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Sportsmens Club sets meeting to discuss Cokeburg dam

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A group is aiming to save a popular fishing spot in Cokeburg.

The Ellsworth Sportsmens Club scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. today at the clubhouse on Ten Mile Lane in Scenery Hill to discuss the future of the dam the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered to be drained.

“We are hoping to get some good information and great ideas,” sportsmens club vice president Frank Kinney said Monday.

The sportsmens club leases the dam from the borough and continually stocks it with fish for which it sells permits to members for fishing. Kinney said residents are not charged for fishing.

Cokeburg Borough has been under a state Department of Environmental Protection consent order for about six years to make repairs to the dam the agency characterized as a “high hazard.” council President Harry Gorby said Monday.

The DEP said repairs must include protecting the breastwork from failing. Repair work three years ago was estimated at $1.2 million.

“It has been a quagmire,” Gorby said.”We have been working back and forth trying to come up with a solution.”

Gorby said during a Feb. 4 conference call, DEP personnel told borough officials to drain the dam. Gorby said the borough was not given a deadline but was told Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission would remove the fish from the dam. He said the water would drain into Pigeon Creek and then into Monongahela River.

“They said they would work with us on repairing the breast,” Gorby said.

DEP spokesman John Poister was not in the office Monday because of the Presidents’ Day holiday and said he would obtain information today regarding the most recent communication with Cokeburg Borough on the dam.

Gorby said the borough has about $350,000 to $400,000 in grant money that could be used toward repairing the dam. After draining the dam, Gorby would like to focus on repairing it.

“Our goal is to reopen it,” Gorby said.

Kinney said he disputes the DEP’s contention the dam is a hazard.

“I can’t believe they are pushing the issue on this,” Kinney said. “It hasn’t flooded or leaked in over 100 years. We are looking for ideas to keep it open.”

Kinney said the sportsmens club two years ago donated $5,000 to Cokeburg Borough to be used toward repairs.

Chad Strennen, Ellsworth Sportsmens Club board of directors member, said he wants to see the dam repaired.

“We can’t let the lake disappear,” Strennen said. “The lake is a big part of our club. If we lose the lake, we lose members.”

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