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 MWCD Board of Appraisers Ready to The Board of Appraisers of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District is ready to take the final steps to establish a proposed assessment to fund a 20-year, $270-million maintenance and improvement plan for the reservoirs and dams in the Muskingum River Watershed. Members of the three-member Board of Appraisers heard reports from Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott & May Engineers, Inc. (FMSM) and Jack Faucett Associates, Inc. regarding the benefit appraisal during a meeting Jan. 18 in New Philadelphia as they prepared to provide a presentation on their work to the members of the MWCD Conservancy Court at a meeting scheduled Saturday (Jan. 21) at the Tuscarawas County Courthouse. By law, the Board of Appraisers is the body that develops the methodology for assessments by conservancy districts in Ohio. No official action is expected to be taken on the report by the Court, which includes one common pleas court judge from each of the 18 counties of jurisdiction in the MWCD. Members of the Board of Appraisers are James Navratil of Medina, Thomas Roe of Wooster and Mark Waltz of Dover. In 2005, the MWCD Board of Directors and Conservancy Court approved the Amendment to the Official Plan of the MWCD, which is the $270-million plan to protect flood reduction benefits in the MWCD system of dams and reservoirs, as well as to promote water quality in the region. Funding for the plan, as outlined in Ohio law, would come from the owners of the estimated 700,000 parcels of property in the watershed. Conservancy District officials have estimated the assessment will cost the owners of residential and agricultural properties in its 18-county jurisdiction about $12 per parcel annually, with adjacent properties combined into one basic assessment. An estimate for commercial/industrial parcels is being developed. The Board of Appraisers have scheduled meetings Feb. 8 and Feb. 16 at 9 a.m. in New Philadelphia City Council chambers to futher review updated details and consider formal adoption of the plan. If it is approved, MWCD officials have said they expect to file the assessment plan with the Conservancy Court in late-February, which will then initiate a legally established period for public notification and objections. After the required legal review period and the opportunity for property owners to formally object to the assessment on their individual parcels is conducted, the MWCD will present the assessment report to the Conservancy Court to consider in June. If it is approved by the Conservancy Court, collection of the assessment has been projected to begin in 2007. Funds generated through collection of the assessment will be used for maintenance and improvements of the flood reduction system originally constructed in the 1930s. By law, funds cannot be used to pay for any improvements related to recreation programs, such as new boat launch ramps, campground facilities and others. Since their inception, the dams and reservoirs in the MWCD region have prevented an estimated $6 billion worth of potential property damage from flooding. In the January 2005 flood alone, more than $400 million worth of property damage was averted. A report on the wide range of benefits from the existence of the dams and reservoirs is being developed and will be part of the information the Board of Appraisers will study in the next few weeks. Three basic classes of parcels are subject to the assessment: residential, agricultural and commercial/industrial. The MWCD has operated on revenue generated primarily from the use of its facilities through various fee structures and the stewardship of its natural resources since its inception. However, this funding alone cannot address the large-scale needs and costs associated with the aging system, which are showing the effects of sedimentation, erosion and other issues that can have a negative impact on flood reduction and water quality benefits. The MWCD, the largest of the estimated 21 conservancy districts in the state, is believed to be the only active district that does not collect an assessment for maintenance of its facilities. The Conservancy District has been working with the Cincinnati engineering firm of Fuller, Mossbarger, Scott & May to prepare the assessment plan, and has held monthly public meetings mid-2005 to provide updates to the Board of Appraisers. The 14 MWCD reservoirs are Atwood in Carroll and Tuscarawas counties; Beach City in Tuscarawas County; Bolivar in Stark and Tuscarawas counties; Charles Mill in Ashland and Richland counties; Clendening in Harrison County; Dover in Tuscarawas County; Leesville in Carroll County; Mohawk in Coshocton and Knox counties; Mohicanville in Ashland and Wayne counties; Piedmont in Belmont, Guernsey and Harrison counties; Pleasant Hill in Ashland and Richland counties; Seneca in Guernsey and Noble counties; Tappan in Harrison County; and Wills Creek in Coshocton and Muskingum counties. Two other reservoirs, Dillon in Muskingum County and North Branch Kokosing in Knox County, were constructed after the original 14 and are operated exclusively by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The 18 counties wholly or partially contained in the MWCD region are Ashland, Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Wayne and Washington. For more information, including a complete copy of the Amendment to the Official Plan, visit www.mwcd.org on the Internet.
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