(Source: The Cullman Times)
By Trent Moore, The Cullman Times, Ala.
April 05--In the midst of public allegations stating the City of Cullman does not have authority to build a dam in the Duck River watershed, city officials have affirmed they do --in fact -- have a valid permit.
City officials have released documents in an effort to confirm they do have a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the $68 million secondary water source project, slated to break ground this spring.
Local farmer Lydia Haynes, a vocal opponent of the city's dam project, has gone on local television and written numerous letters to The Times stating she believes the city does not have proper permissions to build and maintain the dam.
"It appears to me the city doesn't own the permit, and all these decisions have been made, and everything done with taxpayer money, but the city didn't own the permit," she said. "I believe the permit is in limbo right now, not properly owned by anyone. But, the city has assumed use of the permit to push this project ahead."
Haynes went on to allege the city may even be in breach of water contracts, by moving forward without a proper permit.
"I asked the Corps if they awarded ownership of the permit to the City of Cullman and they told me no, the city doesn't own the permit," she said. "Decisions made in the last few years aren't worth the paper they're printed on, because the city doesn't have the permit. I would even say all these water contracts signed with all these customers, and the new water purchase agreement, are null and void, because they didn't own the permit."
Haynes said she received her information from the Corps via informal conversation, and did not have a hard copy to provide confirmation.
When asked Monday if the city and utilities board have a valid permit to proceed with the dam, project manager Dale Greer said the answer is simple: "Yes."
Cullman officials argue they are listed on the permit, and provided permit modification letters from 2000 and 2008 showing both the city, and utilities board, are included as co-permitees by the Corps.
Greer said the utilities board was added to the contract in both 2000 and 2008 -- the permit was temporarily stalled by an environmental lawsuit in the interim -- and letters from the Corps stating as such are signed by regulatory division chief Ronald Krizman and regulatory division chief Craig Litteken, respectively.
Both letters state: "The Utilities Board of the City of Cullman is included as a co-permitee for the subject Department of the Army permit to place fill in the Duck River for the purpose of constructing a dam and water supply reservoir."
Before those additions, only the City of Cullman and the now-rarely assembled Cullman-Morgan Water District were listed on the permit.
"We did that twice, asked the Corps to modify the application to include the utilities board," project coordinator Susan Eller, with the Cullman Economic Development Agency, said. "Permits are transferred all the time, and the permit even notes it applies to the current or future permitees."
The utilities board was added to the permit because it had a more proven financial track record, when compared to the Cullman-Morgan Water District, which was created early in the dam preparation process as an advisory committee, Eller said.
"The reason we did that was because at that point in time the finance companies recommended the utilities board as financier because of it's financial history," she said. "If the Cullman-Morgan Water District had gone, it would've been like an 18-year-old trying to borrow money for a home loan. The utilities board was added because it had a bonding history and pay back history, and they had assets like Lake Catoma."
--Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.
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