Board abandons plans for Great Miami River cleanup

BELLEFONTAINE - There will be no cleanup of the Great Miami River in Logan County this year.

A planned project to clean logjams out of the river was abandoned Thursday by a joint board comprised of commissioners from five counties. The project had been in the works for more than two years, said Logan County Commissioner David Knight, who chaired the joint board.

The abandonment of the project follows a decision by Logan County voters in November who voted against supporting the project.

"We have been working through the process. We have gotten to the point where we believed it was in the best interest of everybody concerned that we terminate this project," Knight said. "The intent of the project as filed back in 2005 and accepted by the joint board in 2006 was to clean the logjams from the dam at Indian Lake 16 miles to the Logan-Shelby county line."

The project would have been funded by $25 assessments to all the properties in the river's watershed - a source of contention for residents whose properties were farther away from the river, Knight said. The project had an estimated price tag of $1 million.

"There are 31,000 parcels in this watershed," Knight said. "That created some problems and it was voted on in Logan County and that vote was not to go forward in Logan County. We got to the point today where we felt it was appropriate to terminate the project."

In addition to terminating the project, the joint board members present also voted unanimously to disband the joint board.

Commissioners from Auglaize, Champaign, Hardin, Logan and Shelby counties were involved in the process because they are all part of the river's watershed.

Auglaize County Commissioner John Bergman said similar projects in Auglaize County - on the St. Marys River - have been successful.

"I think there's still a definite need for the project. The need is still there," Bergman said. "It's unfortunate it's come to this point where this had to be dissolved but we'll live by the will of the vote and that's the way it is."