MANSFIELD — A $15.5 million proposed dry dam proposal is apparently coming back to Mansfield City Council in July, three years after the idea was formally introduced.
Council member Jason Lawrence, who represents the 5th Ward, said he would request an updated version of the proposal be written for local legislators to consider when they meet again July 20.
Labeled the Touby Run Flood Mitigation Hazard Project, the proposed dam is aimed at protecting homes and businesses in the city’s north end floodplain.
During recent meetings, Lawrence has asked 3rd Ward Council member Jon Van Harlingen, chair of the city’s public utilities committee, to schedule a committee meeting to discuss the proposal.
Van Harlingen, also chair of council’s finance committee, has said he preferred to wait wait until more is known about the city’s sewer and water funds, which may be tapped to pay for the work.
“I want to see a stabilization of these funds (before moving forward),” Van Harlingen said June 1. “If we had a committee meeting tomorrow, I would say the same thing.”
On Tuesday evening, Lawrence initially made the motion that all unapproved dry dam legislation be “discharged” from committee and be brought to council caucus for discussion and potential vote.
That motion was met with resistance from 4th Ward Council representative Alomar Davenport, who said he felt “blindsided” by the motion.
Davenport said he “fully supports” the dry dam, but said there are “things I am not at liberty to discuss yet” regarding potential other funding options.
Lawrence later rescinded his motion, asking instead that new legislation be drawn up for the proposal. He said his goal was to have an engineered and designed “shovel ready” proposal ready in two years as funding options are developed.
At-large council representative Stephanie Zader said she supports the dry dam idea, saying north end businesses and residents should not continue to suffer.
“We need to have this discussion,” Zader said. “We can no longer tell these (north end businesses and residents) that they don’t matter.”
Introduced in 2018 after several years of study, the dry dam issues was put on the back burner in 2019 until anticipated revenue from the $17 million water meter program was realized.
Properties and easements were acquired for the project and preliminary engineering for the work was done.
The replacement program was expected to be completed in 2020, but the ongoing installation program has been slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Increased water revenue from the new meter is expected to pay for the replacement program.
Van Harlingen said Tuesday he was one of the dry dam’s biggest supporters when the issue was introduced.
Since then, he said, the city has taken on an additional $50.6 million in water and sewer fund bond debt, including $10 million for state-mandated improvements at the wastewater treatment plant and $35 million for state-mandated improvements at the water treatment plant.
“Things have changed,” he said, adding he doesn’t believe water and sewer funds can cover the costs of the project.
The dry dam topic had not been a serious topic for council recently. But it bubbled back to the surface in April when Joe and Reba Matern, owners of Matern Metal Works, Inc., asked when the city plans to move forward with the project.
Reba Matern read a letter from the couple, whose business is at 210 N. Adams St., that said their flood insurance premiums continue to rise after significant floods in 2007 and 2011 due to major rain storms.
The Materns told council members they recognized the city has infrastructure problems, but questioned downtown improvements while the floodplain remains exposed.
“It will do no good to continue to put pretty faces on buildings and create more streetscapes if the businesses right down at the bottom of the hill either flood out or move out because they can’t afford to stay,” their letter said.
In other activity Tuesday, City Council:
— discuss during caucus and gave a first read on legislation selecting Getz Builders of Mansfield for a design-bid project to build a new Mansfield Police Department indoor classroom training facility. The Mansfield Board of Control on May 25 approved the $303,400 proposal for the project on Miller Parkway. Council is expected to vote on the project on July 20.
— honored four recently retired Mansfield police officers: Assistant Chief Joseph Petrycki, officer Andrew Boor, officer Orlando Chatman Jr. and officer Ronald Barnes.
— voted to appropriate $2,100 for Safety Town Fund supplies and equipment.
— voted to accept a $259,504 Community Corrections Act grant for use in the city’s probation department.
— voted to authorize the city to enter into an agreement with Whatman Realtors and Auctioneers to sell surplus city property.
— voted to adopt 2022 tax budgets for the City of Mansfield and also Township of Mansfield, as required by state law, to be submitted to the Richland County auditor’s office.
— voted to approve the appointments of Sharon Rawls and Chris Hiner to the city’s Fair Housing Commission.
— heard an update on local tourism efforts from Destination Mansfield-Richland County President Lee Tasseff, who said the 2021 visitors’ guide has been a big success thus far. He also distributed copies of the organization’s new annual report and said the year was off to a great start compared to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. “It’s been a whole lot more fun than last year,” he said with a laugh. One of the specific new features in the area he said is the new direct link between Kingwood Center Gardens and the B&O Bike Trail.
