Supervisors finalize Lower Gar agreement: Proposal to reach Milford City Council early next week

The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors hopes to finalize an agreement with the Milford City Council regarding culverts at the Lower Gar weir site in the near future.
(Photo submitted)

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-Supervisor Wayne Northey

The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors once again looked into the possibility of an agreement with the Milford City Council regarding box culvert construction at the weir site of the Lower Gar Outlet.

Assistant County Attorney Lonnie Saunders presented a revised legal agreement Tuesday for approval by the board. With county support, the plan will go before the Milford City Council at their next regularly scheduled meeting Monday, April 26.

Saunders noted major changes in specifications for work planned at the outlet, as well as a change in provisions in case emergency conditions cause a shift in construction procedures.

He also made mention of ongoing differences between the city and county about who is responsible for losses -- or indemnification -- if the manipulation of water levels causes damage. The board of supervisor's proposal drafted by Saunders differs from one by the City of Milford and Milford City Attorney David Stein Jr.

"I don't think there's any substantial issues coming down the road, either upstream or downstream, I don't see any liability there," Saunders said. "But, we're both hung up on this language."

Saunder's draft currently references payments of any judgments or court-ordered costs as a result of changes made at the site. Stein's language proposes county liability for all resulting legal costs, including lawsuits with or without merit.

Milford Mayor Don Lamb and MIlford City Administrator Matt Skaret were also present at the meeting.

"We're willing to take the agreement back to the council," Lamb said, but he also expressed tensions of his citizens after March's "breaching fiasco."

"Nobody wants to see a flood, but they also don't want to see low water," he said.

Supervisor Wayne Northey expressed his ongoing sentiment for shared maintenance of the roadway by both the county and the city. Northey ultimately hopes to see the issue reach resolution in the near future.

"(Let's) try to agree locally (to) what is the best approach," Northey said, noting a risk for an outside entity to exercise its right to make an emergency decision for the entire community, if local governing bodies fail to reach an agreement.

"Hopefully by Monday night, we'll have made great progress toward that," Northey said. "If both of us want to get this resolved, we'll get this resolved."

Supervisor Paul Johnson made the recommendation to move Saunder's draft forward to Stein.

Other items discussed during the April 20 meeting included the possibility for Dickinson County to rejoin their participation in Flood Plain Management. Supervisors heard a presentation by David Kohlhaase, Dickinson County zoning administrator, and Bill Cappuccio with DNR Flood Plain Management regarding the process of re-entry into the program. The Supervisors did not take formal action, but gave approval to Kohlhaase to continue looking into re-enrollment.

Also on the agenda was a discussion of the lease agreement with the Pride Group for their current usage of Oak Haven facilities. No motions were made regarding action to continue or disband the lease agreement, but board members weighed in on their individual sentiment regarding potential long-term lease agreements, asking the Pride Group to prepare a series of potential agreements for review by the supervisors at an upcoming meeting.