At first glance, it appears the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ was listening when about 400 local residents showed up for the October “scoping meeting” to update the Chattahoochee River basin’s water control plan.

“So far, so good,” said Dick Timmerberg, executive director of the West Point Lake Coalition.

West Point Lake - and the issues and concerns of those 400 residents - are mentioned on just about every one of the 96 pages of the initial report. The report and attached appendixes, including copies of all the written comments the corps received, are available at www.acf-wcm.com.

“The corps clearly listened well to the community surrounding West Point Lake and we appreciate their work,” said Joe Maltese, a former LaGrange assistant city manager who is now under contract with the city to follow water issues.

Maltese and Timmerberg agree, however, that just because the scoping report focused on West Point Lake, the entire process to update the water control manuals will take at least three years. What the corps does with the information it gathers remains to be seen.

“I look forward to a water control plan that will address the needs of West Point Lake and its users,” Timmerberg said.

According to the scoping report, LaGrange had 365 people at the Oct. 22 hearing, although officials here say the number could have been as high as 500 because some participants signed in as couples. A total of 1,018 people registered at the five scoping hearings throughout the basin. A total of 2,269 comments were submitted by 643 individuals, organizations and agencies during the formal scoping period, which ended Nov. 21.

Comments were divided into 12 separate categories with water management recommendations receiving the most feedback with 868 responses. Flood risk management received just nine comments.

The draft environmental impact statement for the water control plan is expected to be complete by spring of 2010 and another period allowing public comments will take place after that. The final environmental impact statement should be published in late 2011, according to the corps.