County board decides against having drain commission oversee lake levels

After months of tabling an issue involving the responsibilities of the county drain commission, members of the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners finally decided to not give drain commissioner Charles Lyon the authority to oversee the lake levels of Grand Lake, Lake Esau, and Lake Emma. During the discussion period of last Friday?s meeting, county commissioner Stephen Lang said he did not want to see the county add another level of ?bureaucracy.? All three lakes have levels established in Presque Isle County Circuit Court. Lyon had reported to the board at previous meetings this year that the county drain commissioner is usually the person designated by the board of commissioners to administer water control structures to maintain court-ordered lake levels. He said there are only a couple of counties that have gone against the recommendations of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

?PART 307 of the Natural Resource Environmental Act, specifically recommends that the county drain commissioner be the delegated authority for controlling court-ordered lake levels,? said Lyon. ?That is assumed to be the practice of the MDEQ.? Lyon delivered two reports to the board earlier this year, outlining the issues on the three lakes. Of most immediate concern is the Lake Emma dam, which is need of repairs and maintenance. The last inspection nine years ago listed the dam in ?very poor condition.? The Grand Lake dam was listed in good shape in 1997. The PI Road Commission has maintained that water level with moveable boards. Lake Esau has several issues, as the Lafarge-Madenberg drain needs to be cleaned. Lyon suggested the establishment of a special assessment district to cover the maintenance costs. This will not be a great expense, but there are concerns among elected officials and residents about what will happen if Lafarge North America stops pumping water into the drain, as the water from the Presque Isle Quarry maintains the water level. If Lake Esau residents have to pay to keep the shoreline near their lakefront properties, there could be a tremendous expense.

?THE PROBLEM is going to be the lake years down the road,? said Lang. ?When that quarry finishes, and that water is no longer available by them through electricity and pumps, those owners in that special assessment district are going to be responsible to maintain that level.? Lang said the county could be better served by a board of individuals from the area, which would set the boundaries of the assess

ment district and oversee the lake levels. In Lyon?s initial proposal for an assessment district, he included property further away from Lake Esau. Some parcels were closer to Lake Huron than Lake Esau. Lang had a concern about adding these people to a special assessment district. ?Those same people, sometime in the future, when they start needing to pay out $100 or $200 ? just for pumping water, finding water, drilling for water, doing whatever it takes to maintain that level ? could just as easily petition the court to remove that legal lake level,? he said. ?Why establish something that isn?t needed right now??

SCHELL SAID inspections of dams at Lake Emma and Grand Lake could be handled by the county. ?I have not received anything official from the county board,? said Lyon, when asked to comment on the decision. ?My feeling is that until you come out and tell the people, they often do not realize or understand the issues. I spent a considerable amount of time doing the research, and now I have brought forth those issues concerning the three court-ordered lake levels in the county.? ?Now the county board has the responsibility to address them. My office is willing to cooperate if asked. My job as an elected official is to plan for a future event, not wait until an event occurs, and then say ?now what??? Events could be a flood or a wash out, if a dam breaks. ?New Orleans never thought that their city would be flooded either,? said Lyon. ?They never had a plan either.?