(Spirit Lake)– Controversy over a proposal by Dickinson county to increase the outflow at the Lower Gar outlet overflowed at today’s (Tues.) board of supervisors meeting.
The spat reached a new level as the supervisors considered engineering proposals for the project from outside firms. County Engineer Dan Eckert several weeks ago suggested an outside firm be hired to oversee the project, saying his staff will be too busy with other projects.
Upon reviewing the proposals this (Tues.) morning, Supervisor Mardi Allen said she was having second thoughts about having an outside firm overseeing such a controversial project. She says communication would be better with the engineering being done in-house in the event “controversy starts to get overwhelming”.
Rich Meyer, an advocate for the project, expressed concern over an outside firm overseeing the project, saying it could lead to additional technicalities and delays in getting the work done. He says time is of the essence with more and more valuable West Okoboji shoreline washing into the lake.
Discussion then turned to a possible compromise that would change the level of the culvert to be installed. While plans for such a proposal were presented to Milford officials by outside sources, City Administrator Brian Reed said he never presented the matter to the city council, because he never officially received anything from the county.
The city of Milford has partial jurisdiction over the road being affected. City officials have been steadfastly opposed to the project for years, and have hinted at the possibility of filing an injunction against the county to stop its plans.
But it’s not just the city of Milford that’s opposed. Residents on Lower Gar and East Lake Okoboji are concerned it would make their already shallow lakes even more so. One man who spoke at today’s (Tues.) meeting said a vast majority of people living north of the Narrows on East Lake Okoboji are also opposed.
Supervisor Wayne Northey again expressed frustration over the inability to reach a compromise. He says his previous idea to raise the dam six inches and put in additional culverts also hasn’t gone anywhere. Northey added…quote…”We don’t want to stand millions of dollars of loss on these lakes”…unquote.
The supervisors then voted four-to-nothing to approve an engineering proposal from Jacobson/Westergard in the amount of 10.9 percent of the construction cost, not to exceed 50-thousand dollars. Supervisor Chairman David Gottsche didn’t vote.
Plans for the project are to be ready by June 16th with a bidletting July 14th. Completion is scheduled for spring of 2010, barring any extenuating circumstances.
