I am writing about the eminent domain saga. My opinion is unbiased by personal loss.
My first thought was, if Osceola has a water board, why haven’t they saved the west end of West Lake? It needs dredged and prevention for silting. Dredging has been done at Winterset’s lake with success. This would increase the water supply considerably.
The water board said we need more water to handle our growth. Growth? The census for Clarke in 2000 had 9,133; 2010 had 9,286 people. Our supervisors stated they were raising taxes because of lack of growth. You can’t have it both ways.
We gained a turkey factory. We’ve had two severe droughts that have not warranted water conservation. West Lake has proved itself to be a good water source.
The reservoir commission’s original proposal was for a 300-acre lake. This would have doubled our water.
When I heard they could use the Arbor Valley Lake, I thought this is an answer to landowners prayers as to not lose their family farms and homes.
The commission’s 37 million proposal is now outdated. It would be closer to 50 million.
A recent Des Moines Register’s article of county debt said 7.1 million for Clarke. This is large for our population. Madison, Lucas and Decatur all have less then 1 million. This extra debt should receive much consideration.
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the landowners. Ruling the commission has not followed the lawful steps for eminent domain. They chose to do it their own way. Lawyer fees and costs of the commission to start over again, ridiculous!
The commission’s rebuttal to the Arbor Valley Lake seems weaker as time goes on. They said the cost to run a water line under the railroad tracks and Highway 34 would cost too much.
Yet, this past year a new sewer line which is bigger than a water line was drilled for the Kading development.
They stated the site was bad because the dam would be too close to Interstate 35. Their 800-acre site is also next to the same interstate.
Arbor Valley Lake is built, apparently you can build by the interstate. It’s called a high hazard dam. This lake is south and west of Osceola, much closer for the local citizens to enjoy.
This lake would be an addition to the proven water source West Lake. Arbor Lake would be gravity fed straight into West Lake. It now has 105 acres of water; it could be 750 acres without the costly expense of rerouting Truro pavement.
My question to you is how many mistakes are you willing to put up with before you realize mistakes are being made with our hard earned money? Shouldn’t we have compassion for those fighting to save their homes.