MAYOR GAHAN RESPONDS TO ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS ORDER CONCERNING HISTORIC GLENMILL PARK DAM

MAYOR GAHAN RESPONDS TO ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS ORDER CONCERNING HISTORIC GLENMILL PARK DAM

On Memorial Day Weekend, a young man lost his life at the Glenmill Park Dam. He lost his life because of what is known as a “hydraulic roller effect” at the dam, which is a recirculating current that can trap swimmers underwater.

This came after three years of ongoing court battles regarding what to do with the dam, with zero resolution of any kind. The City of New Albany and my administration have made dozens of attempts to gather all parties involved in this dispute to sit down at a table and discuss solutions that would benefit everyone, and every time, we have been refused. We even tried to get a court ordered mediation, and they still would not sit down at a table with us to discuss. 

Some would say, “why not just let them take the dam out?” Well, the truth is, the area serves thousands of people each year. People who want to fish, people who want to swim, and others who just want to enjoy a scenic view of nature. Completely removing the dam would be a disservice to those people who utilize this area regularly.

These are people that I, as Mayor, and the City Council, were all elected to serve. No one else would stand up for these people to protect their assets. Just recently, the Department of Natural Resources authorized a court filing calling the dam a “drowning machine” that will “continue to risk public safety” if it remains as-is. This was the first time that DNR had acknowledged in court that this was a severe public safety risk.

I was not going to have another person lose their life in our City because no one would take responsibility to solve this immediate public safety risk as identified by DNR. We declared a state of emergency and mobilized crews to eliminate the dangerous hydraulic roller effect. We accomplished this through restoring the dam to its original condition, seen in the historic photo above. Rock fill was used to eliminate the dangerous hydraulic roller effect.

Now, outside agencies are asking that we remove the fill. They are asking us to recreate a dangerous situation where someone else can lose their life. They are asking us to restore the dam to an unmaintained and dangerous condition.

This is now a legal matter, which limits some of the comments I can make. However, because of this action, not another person will drown because of the hydraulic roller effect at our historic Glenmill Park Dam on Silver Creek.