Girard officials to blame for hard line by the state

Neither Girard Mayor James J. Melfi nor members of city council can claim surprise at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' refusal to give the city until the end of the year to schedule work on the Lower Girard Lake dam.
Indeed, Melfi's comment that "It looks like they are drawing a line in the sand" unfairly casts the ODNR as the villian in this long-running saga. It is Girard city government that bears responsibility for the agency's hard-line stance.
And lest anyone think that the March 25 letter from Joan I. Fishel, an assistant attorney general representing ODNR's Division of Water, is nothing more than bureaucratic muscle-flexing, consider this warning: If the dam topples, six homes with an estimated 18 residents and some industry along the Mahoning River would be damaged with probable loss of life.
In her letter to the city, Atty. Fishel said the Division of Water is unwilling to wait until year's end for Girard to begin work on either breaching or repairing the Lower Girard Lake dam. Even so, the agency did give Girard a break. It had initially ordered the city to come up with a plan by March 15, but that deadline has been extended to May 24.
It is also clear that stalling tactics won't work. From the ODNR's vantage point, this is about the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Girard. State officials aren't impressed with the effort by the Melfi administration and city council to secure $5.5 million in federal funds to partially breach the dam -- removing 12.5 feet from the top of the structure to lower the water pressure behind it.
Demolition grants
Indeed, Kathleen J. Anderson, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Congress does not have the authority to approve the partial breaching of the dam. The corps has agreed to provide the city with $1.14 million to help pay the cost of demolishing the dam. The ODNR has pledged $575,000.
Demolition, as opposed to repair, has long been Mayor Melfi's first choice, but he has not been able to drum up sufficient support in city council.
Melfi's contention that the city erred in purchasing Girard Lakes in mid-1995 from Ohio Water Service Co. -- Vincent Schuyler was mayor at the time -- was confirmed last year by Diversified Evaluation Co. of Pittsburgh that placed the market value of the property at $1.25 million. The city had paid $2.51 million. There was no formal appraisal conducted prior to the purchase.
Ohio Water Service changed its name to Consumers Ohio Water Co. and is now Aqua Ohio, Inc.
Girard borrowed the money from the Ohio Water Development Authority, and when the loan is paid off in 11 years, $4.7 million in public funds will have been spent. The terms of the loan make it impossible for the city to pay off the principal early to avoid finance charges.
Given that the dams at the lower and upper lakes have been declared structurally unsound by the ODNR, an official of Diversified Evaluation told The Vindicator last year that if the liability of the dams were included in his appraisal, the property would be "potentially worthless."
Earlier this year, the state ordered the city to lower Upper Girard Lake by 5 feet and had set a March 15 deadline for completion.
Lawsuit threat
The reason for the ODNR's impatience with city government -- it has threatened to sue in common pleas court if the May 24 deadline is not met -- stems from the fact that problems with reinforced concrete and spillway were discovered in July 1978, but Ohio Water Service did not make repairs. In 1984, ODNR sent a notice to the company requiring it to adopt the remedial measures recommended in 1978. Again, no engineer's investigation or repairs had been completed.
And yet, the city of Girard bought the lakes from Ohio Water Service.
We have repeatedly asked these questions: "Why did the city rush to buy the lakes?" "Why was there no appraisal?" We have not received satisfactory answers.
We believe such an expenditure of public dollars demands an investigation by federal and state agencies.