Lilly Creek erosion project voted down

Repairs still needed, but plan’s cost outweighed benefits, officials say.

RIVERSIDE — The Montgomery Soil and Water Conservation District declined to proceed with a three-phase plan that could have cost $1.8 million in the first phase and stopped erosion affecting residents in the Lilly Creek Watershed.

James Dillon of the MSWCD told about 300 residents at a meeting at Spinning Hills Elementary on Thursday night that the benefits of the plan were not enough to justify the repair costs.

Dillon said the project also failed to meet other criteria, including approval by a majority of the residents in the watershed, deeming the repairs necessary and making sure the project improves the land. About 109 properties are affected by the erosion.

Dillion said later that a solution still has to be found.

“It has to be fixed,” Dillon said. “As the houses become damaged, the benefits will go up. The property damage at this point is not great enough, but it will be.”

The affected homes are on Barrett and Bayside drives next to Shellabarger Park near Greene County.

An earlier plan to repair the erosion would have taxed more than 1,600 property owners. More than half that number objected to the assessment.

Earlier estimates had put the repair at $12 million, but Dillion said that cost was probably too high. “We think we can do it for a lot less,” Dillon said.

The three-phase project rejected Thursday night was estimated to cost $1.8 million for the first phase, which included a retention pool.

Phase three would have included Greene County.

As the meeting ended, residents offered their ideas on how to stop the erosion.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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