DEAR EDITOR:

I thought your Feb. 25 editorial on the Girard Lakes “mess” was needed and quite good.

But there were some aspects not included that deserve mention.

Mayor James Melfi has called the two lakes a “white elephant” for Girard, given the amount of money ($5 million) the city diverted to paying off the debt the city acquired in the purchase 26 years ago for $2.5 million, with no sign of money well spent.

The purchase was approved under the administration of Mayor Vincent “Sonny” Schuyler, but the mayor would have shared blame for the misguided transaction.

The lakes were dammed by the Valley’s steel industry during its heyday to augment Mahoning River flow, used for coolant.

The source of the lakes’ water is Squaw Creek, a relatively minor Mahoning River tributary. Thus quality of the water in the two lakes is dependent on sparse flow.

For a time after purchase, Girard attempted to offset financial drain by operating a site on the Upper Lake where fishing boats and fishing gear could be rented and buy bait. Like purchase of the lakes itself, this effort proved misguided. The site can be reached today at the end of a gated road off Prindel Booth Road. It is a peaceful location, disturbed only by hum of traffic on nearby state Route 11. The dam and its outfall can be viewed a short distance to the southwest. The wooded area northeast of Upper Lake, which comprises much of the 600 acres covered by the Girard Lakes property, is laced with all-terrain vehicle trails, marked by deep mud wallows and low-hanging vegetation. This must make their use treacherous. How the Girard police cope with this public safety threat is a mystery to me.

As a result of its breaching due to the dam deterioration, the Lower Lake is now a large, brush-filled expanse through which Squaw Creek meanders.

If one pauses below the dam at the rushing outflow from the lake, one can detect the faint smell of sewage as a result of upsteam contamination. Squaw Creek is hardly a pristine waterway.

I believe your view that Girard should accept the offer it received for the Girard Lakes property and “move on from this debacle” is justified to a degree.

But what I would really like to see is for the state of Ohio to purchase this property and use its considerable financial resources to solve all its manifold problems and turn the area into a gem of a much-needed area park that reflects the historic legacy of the lakes.

Could area lawmakers propose this in the Legislature and to Gov. Mike DeWine?

ROBERT R. STANGER

Boardman