After nearly a decade of discussion, the Cole County Commission earlier this year approved a proposal by 11 homeowners to establish an association and take over the property that used to be Renns Lake.
Commissioners on Tuesday approved the transfer of the area where the lake once was to the homeowners, who have successfully formed their association.
The Renns Lake Homeowners will distribute responsibility for maintenance and improvements of the property, according to paperwork submitted by the group. In the future, when improvements are planned, the group intends to approach additional homeowners in the area to join the association. Maintenance and improvements will be funded with member resources, collection of annual dues and fundraising events.
In October 2009, heavy rain compromised a 30-foot stretch of the dam at Renns Lake, located in a neighborhood south of Jefferson City off of U.S. 54. To prevent a dam collapse, emergency crews and landowners spent several days pumping water out of the lake to ease pressure on the dam.
Original lake owner Patricia Renn didn't have the money to repair the dam, so her family 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 fail completely.
Residents initially tried unsuccessfully to form an association to take over the land from the county. Some residents argued the county never should have become involved in the matter, but by taking over the land, the county was obligated to rebuild the lake.
Some landowners sued Renn in 2010, but the main petitioner, Doug Griswold, passed away. The other landowners voluntarily dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs are forbidden from filing another lawsuit based on the same grounds.
The area of the former lake has been declared a wetland by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Cole County Public Works officials said, so if the homeowners wanted to re-establish a lake they would have to mitigate - which is too expensive.
Through the beginning of June, county crews had cut grass around the lake every few weeks, but the lake bed has been left alone and is overgrown with trees.
Since the beginning of June, the homeowners group assigned areas previously mowed by the county for each homeowner to maintain.