HARRISVILLE — An engineering error is causing further delay in the Cedar Lake dam project.

The Alcona County Road Commission is acting as the drain commission to facilitate the repair of a failing dam at the north end of the lake. It has been an ongoing battle for about two years, requiring a special assessment district to secure funding for the repairs.

On Wednesday, a resolution from the drain commission was brought to the Alcona County Board of Commissioners, confirming that the lake level the firm Huron Engineering measured on Dec. 19, 2017 was incorrect.

Subsequent work performed by Spicer Engineering discovered the error, the resolution said. That measurement is required as part of the special assessment district process, so the lake will have to be measured again and a new public hearing would have to be held.

The chairman of the Cedar Lake Improvement Board, Rex Vaughn, was present during the meeting on Wednesday and provided his understanding of the situation to the county board. He said a survey was not done on the dam to determine if the lake level was in proper accordance with the lake level established by court order in 1954 and an update 1988.

“Because they’ve now discovered the error they have to go back into circuit court, hold another public hearing in the circuit court, communicate with all the stakeholders around the lake, put the notices in the paper, to fix that engineering mistake,” Vaughn said.

Officials did not have the exact number or the discrepancy in the current established lake level.

Spicer Engineering will be the engineering group to fix the error and establish a correct level in all legal documents. If there are any discrepancies in the established lake level, it could prevent the county from obtaining necessary permits from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

“It has taken them almost a year to correct the error,” Vaughn said, “which in my view delays the project unnecessarily.”

The resolution, allowing Spicer to redo the work and a new public hearing to be held, was supported four to one.

Kaitlin Ryan can be reached at kryan@thealpenanews.com or at 358-5693.