WARREN — The Trumbull County Commissioners deny causing a setback in the effort of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy to purchase Coalburg Lake by requiring any potential buyer to have insurance.

Western Reserve Land Conservancy is applying for grants on behalf of the township to purchase Coalburg Lake, excluding the dam.

Hubbard Township Trustee Jason Tedrow, during an update provided Tuesday on the sale of the lake to his fellow trustee members, said that commissioners requested the dam’s holder to have insurance for it.

“We did not require insurance,” Commissioner Rick Hernandez said during Wednesday’s weekly commissioners meeting. “We have no issue. We don’t own the dam or the property. We simply asked the question of whether whoever took over the land would have insurance.”

Coalburg Dam was slated to be removed later this year, but, according to Tedrow, received a two-year extension on its removal.

Hernandez, who lives in Hubbard and formerly served as a trustee, said the property was offered to the trustees at no cost years earlier, but they could not afford the insurance for it. Commissioner Denny Malloy agreed that commissioners did not tell Hubbard officials or members of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy that they had to have insurance.

“We do not have a dog in this fight,” Malloy said. “It is not our dam. What we did say was we would hope they would receive assurances that, if they took over the lake, then someone was to take the dam out later, they would have a big hole in the township.”

Tedrow on Tuesday reportedly told his fellow trustees that they had been pricing the cost of obtaining insurance and received a quote of $5,000 per month.

Tedrow emphasized obtaining insurance is not required by state law. However, he added, it could potentially slow down the purchase of the property.

The property on which the dam is located is owned by Coalburg Land Partners LLC.