveling to boat shows across the region, spreading the gospel of Lake Cumberland and informing water-lovers that there’s still plenty of lake left to enjoy.
“I told one guy who said the water is down, ‘If you can’t have a good time in 37,000 acres of lake, you need to go to the ocean,”” said Fourman.
He added, “I think the tourism commission has done a good job of bringing people in this summer.”
One big attraction has been shuttle service at Burnside boat ramps, one function of the tourism commission. Fourman says the convenience — especially at Burnside Island, where one major parking lot near the entrance is a good distance away from the ramps — has made a real impression on visitors.
“That has been a major thing for guests coming to town,” said Fourman. “We’ve heard a lot of good feedback.”
Fourman also noted the value the tourism commission gets out of the boat show trips. Councilor Ron Jones voiced concern when the budget was passed in June that Burnside was spending too much to attend these functions, figuring that since there was a $20,000 line item in the budget which covers travel, including meals and registration, that it meant the volunteer tourism board was spending $5,000 per trip (based on attendance at four boat shows), and said that he had learned the Somerset-Pulaski County Convention & Visitors Bureau was able to attend similar events to promote the area for around $2,100 per trip. Jones wondered if the board could find some way to be more cost-efficient in these trips.
However, Fourman pointed to the actual numbers from the Burnside Tourism Commission’s boat show promotional visits, which actually cost the city only half of that $5,000 projected figure. The most expensive trip was to Indianapolis, with a total cost of $2,917. Louisville’s boat show ran Burnside $2,770, Cincinnati’s cost $2,561, and Columbus, Ohio only $1,585.
Better yet, the plan to hire part-time help should alleviate some of the stress and costs on the tourism commission, said Fourman. The board has settled on Johnda Barker from Rockcastle County. She’s served as tourism director for Ashland, Ky., and had the most experience of all the applicants for the position, according to tourism board member Dona Howard. The board must approve Barker for the job at the July meeting on Monday.
Something else Fourman thinks will help is a cleaner lake. He says he’s discussed with the U.S. Corps of Engineers the possibility of using “The PRIDE of the Cumberland,” a work boat which cleans debris from the lake, more frequently and possibly every day.
“I’ll give the Corps of Engineers some credit. They’ve put extra time into collecting debris on the banks so the lake will be cleaner even when it does come up to normal pool (and) they’re doing a good job of that right now,” said Fourman. “I’d like to have more meetings to see if we can get more money to keep the ‘PRIDE’ going more often. I think that would help bring visitors back.”
All of this may lead to an even sunnier summer when Burnside sets its 2010-2011 budget next June.
“I think we’ll be up a little bit this year,” said Fourman of the community’s economic outlook. “I don’t think we’ll set records, but I think we’ll improve the budget this year. I’m not ignoring the hardships of a couple of marinas that got hit hard (by the lake issues).
“When the lake went down (in 2007), we had high gas prices. Then gas prices are good, and the (poor) economy kicks in. I think it will start coming back.”
