Drain Board meeting to be held Friday

North Branch of Mill Creek Intercounty Drain action

 

IMLAY CITY — Another step, in a long process of what might be done with an excessive water issue, will be taken Friday when a meeting of the North Branch of Mill Creek Intercounty Drain Board will be held.

The meeting, required to determine practicability of a petition filed by the Goodland Twp. board, will be held at the Imlay City Eagles Hall beginning at 10 a.m.

Members of the Board including Drain Commissioners from Lapeer (Andy Wagner), Sanilac (Douglas Sweet) and St. Clair (Robert Wiley) counties along with Joseph Brevai with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Development (MDARD) needed a larger meeting space for the meeting, in anticipation of a large crowd attending.

Over the years, growers along the North Branch of Mill Creek had input on various projects that created ways to maintain watershed to help irrigate crops, including the use of a dam.

According to officials with Spicer Group, the dam “continues to do its job” and is functional.

Now, several years later, plans are being discussed to find a way to move excess water out of the region faster, without flooding properties further downstream.

A Spicer Group representative said current information, which is exploring ways to alleviate flooding, has been worked on for the past 18 months or more.

No formal bids have been taken, nor have there been any formal prices given on what a potential project might cost. Just “guesstimates.”

When asked about what the potential cost could be, the MDARD representative said, “there has been talk of around $2.5 million for five (private) crossings. About $500,000 each. But, we know prices go up too. Nothing (cost) has been agreed to. Nothing is being done, other than needing to take the next step in the process, which is seeing what the board wants to do for the Practicability Hearing.”

According to Spicer, 45,000 acres could be impacted by some sort of tax assessment, should the work be done at some point.

The acres equates to just under 16 miles (71 square miles) of the creek, beginning in Goodland Twp. and running towards Sanilac and St. Clair counties.

A petition seeking the hearing was submitted by the Goodland Twp. Board after they were approached by several local growers.

During the upcoming hearing, the drain board will decide if the petition is sufficient in being submitted and then if they agree the petition is allowable, they will consider the practicability of the project.

If the board agrees with the practicability, they would hire an engineering firm shortly after those determinations are made.

Goodland Twp. officials have been told the filing of the petition does not put township residents or the board on the hook for paying for a potential project.

However, at a recent meeting, a Spicer Engineering representative told the Tri-City Times the township would in fact be responsible for a percentage of the overall cost, once a formula for tax assessment is made.

Brevai called the issues a “unique situation” when discussing the potential work along Mill Creek.

“We reviewed a study that was completed back in August, so we do have some information available to review. Normally, that is not done at this hearing.”

The board agreed to have Spicer Engineering make the brief power-point presentation, but also stressed, “this does not mean they necessarily would be the engineering company for the project, if it moves forward to design phase. That’s something we would decide at a later date.”

The board learned there has already been roughly $210,000 spent to this point for the Mill Creek issue.

Spicer Engineering said the fees would become part of an assessment at a later date, depending on what, if any, decisions are made regarding potential work on the North Branch of Mill Creek.