Grand Lake dam damaged by vandalism
by Peter Jakey–Managing Editor
The Grand Lake dam has been vandalized for the second time in 11 months by someone who cut notches into every board in all seven bays to lower the lake’s level.
According to a court order approved a few months ago, the Presque Isle County Road Commission (PICRC) was allowed to lower the lake 6 inches for the winter to prevent another spring melt-off disaster, such as the one that occurred last April. There is a winter and summer level that has been set by the court and is now being electronically monitored.
For the perpetrator(s) involved, it must not be low enough.
“Who would take the time to take the boards out?” said Cliff Tollini, chairman of the Presque Isle County board of Commissioners, who attends PICRC meetings. “You would almost have to put them on a table saw. It’s cut like a mortise joint.”
It was about this time last year, someone used a chainsaw to cut boards in one bay to allow the water to freely flow through.
A crew from the PICRC was at the site last Thursday replacing the boards that are used to control and retain water. It is unclear how long the boards had been damaged, but someone noticed the boards flopping in the steel tracks and brought it to the attention of the PICRC, who will be turning over the management of the dam to the county in the coming months.
“It looked like the boards were holding water, but in fact, the water was running around the boards and nobody could tell,” said PICRC superintendent/manager David Kowalski.
The PICRC still has a stock of boards, that are made of white and red pine, at the Rogers City headquarters so it will not cost the lake community at this juncture.
“You cannot understand how happy it will make me to finally gives this back to the county,” said Kowalski. “I have been here 36 years and I have been working with the boards at the dam for 31 years.
“For the road commission to get rid of the expense and the cost, and nowadays liability, of that water structure is huge for me. I would like to do what we do, roads. Improvement roads, make roads better and I don’t think that should have been part of the road commission’s responsibility.”
County employee Mike Tuck, who maintains the Presque Isle County Courthouse building, will be taking over the duties and is already receiving training. Once the lake starts to ice over, the county will be taking over.
“We gave him an increase in his salary for the responsibilities,” said Tollini. “We have not even got into that yet, but it’s not much more.”
For Tuck’s new duties at the dam, the county will be reimbursed from the assessment.
Kowalski has suggested the county change the locks on the bays because he believes someone has a key. In the meantime, he will be forwarding information to the Presque Isle County Sheriff’s Office.
