Oops....damn dams

[Butcher Bob]

You seem to be under the impression Boyce caused the problems...that they went to the state and said "sell us these dams".

The spillway volume has not changed since the dams were built. Boyce didn't reduce the flow, it was a design flaw by the state.

The state has known for the last 20 years that the electrical generation income would no longer cover the cost of maintaining the structures...that is why they sold them. The state did not want to address the repairs that were needed back then. So they sold the structures 'as is', and started citing Boyce to do those repairs as soon as the purchase was complete.

While Boyce certainly shares some of the responsibility, the state should be the first to be strapped to the whipping post.

[Jesús Malverde]

Privately owned dams: really, really, really shitty idea. Sorry about you bro's house.

[Butcher Bob]

Normally, I spend the 4th of July on Wixom Lake...but not this year.

For aboot the last 20 years my brother's lake house has been the family retreat for the 4th. During this time the lake becomes packed with folks. On the night of the 4th we usually tool around the lake on the pontoon, watching all the fireworks displays. During the day Pontoon Alley packs in hundreds of boats...drinking, toking, eating, sunning, swimming...basically one gigantic party. Yards fill up with cars of people visiting for the holiday. The smell of grilling food fills the air. In the heat of the summer, the lake provided a nice cool relief.

I talked with bro yesterday...he said the place is like a ghost town. When the wind picks up over the exposed lake bed, it creates dust storms. The good news is that in aboot 6 years all the dams will have been fixed.

In keeping updated on what's going on, I have been following one youtuber specifically...Jordan Mowbray. This young man is doing an excellent job documenting the whole situation. Not only does he provide great video footage, but he also interviews residents and reports the latest developments of what is going on. His last two uploads are on the status of Wixom and Sanford lakes. They are fairly lengthy, but they do a good job showing the progress of the clean up and rebuilding of the areas.

Wixom Lake...




Sanford Lake...

[Butcher Bob]

Boy my brother is all pissed off...


Tax dispute halting $400M plan to rebuild mid-Michigan dams
Mar. 05, 2024
By Garret Ellison

MIDLAND, MI — A dispute over property taxes is halting efforts to rebuild four hydroelectric dams and restore impoundments damaged by the 2020 mid-Michigan flood.

The Four Lakes Task Force said Monday, March 4 that it was suspending restoration work on the Edenville, Sanford, Secord and Smallwood dams after a court challenge to its taxing authority was filed by an association of property owners.

The dams were formerly owned by Boyce Hydro, an insolvent company that lost them through condemnation after the May 2020 Edenville Dam collapse and flood that caused $200 million in property damage and forced 10,000 people to evacuate.

The task force says the challenge from a group of local property owners called the Heron Cove Association impedes its ability to issue bonds meant to finance the rebuilding project, which has progressed since late 2020 using state funding.

On Feb. 21, the association filed an appeal to the Four Lakes Task Force plan in Midland Circuit Court, claiming the tax assessments were unduly burdensome.

The nonprofit task force has delegated authority by Midland and Gladwin counties and is trying to fund about half of the $398 million project through special assessments.

Dave Kepler, president of the Four Lakes Task Force, said the appeal affects the group’s ability to leverage financing and it’s “uncertain when or if we can issue bonds required to proceed with the construction to complete the project.”

The task force must now ration work using state funds, he said. Rebuilding work will taper and stop this summer.

“While we respect peoples’ right to appeal, it is a setback and disappointing considering the progress we have made as a community to restore our lakes,” Kepler said.

The tax appeal follows a unanimous joint Feb. 6 approval by the Midland and Gladwin county commissions for the Four Lakes to raise about $8 million to cover operations and maintenance and $217 million over 40 years to refill the lakes and rebuild the dams.

The organization began taking steps to acquire the former Boyce Hydro dams in 2018 after federal energy regulators revoked the Edenville Dam’s power generation license.

The Four Lakes Task Force received delegated taxing authority in 2019 after legal levels were established for Tittabawassee River impoundments Wixom, Sanford, Smallwood and Secord Lakes.

The group was negotiating with former Boyce Hydro owner Lee Mueller to buy the damns and perform long-deferred upgrades when a May 2020 rainstorm overwhelmed the Edenville Dam, which collapsed and unleashed the combined waters of the Tittabawassee and Tobacco Rivers in a 500-year flood that inundated downtown Midland.

The flood drained the Wixom and Sanford lake impoundments. The task force later acquired all four Boyce dams through bankruptcy for $1.5 million and has since been working to rebuild the damaged Edenville and Sanford dams, and upgrade spillways and embankments at Secord and Smallwood.

Plans for rebuilding the lakes by taxing property owners have proven controversial and recent hearings have been replete with opposition and angry public comments.

Residents claim individual property tax assessments are overly burdensome. Upset property owners say the cost of restoring the lakes is prohibitive and they should be left to flow as rivers. Others say the state and federal government should bear more cost, and the tax burden should be spread more broadly across multi-county residents who would benefit from public access.

According to the task force, lakefront lots would pay between $1,400 and $2,800 per year depending on frontage size and most backlots would pay about $705 annually. There are 6,640 property owners in the special assessment district.

State legislation was introduced in February that would help defer the tax burden for low-income seniors within the special district and other similar districts across Michigan.

The total estimated project cost has risen substantially from initial estimates in the past several years due to market volatility and labor costs, the task force says.

The task force received $200 million toward restoring the lakes and rebuilding the dams from a 2022 state appropriation, which it says has helped reduce individual assessments. However, most of that money will be spent by the end of this year if the organization is unable to secure additional financing, Kepler said.

The task force says it needs special assessment money to leverage additional construction financing, such as a $80 million municipal bond in addition to a $138 million loan from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would be repaid with tax monies.

In October, the task force said it was targeting 2025 for reopening Smallwood and Secord dams, and 20206 for reopening Wixom and Sanford dams.

The Heron Cove Association appeal includes 810 parties represented by the Foster Swift Collins and Smith law firm.

Culpability for the 2020 dam collapse and flood has been extensively litigated in federal court, where the state won a $120 million judgment against former dam owner Mueller in December. The state is challenging Mueller’s personal bankruptcy filing in Nevada.

Meanwhile, property damage lawsuits filed against the state in the Court of Claims by flooded property owners finally moved forward last fall after a multi-year delay.

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2 ... -dams.html



"According to the task force, lakefront lots would pay between $1,400 and $2,800 per year depending on frontage size..."

Bro's lot is the minimum 60' frontage for houses, and he said his assessment amount is $2,400/year for 40 years...or $96,000...and he doesn't understand why anyone would not want to pay that. Mind you, with the lake, bro's place is only worth aboot $200-250 thousand.

[roller24]

The whole dam country is falling apart.

[ben ttech]

fuck...

[roller24]

I've driven over that bridge dozens of times when I lived in MD. It was very old, and I suspect that had something to do with how much damage occurred. I thought I was only going to see a section collapse, but the whole thing fell in on itself. Lucky for many that it occurred so early in the morning, at rush hour the bridge would have had hundreds of vehicles crossing.

[ripper5]

Whats up!
The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in 77 so it's not really that old for a major bridge.
I used to travel both ways over that bridge to work hauling out of the shingle factory on Ponca st, back in the Overgrow & PG days. It's not a great scenic view, as it's positioned between the harbor and the old steel mill Sparrows Point. That being said, there is next to no traffic over there in the early morning hours...compared to all day morning, afternoon, evening traffic

The Francis Scott Key Bridge was a steel arch continuous through truss bridge spanning the lower Patapsco River and outer Baltimore Harbor / Port carrying Maryland Route 695 between Baltimore and Dundalk, Maryland, United States. It was originally known as the Outer Harbor Crossing until it was renamed in 1976, while still under construction, and is also known as simply the Key Bridge or Beltway Bridge. The main span of 1,200 feet (366 m) was the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world. It was the second-longest bridge in the Baltimore metropolitan area, after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

[ripper5]

Here is a close up
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3B5RjN ... tid=oFDknk

[roller24]

Can you imagine how backed up the tunnel is going to be? They are so fucked.

I used to take the bridge to avoid the tunnel, because of congestion.. I can't imagine this mornings rush hour at the harbor tunnel.