Feb 8, 2018 2 min read

MARIANNA – A group of outdoorsman proposed again Thursday to purchase borough-owned property below a dam along Ten Mile Creek in order to have unrestricted access to the waterway.

Daniel Symcheck, vice president of Marianna Outdoorsmen Association, made the pitch Thursday at a crowded Marianna Council meeting a little more than a week after the borough chained off an asphalt trail MOA built to the creek to hold events there.

“If they sell, it’s over,” Symcheck said while taking a break from the meeting. “All of the hard feelings are gone.”

Council in December canceled a land-use agreement it had with the MOA over concerns about liability and its plans for future development at the site not far from the Marianna dam that is scheduled for removal.

Council has asked the MOA to seek borough permits to use the property below the dam. The MOA responded by sending the borough a certified letter Jan. 24 asking for permission to use the property April 7 to stock trout and April 27-29 to hold its popular annual canoe race, borough records show.

Council President Wes Silva said the borough will take the application under consideration.

Council has an agreement with the charitable organization known as American Rivers to remove the dam that serves no public purpose and restore the creek at no cost to taxpayers.

Symcheck said the proposal to purchase 1.7 acres alongside the creek is not part of any effort by the MOA to stop the dam removal project, which has met with local opposition.

MOA member Keith Lehman said his group needs to have the property surveyed.

“What we are doing is a good thing,” Lehman said during public comment.

Symcheck said the MOA would seek a state-certified appraiser to set a value to the property.

“The property serves kids,” he said. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Silva said the borough also will take the land purchase proposal from the MOA under consideration.

He said there have been attempts in the past to sell the property to the MOA, but they ended in stalemates.