Efforts to fully understand slope failures plaguing Oktibbeha County Lake could draw down its water level enough to significantly affect Starkville Wet N Wild operations, county officials said Monday.
Supervisors unanimously authorized a $3,236 materials purchase Monday that will allow Road Manager Victor Collins’ crews to install three additional 8-inch pipes near the lake’s emergency spillway to help lower the lake’s level for upcoming inspections.
A drawdown is needed so engineers can fully understand the condition of Oktibbeha County Lake’s levee. A portion of the structure, which supports County Lake Road, shows signs of excessive slope failures and could require major repairs.
County Engineer Clyde Pritchard told supervisors earlier this month another major failure could take a portion of the state-aid road along with it.
Before the board took action Monday, Collins said it was imperative to install the additional pipes to alleviate pressure and allow engineers to visually inspect the levee. When pressed by supervisors about how low the water level would fall, he said it needed to go 5 feet below where the existing drain is located but did not offer an overall estimate.
Still, lowering the level that much will pull water from Starkville Wet N Wild’s shores and could hamper boat-launching efforts.
“It’s going to pull the water off those facilities,” Collins said. “That beach area where all the water park slides are, it’s going to pull it off of it. You may still be able to load and unload boats. Right now, (the lake) is in critical condition.”
Additionally, Collins said his department would install signs and lights barring trucks from the lake’s overflow bridge after signs of additional deterioration were found. Workers will also construct a foundation of pylons — “a safety net,” he said — to support the structure if a failure occurs.
District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard, whose district encompasses the lake area, said he obtained photos of the failing levee taken in 2005, when the water was lowered to similar level needed for the upcoming inspection.
The condition of the levee then, he said the photos showed, “would scare you to death.”
“I can’t even imagine what it’s like 10 years later. There are too many lives at stake behind that levee,” Howard said.
Pritchard previously told supervisors rapid drawdowns — when the lake’s water level rises and drops in a short amount of time — could be the cause of the slope failures. Simply adding more dirt and boulders to the top of the slope isn’t an option, he said, because the added weight more than likely will wash out into the body of water.
A complete rebuild of the levee could be needed, but engineers won’t know the full scope of the issues until the water level is lowered.
A massive project like that, Pritchard previously said, could take almost a year. Although a full cost is unknown at this time, he said similar efforts at Lake Lamar Bruce near Saltillo cost about $4 million.
Starkville Wet N Wild co-owner and former Mississippi State University basketball coach Rick Stansbury recently approached supervisors about taking over his lake lease and acquiring the waterpark and its associated campground investments.
An October letter setting the table for the deal from Stansbury to District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer shows the now-Texas A&M assistant coach first asked for $2 million for the waterpark and the KOA Campground. His group previously invested roughly $1.5 million into improvements, the letter states.
Stansbury seeks to jettison the lake lease and investments because of the hardship creating in attempting to manage the property from Texas.
Supervisors tabled the matter Feb. 1 and did not take up the matter again Monday.
Stansbury could put the lease and property on the public market if the county declines the offer.
Lobbying deal tabled
A joint city-county contract for state and federal lobbying services is expected to fall by the wayside at today’s board of aldermen meeting after supervisors passed on the matter Monday.
Specifically, the board authorized administrators to issue requests for proposals for additional contracts after tabling an offer with Cornerstone Governmental Affairs.
If approved by both boards this week, the $60,000 contract would have been split between the city and county. Both entities would have covered additional costs, like travel.
Both Trainer and Starkville Mayor Parker Wiseman championed the deal this weekend, saying it would allow the entities to explore additional state and federal funding streams and legislative needs without adding personnel costs associated with staff members performing similar duties.
Cornerstone could emerge as the preferred lobbying group after the RFP process concludes, but it is not guaranteed. It is unknown if aldermen will table the matter today since the county did not sign off on the pending contract.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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