(Spirit Lake)– Spirit Lake city council members last evening expressed opposition to a proposal by the county to replace culverts at the Lower Gar outlet with a bridge. They contend the cities shouldn’t have to help pay for what they feel is a county project. Council members also feel Spirit Lake wouldn’t gain much from the project since it didn’t experience any lake flooding in the 1993 flood.
The current proposal calls for the county and state to pick up two-thirds of the cost with the remaining third coming from the cities. The county engineer has devised a funding formula for the cities based on population and the amount of lakeshore property they have. Under that formula, Spirit Lake would be charged the most among the cities…26,400-dollars.
The council last evening directed staff to write a letter to the county expressing their opposition.
There have been increasing calls for the culverts at the Lower Gar outlet to be replaced with a bridge based on a study that shows West Lake Okoboji drops slower than other lakes during periods of high water.
