Assessment district recommended for Lake Emma to pay for fees and repairs

A Presque Isle County dam listed in poor condition during the last inspection in 1997 needs immediate attention, according to county drain commissioner Charles Lyon. A court-ordered lake level of 800.7 feet above sea level was established for Lake Emma in November 1949, but there has been no mechanism to regulate the water level or to maintain the structure ? issues that will have to be dealt with in the near future, Lyon believes. In the drain commissioner?s 2005 annual report to the county board of commissioners, he stated that the Lake Emma dam was given a ?very poor? rating during the December 1997 inspection and that ?consideration should be given to replacing this structure.?

Engineering and construction of the dam took place in 1948 and 1949, with the structure finally being completed in 1950 at a cost of $6,000. Lake Emma has a public access, and along with having lakefront property owners, the lake is enjoyed by anglers.

ORIGINALLY, TO control flooding and the lake level, the dam was designed to have boards constructed into the spillway. The boards would be removed when the water was above the court order, and go back in when the level went below the mark. For several decades, area property owners have altered the dam?s spillway, because of disagreements about the lake level. Lyon said property owners took matters into their own hands. When the lake got too high, ?Some people went down and knocked out chunks of the spillway to let more water out so they had more lake frontage. Other property owners would say ?the lake level is going down?, so they would go down and find there is a hole in it, so they would cement it back up again.? The dam is located on private property and the downstate owner was getting upset with people trespassing onto his property.

?THAT IS WHY the ability to remove and replace certain size boards is necessary, but that aspect of the dam was eventually removed and modified to have a permanent wall so there was no ability to put boards in or out,? said Lyon. ?That is when people started going down and knocking some of the cement out, so they had a lot of problems.? The cost to renovate or replace the spillway could be anywhere from 10 to 15 times the original cost of construction. Along with newly instituted fees from the state, which include an annual $325 fee on each dam in the state, an inspection is mandated every three years. The last dam inspection in 1997 cost $500. ?Who is going to pay that bill?? Lyon asked. An assessment district was never established, however it was recommended at the time of construction, but there is no record of any easements being granted, Lyon stated in his report. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recognizes the drain commissioner as the county delegated administrative authority, but Lyon was still waiting for the county to make that official. An agenda item at the April 12 meeting to give Lyon authorization was tabled until next month. ?I really cannot proceed with anything definitive until I am given authorization,? said Lyon. ?Down the road we are looking at establishing an assessment district. That would be the normal procedure.? He said the property owners all should have a little money going into a fund for fees and maintenance.

THE BERM is in good shape, although some trees growing out of it need to be removed because these are areas where water can get through and create added erosion problems. ?If that were to continue to wash out, you would have an eroded berm, and that water is gone. The real is concern is not so much the loss of the water, that can be restored, but it is the damage down stream.? The drain commissioner is

also looking at addressing issues at Rainy Lake, Lake Esau, and Grand Lake. In regard to Rainy Lake, Lyon has been working with the Rainy Lake Association and the DNR in an attempt to facilitate a resolution to the conflicting issues regarding Rainy Lake and the Rainy River flooding/dam. Lake Esau is maintained by pumping water into the lake from the Lafarge Corporation Presque Isle quarry sediment ponds. The approximate 3,100 foot open drain begins on the Lafarge property crosses two other properties in Lake Esau and carries approximately 2.2 million gallons of pumped water per day from April 1 through November 1.

Lafarge management has indicated that the cost of pump and pipe maintenance is costly and may need some compensation in the future. Lyon said the county board of commissioners directed the establishment of an assessment district in 1984, but it was never done. At Grand Lake, the dam has not been inspected since 1997. The last report indicated it was in ?very good condition.? The road commission was given administrative control of the lake level and has assumed the inspection fee and maintenance costs. Lyon said an assessment district was never established to pay these expenses. Lyon told the board he will keep them updated on the status of issues that need immediate attention, such as the Lake Emma dam, and other issues as they make plans and decision that impact thee growth and development in Presque Isle County.

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