Supervisors OK $3 million Lake Delhi bond

MANCHESTER - The Delaware County supervisors on Monday authorized a $3 million essential county purpose bond to help rebuild the failed Lake Delhi dam.

The supervisors had announced their intention to do so on March 5, when they set Monday's public hearing as an opportunity for opponents to express their views.

Five opponents spoke at the meeting, most of them expressing dissatisfaction that the supervisors were not allowing county residents to vote on the bond issue.

“The people want to have something to say about it. I know I sure do,” said Jerry Keenan of Manchester. And Bruce Rafoft of Earlville questioned why all Delaware County taxpayers will be required to support a project that primarily benefits the owners of about 830 Lake Delhi properties.

Supervisor Jerry Ries, who had been adamant that the bond be approved by a vote of county residents, said he changed his mind in response to timing issues with an anticipated $5 million appropriation by the Legislature (see box).

The supervisors said legislators have told them that the state appropriation depends upon a Delaware County funding commitment. Given that a referendum could not be scheduled until May - after the Legislature adjourns for the session - Ries said it would be too risky to wait for a vote.

Almost all of the approximately 50 speakers at a Feb. 29 public forum on the proposed county funding urged the supervisors to authorize the bond without a vote.

Supervisor Shirley Helmrichs said the board received feedback from hundreds of constituents with only six written objections to the funding.

The Lake Delhi proponents have intimidated most opponents into silence, according to Peter Komendowski, a spokesman for the Iowa Whitewater Coalition. The group worked with American Rivers, a national rivers advocacy group, to fund a telephone survey of county residents shortly after the Feb. 29 meeting.

The survey found 36 percent opposed the county funding for the dam, with 35 percent in support and 29 percent unsure.

Komendowski said a professional service called 3,600 residences, with 10 percent of them participating.

If the legislative appropriation comes through, work on the first phase of the $11.9 million rebuilding effort could begin in late spring or early summer, said Steve Leonard. He leads the Lake Delhi Combined Recreational Facility and Water Quality District, the lake area's official governing body.