By Maksym Hart
InkFreeNews
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Natural Resources Commission unanimously approved a positive recommendation for creation of the Webster and Backwater Lakes Dam Conservancy District during its Tuesday, July 21, meeting.
The vote does not establish the district. It advances the proposal back to Kosciusko Circuit Court, where Judge Matthew Buehler will make the final determination once it is filed.
As of Friday, July 31, the court had not yet received and filed the commission’s approved recommendation.
Kristi Johnson of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Water presented the petition to the commission, while board member and M.E. Simpson Co., Inc. owner Mike Simpson raised the motion to approve.
The Division of Water’s Thursday, July 9 report concluded the petitioners’ documentation, testimony and exhibits “mostly favorably” answered the statutory questions used to evaluate a proposed conservancy district.
Those questions included whether the district is necessary, economically and technically feasible, likely to provide benefits exceeding its costs, drawn around an appropriate area and compatible with existing lakes, drainage systems, local governments and other conservancy districts.
The report recommended approval with several qualifications.
It called for adding operation, maintenance and improvement of the dam system as a third district purpose, alongside flood prevention and control and improved drainage.
It also recommended that a future district plan provide more detailed engineering and financial proposals, comply with the statutory tax limit and obtain all required permits.
The report followed discussion at a Wednesday, May 6 public hearing in North Webster attended by about 63 people.
Supporters had argued the Webster Lake Conservation Association lacks the permanent funding and governmental authority needed to complete major engineering work, acquire property, obtain grants or issue bonds.
Opponents, including resident Mike Baur, raised concerns about taxation, district boundaries, uncertain repair costs and the possibility of the district expanding beyond dam-related work.
Baur also attended the NRC meeting to comment against establishment. He argued that approving this district would set a dangerous precedent, opening the floodgates for hundreds of new tax-funded conservancy districts, volunteer fire department districts and library districts across Indiana.
“Your vote today is not about hydraulic engineers and DNR technical staff reports,” Baur said. “It’s about the quintessential decision about what kind of state we want to leave our grandkids.”
Baur proposed that instead of building a concrete spillway that could worsen downstream flooding, the NRC could consider allowing a blue ribbon committee to assess using Backwater Lake as a temporary retention basin for floodwaters. Baur claimed this engineering alternative had already secured $120,000 in fundraising commitments.
“If we put 10 hydraulic engineers in a padded room … eight or nine of them will eventually vote to temporarily store water upstream,” Baur said.
Chairman Kevin Mahan noted that while Baur was “speaking (his) language” regarding tax concerns, the NRC was not the proper venue for overarching tax policy debates.
Mahan pointed out the DNR’s role in this proceeding was strictly to serve as a technical “friend of the court” to evaluate standard feasibility factors like drainage, flood control, engineering criteria and report back to the Kosciusko Circuit Court.
The commission also noted that no formal engineering reports or professional exhibits were submitted by Baur or his cited engineer Jon LaTurner to back up the claims.
The DNR report found the district “mostly” holds promise of economic and engineering feasibility, but noted its preliminary annual budget exceeded the revenue expected from the ordinary special-benefit tax.
The tax is capped at 5 cents per $100 of assessed value, which the report estimated would generate about $146,207 annually before any exceptional-benefit assessments.
The exact price of future dam work remains unknown. Petitioners said the district’s first major step would be a comprehensive engineering study costing roughly $500,000 to evaluate the dam, compare repair or replacement alternatives and develop reliable project estimates.
The petition covers 1,433 freeholders and 1,253 parcels around Webster and Backwater lakes and within part of North Webster.
The court previously found 616 freeholders, or 43%, signed the petition, exceeding the 30% requirement. Petitioners also met the requirement that signers represent at least 51% of the proposed district’s assessed property value.
Once the approved report is delivered and filed, it will be open for public inspection. Freeholders within the proposed district will then have 30 days to submit written objections to the findings or boundaries.
Buehler could schedule another hearing if objections are filed or further clarification is needed.
Otherwise, the court may proceed toward a final order establishing the district, confirming its boundaries and setting the process for selecting its first board of directors.
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