The Cole County Commission on Wednesday agreed to seek grants to help fund a nearly $364,000 plan to rebuild the Renns Lake dam, which then could become a public park similar to County Park near the fairgrounds.
Even if the commission proceeds with the tentative project, construction likely wouldn't begin until at least next year.
In late 2009, the Patricia Renn family, which owned the lake, didn't have the funding to repair the dam after heavy rain damaged it, so it deeded the property to the county. The county removed part of the dam to prevent the lake from building back up, which they feared could cause the dam to completely fail.