Supes look to explore all options with county lake dam

Last week, the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors received a letter from William Mckercher from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality stating that the $9 million allocated for the county lake dam project would not be eligible for use, based on an amendment to the final rule released on May 17.

The ruling applies to ARPA funds provided to states for the purpose of grants called the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) to municipalities and countries for eligible projects.

The rule in particular states, “Treasury's final rule provides that funds may be used for rehabilitation of dams and reservoirs if the primary purpose of the dam or reservoir is for drinking water supply and the rehabilitation project is necessary for continued provision of drinking water supply.”

In light of the inconvenient revelation, the Supes met with Austin Barbour of Clearwater Group, LLC during the board's regular meeting on Monday to discuss what could be done now.

District 4 supervisor and board president Bricklee Miller said that for herself and the citizens who have reached out to her regarding the county lake dam, there are multiple dynamics to this project due to the fact that the board is further down the path than they were initially.

“I know when it first came out and we talked about the ARPA funds, we were coming off that $8 to $10 million estimate for replacement. So in my mind, I was thinking maybe $2 million to fix the dam because it was just the spillways, and now we're at $17 million that is going to include a bond if we can't get federal funds,” said Miller. “The second thing is the possibility of decommissioning. There are people who stand on both sides of this … With the decommission design, the lake wouldn't hold as much water, it wouldn't be classified as high hazard, and the cost would be much less.”

With that said, Miller suggested looking at the possibility of getting a quote for decommissioning the lake, just so the board can fully see what their options are moving forward.

After discussion among board members, the Supes approved a motion to send a request for a quote on what it would cost to decommission the county lake dam, which passed 4-1 with district 2 supervisor Orlando Trainer voting against.

The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors will meet again on Monday, June 20 at 9 a.m. upstairs in the Oktibbeha County Courthouse.