We welcome readers' opinions on matters of interest to our community.
The weekly deadline for Letters to the Editor is noon on Wednesday. Letters should be limited to 300 words. Letters from the same writer will be accepted no more frequently than every 30 days.
Due to limited space, coverage of community news, and production costs, only two letters regarding a certain issue will be printed each week. All other letters will be posted on this web site.
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Please limit letters to 300 words.
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Dear Editor:
The Corps of Engineers is requiring Toledo to expand the Point Place dike. If this had been done when it was first constructed, a cost per square foot of land would have been assessed to 1,400 property owners instead of 600. The original assessment was about 40 cents per square foot of land. This charge was for everyone whose property was below a specific elevation, with a few exceptions.
The area of lowest elevation assessed was Carland Beach; it is similar to New Orleans in that it too was below normal lake level at the time.
The effect of northeast winds raising lake levels and creating even the slightest wave activity devastated the Carland Beach area. Homes here suffered the most; strong northeast winds and increased lake levels engulfed many houses in eight to 10 feet of flood water. The assessment to these property owners was small compared to the financial gain in their properties’ worth.
Northwest areas of Point Place assessed for the dike (west of Summit Street bounded by the Ottawa River and east of Summit Street along the south side of Ottawa River) are higher in elevation than most of the lake side affected properties. These areas have never been subjected to damaging waves, are above normal lake level elevations, but did suffer street flooding when northeast winds raised lake levels. Streets would flood when increased river levels backed-up into storm drains.
City personnel used elevation maps with squiggly lines denoting elevation levels to determine the inland boundary of the assessed area. Squiggly lines were arbitrarily converted to straight lines drawn along the back of someone’s property, down the side of someone’s lot or down the middle of a street. On one side people were assessed $2,000 to $4,000 on average, on the other $0.00.
There needs to be an intelligent and rational approach in determining a fair way to assess properties for the dike extensions. Properties assessed in the past should not be assessed a second time. All properties that are to be added to the dike system should be assessed 40 cents per square foot of land, and the city must pay this same charge for city land within this added area. This is more equitable than the city’s proposed assessment method. Marge Nowicki
