By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Disagreements on the permit fee to build structures on the Bowie Reservoir side of Lake Amon G. Carter led to the defeat of an ordinance that would have allowed docks, piers, boathouses and walkways.
The Bowie City Council could not come to an agreement but it was the building permit fee that was the stickler.
City Manager Bert Cunningham offered the proposal back in June that would lift the present restrictions on structures on the newer side of the lake. Plans would have to be submitted to the city for review and construction requires a permit that carried a fee of $10,000. The new structure once built also would have to pass inspection by the city code staff.
The city manager said the permit fees would be placed in a restricted account that would be used to remove any structures that fall into disrepair or cause safety issues, as well as not meeting the ordinance building requirements.
Cunningham told the council this would eliminate some of the problems the city encountered years ago on the other side of the lake, where it had no authority to police structures. Violations of the ordinance may carry up to a $2,000 fine.

Read the full story in the mid-week Bowie News.