Judy Roberts, right, was sworn in as a board member of the Turkey Creek Dam and Dike Conservancy District. Todd Mikel, left will take over as treasurer for the remainder of the year.
Roberts and Mikel will replace David Johnston, who resigned effective Oct. 1, until the annual meeting on Feb. 11. An election will be held at the annual meeting to fill the remaining 1 year of the four-year term. Photo by Deb Patterson.

By Deb Patterson
Editor-In-Chief

SYRACUSE — The resignation of a board member, swearing in of a new board member and discussion on potential yearly maintenance of the water control device in Syracuse were main topics Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 24, of the Turkey Creek Dam and Dike Conservancy District board of directors.

Judy Roberts was sworn in as an interim member of the board, following the resignation of David Johnston. Johnston submitted his letter of recognition effective Oct. 1, from the Turkey Creek Dam and Dike Conservancy board. Johnston will be moving from the area at the end of the month.

Todd Mikel, board member, will take over the treasurer duties.

Johnston was present at the meeting as an unofficial board member to assist with any financial questions.

Roberts will represent District 4 of the district, the Enchanted Hills area. She will fill the position until the board’s annual meeting Saturday, Feb. 11. That position will then be up for election to fill the remaining one-year term. Roberts can file a petition of candidacy.

The term of Bill Pipp, board chairman, is also up for election at the annual meeting. He represents District 3, which goes from approximately the 8830 block of East Hatchery Road to approximately Crow Road and includes East Wawasee Drive and Biscayne Lane areas.

Water Control Device

The board had requested Chris Jeter, Lawson Fisher Associates, to prepare maintenance estimates to replace the water control device in case of a catastrophic event. That proposal led to the board discussing potential yearly maintenance of the device by a third party.

Jeter’s proposal estimated $364,910 to replace the two stainless steel slide gates. To replace the control structure itself was estimated at $1,005,680.

Jeter was asked if he knew of any company qualified for yearly inspection. After learning Lawson Fisher has an engineer qualified, Jeter was asked to prepare a proposal to present at the Feb. 11 meeting.

Jeter’s presentation utilized a report done by the company for the 2020 construction project at the structure. That project alleviated several structural deficiencies noted by the DNR’s inspection. Research on the dam indicated it was constructed in 1963.

In 2020, there were no apparent problems with the dam but due to the age it was noted repairs to the concrete ogee spillway surface, foundations lab and abutment walls may be necessary in the next 5 to 10 years. He also noted the two slide gates were functional, however there were issues with at least one of the gates opening correctly.

Todd Mikel, board member, asked if anyone had recently inspected the control device. Jeter stated no inspection had been done, his estimates were based on documents from past inspections.

It was recommended a third party inspect the device and the board take a proactive stance.

Pipp stated he spoke to the last DNR inspector, who took 2 hours and 12 minutes to inspect the device. However, the DNR’s inspection is a risk analysis. At that time the device was considered in fair condition. The control device is on a three-year inspection, which is in the near future.

During other business, the final payment to Jette Excavating for the dike repair was submitted at a cost of $570,000. The retainage fee of $63,000 is still outstanding. This amount will be released once the “as built drawings” are received. Once the payments are complete, final information will be presented to the Natural Resource Commission.

Pipp commented the district has completed two major projects at a cost of $1.4 million with only $800,000 spent of taxpayer money. The remaining $600,000 was through private donations, prior to the formation of the district.

Ross Hagen, Baker-Tilly, reviewed the 2024 budget and the timelime to hear from the Department of Local Government Finance on any adjustments.

Pipp stated the plan is to keep the current tax rate for several years to build up funds to cover potential catastrophic replacement of the lake control device. “At some point down the road it (the tax rate) will decrease,” said Pipp.

There was a brief discussion regarding insurance on the dike. Currently the rate is $23,000 per year. Contact with the insurance carrier will be made to see if the rate can be reduced due to the improvements.

The Feb. 11 annual meeting, followed by the regular quarterly meeting of the board, will begin at 9 a.m. The meeting will be in the meeting room at the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation Levinson-LaBrosse Educational Center, SR 13, Syracuse.