Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021
Landowner assessments may increase to pay for river work
By Sydney Albert
Photo by Ryan Snyder/The Daily Standard
Logs that have been plucked from the St. Marys River are heaped in piles along the bank near where the waterway crosses State Route 116 in northwestern Auglaize County.
WAPAKONETA - Officials may increase assessments for properties in the St. Marys River floodplain to raise money for logjam removal.
Auglaize County Engineer Doug Reinhart and assistant engineer Andrew Baumer met with county commissioners Tuesday to discuss the proposed increase, which Baumer said was needed to cover the costs of log removal.
Both the Auglaize and Mercer counties' engineering offices have been losing money trying to remove logjams, an endless project along the winding river, Baumer said.
The Auglaize County Engineer's Office has been removing fallen logs from the river since the project was petitioned through the Auglaize Soil and Water Conservation District in 1995, Baumer said. After the initial larger obstructions were removed from the river, office crews needed to perform only minor maintenance for several years.
However, since the emerald ash borer has become more prevalent in the area, dead ash trees constantly have been falling into the river, Baumer said. In the last five to eight years, the work has grown exponentially "with no end in sight."
"So far this year, just in this (past) month we've been working on the river. We accumulated around $30,000 worth of work," covering about half the area of the St. Marys River in Auglaize County, Baumer said. On such a winding river with some bends approaching 90 degree angles, he said logjams would likely be a never-ending problem.
Property assessments that fund logjam removal don't generate enough money to cover costs, according to Baumer. Assessments are levied on parcels in the floodplain outlined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as those property owners are assumed to see the most benefit from the clearing of river obstructions. Affected property owners pay $1.50 for every acre in the floodplain.
Baumer said the Auglaize County Engineer's Office would be working with other engineering offices in the area, including those from Mercer, Shelby and Van Wert counties, to propose a $2 per acre increase to assessments which could be presented to county commissioners. Property owners would pay $3.50 per affected acre if the increase were approved. Baumer clarified that the assessments affect only those in the river floodplain, not every property owner in the river's watershed.
Commissioners took no action on the issue Tuesday.
