(Spirit Lake)– Meeting as the board of trustees of Drainage District 22, the Spirit Lake City Council Monday awarded a total of 23,500-dollars in damages to two land owners who claimed their land was damaged as improvements to the system were being made between Spirit Lake and Okoboji over the last two years. Nearly six thousand of the amount will be witheld from the final payment to the contractor for what council members say was negligence on his part. The rest of the money will come from the drainage district’s general fund.
The council denied one request for damages that did not contain a dollar amount; and they took no action on a letter from owners of the Great Lakes Mall requesting the district install a guard rail along the west side of its parking lot, adjacent to a detention pond.
The awards made Monday are in addition to previous damages awarded to some of the same property owners for damage to rights-of-way on their land.
Monday’s was the final hearing to consider damages. Anyone unhappy with what they received or didn’t receive can file an appeal with the County Auditor within 20 days.
Greg Owen, an attorney representing the city on drainage issues, says another set of hearings is about to get underway as assessments are determined. He says landowners will be able to contest the assessments and how they were arrived at.
Dates for those hearings haven’t been set yet.
