LBNRD ends talk about proposed Davenport dam

The entire Little Blue Natural Resources District board of directors met July 9. Close to forty area residents were in attendance to see the outcome of the vote for the proposed Davenport dam.

Discussion about the dam began last fall when the board authorized the reevaluation of a 34-year old plan for a dam to be built two miles north of Davenport.

Discussion continued on June 6 when Mike Sotak of Omaha based FYRA Engineering presented the two options available for the dam. These options carried a cost of $11.8 million or $23.2 million.

On June 25, the proposed dam came before the Projects and Planning committee. At that time, the committee voted to terminate the proposed dam project with a 6-2 vote. Even though the project was shot down there, Mike Onnen, manager of the LBNRD, said the vote still needed to come before the entire board.

The biggest controversy did not come up with the actual vote against the dam. The controversy came up when board members questioned whether it needed to be brought before the entire board after it was voted down in the Projects and Planning committee. The motion made in the committee stated that it was not to be brought before the entire board.

After much discussion, it was decided that it must be voted on by the entire board. In order to do this, the motion from the committee was amended.
The original motion to “kill the project” was made by Marlin Kimle and seconded by Lyle Heinrichs. After that, a motion was made to amend the previous motion so that the entire board could vote on the matter. The final vote to “kill the project” was 16-0.