Hagar Township Supervisor Izzy DiMaggio has questions about some drain work that’s been done in the community.
DiMaggio tells us he recently met with Berrien County Drain Commissioner George McManus and learned of some assessments township residents are paying as a result of two large projects initiated under the previous drain commissioner.
“We have two districts in our township, drain districts, that were projects from the previous drain commissioner, and there’s substantial large amount of charges, not only to the districts, but to the township at large. So I question this,” DiMaggio said.
DiMaggio says the first project is in the Perry & Street Drainage District.
“This was back in 2022 when it was petitioned by some landowners. It was a board determination. The previous drain commissioner — get this — borrowed $595,000 for the project, but the project was only estimated to cost $348,000. So he borrowed almost double what the project cost, and he got it at a 7.33 % interest.”
And now DiMaggio says property owners in that district and the township itself are paying it all. He says the other project has similar issues.
“Then there’s another district, Koranda Drain District, and that was petitioned in 2019. He borrowed 300 and some thousand dollars on a project, of which the project costs about $780,000. And of that, we’ve determined that about $400,000 is in soft costs. Soft costs meaning engineering, legal, consultants, etc. Drains-at-large charge for that one is $160,000. So between these two projects, the township drains-at-large is about $230,000. We never knew about any of this until just recently.”
DiMaggio says Hagar Township in 2024 sought information from the drain commissioner’s office about work done in the community and charges residents were facing, but never got its answers.
“The drain commissioner and his attorney said that before we could get any information, we had to request, give them a FOIA request, a Freedom of Information Act request. We had to type it out, submit it to them. We did that. And even then, we couldn’t get their answers to any of these questions.”
With a new drain commissioner in McManus, DiMaggio says he’s found a lot more help. DiMaggio adds the township will take action to protect its residents, possibly starting with conversations with county commissioners.
“Something is not right, and I think we need to talk to the county. Why wasn’t the money borrowed from a private, instead of a private lender, could have been borrowed from the revolving fund with the county at zero interest?
DiMaggio planned to discuss the matter last night with the township board Monday night. He said he’ll take his guidance from the trustees.
