Mounting dam costs include moving private landing strip

Mounting dam costs include moving private landing strip

As debate over rising cost estimates for the proposed Alkali Creek Dam continues, one critic asserts that the sponsoring water district is entangled in a conflict of interest after paying a board member $1.6 million. A neighbor to the proposed dam site is upset that the Nowood Watershed Improvement District paid the Paint Rock Angus Ranch — owned by the Martin Mercer family — the hefty sum for land and easements while Martin Mercer sat on the di…