Many residents in the Austin Bottom community of DeKalb County met with officials of the Corps of Engineers, county commission, sheriff, and county mayor Tuesday evening at the fire station there to vent their frustrations about public nuisance issues at a boat ramp in the area.
Center Hill Lake Resource Manager Kevin Salvilla took questions and comments from the group. County Mayor Tim Stribling, Sheriff Patrick Ray, County Fire Chief Donny Green, and Fourth District County Commissioners Wayne Cantrell and Jonathon Norris were also there.
While most of the residents at the meeting said they don’t want the Putco Boat Ramp (Austin Bottom Lake Boat Access Area) closed, they would like to see more law enforcement to keep undesirables out.
Complaints range from issues of illegal drug activity, public intoxication, excessive noise during the night, using the area as a camp ground, non-boaters parking on the ramp preventing access, littering the area with beer bottles, cans, etc. One person was wounded in a recent shooting there. A contributing factor is that the lake level is lower than normal due to work on the dam which exposes more beach area for patrons to congregate.
Sheriff Ray said his officers patrol the area but residents are concerned about the time it takes DeKalb County law enforcement to respond if called. Because the community is cut off from the rest of the county due to the lake, residents say it could be as much as forty five minutes to an hour before help arrives.
DeKalb County has mutual aid agreements with surrounding counties including Putnam to assist in case of emergencies.
Officials said they would take the concerns of the community into consideration and assess options for addressing the problems.
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