Drain commissioner seeks input on establishing assessment district boundaries
Presque Isle County drain commissioner Charles Lyon met with Lake Esau property owners Tuesday at the Presque Isle Harbor Association Clubhouse to explain a proposal to establish a special assessment to build up a ?drain fund? to pay for the maintenance cost of an open drain between Lafarge North America property and Lake Esau. Lyon told the 35 people that attended the meeting that in 1984 the Circuit Court ordered the establishment of a special assessment district to cover all costs of construction and maintenance of facilities necessary to supply and carry water. Lyon said that was never completed.
As part of a 22-year agreement, Lafarge agreed to pump water into the drain, which maintains Lake Esau?s water level. The court order states that the lake level be set at 597 feet.
IN JULY 1984, members of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners passed a motion to accept the agreement with Presque Isle Corporation to supply water, and that the county would provide the transport of the water to Lake Esau. Lyon said steps were taken in 1982 by Lake Esau property owners to establish a legal lake level. ?A lake level was established and an assessment district was to be established,? he said. ?The drain commissioner was directed by the county board of commissioners to do that very thing, and it was never done.? Lyon said he was seeking input from property owners about the boundaries of a proposed assessment district. There are approximately 487 parcels of property around the lake that could be subject to inclusion in the assessment.
From April 1 through November 1, approximately 2.2 million gallons of water are pumped to the lake daily. The water is carried though the 3,100-foot long drain across two parcels before reaching the lake. The agreement between Lafarge and the county is that either party can terminate the agreement within 60 days notice of the anniversary date of the agreement. ?That puts the county in a bind, in a way,? Lyon told the audience, ?because the county directed the court to establish a lake level, which the court did. So now, the county is responsible to maintain that level, however they do it.?
THE DRAIN that the county owns is in pretty good shape, said Lyon. ?There are a couple of spots that is showing a lot of cattail growth, that might be holding some water back.? Lafarge cleaned their portion of the drain in 2002. ?I am anticipating within the next five to eight years, it is going to need some work,? said Lyon. ?It is going to need an excavator to come in there or a backhoe. When that is done, who is going to pay the bill? That is where the assessment district comes in,? said Lyon. He said there are about 487 parcels that could be affected. ?That is where you can help,? he said, ?to help set the boundaries. I need some input on that. ?When an assessment district is established, it is based on what we call the principal of benefits derived. So, who is deriving benefits from Lake Esau??
Lyon said the drain fund would be designated specifically for maintenance. He does not anticipate an engineering study or administrative fees. Lyon proposes a $5,000 cap on the fund, which would cost property owners about $1 a year, but further concerns about the cost of the pumping operation raise further questions about the cost to taxpayers, because there is no guarantee that Lafarge will continue pumping the water from their quarry.
LYON SENT a letter to Lafarge to ask several questions. ?My first question was: Is there any foreseeable possibility that Lafarge North America will not continue to supply water for Lake Esau, as per the agreement? Yes, there is always the possibility,? said Lyon, reading the response from the company. His second question was about the possible interruption of water due to changes in mining operations. A company official said there could be some changes in the near future ?and there may be a temporary shutdown of water.? Lyon also asked Lafarge if the county would be informed prior to the interruption. The answer was ?yes.? ?How long could this interruption be? Unknown,? said Lyon. ?It could be for a whole summer, it could be for two years, it could be for a fraction of the summer.? A third question asked if there was the possibility of the company asking for cost sharing of the pumping operation. He said the answer was ?yes.? Presque Isle Township supervisor Pete Pettalia said a cautious approach needs to be
District 5 commissioner Stephen Lang said he would represent the county and recommended Pettalia be appointed as well. Lyon would like to conduct a hearing in a year. Lang also wants to take a cautious approach to ensure the situation is set up properly. He does not think that occurred two decades ago.
?It should have been done differently a long time ago,? he said. ?Now we are going to have to play catch-up game and try to figure out how we are going to unravel this puzzle and put it back together correctly.?