New Albany City Council rejects resolution to force mayor to release Providence Mill Dam spending

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) — For years, New Albany councilmembers have been kept in the dark about how much the mayor spent on lawsuits and construction on the Providence Mill Dam.

The numbers were never officially released despite numerous requests from both the media and the city council. Thursday night, city council member Scott Blair offered a resolution to force the mayor to release those numbers, but it was voted down.

"You are proposing a tool to sue the executive, to sue ourselves," said Adam Dickey, president of New Albany City Council. "That is your tool. That was a follow up on. You were both here, hold on, we've already made a public notice here tonight."

The tension in the room was palatable over the highly-contentious question: How much money did Mayor Jeff Gahan spend on legal fees and construction?

Questions surround the cost of emergency work ordered by Gahan at the Providence Mill Dam following a boy’s drowning in 2024. There are also concerns about the expense of removing rocks at the dam, required by the state after the city laid tons of rock without a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, violating federal law. Additionally, the dam was tied up in legal disputes for the past several years.

Gahan refused to say how much was spent, even to the New Albany City Council. That prompted Blair to offer a resolution for some answers.

"I think just the threat of a lawsuit will provide us the information," he said. "I don't think they want to go through one and we don't want to go through one, but it's very controllable."

According to court records, the city of New Albany spent $124,000 putting the rocks in the Providence Mill Dam while River Heritage spent $1.2 million defending lawsuits initiated by New Albany over issues with the dam.

Questions still remain as to how much was spent removing the rocks from the dam and how much the city spent over five years of litigation over Silver Creek.

"There's a lot of work," Blair said. "I mean, there were cases going back to June of 2021. So, there were a lot of attorneys involved and a lot of detailed information that we don’t have."

Blair said the lack of transparency remains a major concern for the community.

"Our position has really not changed," Blair said. "Other residents have a right to know."

A few of the council members who voted against the resolution Thursday said they trusted the mayor to release the information in good time.