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Crossing Rivers Health hopes mediation will resolve pond dispute

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The pond on Crossing Rivers Health Medical Center property has continued to get bigger over the past four years. (Photo by Megan Mahan of Adams Auction and Real Estate)

 

By Ted Pennekamp

 

Crossing Rivers Health Medical Center officials say they are looking forward to resolving the dispute regarding the growing pond on their property. The hospital filed a lawsuit against the town of Bridgeport, Crawford County and eight other defendants on Feb. 21. They are hopeful, however, that the matter can be resolved at a mediation hearing scheduled for Sept. 6 in Madison.

“We’re incredibly encouraged to have mediation scheduled with all parties involved,” said Chief Financial Officer Christopher Brophy. “We would like to resolve the issue soon to the satisfaction of everyone. We would like a global resolution and to be the best neighbor.”

The mediation hearing was agreed to by all parties.

The lawsuit alleges that a road improvement project on Vineyard Road in 2016 left about half of the 105-acre Crossing Rivers Health property permanently underwater due to changes in drainage, and as a result, the property’s value has gone down.

The suit was filed in Crawford County Circuit Court and alleges the Bridgeport Town Board and Crawford County were negligent in the design, construction, supervision and inspection of the project that diverted surface water runoff from property north of the hospital, including land owned by Bridgeport Town Board member Mike Steiner, to the hospital campus.

Through the lawsuit, the hospital is seeking a trial by jury, remediation and a restraining order against the rerouting of water toward Crossing Rivers Health property.

According to court documents, an oral ruling in the case is scheduled for Oct. 17 at 1:45 p.m. in Crawford County Circuit Court.

Neighbors say, up until five years ago, there was no permanent standing water on the property. If there was a heavy rain, the property would have a small amount of standing water for a short amount of time.

Four years ago, there was a two- to three-acre permanent “pond” on the property. Now the pond has grown to an estimated 15-20 acres and continues to gobble up farmland and encroach upon the hospital parking lot. The hospital and Crossing Rivers Health Clinic opened in 2015. The hospital, in the lawsuit, estimates the pond at 50 acres.

The mediation scheduled for Sept. 6 is not binding on any of the parties involved. If the matter is not resolved through mediation, the lawsuit will likely continue.

Brophy said the best possible outcome, however, is that the mediation resolves the issue to everyone’s satisfaction once and for all, and the lawsuit is dropped.

“It’s time we resolve it. We’re working toward how to fix it,” said Brophy about the dispute. “We feel very strongly that we will be able to come to a mediated resolution.”

The Courier Press attempted to contact the town of Bridgeport and the Crawford County Highway Department, but messages were unanswered as of press time.

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