(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson county board of supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to proceed with an engineering study on a drainage improvement project proposed for the East Okoboji Beach subdivision.
John Kruse, President of the East Okoboji Beach Association, requested the project be funded by extending the life of a Tax Increment Finance District already in place in that area for a sanitary sewer project, which will be paid off in another year-and-a-half or so.
The cost of the engineering study, which will include some low impact development components, is not to exceed 32,775-dollars.
The supervisors also Tuesday set July 24th as the date for a public hearing and bidletting on a road improvement project in the Shore Acres subdivision on the northwest side of Big Spirit Lake…also being funded through tax increment financing.
And on somewhat of a related note, the supervisors also Tuesday held a public hearing on a proposal to issue 800-thousand dollars in general obligation bonds that will help fund the start-up of the project in the Shore Acres area as well as another tax increment-financed project in West Sioux Estates on the Little Sioux River. The bond will be re-paid once revenue from the TIF districts starts coming in.
And on a split vote, the supervisors approved a request of 15-thousand dollars for administrative services for the Lakes Area Community Land Trust. The money will come from funds earmarked for low and moderate income housing projects derived from the various tax increment finance districts in place in the county.
The vote was three-to-two, with supervisors David Gottsche and Paul Johnson casting the no votes. Johnson said he doesn’t think it’s right to “use county funds to address city projects”. Supervisor Pam Jordan differed, saying it’s the county’s responsibility to help provide housing for low to moderate income residents, and that the Lakes Area Community Land Trust is a way of helping to do that.
