Although the public hearing regarding the Oxford Multi-Lakes dam repair the Oakland County Drain Commissioner’s Office (OCDC) held last Thursday answered questions residents had, it still left some residents with a bad taste in their mouth.
The hearing, which took place at Christ the King Church, was set up by Oxford Township and the OCDC to inform residents about what the $163,000 project will entail and how those in the special assessment district will pay for it, but most of the attendees were more concerned about how much they were going to have to fork out.
Steve Korth, chief engineer for the OCDC, as well as Joe Kozma, manager of the OCDC’s Operations and Maintenance Division, and Oakland County Commissioner Brad Jacobsen (R-Oxford) mediated the hearing.
According to Korth, the 32-year-old dam’s timber gates, which are raised and lowered to regulate the water level of the ‘Stringy Lakes,? have deteriorated so much that they have to be replaced by more durable steel gates. McDowell Construction, based in Columbiaville, was awarded the contract to repair the dam.
For the 642 properties that fall inside the assessment district, a portion of the cost of the project, along with the usual regular operations and maintenance charges, will be included on the $27,482.66 winter tax bill for 2007.
The balance of the project cost will be financed by Oakland County in the form of a $150,000 loan payable in five annual installments, according to Korth.
Another public hearing will take place early next year so each affected property owner will be notified of the special assessment amount due to repay the loan. There are two options homeowners will face for repayment: either pay the full balance in one shot, or pay it in five years with interest.
Each property owner’s assessed amount will be based on their lake-front footage, although an exact amount per foot will not be addressed until the next public hearing.
But Jacobsen said the amount of residents affected by the assessment may even rise early next year after the OCDC determines whether or not residents just north of Seymour Lake Road should be charged. Their waterways are also affected by the multi-lakes dam, but they were not originally part of the assessment district.
Oxford resident Art Neef raised concerns about whether or not the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would be assessed for their portion of the public access site.
‘They are included in this assessment,? Korth said. ‘They pay by the front footage, just like everybody else.?
Neef also wanted to know what his assessments for operations and maintenance has been used for over the last 10 years. Korth replied that the fees are used for painting, snow removal, repairs, site visits by technicians, insurance costs and supplies, just to name a few. If there’s money left over from that budget, it’s carried into the next year.
Although the OCDC attributes the lower lake levels over the summer to abnormally low amounts of rainfall (July only saw 1-inch and 3-inches in August), some residents, like Harvey Westley, blame the dwindling lake levels on the township’s ever-growing central water system.
‘I expect we will see even greater lake level losses as Waterstone continues to grow and then the central township water system is further expanded to other businesses and new developments,? he told the audience.
No one from the township board was at the meeting that could speak regarding the water system’s possible effect, although supervisor Bill Dunn stated in an Aug. 15 edition of the Leader that many tests were performed before the new township wells and water treatment plant were installed that saw no impact on the lakes.
Oxford resident Mark Stepek spoke his mind to the members of the audience, urging them to form a lake association and hire a private engineering company to do a study of the lake levels. ‘I personally think we have a lawsuit against the township of Oxford for destroying our lake,? he said.
The repairing of the dam is expected to begin in the spring of 2008.