It's About Dam Time

The "independent" Parks and Recreation Board has approved hiring an engineering firm to conduct a study of the Sippo Creek Reservoir Dam.

The study, which will cost $40,700 dollars, will provide plans on how to repair, or replace the dam.

Remember the Reservoir Dam? The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) gave the dam a first class hazard rating, meaning it poses a risk of "probable loss of human life."

Not possible loss of human life.

Probable loss of human life.

Of course, the city has known for over a decade that the dam was a problem.

According to the Independent, "in 2000, the city submitted repair plans and a hydrologic and hydraulic study to the ODNR, but it never resubmitted it to ODNR after the agency made comments to the plans" (The Independent, February 17, 2011).

They didn't resubmit it.

They must have been busy.

For over a decade.

Mayoral Lackey Extraordinaire, Parks Czar Kenn Kaminski, told the Park Board that even funding just the inspection would be difficult for the Parks Department.

"The funding for this project with our current budget is going to be difficult..." (The Independent, February 17, 2011).

$40,700 dollars to do a proper engineering study of the dam is "going to be difficult" to fund.

This from Kenn Kaminski.

Mayoral Lackey Extraordinaire.

The City spent $199,000 to buy the restaurant at the golf course with park funds.

They bought it, according to a parks department manager, without having a business plan.

We owe a $50,000 payment yet this year.

We spent $211,000 dollars to pay the mortgage at the Hampton Inn in 2010.

The mayor will be proposing a similar amount for hotel mortgage payments in 2011.

We will be spending another $524,045 dollars this year to pay the debt at the Legends of Massillon Golf Course.

And we will be using park funds towards paying that debt.

And in late 2008, the mayor hijacked a $490,000 dollar insurance settlement that the Parks Department received when some juvenile delinquents set fire to the chapel at the old state hospital grounds.

The building had been insured by the Parks Board.

The premium had been paid with Parks money.

And the mayor took the settlement money to balance the general fund because his own budget was unbalanced.

As it always is.

Cicchinelli then sacked Joe Luckring, the Parks Board member who objected to the mayor pilfering the almost half a million dollars of parks money.

And replaced Luckring with the ultimate city insider, Ron Pribich.

Pribich would never object to anything our mayor does.

He knows his role.

Our crack Massillon Review accounting team has gotten out their calculators.

$527,885 dollars for golf course debt in 2010
$524,045 dollars for golf course debt in 2011
$199,000 dollars for restaurant at golf course in 2010 and 2011
$211,000 dollars for Hampton Inn mortgage in 2010
$211,000 dollars (estimate) for Hampton Inn in 2011
$490,000 dollars of hijacked park insurance money

Let's see.

That's $2,162,930 dollars squandered away in about two years.

Over 2 million bucks.

That doesn't even count Kenn Kaminski's salary, overtime, city car, and gas card.

It would appear the city can scrape up the $40,700 dollars to conduct a proper engineering study so that we may fix the dam.

BEFORE we have "probable loss of human life."