(Spirit Lake)– After being dorman the past couple of months, the Lower Gar outlet issue was resurrected at Tuesday’s meeting of the Dickinson county board of supervisors.
Supervisor Mardi Allen requested the item be placed on the agenda, saying it was vital the supervisors reach a concensus over what should be done with the structure.
At issue were two motions the supervisors had made previously and whether or not they should be rescinded. One of those was approved by the supervisors on April 24th, 2007. It was to install three additional culverts. The other was on February 17th of this year. It was to hire the Jacobson-Westergard engineering firm to draw up plans for the project.
Following a discussion that went on for nearly two hours today (Tues.), the supervisors voted four-to-nothing to have the county engineer draw up plans for a project that would in effect maintain the existing outflow, but increase it once water levels reach a height that’s six inches over the weir. Supervisor Paul Johnson abstained, saying he was concerned the motion contradicts the one made on April 24th, 2007.
A motion was then made and passed unanimously to rescind the February 17th, 2009 motion to hire Jacobson-Westergard to draw up plans for the proposed project.
County Engineer Dan Eckert said he has no doubt his office can complete the plans now that the project has been pushed back, adding quote “It’s a straight forward project, other than the politics of it”…unquote.
Any construction likely wouldn’t get underway until atleast the next fiscal year due to budget constraints.
