By Scott Sullivan
Editor
It’s better late than never for Saugatuck city property owners whose parcels will be assessed for Warnock Drain work under Ferry Street in Douglas.
The Allegan County Drain Commission, acknowledging it failed to give Saugatuck city proper notice of its $61,685 assessment, or 15 percent of costs for the work done, will host a day of review for apportionments Tuesday, Sept. 16, in its County Services Building office, 3283 122nd Ave., Allegan, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fellow drain district partners Douglas (30 percent) and Saugatuck Township (10 percent) have already paid their apportioned shares.
Saugatuck council members didn’t question whether city property owners benefitted from repairing the drain under Ferry Street, closed Aug. 1 last year through May this year to replace the culvert.
They were concerned at last Wednesday’s workshop notice of the assessment came too late for the city to take part in the review process.
“Last week,” city manager Ryan Cummins told council, “I received an email from the Drain Office asking whether the city would like to prepay its at-large assessment of $61,875.
“This was the first time I had been made aware of any at-large assessment or percentage allocation for this project,” Cummins said.
Per commission data, although only 4.09 city acres lie within the drain district, 557.9 acres (282 parcels) use Ferry Street (and thus drive over the culvert) to access
their homes compared to 149.12 acres by Saugatuck Township (7 parcels) and 103.75 acres (121 parcels) for Douglas. (See map nearby)
The remaining project costs were apportioned to Allegan County and the County Road Commission based on benefits to public roads per the Michigan Drain Code.
Also, said Drain office development coordinator/deputy Brent Scholten, apportionments are based on benefits to public health, convenience or welfare (not on land size within the district.
In addition to Park Street and nearby homes, Saugatuck’s popular Oval Beach and Mt. Baldhead Park are primarily reached by way of the now-reopen Ferry Street stretch.
Scholten noted city public works crews, the Saugatuck Township Fire District and police have all indicated how critical this road/culvert are to the city for public safety to reach their citizens due to the long detour route on Lakeshore Drive delaying response time.
Council members Russ Gardner and Scott Dean Sept. 3 didn’t dispute many city properties benefited from the work done in Douglas, but noted the assessment had not been budgeted for asked Cummins to look into the noticing matter further.
The drain commission by Sept. 5 rescheduled the citywide day of review to Tuesday, Sept. 5.
No appointment is necessary. The computation of drain costs will be available, as will commission staff to help individuals and make changes if necessary.
