KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – It’s been a few years since we reported on the homeowners around Eagle and Crooked Lakes where a particularly rainy year flooded many of their lakeside homes.
Efforts were begun to reduce the water levels five years ago but since then the cost of the drain project has quadrupled, from $1.7 million to $6.9 million.
Some homeowners in the area say they are being charged thousands of dollars for decisions they never made and problems they don’t share.
But lake association officials Debbie Duncan and Russell Walters say lake levels remain high, and another stretch of wet weather could cause more flooding.
Engineers blame changes to the drainage plan required by the state and inflation for the price hike.
Last night the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners approved the Lake Assessment Roll and was presented with a bill for over $636,000 as their share of the county drain project, which is also much higher than they expected.
County Board Chair John Taylor had a problem with that, saying they should not be taking money from poorer sections of the county to subsidize million dollar homes.
Kalamazoo County Drain Commissioner Jason Wiersma says they bill is 12% of the total, which is what the county always pays for drain projects.
The assessment roll had been approved by the courts, and the county risked a legal challenge if they rejected the assessments. It was approved 7 to 2.
reporting from John McNeill
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