Sunday, Apr. 10, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | City OKs lake dealBy BEN NELMS The longstanding threat of flooding down gradient of Pye Lake was resolved April 7. Fayetteville council members voted to accept title to the lake to upgrade the dam for required flood control in exchange for designating 12 lots along Hood Avenue and Pye Road as R-22 PUD (Planned Unit Development). The lots previously carried an R-22 zoning designation. The agreement also included the sale of a 3.16-acre tract adjacent to the lake by property owner Harriet Parham to the city for $50,000 for use as greenspace. In a statement to the council prior to the vote, city manager Joe Morton referenced the citys work over a significant period of time to arrive at a solution to the issue and the current opportunity to accomplish that goal. The point Id like to make tonight is that were not buying Pye Lake. Were buying a greenspace tract of 3.16 acres in exchange for the R-22 PUD development, Morton said. The city has applied for a $1 million FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant that would pay for 80 percent of the cost of the dam upgrade and two culverts upgrades on Cornwallis Way, according to a March 28 memo to council members from city engineer Don Easterbrook. Regarding Georgia Environmental Protection Divisions (EPD) April 2008 deadline for executing a construction contract for the upgrade work, Morton said that, if successful in obtaining the FEMA grant, the city would be able to expedite the project. Plans have been submitted to EPDs Safe Dams program. The city could learn of the FEMA grant decision as early as the summer, Morton said. Mayor Kenneth Steele said the city has worked diligently on the matter to resolve the issue. The city will have local stormwater utility funds to help with the project in the event the FEMA grant is not approved, he said. The vote to approved the agreement was unanimous minus the vote of council member Al Hovey-King, who did not participate in the discussion or vote because he lives in close proximity to the area. The city has agreed to several conditions prior to the completion of the upgrade work. Safe Dams program requirements cover items such as keeping the pool level at least four feet below normal, maintaining the dam and regularly cutting vegetation, monthly dam inspections, provisions for lowering the water level even further with predictions of heavy rain events and monitoring the dam during heavy rain events and evacuating threatened residents if flooding or a breach of the dam appears imminent. Problems with the 39 year-old dam and the threat to life and property down gradient surfaced several years ago. Studies showed that the Pye Lake dam had several structural problems. Several homes were damaged in June 2003 and problems identified that year by the state Safe Dams program revealed that a breach during a heavy rain event could endanger nearby residents. The dam is categorized as a Category 1 dam, meaning that its failure has the potential to endanger at least one life. Fayetteville maintenance crews installed a siphon in late 2003 to lower the water level to prevent further weakening. |
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