Some residents of Bridgman are seeking answers after seeing their tax bills go up as a result of a drain project and associated legal bills involving Tanner Creek. That’s the creek that snakes its way around town and empties into Lake Michigan at Weko Beach.
Berrien County Drain Commissioner George McManus tells us he attended the Bridgman City Council meeting this week to field questions from some residents upset about large assessments, which they’re now just receiving.
“Their assessments came out, so they’re concerned about the cost of that project, and they’re concerned about maybe they didn’t know about what the costs were coming, but they had been given notices,” McManus said. “There’s a code that’s followed, and we followed the code that we have to give, like I have a day of assessment review when they can come in. That was done back in January, and they can come in and talk about their assessments. So that’s passed. So they had some questions about why they’re paying for it and what’s being done, some questions about the construction of the project, and others had some questions just about general drainage in the area.”
McManus says this all goes back to emergency work done by his predecessor in 2021 when Tanner Creek was flooding during heavy rain.
“There was a big rain event back in 2021, and there was a repair made on the Tanner Creek drain by the previous drain commissioner, and that was kind of an emergency repair. And the state of Michigan had a problem with how that was done through the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, which is EGLE. And so they wanted it done differently, and there was a court case that went on for a while, and when I took office, I ended the court case. I didn’t think it was right to be trying to fight that because I didn’t think we were going to win it.”
The emergency work done by the previous drain commissioners worked and the flooding stopped. McManus previously told us it was good work, but the protracted legal battle cost more than $1 million before the settlement was reached last year. McManus says that lawsuit is part of the reason for the large assessments now being sent to residents of the drainage district.
“It was all the outstanding expenses, so it was part of the cost of the initial work, the restoration that we’re doing now, the court case. There was money borrowed to fund the work that was done earlier, so there’s interest on that money. That’s all in there.”
On social media, some affected residents have been reporting bills in the thousands. McManus says how much a property owner owes depends on the property.
“It all depends on the type of property you have and how much benefit you get from the drain. In Bridgman in the city there, some of those smaller homes are looking at prices of assessments maybe around $50 or $60 a year for 10 years for that project, but others are more than that.”
So, is there anything residents affected by the assessments can do now?
“Not under the drain code, no. That was that day back in January when they could come in and talk about their assessments if there was a problem and the way the assessments were done. And sometimes that’s done, and there’s a process they could go through if they didn’t agree with it. But they have to file a motion in court within ten days of that day of review. And so we waited. Nobody did, so we went ahead.”
Remediation work to satisfy EGLE is just getting started in the creek now. In fact, McManus says the crews expected to perform the work are now in town and could begin this weekend or Monday.
Meanwhile, McManus tells us there are several drain projects all over the county — not all of them started by his immediate predecessor — that residents will likely soon be learning about, including projects in Chikaming Township and Benton Township.
