And the county â and the West Lakes chain in particular â is losing.
Dan Lash attends the river basin meetings as Noble Countyâs official representative when Commissioner Anita Hess cannot attend. When Hess is able to go, Lash attends anyway.
During Mondayâs meeting, Lash called into question a conclusion written by the group which said there wasnât anything that could be done to mitigate flood waters in the West Lakes chain. He said the commissionâs view from the outset is that it doesnât want water flowing uninhibited from the West Lakes chain because that water creates problems further down the watershed â water that residents in that area donât want.
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ALBION â The Noble County Highway Department is moving away from using inmates from Chain Oâ Lakes Correctional Facility as part of its manpower.
Noble County Highway Department Superintendent Richard Rogers and Engineer Zack Smith addressed the issue with the Noble County Commissioners Monday morning.
Rogers and Smith have adjusted how the highway departmentâs full-time work force is utilized, allowing for more productivity even when the prison crews were available.
âWeâre getting more done,â Rogers told the commissioners.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the highway department hasnât been able to utilize a prison crew for more than a year. The last full year the crews were available, Noble County Highway only had the use of a crew 70 times, Smith said.
⢠improved county roads;
⢠a complete update of the countyâs fleet of vehicles.
Next up? The countyâs culverts.
âOur culvert inspection plan is non-existent,â Smith told the Noble County Council Monday afternoon. âOur goal at this point is to get better information.â
Smith did not ask for any funding, but he did make the council aware he was going to be making a six-figure ask to get the countyâs more than 700 culverts cataloged and inspected.
Culverts are required at every point a regulated drain crosses a county road.
Currently, Smith said, the highway department budgets approximately $100,000 per year for work on culverts.