The Spring Hill city council voted on May 22 to authorize staff to submit an intent-to-fund agreement after Johnson County awarded a Stormwater Management Program (SMP) grant for improvements to the City Lake Dam at Veterans Park.

Staff said the full project is estimated at $1,200,000 and the SMP award would pay approximately 50%, or about $600,000. "This inspection is required every few years," Allison Abel said, explaining a 2024 inspection found scour at points of the dam and a state change in freeboard requirements from 1 foot to 2 feet.

The engineering solution described to the council increases freeboard by adding a retaining wall and an integral sidewalk along the top of the dam rather than modifying the dam cross-section. Abel said the approach meets state regulation while saving money compared with alternative repairs. Council discussion cited insurance and regulatory risk: if the city does not complete the improvements, Abel said the city’s insurance would not cover a failure event.

The motion to approve staff’s submittal of the funding intent and to commit local match requirements for the project in 2026 passed 3–0–0.

Staff said the grant award notice arrived in recent weeks and the next step is executing the funding agreement and programming the local match into the 2026 budget cycle. Abel said the construction is being scheduled and that the city previously authorized application for the SMP grant in January.