Brig. Gen. Joseph Schroedel of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has responded to a scathing letter from Jeff Brown.

Brown, chairman of the West Point Lake Advisory Committee, sent a letter to Schroedel on Dec. 1 calling the general’s decision to lower the lake to 628 feet above mean sea level during winter had him “more disappointed in you than with any other officer within the Corps with whom I have had dealings regarding West Point Lake since I’ve been actively involved starting in the early 1990s.”

Schroedel’s response was faxed to Brown on Friday and arrived via regular mail Monday. A copy also was sent to the Daily News.

Schrodel said the corps has “flexibility” to change operations if conditions warrant.

“Under our current drought operations plan, we have the flexibility for temporary changes to the amount and timing of storage at West Point Lake,” he said. “We will continue to monitor both short and long-term rainfall forecasts and evaluate the need and potential for temporary variances to the winter pool. If conditions warrant, we will adjust the refill schedule accordingly. We believe that this approach to managing West Point Lake is the right one for these circumstances.”

Brown, who made 13 separate points in his letter, said Monday he was disappointed with Schroedel’s response.

“I don’t think he answered most of the points I brought up,” Brown said.

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@lagrange-news.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.