(Milford)– The Milford City Council Tuesday evening approved an agreement with Dickinson county regarding the Lower Gar Outlet, which will result in the county replacing some culverts with a bridge. The Board of Supervisors recently approved the agreement as well. Bill Van Orsdel of the Iowa Great Lakes Association tells KUOO news they’re thrilled with the development…
“We’ve been working on this solution for over 10 years and we want to congratulate the city of Milford and the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors for coming to an agreement for the installation of a bridge at the Lower Gar Outlet. This should minimize any chance of future flooding on the Iowa Great Lakes. We are just delighted.”
Van Orsdel says it comes after years of controversy and talking between everyone involved, stemming all the way back to 1999 following a flood threat…
“We got the city of Milford and the Board of Supervisors to agree on the installation of more culverts. That did not solve the problem. And then in 2016 there was another threat of flood and there was another culvert finally added, and then that didn’t solve the problem because they weren’t put in, installed correctly. And then in 2019 we hired the University of Iowa’s Hydrology Department to do an analysis, held public meetings and that’s when everyone came together and has now been culminated by the fact the city of Milford has voted to sign the agreement with the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors to install the bridge.”
Van Orsdel says it’s his understanding any actual construction is probably still at least a year away.
