SWAT teams to compete at Lake Cooley

WELLFORD -- Lake Cooley will be closed to recreational users on May 16 while participants in a regional SWAT team conference compete in water-approach hostage rescue exercises.

And ESPN might televise the event, if the cable sports channel can arrange the participation of teams from major U.S. cities.

SJWD Water District commissioners on Tuesday approved a request to use the lake as a staging area for the waterborne segment of the SWAT competition.

The commissioners' unanimous vote followed a presentation by Spartanburg County jail Capt. Allen Freeman, one of the organizers of the 10th Annual Southeastern SWAT Conference and Vendor Exhibit.

"We would open it to the public, and we would welcome you to come," Freeman told SJWD commissioners. "We would have an area where you could watch."

The exercises will take place in an undeveloped area of the lake, near the dam.

Lake wardens will not allow visitors to launch boats on Lake Cooley on May 16, a Friday, while the exercises are under way. Organizers will post signs about the training event, and SJWD plans to send letters to lake residents.

About 20 SWAT teams from throughout the Southeast and possibly other parts of the nation are expected to compete in the conference, scheduled for May 14-18, Freeman said.

ESPN would expand the competition from a Southeastern event to a national event, if the Los Angeles Police Department agrees to participate, Freeman said.

If that happens, the competition would be televised as the National SWAT Team Challenge.

"At this point, we're still negotiating with ESPN," Freeman said.

In other business, water district General Manager Mike Caston said SJWD's purchase of Berry's Pond and about 250 acres along the South Tyger River is awaiting completion of the property survey.

The water district wants to acquire the property to protect the river, which is a prospective future water supply, Caston said.

"Fifty years from now, it's going to matter," Caston said.

The water district has agreed to pay $5,000 per acre or approximately $1.2 million. Caston expects to close the purchase sometime in the spring.

Diane Norman can be reached at (864) 877-3225, 574-5980 or diane.norman@shj.com.