Commissioners continue discussing Lake Emma Dam
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
The Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners continued its discussion of the Lake Emma Dam Wednesday evening. Prosecuting attorney Rick Steiger contacted Mr. White, an attorney he used to work for, inquiring about attorneys who specialize in the area necessary for the dam issue.
Upon contacting White, Steiger learned White did work in that area of the law and he was able to get the names of a few other attorneys working in that area of the law, an area Steiger doesn?t feel totally comfortable with.
Steiger then received a letter from White explaining parts of the statute to him, which he shared with the commissioners Wednesday.
The issue that has the process slowed for the board is that it is still unknown who is responsible for fixing the dam, the property owner or the county. The county cannot do an assessment district to pay for the dam repairs if the dam remains on private property.
Before the commissioners are willing to go forward with acquiring the property and striking a deal with the property owners they wanted to be sure that they were indeed the ones responsible for having the dam fixed. Steiger took the first step in that process by making phone calls.
?I would like to see something done. We are trying to stay on top of it and do what needs to be done to have this issue fixed,? said chairman of the board Carl Altman. Steiger also informed the board of the fact that drain commissioner Charles Lyon has also been in contact with an attorney he feels comfortable working with in regards to the problem at Lake Emma. ?I feel comfortable working with Mr. White and he is comfortable with the gentleman he has been in contact with,? said Steiger.
Steiger then suggested that Altman come in and he and Steiger call both attorneys and speak with them, allowing Altman the opportunity to make a decision on which he would like to work with moving forward. Neither attorney is willing to render an opinion on who is responsible for repairs to the dam until the county engages with them and is willing to pay them. Altman will work with Steiger to set up a day and time to make phone calls with him and they hope to have a recommendation by the Sept. 8 evening meeting.
IN OTHER COUNTY BOARD NEWS: ? The commissioners waived the bid process twice and accepted a bid from one company or individual. The garage doors at the sheriff?s department are in need of repair and a bid was received from Overhead Door of Alpena. The project was not and will not be advertised for bids. Commissioner Mike Darga felt several times this year the board has advertised for bids and gotten only one bid and doing so in this situation would just slow the process. The commissioners first waived the bid process and then approved the bid with a cost of $7,078, money to come from the forfeiture auction held this spring.
The commissioners also waived the bid process and accepted a bid of $655 for the old police car that has been parked at the Nowicki building. The car has more than 200,000 miles on it and needs transmission work. The board felt that the offer was a good one and went ahead and approved the sale of the vehicle.
? District Court will be getting two new monitors to replace the older monitors in the office, one of which went down recently. The 22-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) flat screen monitors are $229
? Six fire extinguishers in the courthouse will be replaced, as they needed to be upgraded in technology, which does help during electrical fires.